Why is it so difficult?
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 821
From: Philly
Why is it so difficult?
For some shops to mount directional tread tires? Had my new tires mounted and balanced last night, but since it was dark I didn't notice that on my passenger front the tread is running in the wrong direction. Last 4 times I've gotten direction tread tires at least one tire was mounted backwards, all at different shops. Drives me nuts! Now I have to take it back, waste my time while they remount and balance the tire.
5th Gear Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,028
From:
RE: Why is it so difficult?
That's what you get for not hovering over the employees at the shop while they do the work.These guys get paid very little and care even less.
I take my own torque wrench to the tire shop and tighten my own lug nuts.(they always come out to watch,it's like I don't know what I'm doing) I will let them use an impact wrench to loosen the nuts but no air wrenches are allowed to tighten anything.WhenI bought the last set of tires one of the bolt turners got an impact wrench on one of the nuts before I could stop him.WhenI went totorque all the nuts evenlythat nut required 115 ft.lbs to loosen.One of the guys came over and infomed me that I was turning the wrench the wrong way.
The only way to get it right is to supervise everything.
I take my own torque wrench to the tire shop and tighten my own lug nuts.(they always come out to watch,it's like I don't know what I'm doing) I will let them use an impact wrench to loosen the nuts but no air wrenches are allowed to tighten anything.WhenI bought the last set of tires one of the bolt turners got an impact wrench on one of the nuts before I could stop him.WhenI went totorque all the nuts evenlythat nut required 115 ft.lbs to loosen.One of the guys came over and infomed me that I was turning the wrench the wrong way.
The only way to get it right is to supervise everything.
1st Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 125
From:
RE: Why is it so difficult?
The only way to get it right is to supervise everything.
You got that right. They either do stuff wrong because like you said they dont care, or they try to cheat you out of money by "fixing" things that aren't broke to begin with.
You got that right. They either do stuff wrong because like you said they dont care, or they try to cheat you out of money by "fixing" things that aren't broke to begin with.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,131
From: Oklahoma
RE: Why is it so difficult?
I know for a fact (my old roomate is a GM mechanic) that they try to "upsale" you on parts and labor that isn't needed at all. The "service writer" is one of the 3 salesmen that will call the customer and try to sell them on the fact that they need more labor and parts than needed since they work on commission.
Mechanics get paid by the job. .3 hours for an oil change, 14 hours for an engine swap, 3 hours for a window replacement, etc., etc. Reguardless of the time it takes them. Let's say the mechanic pulls the engine swap in 7 hours they still get paid for 14. Therefor, if the mechanic sees an opportunity to replace something that would normally pay 5 hours and take him 3 to do, he would have the service writer upsale the customer and have that part replaced in 1 second since he's already got the engine out.
The dealership will tell you that the labor time was 4 hours on something even if they only took 2 hours to do it! This is because they have set times for the job that is being done. BS is you ask me!
*****NOT TO MENTION THEY WILL TAKE YOUR CAR OUT AND HOTROD THE **** OUT OF IT!*****
I can't count the # of times a customer has brought in a GTO, C5 Corvette, C6, H2, Trans-Am, CTS-V, etc. and my roomate would call me at the house telling me he's coming to pick me up. Then he'll get sideways in 2nd gear and do donuts. This is no lie. They also take your car to lunch and run errands calling it a "test drive" to see what's wrong with the car.
Again this is GM...I have no idea about Ford.
***WARN YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE GOING TO GM***
I'd love to drop my car off and video tape what they do to it once they "fix the problem". Then slap 'em with a lawsuit after they hot rod my car.
Mechanics get paid by the job. .3 hours for an oil change, 14 hours for an engine swap, 3 hours for a window replacement, etc., etc. Reguardless of the time it takes them. Let's say the mechanic pulls the engine swap in 7 hours they still get paid for 14. Therefor, if the mechanic sees an opportunity to replace something that would normally pay 5 hours and take him 3 to do, he would have the service writer upsale the customer and have that part replaced in 1 second since he's already got the engine out.
The dealership will tell you that the labor time was 4 hours on something even if they only took 2 hours to do it! This is because they have set times for the job that is being done. BS is you ask me!
*****NOT TO MENTION THEY WILL TAKE YOUR CAR OUT AND HOTROD THE **** OUT OF IT!*****
I can't count the # of times a customer has brought in a GTO, C5 Corvette, C6, H2, Trans-Am, CTS-V, etc. and my roomate would call me at the house telling me he's coming to pick me up. Then he'll get sideways in 2nd gear and do donuts. This is no lie. They also take your car to lunch and run errands calling it a "test drive" to see what's wrong with the car.
Again this is GM...I have no idea about Ford.
***WARN YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE GOING TO GM***
I'd love to drop my car off and video tape what they do to it once they "fix the problem". Then slap 'em with a lawsuit after they hot rod my car.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,008
From: Tampa, FL
RE: Why is it so difficult?
When I got my old Cobra Rs mounted and balanced they wouldnt let me in the garage, but I was standing right there looking in the window at them. They actually got the tread in the right direction. Then I went home and got my torque wrench and made sure they were tightened correctly.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,131
From: Oklahoma
RE: Why is it so difficult?
ORIGINAL: SHO NO MERCY
I know for a fact (my old roomate is a GM mechanic) that they try to "upsale" you on parts and labor that isn't needed at all. The "service writer" is one of the 3 salesmen that will call the customer and try to sell them on the fact that they need more labor and parts than needed since they work on commission.
Mechanics get paid by the job. .3 hours for an oil change, 14 hours for an engine swap, 3 hours for a window replacement, etc., etc. Reguardless of the time it takes them. Let's say the mechanic pulls the engine swap in 7 hours they still get paid for 14. Therefor, if the mechanic sees an opportunity to replace something that would normally pay 5 hours and take him 3 to do, he would have the service writer upsale the customer and have that part replaced in 1 second since he's already got the engine out.
The dealership will tell you that the labor time was 4 hours on something even if they only took 2 hours to do it! This is because they have set times for the job that is being done. BS is you ask me!
*****NOT TO MENTION THEY WILL TAKE YOUR CAR OUT AND HOTROD THE **** OUT OF IT!*****
I can't count the # of times a customer has brought in a GTO, C5 Corvette, C6, H2, Trans-Am, CTS-V, etc. and my roomate would call me at the house telling me he's coming to pick me up. Then he'll get sideways in 2nd gear and do donuts. This is no lie. They also take your car to lunch and run errands calling it a "test drive" to see what's wrong with the car.
Again this is GM...I have no idea about Ford.
***WARN YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE GOING TO GM***
I'd love to drop my car off and video tape what they do to it once they "fix the problem". Then slap 'em with a lawsuit after they hot rod my car.
I know for a fact (my old roomate is a GM mechanic) that they try to "upsale" you on parts and labor that isn't needed at all. The "service writer" is one of the 3 salesmen that will call the customer and try to sell them on the fact that they need more labor and parts than needed since they work on commission.
Mechanics get paid by the job. .3 hours for an oil change, 14 hours for an engine swap, 3 hours for a window replacement, etc., etc. Reguardless of the time it takes them. Let's say the mechanic pulls the engine swap in 7 hours they still get paid for 14. Therefor, if the mechanic sees an opportunity to replace something that would normally pay 5 hours and take him 3 to do, he would have the service writer upsale the customer and have that part replaced in 1 second since he's already got the engine out.
The dealership will tell you that the labor time was 4 hours on something even if they only took 2 hours to do it! This is because they have set times for the job that is being done. BS is you ask me!
*****NOT TO MENTION THEY WILL TAKE YOUR CAR OUT AND HOTROD THE **** OUT OF IT!*****
I can't count the # of times a customer has brought in a GTO, C5 Corvette, C6, H2, Trans-Am, CTS-V, etc. and my roomate would call me at the house telling me he's coming to pick me up. Then he'll get sideways in 2nd gear and do donuts. This is no lie. They also take your car to lunch and run errands calling it a "test drive" to see what's wrong with the car.
Again this is GM...I have no idea about Ford.
***WARN YOUR FRIENDS BEFORE GOING TO GM***
I'd love to drop my car off and video tape what they do to it once they "fix the problem". Then slap 'em with a lawsuit after they hot rod my car.
They did it with a set of BOSE speakers so one of the mechanics could put them in his truck. The customer's truck wasn't even under warranty! Don't know how the service write sold that one off!
4th Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,409
From:
RE: Why is it so difficult?
What SHONOMERCY is talking about is called flat-rate. All dealerships do it and most other good independant shops do it.They charge what the booktells themit should take them to do the job. I used to work at a Toyota dealershipand some guys could log20-25 hours in one day. If you work at a dealership GENERALLY you are a good tech. If you are working on the same cars with the same motors for a couple weeks, let alone a couple years, you are gonna get real good at knowing what do to and how to do it quickly.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,131
From: Oklahoma
RE: Why is it so difficult?
My old roomate is one of the best Master techs I've ever seen. He's been working on cars since birth. He logs 11 hours on an awesome day and has been first in hours for the past 3 paychecks....or so he says.
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 821
From: Philly
RE: Why is it so difficult?
Yeah I know, not the brightest bunch. Just cheeses me off that I have to take time out to get it corrected. You'd think the big "Direction of Rotation" stamped right on the sidewall would be a good enough indicator.