"Things You Will NEVER Hear From Your Mechanic" - Part 4

Frank Myers Auto Maxx Presents:

Things You Will NEVER Hear From Your Mechanic - Part 4
“You might be charged for work that hasn’t been done.”

It happens on purpose. It happens by mistake. Either way, it happens. Let’s say you drop your car off at the garage to have the fluids, belts and filters replaced. But the garage is busy, the mechanic who works on your car is a new hire, and the station manager hasn’t left very clear instructions. As a result, the belts never get replaced, but you drive away thinking you’ve got brand-new ones. When Gillis worked at the Department of Transportation in the 1980s, he says it was one of the most common complaints, and that it remains so today.

A good way to avoid the problem of work that was supposed to have been done but wasn’t: Ask to see the old parts. In some cases, mechanics can give you the parts they’ve removed from your car. (One exception is if the warranty requires they be sent back to the manufacturer.) “If you have a concern that a part was replaced when it shouldn’t have been, you should ask for it back,” says Mehl. (Rules vary by state; in California, for example, mechanics can give parts to customers.) California residents can contact BAR, and it’ll send a representative to examine the customer’s invoice and the part. “If it’s not faulty, we can take disciplinary action,” she says.

In addition, Robert Thomas (the Director of Service at Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston-Salem, NC) suggests taping to your steering wheel an itemized list of all the repairs you want made. That way the mechanic who works on it — in most cases not the person you talked to when you drove in — will have direct instructions from you.

*You can contact the service department at Frank Myers Auto Maxx for FREE advice by calling (336) 831-0656.