> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
> Behalf Of Carol
> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 5:59 PM
> To: mgs@autox.team.net
> Subject: Watch out for falling wallets!
>
>
> Just thought I'd share a story that could have come true...
>
> My '86 Fleetwood Brougham has developed a rough idle, so... I
> thought since
> it turned 100K last week and hasn't had a tune up that I know of since it
> was purchased in 1992 (I inherited the car, thank you, God! I need a
> battlewagon for the San Antonio freeways). I replaced the plugs with Bosch
> Platinums (properly gapped) in November, 97. Still rough.
> Which totals: 91.93
> Not including the $78 that Goodyear was going to charge for labor to
> install the TPS switch.
>
> And all I think it really needs is that throttle switch and gasket. Who do
> we trust anymore? I trust Riata Cadillac and will take the car to them for
> the switch replacement.
>
> Just thought I'd share. That computer diagnosis on an older car is a BIG
> source of income for those places. $50 for nothing... :-( And some call
> me cynical.
This reminds of a non-car related incident I had... The A/C in my house
stopped working (blowing semi-cool air, but not enough to keep the house
cool (austin, TX), we opened the windows when the house got to 95. (Thank
goodness this is before the 100+ temps hit this year). I had a guy come out
at about 10:00pm and see if he could fix it. He did a bunch of testing and
concluded that we had a leak in the outside coil (he supposedly specifically
tested for this, pulled a vaccuum on it and that's where the freon leaked
out) and we needed to replace the complete outdoor unit to the tune of
$2,200 (the unit is 7 years old). He would very kindly refill the freon in
the system for only $200 so we could have A/C for the night. I told him
thanks but no thanks and that for that price I needed to get another
estimate.
The next day a different company came out. He checked and the system was
fully charged with Freon, the problem was that some dampers had stuck (one
A/C unit, 2 thermostats for upstairs and downstairs), completely iced up the
indoor cool, the air wasn't getting cooled and that was our problem. He said
the dampers worked fine now and he recommended that we do nothing, he
explained to me how to bypass the dampers if it happened again and charged
my $50.
So, my suspicion's were confirmed the first guy was simply trying to rip me
off, I called the first company and when I explained what happened, they
even returned my service fee that I had payed.
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