For the last lots of years (as far back as I can remember) we have been going to the same Mechanic and he is awesome at his work. But recently he has hired a new grease monkey who uses leave behinds, which is the most annoying thing in the world. Every time he has worked on a car the original problem is fixed, but a new problem crops up.

An example, 16 months ago the Omega went in for a new head gasket, a few days later a hole appeared in a hose which looked a lot like the shape of a screw driver that was pushed through it, which had to be fixed, after that oil started spraying all over the engine bay, because of which we made sure Richard (the guy who owns the garage) works on the car and all was good. A few weeks ago the head gasket went again, and the gimp worked on the car, and now there is a new problem.

It is a pain in the arse because now it means we have to find a new garage to take the car to to fix work which has already been done, but to such a piss poor standard it has to be fixed again.

So have you ever taken your car to a garage only to have to take it to another garage because the jackass at the first one cocked up?

I've never had to take a car to a 2nd garage after having a choddy repair job done at a garage but back in the year 2000 i bought my first car, a brand new Vauxhall Corsa which had alloy wheels on it and each alloy was fitted with a locking nut, after having the car a month or so i drove over a screw and got myself a flat tire and when i came to change the tire i realised that the pillock at the garage hadn't given me the key to the nuts! Anyway i bought another new car last month from the same garage as i got the corsa from, this time i bought a 12 month old astra, with alloys and locking wheel nuts, and just as i was leaving the garage i realised the buggers had done it again, no key for the wheel nuts!!

I'm kinda lucky that my mums boyfriend has a garage and has been a mechanic all his life (Although not properly qualified) which is how I got the paint job on the corsa, and if anything goes wrong I take it there and have a go at it myself, if I can't fix it I just pay him to help.

I woulda been quite stuck if I had to go to garages and having worked in a few differnt garages I really wouldn't be happy leaving my corsa there and that's 10 years old. From dodgy mechanics as in the first post to the 16 year old apprentice revving the nuts off your car to get it in the door with his dirty overalls.

I know some people don't have a choice because there to busy, but if your having these problems at a garage i'd suggest finding a new one, ask around to people who know reliable and not to pricey garages, because today it could be something fixable, tommorow they could compldetely feck it.

Speaking of which, years ago my uncle had some big fiat, had a new full exhaust fitted on it, standard but brand new, he took it to a new garage he heard about where the owner apparently was some master mechanic. (His car had a slight mis firing problem)

Well, somehow these cowboys managed to blow up his new exhaust (litterally) and in some vain hope to make there mistake go un noticed, threw an old volva exhaust on it. Needless to say, the car stopped working while in there hands completely and I think in the end when after he realised they were complete numskulls he just took his car back and got rid of it.
I

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

[...]

Why not speak to the owner and express your discontent? Have him choose between letting "your" mechanic fix the car or searching for a new garage... I'm pretty sure you won't have problems after that, as no company can easily afford to loose a customer and maybe get a bad reputation in the process...

Quote from Bawbag :

Speaking of which, years ago my uncle had some big fiat, had a new full exhaust fitted on it, standard but brand new, he took it to a new garage he heard about where the owner apparently was some master mechanic. (His car had a slight mis firing problem)

Well, somehow these cowboys managed to blow up his new exhaust (litterally) and in some vain hope to make there mistake go un noticed, threw an old volva exhaust on it. Needless to say, the car stopped working while in there hands completely and I think in the end when after he realised they were complete numskulls he just took his car back and got rid of it.
I

I've heard of shoddy work, but that just raised (or lowered) the bar for poor workmanship.

As for phoning around (I think it was you who mentioned it), we have, and have been given a new name of a guy to go to, but decided that going to the Vauxhall dealership to get the car back to standard levels would be the best option then after that try the new guy we was told about. Going to cost a little extra, but other than dealerships the only garages we know about (excluding the new guy) have pretty bad reputations, like one where a car fell off a ramp (totalled it) and they made the guy who owned the car pay for the work done on it before they released it to him.

Quote from bbman :

Why not speak to the owner and express your discontent? Have him choose between letting "your" mechanic fix the car or searching for a new garage... I'm pretty sure you won't have problems after that, as no company can easily afford to loose a customer and maybe get a bad reputation in the process...

We have, but the guy wants to stop working on cars all the time as he is way into his 50's.
But unfortunately he thinks the guy who he hired doesn't seem to have the same love for meeting high standards as the owner did.

Sorry, but from the moment you mentioned it was a Vauxhall Omega that had 'problems' in the first place. I stopped caring.

Seriously tho, sounds annoying situation to be in.

Quote from BlueFlame :

Sorry, but from the moment you mentioned it was a Vauxhall Omega that had 'problems' in the first place. I stopped caring.

Seriously tho, sounds annoying situation to be in.

You missed what I was getting at, when a problem cropped up, any engine problem, the grease monkey we went to would fix it, then a new one would show up.

And it is, I think more money has gone into fixed cock ups then the car cost itself.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

You missed what I was getting at, when a problem cropped up, any engine problem, the grease monkey we went to would fix it, then a new one would show up.

And it is, I think more money has gone into fixed cock ups then the car cost itself.

Unfortunately I think it's all too common these days.. kids go to college, read some books and all of a sudden, become the best mechanic in the world!

I used to work in a garage that primarily concentrated on trucks (normally 7.5 tonners). We sent a head off to have some work done on it.. it came back and was given to the new kid to refit on the truck. Pretty simple task... but alas... not for this "know it all".. after he stripped 3 head bolts due to using a friggin airgun(!!) to tighten the bolts.

In another garage, some kid was doing a service on a Shitroen AX diesel.. somehow (god only knows how!).. he managed to fit the brake pads back to front... not just left to right, pad to calliper, metal backing to disc. He also forgot to refill the engine with oil after changing the filter.

I never took a mechanics course but have been messing with cars (in some form or other) ever since I could pick up a spanner.. seems weird I (and many others just like me) have never made such stupid mistakes (not that I'm perfect, but do have common sense).

Seems it's common in many trades these days unfortunately, quality is second to quantity.



Regards,

Ian

I bought a used Toyota 4x4 in 1995, and have since only bought used Toyota 4x4's until the beginning of this year. So, I haven't needed to go to a mechanic since 1995 (135k, 64k, 189k, and 99k miles on my Toyotas since 1995)

But since I now have a Ford product, I imagine I'll be at the dealership a few times up to the point that my warranty is up, then I'll be working on it myself. Why pay someone $70-100 per hour to work on my car when I can do it myself.

I love to hear about cars that are impossible to fix without a degree in quantium physics.

My rule is no more than $1000NZ ( 330 quid ) for a car, abuse it for three or four years then offload it.

Most people have this idea that a car is a asset - WRONG !!

It is a liability, ask any accountant.

If you can get reliable transport for the least possible money then your on a winner.

And if you want a collectors car, then work on it yourself.

The perfect car is a company one.