Meeting people as a mechanic.

[Cooter]

I called my buddy at the other shop it was at and said i had the car. he says "Guy is a broke dick and dont have the $1600 to fix it." I tell him thats funny because he had no issue coughing up just over $2200 for me. LOL He said I must get good deals on the throttle bodies. He felt bad when I said the TB was fine and it was just a broken vac line. LOL

ahhhhh the fucking diag game...

I try REALLY hard not to be a mechanic these days. And while it's rare that I'll get conned into actually spinning wrenches on somebody else's junk, I constantly get wrangled into diag

I can't get away from it. It's always fun when you nail down a tricky one. I've got a buddy that is the fucking king at figuring out the shit that 8 other places couldn't...

good times (and bad LOL)

[Baba Ganoush]

Yeah diagnostic work sucks, I refuse to help folks with it anymore. I've learned my lesson. Luckily cars are a hobby again for me, not my profession. I'm to the point now that I tell friends/family that I'm NOT a mechanic. To which they grin and say...."You've built a ton of cars, of course you can fix my p.o.s.!"

No. No I cannot.

[Cooter]

I only help a few buddies with diag because they feed me work and they're sharp enough to not bug me with bush league bullshit.

I enjoy a little puzzle now and then...

I refuse to make another man's living for him.

[JC316]

ahhhhh the fucking diag game...

I try REALLY hard not to be a mechanic these days. And while it's rare that I'll get conned into actually spinning wrenches on somebody else's junk, I constantly get wrangled into diag

I can't get away from it. It's always fun when you nail down a tricky one. I've got a buddy that is the fucking king at figuring out the shit that 8 other places couldn't...

good times (and bad LOL)

Auctions have turned me into the Dr House of diagnostics. I love it when someone says "Mechanic has had it for three months and can't fix it", then I find the issue in 30 minutes.

[Cooter]

I live in the used diesel pickup mecca...

I'm friends with a lot of shop owners and a lot of dealers. I see all kinds of crazy shit

[4king]

I'm good at the check engine light game I literally just don't have time to break it down to most people. Shit I only do 35 of them a day 5 days a week

It never fails ill go out there and its misfiring on all cylinders, customer then asks what a misfire is. I tell them and they get more confused. It just turns into a game of 20 questions with me wasting 20 minutes and then the customer gets bat shit mad because I won't replace his spark plugs because I literally just told him what they are and how to do it. But you know how to do it and now you won't help me! Why are you being such an asshole! You could help me but you won't! You're just an asshole! And yes it has happened more than once on a weekly basis

It's a tricky line at an auto parts store, like I said if I say for sure it's a misfire and the truck just needs a tune up, and really the head gasket is bad and I send him to laser svt for example, guess what he has to deal with now. An arrogant asshole customer who I just told needs a tune up is going to go off on the mechanic because I told him it only needs plugs and wires.

As mentioned the majority of this country expects things to be handed to them.

Here is an example of what I deal with on a daily basis:
Customer: can you check my battery I think it might be going bad
Me: ok it looks like your battery is 6 years old an under 12 volts and it's unable to be tested
Customer: can you take it out and charge it for me? You guys do that free right?
Me: unfortunately a battery this old not being charged is going to be bad, of not your alternator is bad and isn't charging the battery
Customer: oh ok can you test my alternator?
Me: no your battery is bad and the alternator will give a false negative because it's working hard to try to charge the battery
Customer: ok so can you remove my battery from my car and put it on the charger so we can test it then test my alternator?
Me: we install batteries for free when you buy them from us but we can't work on your car to remove your battery.
Customer: but I just need to have this battery charged, are you saying you won't help me!?

I'm not joking when I say this happens on a daily basis. Its 110 degrees outside and they wil literally wait around the store while the battery charges for two hours, it will test bad and then they ask how long can they use it for now, ask us to install it again, and then leave without buying anything


I had to sell a customer 1 spark plug and a gas cap so that "he could pass inspection". I try to explain why they need to replace all 6 and they refuse saying it just needs one to pass inspection. I have to be friendly and shake their hands and tell them to come back and see me if they ever need anything else. At the end of the day they will be back next time rigging the next fix


Here's the break down for my DIY sales in a summer week

In the summer I sell 80 batteries a week, at an average of $120 a pop
I sell 13 alternators a week
Starters aren't tracked sales but I would say around 20 starters a week
7 water pumps a week
5-7 radiators a week
13 thermostats
119 transactions of atleast 4 spark plugs
89 oil filters
30 air filters
6 ac compressors
10 fuel pumps
4 brake calipers
2 master cylinders
I would say atleast 8 tie rod ends a day, they colony has shitty roads

I really have to jump in on fuel pump and ac compressor sales, it helps that I'm very good at listening for key words I heard, I guess working at target for so long with a Walkie talkie on my hip helps me decipher background convos

[LaserSVT]

People trying to save a buck is where I make my most money. Two perfect examples today.
1. Customer comes in frantic and in tears. She is a repeat customer and a nice lady so i stop what I am doing to help her. She says her car sounds like the front end is going to fall off and it shakes and has no brakes. Will I go drive it? Hell no! I go out and look and the front caliper is wedged between the rotor and wheel. Her husband replaced the brake pads and FORGOT to put the caliper bolts in. Gouged the wheel pretty bad and destroyed the caliper as well as the pads. 2012 Impala so parts wernt cheap. He didnt want to spend $70 to have me change the pads. Well $340 latter he is no longer allowed to touch the car. He also told he her rear pads were fine. They had maybe 10% meat left so we swapped those too.

Customer 2 I diagnosed a bad MLPS on his 2006 Ford F150 last week. He didnt want to buy a new one for $70 and pay $49 for the labor so he went and got a junk yard one for $45 and installed it himself and the truck keeps giving errors and shifting funny. I instantly knew the problem. I knew he installed the plastic adjuster improperly. I didnt charge him for the initial diagnostics because he said he was going to go get the money and be right back but instead did it himself. He didnt complain when I gave him a bill for $70 for something that took me all of 45 seconds to correct. He learned his lesson and said he now knows just to go ahead and let us do it.

[JC316]

I'm good at the check engine light game I literally just don't have time to break it down to most people. Shit I only do 35 of them a day 5 days a week

It's a tricky line at an auto parts store, like I said if I say for sure it's a misfire and the truck just needs a tune up, and really the head gasket is bad and I send him to laser svt for example, guess what he has to deal with now. An arrogant asshole customer who I just told needs a tune up is going to go off on the mechanic because I told him it only needs plugs and wires.


I had to sell a customer 1 spark plug and a gas cap so that "he could pass inspection". I try to explain why they need to replace all 6 and they refuse saying it just needs one to pass inspection. I have to be friendly and shake their hands and tell them to come back and see me if they ever need anything else. At the end of the day they will be back next time rigging the next fix

I really have to jump in on fuel pump and ac compressor sales, it helps that I'm very good at listening for key words I heard, I guess working at target for so long with a Walkie talkie on my hip helps me decipher background convos

I am friends with most of the employees at my local autozone and I am up there a lot. I see the majority of this shit happening. I was in there yesterday and heard some guy getting pissed off because they sold him two alternators that left him stranded. He then wanted his core back, which was long gone. They were going to refund the cost of a core, but this guy seemed to want them to pull his old alternator out of thin air.

I got suckered in to looking at a car by some random guy in the parking lot. Said his brake lights weren't working, I told him that it was likely the stoplight switch, he asked me to show him where it was, and then had the nerve to ask me to fix it. I told him that I can't and to take it to a shop in town. Come to find out, he is in there at least once a week trying to get them or customers to work on his shit for free.

[4king]

I am friends with most of the employees at my local autozone and I am up there a lot. I see the majority of this shit happening. I was in there yesterday and heard some guy getting pissed off because they sold him two alternators that left him stranded. He then wanted his core back, which was long gone. They were going to refund the cost of a core, but this guy seemed to want them to pull his old alternator out of thin air.

I got suckered in to looking at a car by some random guy in the parking lot. Said his brake lights weren't working, I told him that it was likely the stoplight switch, he asked me to show him where it was, and then had the nerve to ask me to fix it. I told him that I can't and to take it to a shop in town. Come to find out, he is in there at least once a week trying to get them or customers to work on his shit for free.

Yeah its a daily occurrence. When two alternators go bad in a row though it's the car/mechanic having problems. Most commonly see it again on the ford 4.0 V6 f150 that has the starter solenoid wired in line to the alternator for some reason, at least this customer had it that way. I tested all 3 I gave him before he installed and all 3 bench tested good, and came back after install saying bad. Gave him his refund with the core fee and we drove him across the street to oreilleys, good luck buddy oreilleys will find any reason in 4he book to void a warranty or act like the manager has to be there on a thursday.



As mentioned before it boils back down to the store manager, and i have seen and taken over some pretty shitty stores. It's my personal opinion the AZ store manager should be the face of the store on the counter helping customers, but that is very rare to find and most of the time you walk into a random AZ and your dealing with a kid who is getting micro managed to death while the manager is sitting in the back doing stocking or setting shelves

Man what's really scary for me is the amount of lube techs I see picking up side jobs for friends. They come in knowing zero about cars beside how to drain oil.

Haha reminds me, not sure if I posted this

[JC316]

Yeah its a daily occurrence. When two alternators go bad in a row though it's the car/mechanic having problems. Most commonly see it again on the ford 4.0 V6 f150 that has the starter solenoid wired in line to the alternator for some reason, at least this customer had it that way. I tested all 3 I gave him before he installed and all 3 bench tested good, and came back after install saying bad. Gave him his refund with the core fee and we drove him across the street to oreilleys, good luck buddy oreilleys will find any reason in 4he book to void a warranty or act like the manager has to be there on a thursday.



As mentioned before it boils back down to the store manager, and i have seen and taken over some pretty shitty stores. It's my personal opinion the AZ store manager should be the face of the store on the counter helping customers, but that is very rare to find and most of the time you walk into a random AZ and your dealing with a kid who is getting micro managed to death while the manager is sitting in the back doing stocking or setting shelves

It can happen, but it's rare. I got three bad IAC valves in a row from autozone for a 5.2L Dodge ram. Finally found a good one. This guy was driving a Lexus LS400, so god knows what was going on, too damned many electronics on those things.

I hear you on Oriellys, their favorite tactic is not having enough cash to do a refund. My autozone is on top of shit, there are usually at least two managers on hand and the store manager is awesome. He is the reason why I go to autozone and not anyone else in town.

[4king]

I had a walmart oil tech walk into my store in a rush asking for check engine light. Ask him what car it is and he says he doesn't know it's a metro or something. Well its a 08 Toyota yaris 3 door hatch with a cylinder 1 and cylinder 3 misfire. He says he has already changed the plugs and asks if he can use electrical tapE on the coils to help them work better cuz he thinks he ripped the boots. No you can't do that you probably need 2 new coils, this car only had 68k miles mind you

A minute later another walmart employee walks in and gives him some attitude, what's wrong why are we here. He lies and says it's nothing and it will be done in a minute. He goes back out and I talk to her, she says she had him change the oil at work and he told her that the car needed spark plugs and it will get better gas mileage. She asks me what the codes say and I tell her it's most likely the coils and they are $89 a piece. She goes outside and they yell and shout at each other

She comes back the next morning and gives me the full story, she paid him $60 and tipped him $20 because he was having a hard time. I was hiking and hawking and we were slow, I told her I would take a look to see what the deal was.

The walmart tech simply set the coils back in the tubes without pressing them in and then wrenched down on the bolt and cracked two of the coils on the bracket and inside the coil shaft.

I told her I would report him to her manager, working on cars off the clock and using the companys business to get your own money is a fire able offense. She says the store manager actually recommended him to do the work.

So I replaced the two coils for her after she got paid the next week

[Gasser64]

People trying to save a buck is where I make my most money. Two perfect examples today.
1. Customer comes in frantic and in tears. She is a repeat customer and a nice lady so i stop what I am doing to help her. She says her car sounds like the front end is going to fall off and it shakes and has no brakes. Will I go drive it? Hell no! I go out and look and the front caliper is wedged between the rotor and wheel. Her husband replaced the brake pads and FORGOT to put the caliper bolts in. Gouged the wheel pretty bad and destroyed the caliper as well as the pads. 2012 Impala so parts wernt cheap. He didnt want to spend $70 to have me change the pads. Well $340 latter he is no longer allowed to touch the car. He also told he her rear pads were fine. They had maybe 10% meat left so we swapped those too.

Customer 2 I diagnosed a bad MLPS on his 2006 Ford F150 last week. He didnt want to buy a new one for $70 and pay $49 for the labor so he went and got a junk yard one for $45 and installed it himself and the truck keeps giving errors and shifting funny. I instantly knew the problem. I knew he installed the plastic adjuster improperly. I didnt charge him for the initial diagnostics because he said he was going to go get the money and be right back but instead did it himself. He didnt complain when I gave him a bill for $70 for something that took me all of 45 seconds to correct. He learned his lesson and said he now knows just to go ahead and let us do it.

These people all seem pretty stupid. I've fixed countless problems with my own vehicles just by internet searches and youtube and talking to people on the forums. Seems like if they weren't stupid, they could do the same...

[AdRock]

Yes, a lot of the people are stupid. Well, their ignorance makes them do the stupidest and say the stupidest things. Also, car makers word things in a way that convince people that nothing should ever go wrong on a car for 100k miles. Then when it does they think it could never be something serious and we're just trying to rip them off. But when it comes to things vehicle related most people are dumb as shit and are fine being that way.

[LaserSVT]

I tll ya some days you think are just gonna be great and then someone has to mess it up. Been working on this damn Jaguar for days and I go take it for a test drive and all is good except one tire is separating. I come back and tell my tech to put the spare tire on it and tell him he has to use the key to open the trunk because the alarm module is bad so no electric pop. He changes the tire and says its good to go so I call the customer to come get it. Go out to park the car and cant find the keys. I realized dumb ass threw them in the trunk and then closed it. No through seat access due to the gas tank and the customer only has a valet key that does not open the trunk. So there goes all my profit margin to have someone come out and cut me a key. Great part is Jaguar makes you wait 24 hours before they will give you the key cut code so I have a bay down now and $200 for a fuggin key to be cut. Tech thinks its no big deal and I explain that as the owner of the shop its no different than if he were to go in my wallet and pull out $200 and set it on fire. I have to pay for it, it aint the customers fault.

Looks like beer thirty to me! Yay!

[Forever_frost]

Do you just eat that cost or do you take it out of the employee's check? How does that work?