Any ripoff stories from mechanics Veeky Forums

ITT talk about outrageous quotes or bills you got for an otherwise mundane repair.
Dont be ashamed. You're anonymous
I had a infiniti 3.5l in a 2004 infiniti g35 coupe that was having misfires. I check the condition of the spark plugs and see engine oil in the spark plug tubes. I clean it up and go to the dealer and explain the situation. They say it will cost $900 dollars to replace a valve cover gasket. I called bullshit went to autozone got new gasket and spark plugs and did it myself for ~$60 no problems since

Man, I hate people like you
You come into the shop with a poor attitude
Bitch about paying the diagnosis fee
And then say "This is ridiculous, I'll do it at home my self"

You just waste everybody's time and have no money

I hope your shitty car fucking kills you one day.

Fucking dickbag

t. Butthurt mechanic who charges $500 to gap spark plugs

It all depends on the car son.
It can range in price.

It's ok I'll put together your car when you bring it to me in boxes

Because you couldn't hack it together

I've got dad's number for the bill.

Faggot omni gender fluid fuck

Yeah he's the dickbag for not paying 15x the cost of just parts. Fuck off

Long story short my last car needed some work to be legally roadworthy
Got charged by a recomended mechanic $2500
When I got into wrenching I realised it was about $500 in parts and maybe 6 hours work if done back to back
But he kept my car for 5 days and overcharged about 200% for any parts

My mother's Yaris has been a money pit. My father hasn't gone to a mechanic, ever. After many struggles with the Computer of the Yaris, we both gave up and sent my mother to a mechanic, and then to another one, and then to another one. Where over $400 were spilled for various shitty parts. The problem still stood. We decided to do it ourselves after those failures.
After changing the Timing Chain (that had completely locked up) and installing an LPG Injection system, we were hoping all problems to go away. But they didn't.
So the car went to a 4th mechanic, who found a ground cable loose and sent us our way. Turned out it wasn't this. The car is still in the shop for repairs after 4 months of our mental health gone in repairs and arguing with mechanics.

You guys are all the same, you can't figure out what's wrong. So you think we are obligated to tell you for free so you can buy china parts and do it yourself.

As longer you keep fucking with your cars knowing not shit. I'll keep getting paid

It is not always so easy guy, as a mechanic we are responsible for your safety, among other things. $100 per hour flat rate is just what it is.

250% upcharge on parts is the maximum by law

Keep motherfucking us hard working guys. We slave 60 hours a week in the shop, to be only shit on by writers, owners, customers. Yet you all need our dirty hands.

Bottom line, if was so easy you would do it, but you cant.

Just wait in 10 years you will not even be able to do a fucking thing without the dealer scan tools.

All the little shops are gonna die and shade tree mechanics won't exist once our current cars are used up and gone.

You think it is bad now. Just wait.

Always goto the dealer for huge issues, talk to the manager. Pay once. Then you have leverage to get it fixed correctly.

The dealership mechanics have the most knowledge for that type of car.

Diagnostic fees are fine, whatever I don't expect you to give me that time for free. You can fuck off if that diagnostic fee is the reason I'm paying almost a grand for $60 worth of parts and installation. Where do you work? Remind me never to give them my business.

With this attitude of course nobody is gonna like you.
You sound like a mechanic that thinks he knows it al and knows it best, while you're working as a basic mechanic at a dealer.

About to send my 99 Legacy Wagon in to fix the brake line. Both brake lines need to be replaced in the rear with one running above the gas tank. I'd do it myself but it's too much trouble without a lift.

What kind of quote should I be expecting so I know if I'm getting ripped off or not?

>go to Infiniti dealership
>surprised when labor is $125/hr
Jokes on you my employee rate is $25/hr and I can use a lift to do my own work whenever I want and I'm not even a mechanic :^)

He's not even talking about the diagnostic fee, the cost to do that work is $900. Are you retarded?

Sometime, you have to do alot to find the cause, sometimes there is multiple symptoms a $60 part could be a huge job to repair. I work for a Subaru dealer in Michigan. Second had wrx guys are the worst customers.

Nobody knows it all senpai

Explain this one then mr big shot, Mechanic wanted $1100 to replace the water pump in my car, im sorry but $1100?

what was the money being spent on?
a party for once the job was finished?

Because i can tell you now buying genuine parts it cost me $130 for a fuel pump and $80 for new coolant, about 2 hours of labour for 1 person.

If they want the job

Gas tank has to come out a bit, brake lines run up the right side under the back seat, if it is rusty through the rubber boot in the center section of lines it's gonna cost alot

The rear section would maybe be $250 in parts. Maybe $600 labor plus whatever breaks or is to crunchy to put back.
Fluid bleed.

Do it yourself then bro

What car?

Most people could obtain a labor time guide to cross check the prices.

If it is extra rusty it's gonna be harder to repair.

Insurance company's always hit us with the labor guide.

$1100 to replace a water pump in a 2010 forester is steep

$1100 to replace a water pump on a 2004 Nissan xterra is cheap as fuck.

$1100 for a 2004 vy ss commodore.
engine was spotless at the time, no oil anywhere and no rust.
not an insurance job either, was paying cash.

wew am I glad I do my own maintenance, and dont have to deal with folk like you!

>$210 in parts + modest markup + 2hrs labor at shop rate + taxes/fees/disposal/etc.
>$1100
Sounds about right. Shops here charge ~$350/hr

>charge $350 an hour
>pay workers $15 an hour
sounds about right for jews.

In retrospect it should have been the only thing we should have done. But they are fucking extortionists even moreso than other mechanics. We will keep trying by ourselves. Otherwise our weekends would be empty and without drama.

technician>>>>>>parts changer """mechanic"""
local shop is great.
>guys know what there doing
>don't bullshit you
>charge a lot for labor but never misdiagnose problems and otherwise fuck you around
>actually spot problems
>know how to work on old cars with drum breaks and shit
problem is you can leave your car there all day and they wont have a chance to look at it. still though beats the twits that can't spot a failing wheel bearing or figure out why there are no break lines on my 78 hz premiere

I just fixed your car goy. That will be 3,000 shekels

...

That's the $700 American dollars.

That's what I would expect here.

Good luck and hats off sir.
I'll be here when your AutoZone oil filter leaks everywhere and catches your car on fire.

I'm a jew and a mechanic, where rare but we exsist.

Even if the dealer charges alot, for huge issues like this, the rons auto shop can't fix the hard shit.

Believe it or not, we get send to mandatory training over the corse of year to become 100% factory certified, just to help people like you.

I don't run the place, I think the owners are the biggest dickbags They go on vaction 51 weeks a year and pop in to take a dump on your chest and show off there rolex.

My cut of $118 per hour is $31 they pocket the rest.

Op here, after nearly getting jewed i have gained alot of confidence and have started doing repairs myself. Weekends have became alot more fun. Pic is from the valve cover gasket and spark plugs

>I'm a jew and a mechanic, where rare but we exsist.
>thinks $450/hr is fair labour prices goy
Explains a lot.

>That's the $700 American dollars.
>$118 per hour
>$210 for parts
>2 hours labour
so your shop would charge me $446 to change my water pump?

so why is it wrong for me to think 700USD is too much?

I repair freight diesel trucks for a living. Truckerfags think that we are their slaves and constantly talk shit about us to their fellow truckerfags.
They can never figure out why their AC refrigerant always leaks out in the summer and their CB fuses always burn out.

says the guy who has to change the tyres on my tractor in the rain

This doesn't happen as often as you would think.

>charges $900 for a 30min job
>wonders why people think they are being jewed
really turns my starter motor

Yaris guy here.
I am not saying that people who work their are to fault. But 99% of the time repairs are either common knowledge or a quick forum search. I don't think it's reasonable to give the amount of cash for a 13 year old car that cost us ~$1400.

Keep wrenching, friend.

happens all the time, you think tractor tyres pop at the shed under cover?
nah they pop in the middle of winter in the middle of a mud pit and you are the poor cunt who has to deal with that shit.

I would never agree to replace the pump for 2 hours.

If it's a Chevy v8 it's belt drive, I would charge you for a serp belt, coolant flush, if there trying to really get you they add conditioner not us but the writers
I would say 4.5 hours.
1 hour being diagnostic for pressure testing and general inspection
Then there is shop supply fees. Not us the writers.

It is not unheard of

Funny thing, the forums are never right.
95% is dick measuring contest or irrelevant to the topic. I would stop you right there on the spot in the shop as soon as you say "forum"

The blind leading the blind

You guys are the worst customers.

Once I see the same car, learn it. Because you always come to me. I take it easy on customers who appreciate the job I do for them. The car becomes an old friend and the customer returns.

We stab guys like you because you suck. And no matter what, your never coming back. That's why you have a bad time.

It's you guys who come in with printed technical service bullitens demanding repairs for free. Just fuck you.
Right in your ear

I don't work with tractors so i wouldn't know about how often your tires pop doing stupid shit. On a freight diesel, I get a tire change call about once a week. I get more calls with truckerfags getting stuck in the snow/motor issues

im just saying 2 hours because it took me 2 hours to do from start to finish.

Hey keep on keeping on guy. Without you most of these days won't get there dildo shipment from Amazon on time.

Mechanics are necessary and total unappreciated in today's world.

good man, never deal with farmers.
it pays more but fuck that for a job, they get paid well for a reason.

The repairs are based off average time through study. Maybe your good, maybe your lucky.

As a mechanic you work flat rate. If you charge 2 hours, a good mechanic gets it done in 30 minutes and moves on to the next one

see exactly mate, overcharge for shit.
good mechanics give good prices, my local mechanic is not a good mechanic.
there is one 2 towns over from where i live that will do any job my local mechanic would do for half the price and half the time.

Atleast if i get it wrong i am out about $46 and a few hours of time in which i had nothing better to do. If you get it wrong (dont pretend youre perfect) i would have spent in the neighborhood of $500 with my car sitting in a lot for a day or more with my seat completely adjusted

>with my seat completely adjusted
mechanics who do this should be shot.
sure move it back or forward but don't fuck with my adjustment setting you fucks.

Look, bruv. My father has been disassembling and assembling everything and anything that had a piston and moves in some direction for the past 28 years. He never even step foot on your guys' shops. So there are no customers like "us". Because we aren't customers. There have been countless days and nights of installing LPGs repairing exhausts, changing chains, changing brakes, suspension, fixing suspension and that's only in my PoS. His Merc was last in a shop when he disassembled the transmission in an afternoon after he was reading in a forum in the morning.
You get a fat fuck you from me, fucking idiot.

Hey, i never work in the outback matey
And I have 0 experience on holden vehicles and Australian repair facility dynamics.

In America if you get a deal that's to good to be true, they used the cheapest fucking parts known to man and a entry tech making $12 an hour who used to be a chef at Applebees.

You always will save money doing repairs yourself, always. If you can do it.

I invested 85k over the years in tools and 14k on my toolbox to look as professional as possiable.

Everybody sells something

Plumbers charge me $1600 to replace my water heater. It was costly. But they did a good job. And the unit is large and works well. And I have a 2 year warrenty.

Sometimes it's better to have a place to complain to if shit happens.

It just cost more$$$

If I have to drive your car, hell yeah I'm moving your seat and your mirrors. So I am safely operating your vehicle with full view and control of your vehicle.

For my safty
Your cars safety
My jobs safety.

If you 4 foot 8 inch and I'm 6 foot. Your seat is going down and back.

Your car has to get back in one piece

Nobody wants your business you fucking parker

There is no business to be given, fag.

fuck off dick head, you can move the seat back or forward and you can move the steering wheel back or up or down if you are that autistic but don't touch the up and down on the seat that shit takes weeks to get right.

>retardedhobbyist.txt
Your dad hates you too, numale

my dad could beat up your dad

Are you mad that you haven't wrenched with your father while explaining to you?

>know how to do something that a lot of people dont
>can charge whatever because you know they hve no choice
>wtf y charge so muchh xdddd
communists get out

no one cares OP

You kill yourself you angry kike

You are so mad hahahaha get a better job miserable cunt

The salt of a loser

Go to a party you sad fuck

dealership told me i needed over $5k of repairs on my mint condition car.
brought it to small shop who looked it over, said i needed new pads and rotors in the rears and a one caliper, costed $330.

Poorfag rants

>Come into the shop with a poor attitude
I come in expecting an honest rate for the work done.

I practically stole the local mechanic from our local shop after I realized how little you guys make compared to the shop itself.
>Be me, middle of winter
>Fucking cold, don't want to deal with a cover & gasket for my 10 bolt
>Shop wanted $130 labor
>Holy fuck, what
>Caught the grease monkey on break, offered him $50 and a beer if he came to my house and did it later
>Kid showed up happy as can be
>Have since called him for numerous odds and ends

It's not your fault the owner is making bank. The only one making a living wage is the owner of the business. There's no reason to have such a drastic difference in take home pay other than greed.
>But it costs a lot to run a shop!

No it doesn't if you own the building.

Butt hurt gd wrx customers with cobb accessports.

And 3 rod bearings

Spoken like a true pansexual

Depends on the car. Sti calipers can be $900 each.

Auto zone brakes suck balls

Bought a 3rd gen firebird for my first car. The previous owner drove it for less than a week before the brakes supposedly stopped working. Had it towed to a shop to have them looked at after i bought it. A few days later i pick the car up and pay something like $200. Too excited to check what work was done, just wanted to drive it with working brakes. While driving it home i notice the brakes seem weak though. A friend helped me in bleeding my brakes, but there wasnt much air in the lines. I drove it again and the brakes still felt the same. I started looking up why and discovered ABS.
>Mfw its just an old car that didnt have ABS
>Mfw i let a shop fuck me out of $200 when the pads wernt even bad
>mfw i realized i could of just had my friend help with the pads while we had it jacked up to bleed the brakes, for less than half the price
Fuck shops, thats the one and only time ive taken a personal car to one. That thing had lots of issues i never really fixed, but it was a good intro to wrenching

I could never afford my truck if i didnt do the work myself. I'd also never be able to drive it because it would always be in the shop being covered in grease. I got quoted 1,200 for new gears and install in my diff. I also wanted LSD which they said would be another 400. I went to the junkyard and found a differential with 137k miles LSD and 3.7 gears. Did it myself with the help of my brother over the course of the day.

>

>>But it costs a lot to run a shop!
>
>No it doesn't if you own the building.


Yeah it does you dumb cunt

>electricity
>wages including sick pay and holiday pay
>insurance
>equipment and upkeep

Just to name a few

Dont forget hazmat disposal

What about and have you discovered exactly?

You sound like some 20 year old retarded teen father.

What did you name yoir kids?

Remington?
Thor?
Rachyel?
Lynden?
Jameyyyyyyyyyyyy lyyyyyn?

>one time this place wanted actual muny to lift my big was truck.
>I was all like dude, what the fuck im just a guy, cant you do it for like $80
>so I drank beer and me and my buddy tire iron Andy did it for like $2 in parts and $45 in Busch light.

>fucking shop robbers

ausfag here
we have roadworthy checks every year for older cars as well as a more extensive check (blue slip) for unregistered vehicles. I drive an australian assembled Impala which was unregistered. Anyway, bring into the mechanic's shop for slip, 40 minutes later sweaty fuck comes over and says i need new axles, brakes, ball joints etc etc basically half the front end is fucked in his opinion. Quotes me about $4000 for all this garbage. I called bullshit as i'd just bought the car and the owner had receipts for all this stuff and a lot more. Basically told him to get fucked

God i hate these people

Forgot to attach the pic
I feel that. I only paid $700 for mine. The taxes, fees, and brake "job" cost half as much as the car. Last i checked i didnt buy a bmw, so fuck paying more than the car is worth in repairs
>what have you discovered?
That i cant understand half the shit you type. You say you are in michigan, but i can understand customer seevice pajeets better than i can understand you. .

Your car is fucked

...

You can repair any car if you try enough

>has shitty car
>gets free diagnostics
>buys garbage tier parts that will fail in 1/4 the time
>doesn't think labor cost is a thing
>thinks running a shop and warrantying work is free
>blames the mechanic because he refused to work for minimum wage

Literally retarded. Mechanics all go off of book hours. The book hours are what it takes the average mechanic, with normal tools, to complete the job. Sometimes you can do it faster, sometimes slower. How fucking dumb are you?

>it took me two hours to do a half ass job
>why does the shop charge me for 4 hours to do it properly?

>buys a piece of shit
>surprised brand new parts and hours of labor to repair it cost more than the car

How absolutely stupid are you people???

>hurrr I bought a used POS PC
>can you believe a new graphics card and ram cost me more than I paid!!! gaahhh!!!

>lets the mechanic buy the parts instead of bringing them in
>wtf mechanic buy cheap chinese shit!!!!
>wtf mechanic buy expensive part wtf is this ripoff shit!!!

...

Worst I've gotten was a local shop trying to feed me a line of bullshit about my ML 430 needing a bunch of work to pass state inspection

>because of scheduling conflict I couldn't take it to my dealership for inspection
>figure what the fuck I'll just go to this shop close to my apartment complex
>they keep car for an hour
>guy comes out with long list of bullshit that needed "work"
>oil leak
>steering rack was leaking fluid
>A/C Compressor was leaking
>exhaust system was rusty and needed work
>giant list of faults I know are all complete lies
>throws out it will be at least a couple thousand, probably more, I need to get it done right away

I had some fun with that encounter. Acted stupid, got a written quote that listed all the work, then went straight home and promptly contacted the DMV to report the shop

>pic related was my rusted out exhaust system

>yearly roadworthy checks
fuck what ever state you live in, in vic its get a roadworthy when you buy it and then thats it.

nsw but i use roadworthy loosely i know its different in vic. here its actually called the pink slip/ esafety check basically wiper/headlights/brakes

makes sense, can't P platers only do 80km/h there too?
nsw has all sorts of fucked up car laws.

i'm actually a p plater lol which was why i told them to get fucked i didnt have that kind of money. But yeah the rules are messed up its 90km/h max

Sure, belt tensioner in a 2003 Toyota matrix the tensioner bolt broke and was charged over $400 for removal and a new bolt. Was also quoted $2000 for replacing the water pump at the same time, I had just enough money to pay the smaller bill. Later on found out how easy it would be the engine didn't even have to be removed.

I cant imagine anything that would be done that would require the removal of the engine except a rebuild or a swap. Then again i have truck and theres tons of space under there

I just paid a dealer $150 to misdiagnose a problem and another $400 to replace the bad sensor. Said fuck you and replaced the sensor they said was bad (30 minutes) and that didn't fix the problem. Tested the old sensor and it was perfectly fine. Did my own digging around and found there was a short in the wire.
great job wasting my money

>surprised
Where did i say that?

>hours of labor
If you have access to a lift, like the ones in most car shops, it shouldnt take much more than an hour to replace pads. Im in the wrong line of work if $200 for replacing pads that didnt even need to be replaced is considered a fair price.

>parts and labor cost more than the car
Again, where did i say that?

Because your a dumb hick.

Try doing anything to an Audi q7 without removing the engine,trans,subframe

He literally did you fucking retard god damn

>Last i checked i didnt buy a bmw, so fuck paying more than the car is worth in repairs

Ill take shit that never happened for $500

Pic related

>dealership cucks just want muny, I added Lucas oil shit in a can like the forum said and my cars running great.

I charge a minimum of 4 hours for a y wiring related issue.

Cuck

>because youre a dumb hick
My sister wife took offense to that

Meaning i wasnt going to pay more than the car was worth for repairs to it. Considering that everything i fixed was easy for someone with no wrenching experience, and doable with less than 10 mins of research, none of it would of even been worth paying someone else to fix. I fixed a radiator "leak" by following the trail to the drain plug and tightening it. Id be out at least another $100 at a shop for that "repair" that i did for free

Polygamous scum

Had a MAP code, brought it in, they said TPS was bad.
>interesting
Replaced TPS
>no difference
Used a multi-meter for a hour and found a short in the wire. Took them 2 hours to come up with a bad sensor and forgot to send their shuttle to pick me up for an hour.
Dealers blow