I took my 92 Maxima in because it was running hard, idling low and acting like it wasn't getting any fuel. The problem was on and off, but mostly on. The car ran better when it was in neutral, worse when it was in park. My mechanic checked the fuel pump, but said it was fine, then he replaced the cap, plugs and wires, flushed the fuel injectors and replaced the plenum vacuum? It was $630. The car ran well for about three miles and is now the same as it was. What rights do I have to ask my mechanic to correct this problem?
When they can't really find and fix the problem the first time chances are not good they will do any better the second next time. But they will always keep charging you no matter what happens. My advice is find someone who really understands Nissans and let them have a shot at fixing yours.
If it gets to the posint where you feel you need to bring it back to the original mechanic, tell him you want the problem diagnosed gratis and you want it fixed minus the cost you already put out 9in labor. You are stuck with the parts part. If he gives you the one finger salute, notify the better business bureau
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and go from there. This happened to me a while back and this is exactly what I ended up doing. We made a deal and I got my car fixed. Hope this helps.
BY THE WAY, JUST RAN INTO SOMEONE WITH 540,000 MILES ON HIS MAXIMA (1997) WITH THE ORIGINAL MOTOR!
"View from Outer Space" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com...
When was the last time any of this stuff was replaced? How much of the cost was for diagnosing the problem? Was he able to duplicate your complaint in his shop?
Sometimes a car comes in and won't act up for the tech, there are no codes in the computer so he has to make a best guess at the problem. Sometimes we see a car -we think- is running like crap and the customer will say "it's running fine right now" when on a test drive with them and the problem they are talkling about is worse than what we are seeing at the moment.
If it was over due for a tune, I can't see how anyone would expect this to be refunded. I have no way of knowing if the car had a vacuum leak or not so hard to say if that needed to be done. given it's a 13 year old car, it could easily have needed this stuff done.
I'd take it back and talk to them. Maybe like I said it wouldn't act up for them and they need to keep it until it does. We also run into the "I can't leave my car that long" so it's hard to figure out what's wrong when we can't have the car long enough to get it to act up. Another point is if it only acts weird once a day and needs to be driven for hours to get it to do this, are you willing to pay $75 a hour for someone to drive it until it does? These intermitant problems are the WORST kind, nobody like to see them.
I know from a consumers standpoint everyone wants this stuff to be cheap, fast and 100% accurate as well. Many times it's just not possible with intermitant type problems. I bet they saw nasty/the wrong plugs etc and assumed this was the problem. This is just the POV from the other side of the counter.
Depends on how your conversations with him went... did he make any assetions or guarantees that he had fixed the problem? or that you should bring it back if he didn't?
What is most important: did you approve the repairs (the tune-up in this case) before he started but after he had a chance to perform diagnostics? Did you go in asking for a tune-up? (maybe thinking it would fix the problem).
It seems you received some value for your money... the tune-up... even though it didn't fix the problem you went in with. That fuel pump diagnostic was a shot in the dark... did he do it because you suggested it when you brought it in? Did he charge for it in the itemized bill?
Assuming he performed the work with your approval, at best you should expect more time to diagnose and find the real problem... but any further repairs will be yours, IMO. However, based on his attempts so far you probably should find a mechanic with better diagnostic abilities.
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