Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Time to find a new mechanic

G-man brought my car to the shop and expressed his displeasure that this will now be trip #4 into the shop for my car since December 14.  And of course they were apologetic, and blah blah blah.

The truth of the matter is that their service has just gone down hill.  They are terrible at communication.  And it seems that repeatedly one "fix" causes another "problem."  They are very good at fixing things AFTER the fact.  And there are a few guys there that we have dealt with that are terrific.  But as a total package, I am done with them.

My water pump is bad.  The water pump that they replaced on December 14.  The one that the botched up so badly that my car was in the shop for days, and they ultimately didn't charge us for.  They are claiming that the pump may have been defective (it was a new pump, not refurbished).  And I have "a slow leak."  Well, my definition of SLOW isn't "drain all my antifreeze in 2 days."

And as an aside...I now have several oil spots on my driveway from the antifreeze.  My driveway that G-man sealed last year.....

So back in my car goes on Friday.  They aren't charging us for this, even though it is outside the 90 day warranty (the part is still under warranty, but the labor "expires" in 90 days, and we are just over 2 weeks over).  HOPEFULLY I will have my car back that afternoon. 

We will be writing a letter to their corporate office.  I am done with shoddy work.

Of course now I am debating again about where to put "extra" money.  G-man's car will be paid off in a few months, which frees up $390 a month.  Now I am back to thinking it needs to go into a car fund.  But in light of everything...I am in no place to make a decision right now.

One day my life will get easier....right????

8 comments:

  1. Life is never easier- but is very likely the kinds of problems will change.

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  2. Can you somehow pay off g-man's car now? bonus? tax returns etc

    HS

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  3. @HS - yes and no. We could pay it off....but that would take just about all of our liquid asset. Given the current state of our marriage....we are trying to keep things liquid for the moment.

    And Tax return....hee hee hee....you funny.

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  4. Ugh, I hate stuff like that. It always seems to happen at the worst possible time too. I agree that these sort of problems will never go away. But I imagine they're slightly less troubling when you have excess at hand to take care of them.

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  5. Yikes! I feel for you girl. Really do! Hugs, prayers and warm fuzzy thoughts for you!

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  6. I found my last mechanic on Yelp. He got a 5 star rating and it turned out to be true. I hope you find someone good if these people aren't.

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  7. try pouring some coke on the driveway oil spills, it is pretty good for stain removal

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  8. Find a new mechanic. I was being horribly ripped off at a fancy place that served you espresso and freshly baked croissants while overcharging for maintenance and repairs on my MB. The last straw was when they started making up nonexistent problems with my car that would have cost $3,000 to "fix" and when I balked they suggested I buy a new car... from them.
    Now my "luxury" car goes to a little repair shop on the highway and it's running like a dream.
    Beware car dealerships; their repair departments are often money suckers.

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