venting about my garage...long

91 fox.

the morning of feb 18 (last wed), i dropped my car off at a local garage...for an inspection and to diagnose and repair a front end problem...(slipped in ice, with wheels turned to the left, hit a guardrail with my passenger side front tire, resulting toe-out on that wheel)

i've been using this garage for the past 3 years for inspections and an occasional repair that i don't want to tackle myself. i've never had an issue with this garage before..they charge reasonable prices and have provided fast service.

this time, i heard nothing from them the day i dropped it off. the next day, i called them to find out what was going on...the man who answered the phone said that they had looked at it, and it needs 'lots of work'..for inspection, and they couldn't find out what was wrong in the front end....i can handle all of the "lots of work" on my own, with the exception of the front end.

i asked them to please look at it again, so they can call me with an estimate...all of friday passed, and still no word from them. i called them saturday morning...they said that they are 'very busy' and will look at it as soon as possible.

at this point, they've had this car for 3 full days and one half day (sat)...and i have gotten no satisfaction.

any opinions on this matter??...could this front end/suspension problem really be that difficult to diagnose for a professional mechanic? thanks andy

thanks

Reply to
Andy Gingrich
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After they gave me the BS the first time I would have just driven it to a tire store. They usually have a pretty good handle on the front end. There's not that moving parts on a front end and most are pretty obvious from just looking at them. The only one that was beyond my own shade tree mechanic knowledge was diagnosing a wheel bearing going (couldn't tell which side) everthing else (struts, inner and outer tie rods, ball joints, control arm and bushings) I've diagnosed and replaced myself.

HTH Steve

Reply to
sehaare

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I suggest getting your car back as soon as possible and find somewhere else. I have heard too many stories that start off like this and end with the garage closed and no way to get your car. It sounds like they are having problems.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 03:17:36 -0500, "Andy Gingrich" wrote:

|91 fox. | |the morning of feb 18 (last wed), i dropped my car off at a local |garage...for an inspection and to diagnose and repair a front end |problem...(slipped in ice, with wheels turned to the left, hit a guardrail |with my passenger side front tire, resulting toe-out on that wheel) | |i've been using this garage for the past 3 years for inspections and an |occasional repair that i don't want to tackle myself. i've never had an |issue with this garage before..they charge reasonable prices and have |provided fast service. | |this time, i heard nothing from them the day i dropped it off. the next |day, i called them to find out what was going on...the man who answered the |phone said that they had looked at it, and it needs 'lots of work'..for |inspection, and they couldn't find out what was wrong in the front end....i |can handle all of the "lots of work" on my own, with the exception of the |front end. | |i asked them to please look at it again, so they can call me with an |estimate...all of friday passed, and still no word from them. i called them |saturday morning...they said that they are 'very busy' and will look at it |as soon as possible. | |at this point, they've had this car for 3 full days and one half day |(sat)...and i have gotten no satisfaction. | |any opinions on this matter??...could this front end/suspension problem |really be that difficult to diagnose for a professional mechanic? |thanks |andy

Most shops will have an attitude about a car that is

1 - older than 10 years 2 - an economy model 3 - needs lots of work.

They know they can spend a lot of time diagnosing damage and wear, give you an estimate approximately equal to the car's value, and you will get mad and pick up the car and fix it yourself

So save yourself some hard feelings. Pick up the car, fix it yourself. With the money you save you can buy all the parts that are suspect, and whatever additional tools you don't have. And then you will know that it's fixed right, and you "earned" $90 per hour. Rex in Fort Worth

Reply to
Rex B

Reply to
verndog

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