These stories are from the news wire and are related to auto repair and pure automotive news. Enjoy the stories and stop back for more. I will add only the best automotive news stories and they will be added 4 times a month.
Showing posts with label auto repair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label auto repair. Show all posts
Friday, August 24, 2007
Automotive news stories
New source for automotive news stories. In poking around the web to find out what is going on in my favorite industry I have come across 3 stories I thought would be nice to share with other automotive fans.
These stories are from the news wire and are related to auto repair and pure automotive news. Enjoy the stories and stop back for more. I will add only the best automotive news stories and they will be added 4 times a month.
These stories are from the news wire and are related to auto repair and pure automotive news. Enjoy the stories and stop back for more. I will add only the best automotive news stories and they will be added 4 times a month.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Are we all treated equal ?
Before I tell you about the actual stories of people I have helped and the details of their problems and solutions, I would like to review some strategies for women motorists.My wife has been proof reading and editing the book for me. She has told me that even though I have tried to strike a balance in the presentation that I have leaned toward the side of how a man would handle the service situation. So we discussed this at great length and decided to add a section for the female motorist.Service department personnel treat women differently and I don’t want to act like it’s not true when it is true. I wish I could say that automotive repair shops treat everyone the same, but I can’t.Women can be considered easy targets for auto repair rip-offs and scams. Most shops will see a woman as an easy sell because of a lack of automotive knowledge and an increased need for a feeling of safety. This is most definitely one of those situations were women must work harder then men to get the same treatment. Your automotive knowledge base must be very strong and your automotive vocabulary strong as well.Women can win this battle just like men. Go back to last chapter and click on the two links provided for the free educational materials. Learn at your own pace, but take the time to learn the information provided. I will be glad to help in anyway I can. mrg@certifiedmastertech.com My wife tells me that I must provide an alternative method to the kick ass and take names approach that I recommend. She says that women will not be comfortable at getting tough with the hardened career service managers and service writers. The alternative is knowledge about the subject being addressed by the service center. You won’t have to yell or get tough when you know the material being negotiated. When I was on the debate team in high school the women on the debate team had the advantage. This was in most cases due to their superior verbal skills and public speaking confidence. This can be the case as well when negotiating with the shop, but being prepared to debate is the key.
See more about my book on this free auto repair information page
See more about my book on this free auto repair information page
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
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