[s-cars] Head gasket: 2850$ (longuish)

Wed Jan 19 19:31:30 EST 2005

Joe and Bruce,

I'm on you side, legally speaking, but I went the soft way for two reasons.

First, I would have agree for much more than the first estimate if the guy
have notified me so I consider it's unfair not to pay for the job I've would
have agree for just because it didn't followed the law by the book. The job
is done, and very well done, so I should pay for what I would have agree
for. Most of the high end european cars owner don't want to go back to their
mechanic to sign an estimate as they don't really care about a few hundred
bucks more or less. Most of his customers don't care about the bill at all.
So he've done what he's used to do and what usually satisfy his customer,
just forgetting it's not legal. He lost 750$ with me, in cash and in future
maintenance and I think it's enough to let him know he should give more
attention to the law.

Second, as Dave said, a competent Audi mechanic is rare and valuable. And I
prefer a mechanic I have to slow down to a mechanic I have to double check
because he's doing a cheap job. And this competent mechanic charges only
40$/h, one of the lowest hourly rate I've seen for an Audi specialist. So I
thought it was a good idea to keep good relation with him.

Besides, if I had the slightest doubt this guy was trying to screw me, he
would have seen nada, because the consumer almost always win in Quebec's
court when there is an auto mechanic on the other side. But even the 200km
was only due to his perfectionism. He even had a log of the miles he've
done. He made 4 road tests, one to confirm the overheating, one after the
sensors and electric fan to make sure the head removal was required, one
after the head job and a last one to confirm that the Oxygen sensor code he
got at the last road test was due to the very low level in the gas tank.
This guy is mad, he's so perfectionist he's almost mad, but, now, he knows
he's better not to be so mad with me and I think I got a good mechanic I
just need to slow down sometime.

Vincent.
-----Message d'origine-----
De : Joe Pizzimenti [mailto:joe.pizzimenti at gmail.com] 
Envoyé : 18 janvier 2005 23:51
À : Bruce Mendel
Cc : Djdawson2 at aol.com; vfregeac at sympatico.ca; s-car-list at audifans.com
Objet : Re: [s-cars] Head gasket: 2850$ (longuish)

I'm with Bruce on this one.  If one of my clients suddenly found out that I
was going to charge them twice what I estimated, I probably won't get a
penny and will have to go to court to get ANYTHING.

Right thing (LEGAL THING) to do here would have been to keep Vincent
notified of all additional expenses as they occur and gain at least oral
approval, if not written.

Not to be an @$$hole, but it was the mech's fault for not doing his job,
which isn't just wrenching, but also making sure he isn't going to end up
like Victoria Givens (Google Search: Victoria Givens World
Record) when all's said and done.

Joe

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 22:57:32 -0500, Bruce Mendel <brucem105 at comcast.net>
wrote:
> I don't agree, and I've worked on lots of stuff in different 
> industries. Shoestring budgets and not being rich have nothing to do 
> with being fair and honest. There are laws against this sort of thing 
> for a reason!
> 
> The guy made a major mistake (maybe honest, maybe not) in more than 
> doubling the cost of the quoted repair without first informing his 
> customer. So now the benefit of the doubt beyond the original quote 
> has to go to the customer, as the mechanic lost his benefit of the 
> doubt by his actions.
> 
> I did not advocate screwing him, but rather getting the car at either 
> originally quoted rate or under protection laws if it becomes a 
> hassle, and once verifying the work was done well, working out 
> something fair.
> 
> Paying that kind of overcharge up front is silly to me. And I totally 
> disagree that any professional working on a customer's car should put 
> 120 miles on it without first informing the customer that those type 
> of miles are needed to shake it down. But then, if he didn't tell his 
> customer about the 130% upcharge, why would he say anything about the 
> long joyride?
> 
> Bruce 
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Djdawson2 at aol.com
>   To: brucem105 at comcast.net ; vfregeac at sympatico.ca ;
s-car-list at audifans.com
>   Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 10:51 PM
>   Subject: Re: [s-cars] Head gasket: 2850$ (longuish)
> 
>   In a message dated 1/18/2005 7:56:43 PM Mountain Standard Time, 
> brucem105 at comcast.net writes:
> 
>     The guy might be honest (MIGHT), and he may be a perfectionist, but
he's not
>     a smart businessperson and he has no business doubling repair costs
and
>     driving your car for over 100 miles without checking with you first.
NOTHING
>     takes 100 miles to diagnose, least of all without your permission.
> 
>   After major repairs, I think it is well within reason to road test 
> the car.  After repairs such as a head gasket, many things could go 
> wrong, and road testing is the only way to reduce your repeat 
> failures.  Slow oil leaks, etc... are only visible after some real 
> world use, not a bunch of idling time.  Is 100 miles reasonable?  To 
> me, I wouldn't argue it.
> 
>     If it were me, I'd get my car out of there for free, or as close to it
as
>     possible based on the Canadian consumer protection agency, with the
repair
>     work done. THEN I'd call him and try to work out something you feel is
>     reasonable and fair if the work was done properly.
> 
>   No offense, but that sounds like a reply from a person that doesn't 
> work on cars.  Many of the mechanics out there operate on a 
> shoestring.  By and large, they aren't getting rich.  Without 
> question, he did spend money out of his own pocket to do the repair.  
> I would get a list of parts from the mechanic, and look them up 
> yourself from a reasonably priced source... see if it's out of line.  
> Add in fluids, filters, etc...  Find out if the head was machined in 
> any way (valve job, or surface decking)... and check on the cost of 
> those services from a reputable machine shop.  Finally, see if you can 
> find out the "book" hours from an Audi dealer for a headgasket 
> replacement.  Take those hours, and multiply by a reasonable shop 
> rate... or one you've OK'd in the past from him.  I think then you 
> would have some ability to reasonably assess what has happened, and 
> come to some agreement.
> 
>   To some extent, how you handle this depends on if you want to use this
mechanic again.  If he is good, and you do trust him, you don't want to
destroy the relationship.  If you screw him now, he won't forget.
>   HTH,
>   Dave in CO
> _______________________________________________
> S-CAR-List mailing list
> S-CAR-List at audifans.com 
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list
>

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