I stopped last summer in to a local trans shop to ask what the charge would be to replace a seal. This is a national chain, owned by part of the local JF cult church that has no accounting of the finances to its members, but all the "elders" are nouveau riche, popping up apartment buildings and commercial buildings like mushrooms in a hot wet spring.
Anyhow, they started this song about they could not replace just one seal and how if I left the car they could do an estimate etc.... So I caught the drift and walked out while I still owned my car. I like how Hans said the jerk started talking as if talking to a blonde. This guy was starting the same kind of bluff. It is not just local fly by night operators you need to be aware of. Beware the national franchise too. In fact a family owned local shop that has been there for years is more likely (IMHO) to be straight than a franchise. Any good trans shop should be able to tell you to the penny the cost of any job. When we lived in Hawaii, I took the escort (Diesel) into Snears to get the oil changed because I could not figger out how to get rid of the used oil at the time. This one guy comes out of the shop looking like he was going to have to pay for destroying an aircraft carrier.. all serious... and says he has bad news, and I need to come with him into the shop... (that was my first clue. Snears was always real snitty about not setting foot in the shop) He shows me the rear shocks where he had obviously just squirted oil from a can on them and said my shocks were leaking and if I didn't let him replace them I was surely going to die.. etc. I said today is a good day to die, and I am NOT paying for new shocks, and please put my car down so I can leave. PS: the same shocks were still on the car and working just fine years later when I sold the car. They still did have oil running down the outside, caked in dirt. (still from the squirtcan) At 10:31 PM 1/22/2008, you wrote: >this is not the story i've heard like this. i know someone whose car was >similarly kidnapped by a transmission shop. i wonder if they have some sort >of professional journal or something similar that is advocating this con. > >she has a modern xj8 that was not shifting to her satisfaction so she >brought it in to a local big transmission place for their "free" >evaluation. the explaned how they see this all the time and it can be fixed >for a few hundred dollars. > >then it turns out that upon further study that the transmission is totally >hosed beyond any repair and $4k would be required for a new tranny. she >figured that at this figure she really needed to get a second opinion and >explained that she was coming to pick up the car. > >then the fun started. the shop explained that the car that she had driven >in could not be driven out as the transmission had been disassembled as part >of the diagnostics and labor for this disassembly and reassembly would be >$1700. should she not pay that amount, not only would she not be given back >the car, but a mechanic's lien would be filed. > >she then hired an attorney and now is trying to recover her car via this >attorney. > >we live in a world of thieves. know who you are dealing with in any >transaction. > >On Jan 22, 2008 9:23 PM, Hans Neureiter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > <How much did you agree to pay in writing? > > *All verbal* > > > > <Did you give those morons your only key? > > *No > > * > > <Is your car where you can get to it? > > *It's locked up in their shop. > > * > > <They haven't hooked up the cable like you agreed > > to pay them for, they don't even have the cable, and you didn't look at > > the car to verify the cable was linked up right before you agreed with > > them that the tranny was toast. > > *Not that simple. It was a Junk Yard tranny, so I trusted them to say it's > > toast and agreed for a rebuild. Price is not an argument. Getting them to > > deliver is the problem.* > > *First I was confident but than encountered Lies, Excuses and Smoke > > Screens > > (reason for delay: Fine tuning the valve body because it will not shift in > > 3rd?). That got me to question their integrity. Now I am the bad guy and > > can't get my car back.* > > > > On 1/22/08, Mitch Haley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Hans Neureiter wrote: > > > > At 5:00 PM I got a call saying the tranny is trashed and needs a total > > > > rebuild for $ 2100. > > > > > > Time to run, run, run. If you were going to pay $2k for a tranny, > > > you'd buy it from Rusty and have somebody reputable install it for you. > > > > > > Time to do some searching on the state gov't web page, anything I > > > tell you about Michigan law wouldn't be applicable and might be > > > out of date anyway. > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > > > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Hans Neureiter, Houston, TX > > '82 300SD, '95 E300D > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > >_______________________________________ >http://www.okiebenz.com >For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ >For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com Loren Faeth _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
