How Long Can A Mechanic Keep Your Car Unfixed

My wife's car broke down last week Wednesday. My wife mistakenly took it to a local garage instead of our regular mechanic. It is a 1998 Mazda MPV AWD V6. It took them a day to find out that it was a bad battery AND a cam sensor in the distributor. He said we need to replace both for $1000. I promptly called my mechanic and he said that should cost no more than $550. I negotiated him down to $691, still a bit of a ripoff I think, but not quite as bad. Anyway, they had to order the distributor ad they said it might not be in until Tuesday. We called them Tuesday night and they said they got it running good, but they wanted to keep it another day to make sure it runs well in the morning. Wednesday they call us at noon stating that it broke down again and the reason is because the distributor they received is bad and they need another one. They state that they are having the vendor overnight it. Personally, I believe that they didn't order the distributor on time and are just going to be getting it tomorrow. Nevertheless, I have a feeling that this may drag on a while with him not being able to fix it. To date, neither me nor my wife have stepped into the garage, all phone conversation. What should I do if this thing drags on too long. I assume that I will have to pay something to have the car taken somewhere else to let someone who knows what they are doing look at the car. But are there any things that I should watch out for so that I can protect myself legally from paying like $500 just for the work that he has done so far trying to figure out what is wrong?

Reply to
Joseph Logan
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Right here I would have calculated how much it would cost to get my car to the mechanic I trusted.

And now you've created an adversarial relationship between yourself and the new guy. You don't trust him, and he thinks you're a cheap bastard & he's worried about getting paid.

-snip-

Disclaimer-- I am not a lawyer and I don't own a garage. In my opinion you owe him for whatever he bills you for. Stuff happens. You haven't indicated that you have any reason to distrust this mechanic. [has 'your' mechanic expressed an opinion?] His rates might be higher than your mechanic's-- he might be more thorough-- he might be greedy. [or he might be a lying ripoff artist as you suspect, but you haven't told us anything that indicates that] The scenario you report seems reasonable to me.

I'd call him up, see what he wants to settle up at this point. Then I'd call the mechanic I trust & ask him what's the best way to get my car to him.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

It should be noted that there is no such thing as a mechanic can 'keep' your car. You get to 'keep' it anywhere you want, especially at the shop you want. You should have paid the initial diagnostic time spent at the new shop and had the car towed to the prefered shop.

A mechanic.

Reply to
pete selby

It would not be unreasonable to ask for the parts that were replaced for inspection and be shown the new part under the hood. In my opinion if I pay that much for something I'd expect an explanation of what was done and why. Get informed about your vehicle. You can get part prices yourself on the web and know if you are being taken advantage of.

Reply to
TOLYN9

What if he says yeah, it's $2000 for it. Talk about creating an even more adversarial relationship.

Well, if he stated it is the distributor and the battery and then says it's $1000, but I called a dealer and the distributor is $350 and the battery couldn't be more than $100, I think I have a right to be weary. Also, why is it that the auto repair business just seems to be so shady to people who make the make the mistake of not following all of the steps to ensure they don't get ripped off. It's like it's our fault that the guy may be trying to take us to the cleaners.

Reply to
Joseph Logan

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