Meeting people as a mechanic.

[line-em-up]

you keep having a shade-tree mechanic do your brakes... he keeps slapping pads on it...

eventually you have this

LOL. They must be rough on their brakes. My 300,000 mile stang still has the original rotors on it and I have never even turned them. They still look pretty good.

[Cooter]

LOL. They must be rough on their brakes. My 300,000 mile stang still has the original rotors on it and I have never even turned them. They still look pretty good.

they usually hold off on slapping pads on them until the actual pad material is gone and the bed is grinding on the rotor

[BP]

Well on the other end of the spectrum I deal with parts changers all day. We sell drivetrain parts and there are so many shops too lazy or inept to diagnose and repair anything it's crazy.

I just had a call with a shop that's on their 3rd 4.2 engine (04 F-150) and it has a weird squealing noise from the timing cover. I don't believe them since they send back more than 50% of what they buy so I send a field inspector. We verify the noise but it's coming from the cam sensor. So we sell the part, they install it just like they get it. We have install paperwork telling you we don't cover anything but the engine. We don't offer any kind of labor on this. These guys want us to send another engine because their tech isn't smart enough to spend 10 minutes swapping over a squeaking cam sensor. They'd rather spend 10 hours replacing the entire engine again.

Then again probably 10% of my calls are on 41TE/A604 transmissions with solenoid or pressure switch codes, just like the one they replaced. It's hard to tell a shop they could have spent $150 and 5 minutes swapping a solenoid pack instead of replacing an $800 trans and spending all day doing it.

[line-em-up]

they usually hold off on slapping pads on them until the actual pad material is gone and the bed is grinding on the rotor

Yes, my sister has been good at making that happen.

[jefehbk]

Able bodied people that can't put their own wiper blades/bulbs/or batteries in their car bugs the crap out of me. Maybe its because they are always in front of me in line when I need something from the local parts store. I hate having to wait for the guy at the counter to pull my part due to he's out in the parking lot installing wiper blades on for the retards that are either too lazy or stupid to do it themselves.

Hey A-hole, those wiper blades are hard for some of us.

[JC316]

What company are you with? PM if you don't want to say on here.

JC216, a lot of newer cars have HIDs, which pretty much start at $100 each. In 2013 the Mustangs all come with HIDs factory, even the 6ers.

I know about the HID's being around $100, but I have never heard of $1000 headlights.

[Labora]

I know about the HID's being around $100, but I have never heard of $1000 headlights.

Some of the high end cars are getting downright nuts. I wouldn't believe 1000$ for a bulb. But I have seen several lights sell for 1500$+ for the entire unit. I sold a Lincoln MKT Headlight today the OEM list on one of these is around 2500$. F' that!

[03mustangdude]

When headlights move with the steering wheel and you can adjust the brightness and radius then ya getting more expensive than it should be

[LaserSVT]

People really make me want to bang my head against a rock crusher. Customer calls me saying his 2002 F150 with 248,000 miles has now thrown its 3rd plug (two after 3 previous "fixes"). Wants new heads. I explain why he is WAY better off with a new motor. Big reason is its cheaper and has warranty. I tell him I need the vin or the truck so i know if its a Romeo or a Windsor. Kid says its a Romeo. I tell him great but need to know if its a 6 or W vin. He says its a W. Still weary I ask him how many valve cover bolts are there. He says 10 or 11.

Well hell, guess he does know. So I tell him I need a $3000 deposit and it needs to be cash due to delays with CCs and the ridiculous amount they charge for a $3000 transaction. He insists on CC. I oblige. Wait 4 days for his CC company to release the funds. Dude calls me every day to see if the motor is there. I explain why it has not been ordered yet. Then my credit processing company puts it on hold. I tell the customer every day to call and clear it. he continues to ask if the motor has been ordered. I explain yet again, funds have not cleared. Funds clear after 9 days and I order the engine. Truck is delivered, first time i have ever seen it.

Yank the motor and as I set it on the stand I see 8 crank bolts....... Argh! Its a fuggin Windsor. Look at the VCs, yup, 14 bolts. Mother....... Check the trucks vin and he gave me the 5th digit, not the 8th.
So I call him in, show him the issue. Tell him that mistake cost him $300 because of shipping to get the right engine. They decide i should eat half of it. I was half tempted to drop his motor back in there and call a tow truck. New customer though and I want them to be happy but damn.




Never never never never take your customers word that something is what it is. Nice kid but damn. Sad thing is he has a sweet GT and a Raptor. He asked if I could timesert it because he stripped a plug. Truck has 20k miles. I asked him what the hell was he doing changing plugs on it already for? Never done a 6.2 and don't want that to be my first. LOL










Got another repeat customer ask me last week how much to change a ball joint in a 93 Voyager. i gave him what i thought was a good price. They decided to do it themselves. Couldn't get it back together so it shows up on a tow truck today. LOL I get it in and the ball joint is fine, its the tie rods. You can move the wheels a good 10*! Yikes! Well thats no longer $100. Its now $500. I then glance back and see a pair of vice grips on the rear brake lines. They were there so long the lines are almost completely stuck collapsed. I pull them off, remove the rear drums and sure enough the wheel cylinders start to leak. Customer declines repair but instead wants me to install the new hood latch and just put the vice grips back on......... huh? Dude, its shoes and cylinders and drum turning. Its like $150! Its $70 to install the new hood cable and you can still open the damn thing.

Not sure what to do with that one. I have to have him sign a waiver and think i may have to have a tow truck drive it off my property.

[BP]

We can't sell you an engine without a VIN. Then again if it were a 99 Expedition it'd probably have a Romeo VIN but a Windsor engine.

Really though when you are dealing with Ford V-8s it's a good idea to order by the valve cover code. You'll run into an F-150 one day with a car engine and nothing is going to fit. That or you'll order a PI engine for a non PI application.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Truth, I cant even key up an order for a reman engine without the VIN off the truck it's going into. Solves some of those issues.

Interesting thing happened last week, our shop is across the street from the city's service center, and we've had the guys come ask us questions a couple of times. I dont know who they were using for mechanical work, but whomever it was sucks. They have a couple of trucks with check engine lights on, and cant get them inspected. The police came down on them and told them to get them inspected or not drive them. They stop in and ask us to fix them, since they have been asking around and heard we were good. ( I really dont know how that comes about, we've done some repairs for people that are local, but most of what we do is from friends. We do try and help out the locals that walk up and ask about issues they are having, but most of them dont bring a vehicle, they are just stumped working under the shade tree)

First one they brink is a 01-02 ish silverado, evap codes, missfires, and the waterpump is puking coolant. We called to give them an estimate, and before we can tell them, they tell us to fix what is wrong with it, and send them an invoice. Plugs, wires, waterpump and two evap solenoids and it's good to go. The top cover is missing the back bracket and none of the plastic retainer clips are in the sight shield or the fan shroud. We let them know it was ready, came and picked it up, and told us there are a few more they were going to drop off.

[4king]

The orange parts store


Oh you have a ford? How many miles 130k yeah change your plugs yes all of them not just one

Camry evap code? Canister purge valve

Over half the time here at the parts store if I see code for mass air sensor of knock sensors, or both front 02 sensors on a ford I just pop the hood and the customer installed an air filter wrong

Was pretty cool this week, I helped a guy replaced a fuel injector on his jeep grand cherokee all pretty much over the phone after he built up confidence watching YouTube videos. He was extremely grateful and proud and then asked how hard it was to do brake pads lol

Why would I pm you where I work? Click the send button yourself lazy

[BP]

First one they brink is a 01-02 ish silverado, evap codes, missfires, and the waterpump is puking coolant. We called to give them an estimate, and before we can tell them, they tell us to fix what is wrong with it, and send them an invoice.

Municipal fleet accounts can be gravy but you really need to stay on top of the billing. Most of the bigger cities are contracting with ARI already which is great since they pay with a credit card but the ones that don't like to cut one check a month and that's after their accounting people approve it.

One shop I was at had a contract with the local Corps of Engineers. They paid by check every time and always bought anything we recommended. Their fleet was a bunch of 2wd Cherokees and Ram trucks so we stayed busy.

[Baron Von Crowder]

Municipal fleet accounts can be gravy but you really need to stay on top of the billing. Most of the bigger cities are contracting with ARI already which is great since they pay with a credit card but the ones that don't like to cut one check a month and that's after their accounting people approve it.

One shop I was at had a contract with the local Corps of Engineers. They paid by check every time and always bought anything we recommended. Their fleet was a bunch of 2wd Cherokees and Ram trucks so we stayed busy.

It's a really small town, so we submit an invoice and they pay. We're unsure as to the time frame of getting a check after the invoice is submitted yet.

[talisman]

Municipal fleet accounts can be gravy but you really need to stay on top of the billing.

Man, this is no fucking shit. My store in Grand Prairie handled the repair facility for the cities police and fire vehicles. They could tear some shit up. My second store I had the City of Arlington Bus Barn as one of my bigger accounts. Billing was always a hassle, and it gave me a rather disturbing glimpse into how our tax dollars are just flushed down the toilet every day.