by "Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
Published 06/25/2017 at 10:30
by "Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
Published 06/25/2017 at 10:30
No Tags
STARS: 9
My father and uncle owned a repair shop in NC in the late 40s to mid 50s. He taught me well. He lost money and eventually his shop because he was a Tucker automobile investor in that post war period. He taught me to work with my hands and my mind. I’ve worked in the car industry for two periods. During my early college years 1972-75 then after my oil career from the late 80s until now. I’ve learned a few things over the years. There are people who take your advice when they ask you for an opinion and then some don’t want to believe you because they are just stubborn. I lately dealt with both.
This weekend I had a mechanic for Ohio Edison ask me about the check engine light on his daughter’s car a turbo 1.4L Chevy Cruze. He had 4 OBD-II codes. They all pointed towards electrical issues. I told him a few tips to diagnose the car and that it was probably a bad valve cover throwing codes because of either an air leak or bad PCV passage.
There is another customer with the same model car and issues who first took his car to a local national parts store . The counter guy who isn’t around that model car every day told this other guy that his 11 codes were a bad computer. The mechanic took my advice the other guy took the parts stores diagnosis. They both come to me frequently and the one guy spent way too much money because in this one case he refused to listen to me. He didn’t bring the car to our shop for the computer replacement, was very pissed at the other shop, the car and somewhat at me for some unknown reason. It was his choice to not listen to what I said. I sell 4-5 valve covers for turbo 1.4L engines a week. Its so common there are Youtubes and forum stories about this problem.
Don’t ask me for a cure if you are already set in your mind as to what you think will fix the car. Don’t ask me for my knowledge if you are going to get mad at me when you don’t use it. I’ve known both guys for 15-25 yrs and have never misdirected either. Now I’m directing the one to talk directly to the service department.
"Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom" (will-alib)
06/25/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 2
The hidden perils of being a car guy. I’ve had similar situations that should’ve been a simple fix but instead turned into an expensive goat****.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
06/25/2017 at 10:41, STARS: 3
we’ve had some ring up, tell us the problem, they then ask us if x will fix it, we tell them no it will be something else, then they yell at us for not agreeing with them.
i just want to scream down the phone that they’re fucking idiots, but my sense of self preservation kicks in.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
06/25/2017 at 11:00, STARS: 1
No need for you to get stressed about it, you did what you could. What kind of dumbass takes a parts store counter guy’s advice? What kind of dumbass opts for the most expensive option first? I assume he also went to the other shop and said “replace my computer, don’t diagnose anything”. So he’s probably screwed from every direction because he made all the wrong decisions.
I had a parts store guy as a customer recently. He’s obviously a top notch mechanic and has excellent diagnostic skills. So he replaced a bunch of parts (with shitty aftermarket versions) on his car tying to fix am electrical problem. Low failure items mind you. When he couldn’t fix it he brought it to us. We told him he needed a computer because it had water damage from a poorly sealed body component from a previous accident.
“No! This car is perfect and has never been in an accident!”
He took the car back for a week, tried a few more things on his own, and tried finding the computer we recommended through his store. Still unsuccessful, he returned with his tail between his legs and had us fix it properly, body seal and all. If he had come straight to us he would’ve spent a quarter of the money that he did.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
06/25/2017 at 11:12, STARS: 0
Have seen that too. I deal with over a dozen parts stores who also buy dealership parts from us. I’d say about a third of those counter people also have fair repair skills. Had one who constantly called me for Audi advice since he and I both had A4s at the time. This isn’t a good thing when you work in a Chevy dealer.
Most of the parts guys I’ve known have been smart enough to know their limits when it comes to repairs.
"PS9" (PS9)
06/25/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 5
The best way to avoid dealing with people as a car guy is just to give bad advice. They’ll stop coming to you altogether if you do that.
Them: “What kind of car should I get? I need something reliable that’s good on gas.”
Me: “Jaguar XJV12.”
Them: “What? Really?”
Me: “Yeah. It is a V12, but it’s only 5L so the fuel economy is actually good. Plus the UK and the US have settled their differences since the colonial era, so car parts that come from the UK are cheaper for us than anywhere else.”
Them: “Sounds good!”
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Them: I need a fast car.
Me: Prius
Them: What? Come on...
Me: It makes a combined 275HP and it’s a small car. It can’t be slow considering that.
Them: Well...I’ve never seen a Prius on the road go fast
Me: That’s because Toyota marketed it as a hypermiler. So that’s what people do with it. But trust me. It’s faster than it looks.
Them: Okay, I guess I’ll give it a shot.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Them: I wish my engine didn’t run so rough...
Me: Wash it with dove. It’ll clean the insides real good. Just put a bottle of dove right in the EVAP port and a water hose in the intake. Run it until it stops completely and change the oil. It’ll be really clean inside then
Them: Good tip! I’ll get right on it this weekend!
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
06/25/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 1
Oh yeah most are great like that. But there are just enough who think they’re awesome, or maybe just like swinging their dicks around, to do some real damage. It’s ok not to have every answer.
"Manwich - now Keto-Friendly" (manwich)
06/25/2017 at 11:21, STARS: 0
Goatlove?
/jk
"Manwich - now Keto-Friendly" (manwich)
06/25/2017 at 11:23, STARS: 2
“I want a Jeep for off-roading”
“Get a FWD Compass with the CVT”
"XJDano" (xjdano)
06/25/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 1
They named it compass so you’ll never get lost.
"6691 zapS" (6691-zaps)
07/07/2017 at 03:56, STARS: 1
Did what you could. Worst thing about the service industry is dealing with the nimrods, when you try to do a good job for them.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
07/07/2017 at 08:20, STARS: 0
Some days its like beating your head against a wall. I know I give them great info and try to do a good job for everyone. I just got off the phone with one of my regulars from Summit Racing. The guys at the Trickflow/SSVO part of Summit here in Ohio talk to me almost daily. I get my brain picked all the time for knowledge, it just grinds on me when someone refuses to listen.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
07/07/2017 at 18:54, STARS: 1
What sucks is when you know you can save someone a bunch of heartache and they’re having none of it. The Darwin Principle.
In other news, the Versa started right up. I had to crank it a couple of times to get fuel into the rail, but on the third crank, off it went. SCORE!
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
07/08/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 0
Great news on the Versa, kudos.
You know me well enough from just here that I’m not into missleading anyone. Its a shame when I try to direct somebody down the correct repair path and they’ve already made up their minds to do something else..
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
07/08/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 0
I’m much the same. I used to take it personally, but now, not so much.