> You can't blame a shop for looking to make
> a buck.
I'm sorry, John, I simply disagree. What you are talking about is fraud,
pure and simple. It is wrong. It is illegal.
> If they don't know what has been done to the car.
If a shop has succeeded in selling you work that doesn't need to be done,
why should they bother doing the work ? And it's only a small step from
there to not doing work you do need done. YOU have no way of knowing what
has actually been done, unless you personally inspected the parts before
they were installed, and watched them be installed.
As an extreme example, I was once asked to look at an older Ford that wasn't
running right. Oil looked like tar, thick layer of dirt on the oil filter,
air filter was so dirty that stuff fell off when I picked it up. The owner
produced receipts showing she was overcharged for filters and lube job, just
two weeks previously ! And every 3 months for years before that.
> ask every one you know where they take their cars.
I've been trying that approach. Tried the shop my best friend always uses
(even though they sold him a clutch job when all he needed was new seals in
the slave). I've only found 4 major mistakes so far, including not
tightening a front wheel bearing nut and leaving the dust cap laying loose
inside the hub cap. Wish I had inspected the brakes before I took it there
too, as it seems odd that that is the ONLY time I've worn out the front
brakes in less than 10K miles.
> Under
> "Actual car Info" there is a section, "Mechanics Files"
> (http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/) where you can look
> for mechanics in your area that others have recommended.
> This may not be perfect, but it's a good start.
Second place on that list for me installed used clutch parts but charged me
for new. I know because I tore the clutch back down myself less than 10k
miles later, to fix the vibration they swore was something else (from the
pressure plate fingers being uneven heights).
Randall
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