feeling of getting ripped HARD by your mechanic!!

[FAT VTI]

hahaha
Whoever said they despise mechanics i tend to believe them.
My local mechanic is ridiculous, took my car there and was absolutely disgusted with the ridiculous justifications they made for the high costs.
SO what did i do about it?
came onto ozhonda, and searched for a good mechanic in syd, they all reccomended hannys performance. I have since had 3 services done there and each one has been immaculate, I have even rung 1 of the co-owners and asked about certain procedures throughout my diy and he has helped me all the way.

So basically i do 80% of the work myself, and leave the other 20% to the mechanics. The really complicated stuff, should be left to a mechanic, but a decent mechanic. I reckon your stupid taking your car to a standard mechanic when u can get the same price for a better job performed by a highly regarded honda mechanic (this doesnt mean you have to go to a dealership and pay double for a service).

The cai fitment which they didnt even fit is ridiculous, Theres no way in hell iiwould pay that, I'd go off at them and if they said it wasted our time, then you ask them to show you where the $320 fitment was made. If you don't see a cai in your engine bay then why the fk are u being charged that amount?
You cannot charge for a failed attempt, this is ridiculous!, especially for a cai which isnt exactly HARD for a mechanic. however i do understand if u were trying an engine transplant and the engine was fkd, then fair enough i suppose but cai is ridiculous.
Try it yourself or find a decent mechanic near you mate, i would definately go back there and cause a fuss, go pay a mechanic $40 for his hour lunch break to go give him a fkn clue. When u get ur money back, tip the mechanic with a feed at mcdonalds, and make friends with him. This will then become your mechanic who won't screw you over (hopefully).
good luck

[teh_mechanic]

"Performance Workshops" =
"Mechanics" = you goto these guys to get things like hoses and seals changed... and usually on old cars...

dont hate on us all man.
my advise to all you haters is to shop around.
i believe the thread starters problem probably goes back to the root that he has used a performance workshop to perform this simple,and i mean simple, work.obviously not a good workshop,but hey,throwing racing on the end of your workshop name doesnt automatically mean you are a good mechanic
performance workshops charge a premium for their time,and rightly so if they have the knowledge,but you sir are the fool if you go to a $100 an hour labour workshop to get minor things done that could easily be completed and probably with more care by mickey mike mikes motors.nice business name hey.

i work in a workshop where we deal with mostly non performance cars.its our bread and butter work,only 10% of the cars out there are modified,so its not where the money is.HOWEVER,when a modified car comes in that you can see the owner cares for,i know it gives me a bit of a moral boost and every motion i performed is done with care and respect.i recently took my b16 eg to a reputable performance dyno tuner and was treated like scum simply because i wasnt pulling over 200kw

but back to the point.YOU GOT RIPPED.break up with that mechanic,go get yourself a fair deal.the only work that should be charged for even if the task isnt completely finished is diagnostics

[bennjamin]

lol at the end of the day , mechanics gotta make a living too. Its places like this ( IE free websites) that raise awareness and reduce mechanics profits.IF the mechs out there gotta raise the $$$ for simple stuff , then the people who fall for it , deserve it.

As said , shop around.

[teh_mechanic]

i swear ive never recommended an air filter should be changed when it could probably easily go another 5000kms easy without causing any wear on the engine what so ever.

PHSSSSYYYCHHH

lol,sure sometimes we get the profits up and it can get dodgy.its like asking ppl if they want fries at mcdonald....you dont need those fries....you dont realllllllly need that air filter but gee you feel alot better knowing that a fresh one is in there.get to know your car ppl,alot of mechanics will back down on high prices if it even seems like you know your shit.but dont treat the mechanic like a fool....would prob make me want to charge you more haha

[dsp26]

dont hate on us all man.
my advise to all you haters is to shop around.

not hating on you bro... and def not not hating on you because you have a honda but because of what you said and trust me your the rare breed.

mechanical and performance shop work is different.. i bet you could teach your boss a thing or 2 in terms of performance related modifications/repairs and if you happen to be self employed or own your own shop then your a rare breed indeed.

I too like others have mentioned prefer the specific expertise the OzHonda community (as well as other clubs/forums i'm a member of) provides and there have only been 3 members on here that i have allowed to touch my car. sure they don't have knowledge of other cars but its irelevant, they have plenty of specific experience and knowledge in relation to my car...

i'm generalising mechanic's lack of knowledge in terms of what we as an 'enthusiast' community require and they cannot provide the quality and knowledge of workmanship we require such as the example of the OP with the CAI install... your right they have a specific market and we're not it. MOST mechanics are trained on the majority of cars (holden/ford/toyota, common econoboxes) that come in for the majority of technical issues associated with those specific market cars...

alot of mechanics will back down on high prices if it even seems like you know your shit.but dont treat the mechanic like a fool....would prob make me want to charge you more haha

and i back that statement 100% hence why i enjoy being an enthusiast and enjoy knowing i know what i'm talking about and doing... perfect example of this is when you take your car for wheel alignment... lets face it, most cars don't come with camber adjustability... when people come in asking for an alignment, they'd get maybe toe fixed and the steering wheel re-aligned which is n00b and unprofessional to not let the customer know what they need to... the moment you come in asking for specific camber/toe alignments and ask for a before/after printout they don't bother dicking you around...

***EDIT***
i support this forum for DIY, wealth of tech info and expert members, traders (which is why i joined long before owning a honda).. and the hot chicks thread LOL

[trism]

i got ripped recently.

over a thousand bucks to do the following:

replace cv boots
degrease engine
drop sump and replace sump gasket
replace oil mand coolant

sound a bit off?

[fatboyz39]

i got ripped recently.

over a thousand bucks to do the following:

replace cv boots
degrease engine
drop sump and replace sump gasket
replace oil mand coolant

sound a bit off?

sure did...that cost no more then $200 to do. Holy fark you got raped.

[fatboyz39]

on the topic.... $320 to trial fit intake? hhahah what kind of mechanic is that?

[IZY-10]

on the topic.... $320 to trial fit intake? hhahah what kind of mechanic is that?

He must of taken his car through the ferrari pits at the gp lol

[panda[cRx]]

i can't help but laugh when people take their cars to smaller workshops to avoid being 'ripped off' by evil evil dealerships..... then get results like this

(not having a go at OP, just many people in general)

[02gzm]

As someone stated earlier it's good to show you know what you're talking about to your mechanic and to get to know them a bit. I've gotten to know my mechanic so well half the time he doesn't charge me for little things and when i do pay i can do it in my own sweet time

[aaronng]

I don't get how people don't get quotes first before sending their car in for work............