cholericfc

Sorry, there are a few holes.

Basically I had a decent local shop to go to. But he moved out of his shop - to three area codes away from me and was too far - the place is empty now. I needed a new shop in short driving distance from my garage BC

"I"

I installed a new power steering rack from Napa, with aluminum rack bushings, new cc plates, steering shaft, and sway bars. Every moment I wasn't at work I would be in the garage for a week. NOW, the old rack still had the jam nuts on them and I couldn't get them off (I needed the core from napa = money) SO, i sawed the inner tie-rods in half.

So, i needed an alignment, oil change, inspection, exempt emissions, and advice on where my recent coolant leak and tranny leak is coming from.

WELL, that BOX on the passenger seat... HE USED THE FOLLOWING INSIDE IT:

1.) OIL
2.) OIL FILTER
3.) Paper with Caster/ Camber settings for the new plates
4.) old odometer for the inspection (had an issue over the last year - needed to be called into the state)

BUT he didn't use the jam nuts...

I told him to use everything in the box. I usually write things down for my mechanic though. THAT IS THE WAY TO GO ABOUT IT. I SAID THAT TO MYSELF RIGHT AFTER IT HAPPENED TO.

Well, check this, he says, "we wrote everything down, you wanna see what we wrote?"
Well, it didn't mention anything that was inside my box, nothing. it didn't say "use customers oil" or something like that... YET he used everything BUT the locknuts.

I told him what I installed and to make sure its put together properly. I told that punk kid (who pumps gas) and pretended to be a mechanic over the phone - that these things were in the car. I think its more so the kiddys fault - and the mechanic admitted to it.

MJR - let me know if you need me to clear anything else up. i don't own a bench vice or have one available to me all the time, so thats why I didn't have the lock nuts on the car.

I PAID 96 dollars so that I wouldn't get a "pencil alignment" .

WELL, I talked to three other mechanics today and all seemed to think its pretty ****ty on their part.

cholericfc

STINGY.

Anyways, I just got an envelope in the mail from them. The only thing inside was my registration card and insurance card.

I hope they don't get me into some kind of trouble or mess. My car had a lot of fail fail fail stuff for the inspection. Some things include:

Smoked headlights and taillights
Odometer reads 400miles less than whats written on the expired stickers ( I had a odometer replacement and didn't tell/call anyone about it

I HOPE THEY DIDN"T REPORT ME OR SOMETHING

cholericfc

PRO50SC = He could have counted the turns and then installed the jam nuts - but he said he would have to charge extra bc he already set the toe-in. He's stingy

rmodel65

what is a pencil alignment?

cholericfc

where they just write down numbers and don't touch the car much at all or NOT at all. It takes about an hour each alignment. I knew a guy who said he did 14 in one day, and no way he did all 14 of them without "penciling" a few....

mjr46

^^^^you could do 14 alignments in one day I can set my machine up in less than 20 min and what alot call the cheap 40-60 dollar alignment is "set the toe and let it go"......to set caster and camber if possible and on some cars like BMW'S where a complete 4 wheel alignment front and rear has settings = that is not a 40-60 dollar price tag that gets a full alignment =119.95 which take often a good hour....anyway sorry you are unhappy with what the shop did but what I'm still trying to understand is you installed the rack you say.....did you also install the outer tie rods and just drive it to the shop for the alignment??? cause you said the jam nuts were in the box but yet you say you didn't have a bench vise to remove the jam nuts??? were the jam nuts still stuck on the cut off tie rods and you were hoping the shop would remove them and install them??....cause as a shop owner, "install everything in the box is vague to me, for me to of done such a thing nowadays a customer only gets done what they specifically state or authorize...even though install all in box seems plain or simple I require a customer to state/authorize each item irregardless of what's on a seat or box....you'd be suprised at a few quick ones people have tried to pull on me before......otherwise they cry I didn't authorize that so I no pay.......either way just wondering about that in the bold

cholericfc

I installed new tie rods.

The old tie rods had the jam nuts on them, with the cut-0ff inner tie-rods - that were in the box..

Now, telling him everything is in the box is definitely too vague; however, I told exact things to that punk kid (mentioned before). He didn't write down specifics, like use customers oil. yet he used it...Its really mostly that kids fault. He was really cocky and a know it all...

cholericfc

oh i drove it to the shop with the new tie rods ON the car. But that old tie-rod/jamnut/anddd sawed off inner tie-rod assembly was in the car.

I only told him, "everything you need is in the box," bc i thought the kid wrote it down

mjr46

ahh now I understand exactly what happened....should be a simple fix on their part, install jam nuts and redo the toe.....half hour to 45 min max......guess you should look for another place or talk to the owner

cholericfc

well, i spoke with the mechanic and he wouldn't budge. Basically said it was my fault. I didn't feel like arguing bc its just a tell-tale sign of what doing business with them is like. I rather go somewhere else. I DID JUST THAT. My new mechanic came to where I work, picked my car up, left me keys to an 85' Firebird with t-tops for the day (mint), and got my car back to me by the end of the day. Not only that, but he handed me the bill and said - "pay whenever I know your good for it"... AND he left a -shop t-shirt- on the seat. Now I have a new mechanic.

Should I talk with that owner though, is the question now? I paid it, and feel like I got robbed, maybe I should still try and talk with him?