"Sitting Justice",
a blindfolded woman
with a sword and
scales on which to weigh the truth
sits on a throne
in an 18th Century engraving.
Auto repair has long been a focus for regulation through warranties, state laws requiring the return of "bad parts" to customers to prove a new part was needed, state business and occupational permits.
If you are very lucky and find an honest mechanic who does good repair work, does not overcharge you, or bring you back for excessive or unnecessary repairs, good for you. If you are extremely lucky in this economy, you may find both an affordable used car and a mechanic to fix it when necessary.
Used cars bring you to mechanics and auto parts stores. Even the mechanically inexperienced driver may install his or her own windshield wiper blades and wash fluid or top off the anti-freeze or other fluids between oil changes.
Used cars also expose you to a very aggressive sales force from mechanic shops, auto parts stores, used and new car lots, ad others. As cars are traced by states through their Divsion of Motor Vehicles (DMV), privatized emissions control companies, and a variety of data gatherers, a used car owner may find oneself feeling chased from business to business with a serious walllet leak.
A relatively new set of federal regulations, created to curb the rampant car theft problem in the US, also may have increased the risk of car theft and vandalism. If your car is listed on enough lists, auto parts and auto thieves may set out to break or take the items they find listed.
These lists have been duplicated under new federal regulations to duplicate as necessary, written in the early 2000s. Such lists are provided to multiple law enforcement agencies, as part of government-subsidized programs to increase jobs in law enforcement, data entry, and computer information systems.
But back to the topic. Auto repair warranties for new and used cars are a hot new item sold on the Internet. Supplemental warranties are sold in new and used car lots.
But the actual repair shop warranty, written on the bottom or the back of the invoice, may lead to formidable frustration for the average car owner.
In this economy, there may be more franchises, more independent small businesses operating under nationally known signs. These companies use the old corporate sgns, which have instilled confidence in auto repair consumers for years, even decades, to attract business.
Many of these well-known signs may be seen above "look-alike" businesses. Bankruptcies, business closings, and more informal "restructuring" have affected the large "car care" groups of companies, including those which offer store credit plans.
The driver looking for a familiar sign may be taking a bigger risk than before of visiting an "As Is" or "Car Repair at Your Own Risk" shop operating under an old, now defunct, corporate sign.
The average driver assumes the national company will provide better, more reliable service than the service station on the corner. This belief is in large part due to the well-known warranty published in newspaper, email, and postal mail ads to new and former customers, and as written on the invoice.
Auto repair nightmares can and do happen. Here's a story of a 3-month non-stop used car repair nightmare. An older van owner with a reliable, decent driving vehicle was resting the vehicle while getting some library work done. The van was driven only 5-10 miles per day, to the health club about every other day, to a Walmart or grocery store for food or a few basic items, then off to the library. The vehicle had to be moved a few blocks most days to comply with parking restrictions.
Suddenly, there was a starting problem outside the health club. Checking for obviously loosened wires or missing parts, a little more gas to 1/2 tank, a weak attempt at a jump start, then a new battery did not solve the problem.
A national repair shop offered a charging system check. Having checked the battery, knowing the alternator had been replaced about 10 months previusly, and checking the repair manual, the cutomer suspected it was a starter motor problem. The shop service writer said it sounded like a starter repair. But upon arrival, the shop would not do the charging system check. Instead the service writer said he "had been doing this for a long time" and insisted on replacing the fuel pump, a more expensive repair.
The vehicle started weakly after the repair. The fuel pump repair required taking off the new gas tank. When reconnected with an old, thin, short filler fuel hose, the hose leaked gas onto the exhaust after filling, almost stranding the owner on the interstate the evening after the repair, or worse. A "good samaritan" helped the owner reposition and tighten the fuel hose clamps to stop the leak.
The second national shop said the fuel hose was 3 inches to short and replaced it. That shop also noted the gas tank protector panel was hangng from the frame, missing bolts, and tire nuts required tightening.
The customer later noted only the bottom mechanical pump part of the fuel pump was replaced, not the vents/electrical/hose connector assembly. The shop had a writtten parts and labor warranty (90 days to 1 year) on the back of the invoice.
A few days after the second repair, the customer noted a oil/water spray on the inside surface of a tire. There was more tire noise than usual and a sensation of a stuck wheel when driving at low speed. A wheel bearing repair was done at the second national shop, a repeat of a repair done just over a year before at the same company sign at a different location. The "sticking" recurred. The shop declined to do the free (90 day or 1,0000 mile) parts and labor warranty repair as described on the invoice. Luckily, the problem resolved, after making inquiries at the local dealership.
A very cold, windy winter storm arrived. The customer went to a national auto parts store for a new battery. The battery installation guy applied what the customer later described as a vasoline-type lubricant to the new battery posts. This was noticed by the customer when the car would not start and the battery terminals lifted off the posts.
The customer cleaned the battery posts and terminals, replaced an older terminal screw, and recharged the old and new battery. The national auto parts store also had a 3-year prorate and return for replacement warranty.
The delayed starting problem persisted. There was a three day wait at the local dealership. A mechanic previously known for good work in that city seemed different on the phone. Another shop had an over the weekend delay for repairs.
The customer noticed a national gas station wih 2 repair bays. The mechanic insisted on cleaning the starter contacts ("rebuilding") rather than replacing it with a new starter, all labor charges rather than a new part plus labor. The mechanic insisted the starter contacts were dirty due to an oil leak and said it needed a valve cover gasket and oil pressure sending unit, which was done the following week.
No oil leak was mentioned at a separate oil change shop the previous week.
4 days after the second repair at the gas station repair shop, the vehicle's oil light went on, on the interstate on the way outof town. The owner pulled the van off onto the exit ramp. It would not restart.
It was a cold, wintry Sunday morning on a desolate-looking, less populated exit ramp area. The owner called 911 to see if 911 could contact the repair gas station/garage, which was not answering the telephone. The gas station also had wheel lift and flat bed tow trucks.
The gas station tow truck arrived but towed the car improperly, front wheel lift rather than flatbed, too fast, back to the station. The next day the gas station said the "motor seized". Both recent reapirs (13 and 4 days ago) were covered by a 3 month/3,0000 mile warranty.
The van owner arranged for a truck rental/auto carrier to take the van to the more trusted mechanic from whom it was purchased for evaluation. The gas station owner called the local police to take an additional $100 from the owner for the re-evaluation and tow back, despite payment in full for 2 failed repairs under warranty, the second repair only 4 days before the vehicle broke down.
A police officer followed the van owner and demanded the van owner sign additional credit card receipts for a total of $100. This, despite being a situaton where no additional bill had been made, presented to, or discussed with the van owner, and the van owner's statement that both previous bills paid would be disputed through the credit card company as a civil matter.
This story signals a misuse of police. Whether this was a valid law enforcement group or simply a local uniformed group in a bankrupt city with a high poverty rate, could not be ascertained.
Used car repair not only can be expensive. Serially, poorly done repairs become a form of money theft. There may be theft by deception, telling the customer that repairs are done or done properly when they are not, vandalism, auto parts or auto theft. There may be a threat to the customer's life and liberty.
Don't fall for aggressive "sales" tactics in this meaner economy. NTB, Monro, Exxon, and other companies listed on "big name" corporate signs and group invoices may no longer be "trusted names" in auto repair business in the US.
With older used cars, find a mechanic you know and can trust--one who is not interested in selling your car out from under you for parts or whole, to evaluate the vehicle.
[Read more on the topics raised in "Caveat Emptor" on http://monthlynotesthirteen.blogspot.com (http://monthlynotes.blogspot) on www.google.com.]
Email mkrause54@yahoo.com or mkruse381@gmail.com to comment or request copies of blogs posted by mary on monthlynotestaff on http://monthlynotesthirteen.blogspot.com (http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com) on www.google.com.
Graphic: Sitting Justice, an 18th Century engraving in "Law and Politics: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, DP Strouthers, ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, CA, 1995.
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