Assessing a shop's integrity

[Andrew Buc]

I posted a couple of weeks ago that a garage in Seattle had told me that my '87
4kq w/173k would need a new clutch pressure plate in the near future. This was
met w/quite a bit of skepticism, on and off list, some of it vehement, from
listers. I'm inclined to go with the listers' opinions on this, but it makes me
wonder about something else.

I originally took the car in because the rear side windows had quit working. My
regular independent mechanic (who's worked on my various cars for 20 years and
is as honest as the day is long) was out of town, one window had jammed halfway
open, and it wasn't something I could let go unfixed for any length of time. If
both windows had been jammed closed, or close to, I could have waited for my
regular mechanic to get back.

Anyway, they replaced the switches in the console and both rear window
regulators, and they said I should come back in a few days for replacement of
the switches in the rear doors, which they had to order. I found that now the
windows worked fine using the console switches, and they also worked fine using
the rear-door switches, once I'd gone back to get the latter installed. (I've
never carried more than 1 passenger at a time in the time I've had the car, but
I do want to keep it in good shape on general principles.) It's the regulators
I wonder about. I'm no automotive electrician, and I've never studied the
wiring diagram for the car, but for all I know, maybe an electrical problem
could take out both rear windows at once. I'm finding the idea of both
regulators going out at once a bit harder to swallow. I've heard that you can
help keep a shop honest by asking to see the old parts, but I'd heard good
things about the shop, and I didn't think to do this at the time. Between the
window regulators and what they said about the pressure plate, I'm not sure I
want to take the car to them again. Your 2 Euro cents? TIA