General Question about your mechanic charging methods / fees

[dciisir]

Hi All,

I just wanted to find out about how your mechanic charges you in terms of repairs / diagnosing problem.

I recently had some problems with my car and ended up going to a mechanic to get it looked at. He told me that this particular part needed changing so I did. Upon changing it, the problem was still there. I ended up spending $250 and the problem wasn't fixed. I was a little annoyed. I mean I am paying a qualified mechanic to tell me what is wrong and what needed fixing. I now have to further diagnose the problem and if he ask me to change another part and it doesnt fix the problem, then I'll be even more out of pocket.

Is this how your mechanic works as well ? Am I making too much out of it ?

[androo]

It all depends on how experienced your mechanic is. That's why you pay more for a more experienced one.

For example, if you go to HONDA to get it fixed and they charged $400, you can be 99% sure that it'll be fixed. If it isn't, they're more likely to help you out. Whereas if you went to another mechanic charging $250 and he messes it up, you're already spending more than you would at an experienced one.

Try finding a place that specialises in your car in your area. Hard to recommend a place since you're in Melbourne and I'm not sure which car of yours you're talking about. Maybe post up what car and area and one of the Melbourne guys on here can recommend a place.

You can try complaining and getting your money back, but it can become pretty involved. But yeah I used to go to a mechanic who charged me for 3 separate parts and 3 separate amounts of labour and still didn't fix the issue. Went to an experienced guy who just changed 1 thing and made a few adjustments and she was as good as new! And it was such a simple fix that it cost me less than even 1 of the other guys fixes. Tried getting my money back but it got too involved and I just left it at that. Said those parts needed changing anyway...

Good luck.

[dougie_504]

Hi All,

I just wanted to find out about how your mechanic charges you in terms of repairs / diagnosing problem.

I recently had some problems with my car and ended up going to a mechanic to get it looked at. He told me that this particular part needed changing so I did. Upon changing it, the problem was still there. I ended up spending $250 and the problem wasn't fixed. I was a little annoyed. I mean I am paying a qualified mechanic to tell me what is wrong and what needed fixing. I now have to further diagnose the problem and if he ask me to change another part and it doesnt fix the problem, then I'll be even more out of pocket.

Is this how your mechanic works as well ? Am I making too much out of it ?

What's wrong with your car?

Some people will charge you for no result, whereas I know my family mechanic (56 years experience) and about 4 of his mechanic friends from different businesses all once tried to diagnose a problem on one car individually before passing it around to one another, never once charging the owner out of tradesman-honour as they hadn't found the issue. I was really shocked that they'd never figured it out or charged anything.

There's little you can do, especially when they're still holding your keys and asking for money...

[flipfire]

Get it diagnosed by different mechanics and compare the quotes and what they you are gonna get charged for.

[egb16b]

My mate has had an interesting experience recently.

He needed to change the dizzy seal and went to a few mechanics to get a quote. His car is a N14 SSS Pulsar

The first dude said about $600 because it's a big job and will have to charge a lot for labour. - dix!

Second guy said about $300 because to get the dizzy he has to remove a lot of parts so again labour will be a lot.

Now by the time he went to a third mechanic, he pretty much knew what to say and exactly what the problem was. The mechanic must've thought that this guy knows what his talking about so he can't talk sh1t to him. Firstly the mechanic is like why can't you do it yourself? My mate said his too busy and has no time. The mechanic ended up quoting him $50 for the job!!

So when you go, make it out like you know your stuff so they can't rip you!

[dciisir]

Great story. I dont think it will work for me though. Mine is just a knocking sound when i brake. Apparently the pads were loose in the caliper. Changed pads for $250 and problem was still there. Went to Brakes Plus today to tighting the spring or whatever you call it and problem was still there. Costed me $124 this time for 2.5 hours work. Sigh... cars annoy me lol

[dougie_504]

Great story. I dont think it will work for me though. Mine is just a knocking sound when i brake. Apparently the pads were loose in the caliper. Changed pads for $250 and problem was still there. Went to Brakes Plus today to tighting the spring or whatever you call it and problem was still there. Costed me $124 this time for 2.5 hours work. Sigh... cars annoy me lol


$250 for pads is a bit much.

Where is the knocking coming from? A particular corner of the car?
Consistently timed knocking on braking only, no other time?
Feelings of vibration?

[bennjamin]

mechanics do their job to make money. Not to help YOU out and just charge for parts alone.....

[mugen_ctr]

mechanics do their job to make money. Not to help YOU out and just charge for parts alone.....

thats the difference between a good mechanic and a crappy one.... a real mech would look after his/her customer, not tryn rip them off

[egb16b]

knocking sound coming from brakes could be wheel bearing.

and I never take my car to brakes plus, they charge you a shit load!!

Can't you go to the mechanic you did the original job and get them to fix it for you because they clearly didn't do it right.

[flipfire]

Mechanics is one of the least trusted professions in Australia. Right next to Taxi drivers, real estate agents and politicians.

Thats why always get an independent second opinion before getting any work done.

[Bludger]

It's the nature of that profession.

It's not like "going to a super-market" to buy your shopping.

Problems take diagnosis and that takes time and money.
Sure people are happy to pay to fix the problem right the first time but its not that clear cut in the real world.
Some mechs are better, some are worse. Do your homework.

[bennjamin]

thats the difference between a good mechanic and a crappy one.... a real mech would look after his/her customer, not tryn rip them off

No its not - all mechanics are there to take your money. No mechanic is your "friend" unless close family or known friend for years. ! This just makes them cut to the chase :) A real mech , rips you off less and over a longer time lol.

[rotary_snail]

I don't rip anyone off. And i don't charge for misdiagnosis unless there is obviously something wrong with the part (ie. complaining of suspension knocking, replace a worn bush and the noise is still there).

As said it's about knowing who to take it to, and knowing if they can do their job right.

[dciisir]

If I take my car back to the mechanic to look at the problem, he will charge me time to further diagnose the problem. I just want to get rid of the noise.. It's very annoying... This is actually for my rex. I am thinking of maybe taking it back to Subaru Docklands or something.

[egb16b]

If I take my car back to the mechanic to look at the problem, he will charge me time to further diagnose the problem. I just want to get rid of the noise.. It's very annoying... This is actually for my rex. I am thinking of maybe taking it back to Subaru Docklands or something.

But he never fixed the original problem though. When you first went there, did you tell him about the knocking noise - did you explain to him that that's what you want fixed? If so then he didn't do his job and you have a right to go back there and get it fixed properly.

So this is for your rex? 02 STI?? Then i'd recommend Subaru docklands for sure. Should've taken it there in the first place. I doubt the first mechanic has had a lot of experience with Brembo brakes.

Nice car btw. :)

[dougie_504]

If I take my car back to the mechanic to look at the problem, he will charge me time to further diagnose the problem. I just want to get rid of the noise.. It's very annoying... This is actually for my rex. I am thinking of maybe taking it back to Subaru Docklands or something.

Where in Melbourne do you live? My family mechanic is a top bloke, no BS, and has been doing it for 56 years now (yes, he's 72 and still going hard!). I would recommend him to you if you want to try him out. Good job/price or otherwise re-direction to another 'trustworthy' mechanic.



Mechanics is one of the least trusted professions in Australia. Right next to Taxi drivers, real estate agents and politicians.

Thats why always get an independent second opinion before getting any work done.

I think car-salesmen are literally the least trusted profession in Australia, whereas my profession is #2 after paramedics :)
Bit of a joke though isn't it? You can always get caught out...

[munkaii]

It really depends on what the problem may be. I work in an environment similar to that of a Mechanic (Wrecking Yard) but we get a lot of people who come in and just say "Oh I have this noise, or my car does this...".

At our place, if the diagnosis is very simple such as an alternator brushes being no good, causing the car to flat batt all the time, we will let our customers know what is wrong and quote them for a replacement second hand part + install.

But if you come in saying that there is an issue that requires further investigation, then don't expect a free quote. You can't expect Mechanics to be used to diagnose your issues and then to walk away and fix it yourself. We have a quick look at it, narrow down the problem as much as possible and quote to repair those problems (best case vs worse case scenario, e.g. May be battery, or alternator or distributor etc.). Then, if they agree to the price then we will accept the job, diagnose and inform the customer prior to fixing it, what it actually is. If the customer then decides not to fix it, we will charge them a diagnosis fee. If we cannot fix it, we do not charge them. I suppose this is made easier as we have parts on hand (being a wrecking yard).

Seems pretty fair I think. There are definitely some dodgy as **** mechanics out there, but we have retained our customer base for the last 2 years and it is still growing.

[na-118]

No its not - all mechanics are there to take your money. No mechanic is your "friend" unless close family or known friend for years. ! This just makes them cut to the chase :) A real mech , rips you off less and over a longer time lol.

your wrong,,, i don't take customers money i charge them whats neccessary

the problem where i see is growing is the amount of e mechanics going around,, you can't fix something or gone way too far what your suppose to, then when your quoted to fix "YOUR F UCK UPS" they get upset

no offense to anyone

[mao]

Come on guys, not all mechanics are dicks. There are good ones out there. Simple fact in any service industry ---- customer brings in a problem, service provider has to diagnose and fix problem, charges customer and if problem persists, service provider has to repair problem. Of course, always good to get a quote first.

To give you an example, had a customer with a Nissan S15 come in, he said pls quote before you do the job. wrote me a whole list to do includling checking out his srs light. After pluggin in the diagnostics, found the problem to be a bad connection somewhere in the whole srs module. called customer and customer said, pls go ahead and check. we charge an hourly labor charge. So proceeded and found that another workshop had removed his airbag steering wheel and damaged the srs coil spring behind. After spending close 2 2 hrs, called customer and told him the problem. Nissan quote $290 for the part, so told customer that he needed to chg the part. customer said too expensive, i said look you gotta pay for the labor to remove, diagnose and put everything back. He got pissed off. What am i supposed to do in this case? Put everything back and not charge?

[munkaii]

Come on guys, not all mechanics are dicks. There are good ones out there. Simple fact in any service industry ---- customer brings in a problem, service provider has to diagnose and fix problem, charges customer and if problem persists, service provider has to repair problem. Of course, always good to get a quote first.

To give you an example, had a customer with a Nissan S15 come in, he said pls quote before you do the job. wrote me a whole list to do includling checking out his srs light. After pluggin in the diagnostics, found the problem to be a bad connection somewhere in the whole srs module. called customer and customer said, pls go ahead and check. we charge an hourly labor charge. So proceeded and found that another workshop had removed his airbag steering wheel and damaged the srs coil spring behind. After spending close 2 2 hrs, called customer and told him the problem. Nissan quote $290 for the part, so told customer that he needed to chg the part. customer said too expensive, i said look you gotta pay for the labor to remove, diagnose and put everything back. He got pissed off. What am i supposed to do in this case? Put everything back and not charge?

Best case scenario would be to neg on labour cost and cut your losses and not to deal with the customer next time as they probably aren't worth dealing with if they are going to take that approach.

[androo]

Come on guys, not all mechanics are dicks. There are good ones out there. Simple fact in any service industry ---- customer brings in a problem, service provider has to diagnose and fix problem, charges customer and if problem persists, service provider has to repair problem. Of course, always good to get a quote first.

To give you an example, had a customer with a Nissan S15 come in, he said pls quote before you do the job. wrote me a whole list to do includling checking out his srs light. After pluggin in the diagnostics, found the problem to be a bad connection somewhere in the whole srs module. called customer and customer said, pls go ahead and check. we charge an hourly labor charge. So proceeded and found that another workshop had removed his airbag steering wheel and damaged the srs coil spring behind. After spending close 2 2 hrs, called customer and told him the problem. Nissan quote $290 for the part, so told customer that he needed to chg the part. customer said too expensive, i said look you gotta pay for the labor to remove, diagnose and put everything back. He got pissed off. What am i supposed to do in this case? Put everything back and not charge?


Best case scenario would be to neg on labour cost and cut your losses and not to deal with the customer next time as they probably aren't worth dealing with if they are going to take that approach.

He doesn't need to negotiate does he? He just won't release the car to the owner until payment is made...

Bad customer = charged full price and hope they never come back.

[na-118]

if they don't have the money i'll shut the bonnet and tell them go cabramatta

[r3ckless]

Come on guys, not all mechanics are dicks. There are good ones out there. Simple fact in any service industry ---- customer brings in a problem, service provider has to diagnose and fix problem, charges customer and if problem persists, service provider has to repair problem. Of course, always good to get a quote first.

To give you an example, had a customer with a Nissan S15 come in, he said pls quote before you do the job. wrote me a whole list to do includling checking out his srs light. After pluggin in the diagnostics, found the problem to be a bad connection somewhere in the whole srs module. called customer and customer said, pls go ahead and check. we charge an hourly labor charge. So proceeded and found that another workshop had removed his airbag steering wheel and damaged the srs coil spring behind. After spending close 2 2 hrs, called customer and told him the problem. Nissan quote $290 for the part, so told customer that he needed to chg the part. customer said too expensive, i said look you gotta pay for the labor to remove, diagnose and put everything back. He got pissed off. What am i supposed to do in this case? Put everything back and not charge?

Did u tell him u will charge an hourly fee to diagnose the problem?

Be firm with him n dnt release the car.

Wtf cheap **** nissan owner... Refuses to pay money... Cheap ****!

[mao]

Very normal scenario here in WA. We run a 4WD dyno here with full snap on tools and carman diagnostics. We have to cover the equipment somehow. A lot of customers come here to diagnose the problem and try to go somewhere else to do the job, not realising that troubleshooting requires a lot of time in diagnostics.

BTW, customer said to pay half and half later and I kept my stand -- no money no car. Sure enough he had the money to pay. Just ridiculous.

Had a friendly chat to him and found out that he spent thousands of dollars at another workshop to do the interior and the airbag chk light turned on after the trimming. The other workshop refused to take responsibility. I suppose there are 2 sides to the coin.

But listen to this: half an hour later customer msged back and said, why is my airbag light still on? (For christsake, we had reset his airbag light without changing the faulty srs springs becos he refused to spend the money. Helloo?)

Of course we have good clients too and there are those doughy mechanics or backyarders out there also. This is one debate that will last a long long time. Welcome to the automotive industry.