I would like to make you aware of the best FREE web site I know of for learning about how the automotive engine operates and more.
This site is 100% free and really makes learning the basics easy. You can study up on this topic and appear knowledgeable to your repair shop staff.
The how stuff works web site is amazing and can teach you more then just how engines work.
The start page for the FREE automotive section is located at the following link http://auto.howstuffworks.com the free articles section is impressive. I have listed just a few of the available topics you can research at the above link.
How Air Bags Work
How Air-Powered Cars Will Work
How Anti-Lock Brakes Work
How Automatic Transmissions Work
How Automobile Ignition Systems Work
How Automobiles Work
How Biodiesel Works
How Brakes Work
How Camshafts Work
How can I measure the drag on a car?
How Car Computers Work
How Car Cooling Systems Work
How Car Engines Work
How Car Financing Works
How Car Insurance Works
How Car Steering Works
How Car Suspensions Work
How Car Washes Work
How Cars Work
How Catalytic Converters Work
How Champ Cars Work
How Child Car Seats Work
How Clutches Work
How Convertibles Work
How Crash Testing Works
How CVTs Work
How Diesel Engines Work
How Diesel Two-Stroke Engines Work
How Differentials Work
How Disc Brakes Work
How do 30 pounds of air in your tires hold up 2 tons of car?
This free training might be time consuming but it is not only interesting but can make you appear very knowledgeable to your auto repair shop.
If this information was helpful please bookmark my blog and visit my new web site at the link below ( I need the traffic! ) Thank you
More valuable information at my auto repair web site
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Basic vehicle skills
Learning some basic automotive skills will make you feel more confident about going in for auto service. The service writer or service manager will instantly recognize this confidence.
A consumer that understands the vehicle and how the auto service business works is usually passed over when it comes time to apply the rip offs and scams.
Just like a lion out hunting the shop goes after the weak for an easy kill. But also like the lion when the shop gets hungry enough it may attack even the strong.
This is when we will break out everything we have learned and make the shop sorry they came after us.
In this chapter my goal is to teach you about the technical aspects of the automobile.
In my research about the subject and how to deliver the information I found two FREE premium websites that let you learn as much or as little as you want.
You can learn at your own pace as in the material is in bite size sections. The links to these sites are to follow in this chapter.
When I went through the material I noticed two key factors were missing.
So before I provide the links to these web sites I want to hit the basic principal of opening your hood and what you will see when the hood is open.
It very important to demonstrate this ability to you repair shop to change the way the shop thinks of you during the service procedure
The number 1 essential skill is to learn how to open your hood. Your owner’s manual explains how to do this in detail. But the basics are that there is a primary and secondary latching system.
This is to prevent the hood from flying up into the windshield while driving.
If the primary release is triggered or fails the secondary latch will catch the hood striker and hold it down.
To open the hood both the primary and secondary latches must be released.
The primary release is inside the vehicle usually to the left of the driver and down toward the foot well.
The secondary release is harder to find. In most cases the hood will have to be lifted up slightly to see the secondary release and is usually located towards the center of the hood.
Again your owner’s manual will give exact details to the location and operation of the latches.
You could also roll in to your local brand dealership and ask a sales person to show you how to open the hood (even if you didn’t buy the car there).
When you get the hood open take your time and look around and get familiar with the easy stuff first.
Things like fluid reservoirs are clearly labeled and marked. Your owner’s manual has a detailed break down of the location of these critical fluid locations and instructions on how to confirm proper levels.
Find your washer fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid; coolant reservoirs engine oil dipstick and transmission fluid dipstick.
On the next page is a picture of a modern engine out of the vehicle so things are easier to see. This is an example of what engines look like these days.
Inside the vehicle things can get hard to see because they really pack the engine in on the latest models.
You may be able to find pictures of your exact engine in your vehicle by going to google and searching for your model vehicle plus the key words engine picture.
Come see my new Automotive and car repair web site
A consumer that understands the vehicle and how the auto service business works is usually passed over when it comes time to apply the rip offs and scams.
Just like a lion out hunting the shop goes after the weak for an easy kill. But also like the lion when the shop gets hungry enough it may attack even the strong.
This is when we will break out everything we have learned and make the shop sorry they came after us.
In this chapter my goal is to teach you about the technical aspects of the automobile.
In my research about the subject and how to deliver the information I found two FREE premium websites that let you learn as much or as little as you want.
You can learn at your own pace as in the material is in bite size sections. The links to these sites are to follow in this chapter.
When I went through the material I noticed two key factors were missing.
So before I provide the links to these web sites I want to hit the basic principal of opening your hood and what you will see when the hood is open.
It very important to demonstrate this ability to you repair shop to change the way the shop thinks of you during the service procedure
The number 1 essential skill is to learn how to open your hood. Your owner’s manual explains how to do this in detail. But the basics are that there is a primary and secondary latching system.
This is to prevent the hood from flying up into the windshield while driving.
If the primary release is triggered or fails the secondary latch will catch the hood striker and hold it down.
To open the hood both the primary and secondary latches must be released.
The primary release is inside the vehicle usually to the left of the driver and down toward the foot well.
The secondary release is harder to find. In most cases the hood will have to be lifted up slightly to see the secondary release and is usually located towards the center of the hood.
Again your owner’s manual will give exact details to the location and operation of the latches.
You could also roll in to your local brand dealership and ask a sales person to show you how to open the hood (even if you didn’t buy the car there).
When you get the hood open take your time and look around and get familiar with the easy stuff first.
Things like fluid reservoirs are clearly labeled and marked. Your owner’s manual has a detailed break down of the location of these critical fluid locations and instructions on how to confirm proper levels.
Find your washer fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid; coolant reservoirs engine oil dipstick and transmission fluid dipstick.
On the next page is a picture of a modern engine out of the vehicle so things are easier to see. This is an example of what engines look like these days.
Inside the vehicle things can get hard to see because they really pack the engine in on the latest models.
You may be able to find pictures of your exact engine in your vehicle by going to google and searching for your model vehicle plus the key words engine picture.
Come see my new Automotive and car repair web site
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Confirm The Repairs Where Actually Done
I know what your thinking asking for the old parts back is my solution to this problem. Yes it is but I have a twist up my sleeve and I want to talk about asking for the old parts back in more depth.
The problems with asking for the old parts back are many. Number one what you are really saying is I don’t trust you, right to your shops face.
Another problem is if you ask for the old parts back from lets say a tune up you may get six old spark plugs and a smelly fuel soaked fuel filter.
You do not want to carry around a wet fuel filter. And when it comes to the old spark plugs they could be out of anybody’s vehicle.
And some times the part numbers on the old spark plugs is hard to read on very old plugs. If you can read the part number you can call a parts store to verify the spark plug part number belongs in your vehicle.
When you are talking about getting the old parts back when the repair is brake job, trust me you do not want the old brake pads back.
They are in most cases unidentifiable and very dirty and dusty. Plus there is no readable part Number to verify if they are off of your vehicle.
So again they could be off someone else’s car. (Quick story) I remember one time my sister had her car repaired when she was out of town.
She was driving and her check engine light came on. She called me in a panic. I told her to take it to a chain store and hope for the best but to ask for the old parts back.
The shop said the vehicle needed an o2 sensor and my sister confirmed the light was out and received the old part.
When she got back in town I asked to see her old part, it was not an o2 sensor but an egr valve off of a large diesel engine. Definitely not from her little economy car gas engine.
When I looked under her car the old original o2 sensor was still in the exhaust stream.
To make a long story short the shop just cleared the codes and let her go after confirming with her she was heading back to her home state.
Two things to learn from this. One if you have out of state tags tell the shop you just moved to the state your in and have not changed your tags yet.
The shop knows that if you are a transient customer that they will never see you again and can give you the royal screw over with no problems.
The second lesson is if you ask for the old parts back know what the part looks like.
Have the shop show you the old part on the car before they remove it so you can confirm it is the part quoted in the repair estimate.
Ok here is my twist on this ask for the old parts problem.
Don’t ask for the old parts but instead ask for the boxes from the new parts that were installed. Now confirming part numbers with a third party parts store is easy.
You will not have to deal with dirty smelly old parts.
You still have the trust issue to get around but we can be creative on this subject. We can tell the repair shop we collect automotive boxes for your box collection.
Yes they will think your weird but they will not think that you don’t trust them.
Or tell them you want the new boxes so when you need those parts again you know the correct part numbers.
Its funny when even a known felon will get mad at you when you do not trust him.
When it comes to larger more expensive parts you can tell the shop you want to save the box for warranty purposes just in case the new part fails.
This will make it easier for both you and the shop to receive credit should there be a parts warranty issue in the future.
Learn more about the automotive repair business
The problems with asking for the old parts back are many. Number one what you are really saying is I don’t trust you, right to your shops face.
Another problem is if you ask for the old parts back from lets say a tune up you may get six old spark plugs and a smelly fuel soaked fuel filter.
You do not want to carry around a wet fuel filter. And when it comes to the old spark plugs they could be out of anybody’s vehicle.
And some times the part numbers on the old spark plugs is hard to read on very old plugs. If you can read the part number you can call a parts store to verify the spark plug part number belongs in your vehicle.
When you are talking about getting the old parts back when the repair is brake job, trust me you do not want the old brake pads back.
They are in most cases unidentifiable and very dirty and dusty. Plus there is no readable part Number to verify if they are off of your vehicle.
So again they could be off someone else’s car. (Quick story) I remember one time my sister had her car repaired when she was out of town.
She was driving and her check engine light came on. She called me in a panic. I told her to take it to a chain store and hope for the best but to ask for the old parts back.
The shop said the vehicle needed an o2 sensor and my sister confirmed the light was out and received the old part.
When she got back in town I asked to see her old part, it was not an o2 sensor but an egr valve off of a large diesel engine. Definitely not from her little economy car gas engine.
When I looked under her car the old original o2 sensor was still in the exhaust stream.
To make a long story short the shop just cleared the codes and let her go after confirming with her she was heading back to her home state.
Two things to learn from this. One if you have out of state tags tell the shop you just moved to the state your in and have not changed your tags yet.
The shop knows that if you are a transient customer that they will never see you again and can give you the royal screw over with no problems.
The second lesson is if you ask for the old parts back know what the part looks like.
Have the shop show you the old part on the car before they remove it so you can confirm it is the part quoted in the repair estimate.
Ok here is my twist on this ask for the old parts problem.
Don’t ask for the old parts but instead ask for the boxes from the new parts that were installed. Now confirming part numbers with a third party parts store is easy.
You will not have to deal with dirty smelly old parts.
You still have the trust issue to get around but we can be creative on this subject. We can tell the repair shop we collect automotive boxes for your box collection.
Yes they will think your weird but they will not think that you don’t trust them.
Or tell them you want the new boxes so when you need those parts again you know the correct part numbers.
Its funny when even a known felon will get mad at you when you do not trust him.
When it comes to larger more expensive parts you can tell the shop you want to save the box for warranty purposes just in case the new part fails.
This will make it easier for both you and the shop to receive credit should there be a parts warranty issue in the future.
Learn more about the automotive repair business
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Do I Need A Tune- Up?
On to the next scam the good old tune up. In the mid 90’s the tune up service started to change due to technology changes in the automotive industry.
This is one case were the manufacturer has taken your side as opposed to what was good for the repair shop.
In the seventy’s and eighty’s tune up items like fuel filters and spark plugs required changing every 30,000 miles. With the frequency and profit margins so high once again we saw whole businesses built around just this repair.
On modern vehicles from the mid 90’s on up we saw the common deployment of platinum tipped spark plugs and canister type fuel filters.
The manufacture did not do this for your benefit but instead to meet increasingly tougher fuel economy and emission standards. This did as a side effect help the consumer.
Platinum spark plugs can go up to 100,000 miles before replacement is required. Canister type fuel filters can go as long as 60,000 miles before changing them is needed.
This doubles the life span of theses tune up items. Check your owner’s manual to see when tune up parts are recommended to be replaced.
The repair centers always considered maintenance tune-ups as a gravy job. This term means easy to completed and high profit margins to be had.
With the advent of fuel injection and increasingly reliable computer control systems the shop finds it harder to make profits in the tune up business.
But the repair centers have came up with other slick services to sell you to replace the less needed tune up.
The most popular up sell service is the fuel injection cleaning service. The service is rarely required and not recommended by the manufacturer in most cases.
The reason is that the improvement of the fuel filter system efficiency has reduced the amount of dirt and debris that will be distributed through the fuel system.
Also believe it or not gas companies have improved the quality of their product. In the instant of plus and super grade fuels system cleaners are included in the gas. Does this mean you never have to clean the fuel system?
Well yes and no. If the vehicle develops a rough running condition coupled with turning on the service engine soon lamp there may be a fuel system malfunction.
Fuel injectors by and large are very dependable but I have seen just a few cases were injectors have failed.
Again this is not common but can happen. The fuel injection service should not be performed if there is no drivability condition present in the vehicle.
The best way to protect your fuel system is never run your vehicle below a quarter of a tank.
The bottom of the tank contains almost all the dirt and sediment. When you hit a quarter tank go ahead and fill up, this can eliminate fuel system troubles.
Get the Whole Book At www.CertifiedMasterTech.com
This is one case were the manufacturer has taken your side as opposed to what was good for the repair shop.
In the seventy’s and eighty’s tune up items like fuel filters and spark plugs required changing every 30,000 miles. With the frequency and profit margins so high once again we saw whole businesses built around just this repair.
On modern vehicles from the mid 90’s on up we saw the common deployment of platinum tipped spark plugs and canister type fuel filters.
The manufacture did not do this for your benefit but instead to meet increasingly tougher fuel economy and emission standards. This did as a side effect help the consumer.
Platinum spark plugs can go up to 100,000 miles before replacement is required. Canister type fuel filters can go as long as 60,000 miles before changing them is needed.
This doubles the life span of theses tune up items. Check your owner’s manual to see when tune up parts are recommended to be replaced.
The repair centers always considered maintenance tune-ups as a gravy job. This term means easy to completed and high profit margins to be had.
With the advent of fuel injection and increasingly reliable computer control systems the shop finds it harder to make profits in the tune up business.
But the repair centers have came up with other slick services to sell you to replace the less needed tune up.
The most popular up sell service is the fuel injection cleaning service. The service is rarely required and not recommended by the manufacturer in most cases.
The reason is that the improvement of the fuel filter system efficiency has reduced the amount of dirt and debris that will be distributed through the fuel system.
Also believe it or not gas companies have improved the quality of their product. In the instant of plus and super grade fuels system cleaners are included in the gas. Does this mean you never have to clean the fuel system?
Well yes and no. If the vehicle develops a rough running condition coupled with turning on the service engine soon lamp there may be a fuel system malfunction.
Fuel injectors by and large are very dependable but I have seen just a few cases were injectors have failed.
Again this is not common but can happen. The fuel injection service should not be performed if there is no drivability condition present in the vehicle.
The best way to protect your fuel system is never run your vehicle below a quarter of a tank.
The bottom of the tank contains almost all the dirt and sediment. When you hit a quarter tank go ahead and fill up, this can eliminate fuel system troubles.
Get the Whole Book At www.CertifiedMasterTech.com
Friday, December 8, 2006
Introduction
I should have known I was in for trouble from my first day in the business. I was 16 years old and working at a gas station in New Jersey.
The state of New Jersey only has full service gas pumps. You are not allowed to pump your own Gas.
My first job in the automotive business, I was a petroleum transfer engineer or better known as a gas pumper. Sounds simple enough but it wasn’t.
After about an hour into my first day the station owner came over to me and stated you must ask everyone that comes in for gas if they want there engine oil checked.
If they say yes pull the stick and tell them it’s a quart low even if its not.
Tell them oil is $2.50 a quart installed. Add the money to the fuel charge. Walk up to vehicle proudly displaying the oil bottle and act like your pouring the oil in.
Do not actually put oil in the vehicle. Take the top off and fake poor the oil in. Recheck the dipstick and tell them it’s now filled to its proper level.
It being my first day and only being 16 years old I complied with the large owners wishes.
I will never forget how innocence was lost on that day. I went from being a good kid to aiding and assisting a known thief.
This was also the first time anybody used intimidation tactics on me. The owner of the shop was a real big guy About 6’4 300lbs and was a master at the art of intimidation.
He would get real close to you and stare right in your eyes looking right into your soul with a very stern look and would speak loud and angry.
He used this technique on his employees, customers and even his wife that worked in the office.
Very few people had the courage to say no to him. He made a lot of money and retired at age 50 from this small gas station and 3 bay shop using these techniques.
One day my own father came in for gas and as I pumped it the owner came up and started yelling at me.
My dad got out of his car and used the same techniques of intimidation right back on the owner. He was shocked and backed down real fast.
Few people stood up to this guy and if you did he would instantly back down for a variety of reason I would later come to understand and I will explain in detail in this book.
Well after a few days of pumping gas and not pulling the oil scam I was fired. The owner counted on making this extra 2.50 per vehicle and would not tolerate any gas pumper that refused to apply his technique.
The owner of this gas station also had 3 mechanics working for him. They all had no problem using a variety of scams on their lifeblood the customer.
I remember hearing them talk about it with no remorse. They would say things like she has plenty of money or her father is loaded with cash.
Whenever someone got ripped off they had a way of justifying it to themselves so they could sleep at night.
The owner of this shop would support and encourage the thievery that was going on by awarding under the table cash bonuses to his motley crew.
I was determined to be a mechanic and I was hoping that my first experience with this gas station was an isolated incident.
So I trained hard and spent a lot of money in training and tools to be a mechanic.
As I progressed through the years as a mechanic, service advisor, service manager and service director I found that most automotive repair shops were like the first one I had seen (rotten to the core).
I don’t want to scare you or make you think there is no hope of finding a trust worthy repair center.
Some reliable honest people are in this business. And that is what this book is about. You will learn how to find the good shops and how to scare the hell out of the shops that try and screw you over.
In most cases a dishonest shop is also lacking in other areas besides truth and honesty.
You will find that if a shop doesn’t care about customer satisfaction and fair business practices.
The same shop will also not care about EPA regulations and shop safety requirements (OSHA) mandated by state and local governments either.
These deficiencies can easily lead to a shop closing its doors and also a possibility of heavy fines or even jail time for the owner.
It is very easy for an informed customer to blow the whistle on a bad shop.
How easy. Just google OSHA or EPA regulations they can point you in the direction of people that would be very interested in your anonymous tip.
In the next chapter I want to go over the ground floor basics of how this business works.
Because when you understand this foundation and it’s principals the rest of the book and the techniques explained in the book will be easily understood.
It will also be much easier to apply the solutions that this guide provides to the common auto repair shop rip-offs and scams you will be faced with.
More Auto Service Info Here
The state of New Jersey only has full service gas pumps. You are not allowed to pump your own Gas.
My first job in the automotive business, I was a petroleum transfer engineer or better known as a gas pumper. Sounds simple enough but it wasn’t.
After about an hour into my first day the station owner came over to me and stated you must ask everyone that comes in for gas if they want there engine oil checked.
If they say yes pull the stick and tell them it’s a quart low even if its not.
Tell them oil is $2.50 a quart installed. Add the money to the fuel charge. Walk up to vehicle proudly displaying the oil bottle and act like your pouring the oil in.
Do not actually put oil in the vehicle. Take the top off and fake poor the oil in. Recheck the dipstick and tell them it’s now filled to its proper level.
It being my first day and only being 16 years old I complied with the large owners wishes.
I will never forget how innocence was lost on that day. I went from being a good kid to aiding and assisting a known thief.
This was also the first time anybody used intimidation tactics on me. The owner of the shop was a real big guy About 6’4 300lbs and was a master at the art of intimidation.
He would get real close to you and stare right in your eyes looking right into your soul with a very stern look and would speak loud and angry.
He used this technique on his employees, customers and even his wife that worked in the office.
Very few people had the courage to say no to him. He made a lot of money and retired at age 50 from this small gas station and 3 bay shop using these techniques.
One day my own father came in for gas and as I pumped it the owner came up and started yelling at me.
My dad got out of his car and used the same techniques of intimidation right back on the owner. He was shocked and backed down real fast.
Few people stood up to this guy and if you did he would instantly back down for a variety of reason I would later come to understand and I will explain in detail in this book.
Well after a few days of pumping gas and not pulling the oil scam I was fired. The owner counted on making this extra 2.50 per vehicle and would not tolerate any gas pumper that refused to apply his technique.
The owner of this gas station also had 3 mechanics working for him. They all had no problem using a variety of scams on their lifeblood the customer.
I remember hearing them talk about it with no remorse. They would say things like she has plenty of money or her father is loaded with cash.
Whenever someone got ripped off they had a way of justifying it to themselves so they could sleep at night.
The owner of this shop would support and encourage the thievery that was going on by awarding under the table cash bonuses to his motley crew.
I was determined to be a mechanic and I was hoping that my first experience with this gas station was an isolated incident.
So I trained hard and spent a lot of money in training and tools to be a mechanic.
As I progressed through the years as a mechanic, service advisor, service manager and service director I found that most automotive repair shops were like the first one I had seen (rotten to the core).
I don’t want to scare you or make you think there is no hope of finding a trust worthy repair center.
Some reliable honest people are in this business. And that is what this book is about. You will learn how to find the good shops and how to scare the hell out of the shops that try and screw you over.
In most cases a dishonest shop is also lacking in other areas besides truth and honesty.
You will find that if a shop doesn’t care about customer satisfaction and fair business practices.
The same shop will also not care about EPA regulations and shop safety requirements (OSHA) mandated by state and local governments either.
These deficiencies can easily lead to a shop closing its doors and also a possibility of heavy fines or even jail time for the owner.
It is very easy for an informed customer to blow the whistle on a bad shop.
How easy. Just google OSHA or EPA regulations they can point you in the direction of people that would be very interested in your anonymous tip.
In the next chapter I want to go over the ground floor basics of how this business works.
Because when you understand this foundation and it’s principals the rest of the book and the techniques explained in the book will be easily understood.
It will also be much easier to apply the solutions that this guide provides to the common auto repair shop rip-offs and scams you will be faced with.
More Auto Service Info Here
Auto service story
I want to start this chapter out with a recent personal story. I moved across the country to secure my new government job. This was actually about two years ago.
I got to town before my tools arrived and the long trip put me past due for my recommended maintenance on my newer truck that now had about 6,000 miles on it.
My owner’s manual states to change the engine oil every 3,000 miles or three months.
My manual states failure to comply with this could void my warranty and I know this is not true and I will explain why in this chapter.
I decided to go to the local dealer and explain to them I was a certified master technician without my tools and needed an oil change.
The dealer service advisor wrote me up and I waited for the vehicle in their state of the art customer conference room.
While I was in the waiting area I read the sales flier of what was to be included in my $34.95 oil change.
Boy all kinds of good stuff. I was tempted to go outside and watch the mechanic perform the service.
But I was comfortable and decided to relax, have some coffee and watch TV.
This was a mistake and against my better judgment.
I do strongly recommend that you watch the mechanic perform the service when waiting for your vehicle.
Even if you don’t know what your watching. The mechanic may not like it but that’s to bad it is your right to watch.
This usually keeps the mechanic honest. As in he is less likely to skip things like checking tire pressure and filling fluids.
Well I received a page that my vehicle was done and to proceed to the cashier.
I paid my bill and my truck was pulled up to the drive through. I decided to check the service right there.
Oh my god the horror. Nothing in the flier was done except just the oil change and they screwed that up also.
They overfilled the engine oil by more than a quart, which is bad for the engine.
They did not lube the front end; they did not top off the fluids, check the tire pressure or even fill my washer fluid.
They even crossed threaded the oil fill cap and broke it.
My blood pressure went through the roof. I went to the service advisor and asked to see the service manager.
To my surprise he pointed to the service managers office, instead of trying to handle the complaint, as a good service advisor should do.
I knocked on the service manager’s door and he yelled what in a very aggressive manner.
I entered and introduced myself and said I just moved to town and was looking for a reliable dealer and was interested in being a long-term customer of this establishment.
I explained to the service manager my disappointment on how my simple oil change was completely botched. He said why and I went down the long list.
He got defensive and put on his angry face and said what makes you so smart.
I explained my expertise in the field and why I didn’t do the service myself.
He went out to my near new vehicle and I showed him every last detail that went wrong on the simple service.
After a few more attempts to get tough on me which I immediately used against him he surrendered and agreed the service was done horribly.
There was no defending anything because the poor service was so obvious.
He stated his lube guy was a trainee and he would have the service straightened out by his best master tech and refund my money.
He lived up to his promise but I was there for about 5 hours total.
I know this was a long story but I wanted you to understand I know what you face as a customer and as a mechanic.
More Auto repair info at www.certifiedmastertech.com
automotive
I got to town before my tools arrived and the long trip put me past due for my recommended maintenance on my newer truck that now had about 6,000 miles on it.
My owner’s manual states to change the engine oil every 3,000 miles or three months.
My manual states failure to comply with this could void my warranty and I know this is not true and I will explain why in this chapter.
I decided to go to the local dealer and explain to them I was a certified master technician without my tools and needed an oil change.
The dealer service advisor wrote me up and I waited for the vehicle in their state of the art customer conference room.
While I was in the waiting area I read the sales flier of what was to be included in my $34.95 oil change.
Boy all kinds of good stuff. I was tempted to go outside and watch the mechanic perform the service.
But I was comfortable and decided to relax, have some coffee and watch TV.
This was a mistake and against my better judgment.
I do strongly recommend that you watch the mechanic perform the service when waiting for your vehicle.
Even if you don’t know what your watching. The mechanic may not like it but that’s to bad it is your right to watch.
This usually keeps the mechanic honest. As in he is less likely to skip things like checking tire pressure and filling fluids.
Well I received a page that my vehicle was done and to proceed to the cashier.
I paid my bill and my truck was pulled up to the drive through. I decided to check the service right there.
Oh my god the horror. Nothing in the flier was done except just the oil change and they screwed that up also.
They overfilled the engine oil by more than a quart, which is bad for the engine.
They did not lube the front end; they did not top off the fluids, check the tire pressure or even fill my washer fluid.
They even crossed threaded the oil fill cap and broke it.
My blood pressure went through the roof. I went to the service advisor and asked to see the service manager.
To my surprise he pointed to the service managers office, instead of trying to handle the complaint, as a good service advisor should do.
I knocked on the service manager’s door and he yelled what in a very aggressive manner.
I entered and introduced myself and said I just moved to town and was looking for a reliable dealer and was interested in being a long-term customer of this establishment.
I explained to the service manager my disappointment on how my simple oil change was completely botched. He said why and I went down the long list.
He got defensive and put on his angry face and said what makes you so smart.
I explained my expertise in the field and why I didn’t do the service myself.
He went out to my near new vehicle and I showed him every last detail that went wrong on the simple service.
After a few more attempts to get tough on me which I immediately used against him he surrendered and agreed the service was done horribly.
There was no defending anything because the poor service was so obvious.
He stated his lube guy was a trainee and he would have the service straightened out by his best master tech and refund my money.
He lived up to his promise but I was there for about 5 hours total.
I know this was a long story but I wanted you to understand I know what you face as a customer and as a mechanic.
More Auto repair info at www.certifiedmastertech.com
automotive
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