The Ugh Thread

[Harvey]

Dropping my daughter at her friends house, no idea anyone is in the big white SUV in the driveway.

Pull up across the street next to the curb, N getting out of the car, and bang.

Shared the shit out of me, and I'm out some body work for sure.

Sucko.

I did 100% of this through the other guys insurance. The advice I got (from Al) was that was the only way I could guarantee my rates didn't go up.

Company is Farmers and they were extremely hard to reach. Yesterday they called. They saw the car and assigned 100% of the responsibility to the other driver.

FKNA! Very pumped.

They are only paying Al $55/hour instead of the $65 in the estimate, so he will be $800 short. I offered to pay that, but Al said no. We'll see what happens. That guy has hooked me up so many times. I am going to miss him when we move. (Anyone got a good mechanic in North Creek?)

Parts ordered but still no ETA on delivery. Let's get it fixed so I can go skiing.

 

[tirolski]

Not an "UGH" really.

I think it's going to take a while to get this car fixed.

Been driving the Prius whenever I can. Apparently I don't like driving a car where you have to yank on a smashed up door to get in.

It fun to hypermile that thing. If I hypermile the CRV I can get 37 consistently, which is insane IMO. It's somehow better than it was when it was new.

Anyway, I can get 65 hypermiling the Prius, while my wife gets 55 flogging the little shitbox. It might be a three cylinder, not sure. She's like "dude relax, you're just running down the battery!"

 

[Milo Maltbie]

I did 100% of this through the other guys insurance. The advice I got (from Al) was that was the only way I could guarantee my rates didn't go up.

They are only paying Al $55/hour instead of the $65 in the estimate, so he will be $800 short. I offered to pay that, but Al said no. We'll see what happens. That guy has hooked me up so many times. I am going to miss him when we move. (Anyone got a good mechanic in North Creek?)

Parts ordered but still no ETA on delivery. Let's get it fixed so I can go skiing.

You should've just given it to whatever shop your insurance told you to send it to. That way you never touch the cash, and the insurance compnay guanantees the work. What you have done is either making Al work for less than he wants or leaving you on the hook for all or part of $800.
I know you like your guy, but independent shops are sadly all but obsolete. Modern cars have so many electronics, cameras and radar that I want to use a shop that has technicians trained in all that stuff, which typically means a large voilume dealer. Also, Honda and Toyota (and maybe others) have certification programs for collision shops. That's where I'm taking our cars after our typical biannual collision repair.

mm

 

[Harvey]

You should've just given it to whatever shop your insurance told you to send it to. That way you never touch the cash, and the insurance compnay guanantees the work. What you have done is either making Al work for less than he wants or leaving you on the hook for all or part of $800.
I know you like your guy, but independent shops are sadly all but obsolete. Modern cars have so many electronics, cameras and radar that I want to use a shop that has technicians trained in all that stuff, which typically means a large volume dealer. Also, Honda and Toyota (and maybe others) have certification programs for collision shops. That's where I'm taking our cars after our typical biannual collision repair.

mm

I never touched the cash, they sent it direct to him. The insurance shop I'm sure does the work for the $55/hr as part of their deal.

Maybe Al is scamming me but he told me you really want new (vs used) parts. Not sure if the side doors have fancy electronics. I guess there is the light that tells you that it is open.

And maybe I'm an idiot, but Al have saved me thousands over the last 20 years, and I'm not switching. I will call him today to ask him how he feels about working for less. I'd pay the $800, I was willing to pay the difference if they found me partly at fault.

 

[Milo Maltbie]

It's not that anyone is scamming you, it's that independent shops can't keep up with the skills needed for modern cars, and often don't have access to the necessary software. It's a huge problem for the independents. Farm equipment is even worse. Apparently you can't do ordinary maintenence on a John Deere tractor without having the dealer reset the on board computer.

Just one more data point on the "technology makes everything worse" scale.

mm

 

[Harvey]

It's not that anyone is scamming you, it's that independent shops can't keep up with the skills needed for modern cars, and often don't have access to the necessary software. It's a huge problem for the independents. Farm equipment is even worse. Apparently you can't do ordinary maintenence on a John Deere tractor without having the dealer reset the on board computer.

Just one more data point on the "technology makes everything worse" scale.

mm

So you wouldn't have a dented door fixed by an indy?

 

[Milo Maltbie]

So you wouldn't have a dented door fixed by an indy?

I have a guy I go to for that kindof thing, but I'm starting to question that. The door has microprocessrs attached to LIN busses for the locks and mirror adjustment, and an antenna for the keyless entry. It's not that simple anymore.
I went to the same independent shop for 25 years, but when he retired he closed the business without selling it. He didn't even sell his customer list. I think he generally agrees with me about the state of the auto repair business. Maybe Camp has different ideas.

mm

 

[Harvey]

Well I guess we'll see if my CRV explodes in the next two years.

 

[wonderpony]

I have been going to the same garage for years. It's part of a chain, but they had good managers there. Fast forward to this summer. They had a complete turnover and started with all new people. I took my car in because my traction light was staying on. The guy reset it and told me it probably wouldn't come back on. It did. I went back. He told me the B sensor on my clutch needed to be replaced and he would find one. I never heard back. A month or so later, I brought it in for vibrating brakes and asked about the clutch sensor. He said that they were discontinued, but he fixed it by screwing a drill bit into the part so that it would work. Excellent. He also replaced brake pads. I thought it was strange that he didn't do both pads and rotors, but OK. I still had vibrating brakes, so I took it back. There was also a noise in the back. This time, he replaced pads and rotors. I got hit with labor for the pads. He told me that he had not replaced the rotors because he couldn't get them. He said that the rattle was a bent heat shield, and they bent it back. I still had vibrating brakes and a rattle, so I took it back. They couldn't find the source of the rattle. I don't remember what the said about the brakes. I took it in one last time two weeks ago. A new guy was behind the desk. When I picked up my car, he said that they had scraped rust off the back brakes. I asked about the rattle. He said that the technicians never mentioned it. WTF? Did they not take it for a test drive ever???

I took auto mechanics in HS and am reasonably car savvy. Something still wasn't right, and I didn't think it was just a heat shield or rust on the brakes, or the new brakes needing to be broken in.

I ended up calling the dealer, which I have resisted ever since my auto mechanics teacher said never go to the dealer. I ended up with new back brakes and new shocks, which made total sense to me. The brakes stopped vibrating. The shock mounts were on back order, so I still have a bit of a rattle, but the car goes in next week and the rattle should be gone. I also asked about the B sensor. I was pretty sure that I found one just by googling it, and that it was and is available. The parts person at the dealer confirmed it.

So, I seem to have switched to a dealer. They gave me a loaner for overnight when I needed it, washed my car and even gave it shiny tires. It's all about the shiny tires.

 

[Harvey]

I was going to Al for bodywork only at first I didn't know he was a mechanic. He had my car up on the lift, each year I'd ask him to raise it up and tell me how bad the rust was, to decide when to replace. My cars always rusted fast because I only drove them on weekends to ski.

One time he had it up and saw my new brakes, he asked me who did it, I told him the Honda dealer and the price. He said he would do that job for (I forget) but it was about 3x less.

Since then he does all my work. I lived across the street. I'd hand him the keys in the am, walk to work and it was back in the driveway when I got home.

Town has been hassling him forever, he is the only business in a residential neighborhood, it has been there since before zoning. One time he told me he had to go to a town council session to talk about some crap they were giving him about something. I showed up and said ...

"This guy is the best neighbor you could ever have. He's painting cars on our street and everyone loves him. (How likely is that right?) One time I was home alone and I almost cut my finger off with a hedge trimmer. I screamed bloody murder, and he heard me, dropped everything and ran over and drove me to the hospital. Stop fucking with Al."

I got a standing O from the other peeps on my street who were there.

Side note, when he drove me to the hospital we left the door wide open and there was blood everywhere. Gave Zelda a bit of a fright when she got home.