He owes you not only the 300 bucks but all the damages he caused. Essentially he must pay to make your car run exactly how it did when you went in, to make you "whole" again. Definitely sue him he is be liable for all court costs, damages, and the expenses it cost you durning the going back and forth. It's well worth it not just for your hard earned cash but the principle of it all. Please sue this piece of trash!!
+kkcoor I agree. He owes you for the damages, for the gas it took for you to get there and back several times, and for time he had your car! I'd take him to court just to smash the experience into his face so he'd think twice before trying to fuck anyone else over.
Daliwolf Bacon Agreed. Id be getting back every cent for what happened. Forget time lost, thats a learning experience focus on the monetary items. He is a dirt bag with a horrible business practice that need to be remedied, court and healthy complaint to the better business bureau should alleviate some of that. What a loser....
As a mechanic myself, it always upsets me to hear stories about knuckleheads like this giving the rest of us a bad name. I'm sorry all that crap happened to you, Jeff :(
MeMan323 Oh crap, I'm so sorry man! Guess I was the conclusion jumper in this case ^^;; Just had a few idjits on The Tube mess with me in the past. I apologize
+dsigamerman Well, David realized that the case was more difficult than he thought. He doesn't even usually take these kind of cases, he is a divorce lawyer.
You know Jeff, I admire your respect to try damn hard not to swear. I've been working in a shop environment and coming home and not swearing is a real challenge. There needs to be more people like you in this world
This is exactly why I do all my own work! The very few times that I've had to use a mechanic, its NEVER been a good experience. It's always hilarious to see their faces when they are trying to bullshit you and realize they're talking to someone who probably knows more then they do. It makes me want to get my ASE certification and open my own shop even more.
The fact that he still had the nerve to charge you the higher price is what upsets me the most. They broke it and then didn't want to deal with the aftermath so they just kept playing games hoping you'd be mad enough to just take it and go. It's disgusting this guy had the gall to not just charge you the lower price and get you on your way
Reading the comments before the video I thought a lawsuit seemed kind of silly. After watching the video I think you would be crazy no to sue. You could probably get more than the bill cost due to lost time gas and other things like that. Make the court system spank him like a bitch.
I've learned to never leave my vehicle with any mechanic until I've been there enough times to trust them. My wife was getting work done to her car. Changing brake pads, even though I could have done it I didn't have the time. So she calls and tells me the car needs new rotors and I'm like what. The car was only 2 years old, it had 30 miles on it when we bought it new off the lot and it needs rotors. I swing by the shop to talk to the mechanic, and he's telling me they were worn out that they needed to be this thick to pass blah blah. "Ok, can you show me on the car so I can see it and better understand." He's like yeah man come on. He's pointing at the rotor and I just walked up pulled my micrometer out of my pocket and checked them. He had shut up when he saw what was in my hand. I told him "Ok, I'm going to stand here and watch you put those tires back on this car and drop the lift. And we are going somewhere else.". He was trying to get me to stay, then he was pissed and said he wasn't dropping the lift till we paid for their time. I won't say the name but I called their corp. office and then said I was going to call the local news to come over and check things out. Got the car and she took it to another place, new pads, no muss no fuss.
Props to you for not punching that tool straight in the throat. The fact that they didn't disconnect anything from the engine is pure laziness, sorry to hear about your car. I would be fuming too.
i'm not getting it... if they damaged your car they have to pay for the fix! you can't let them get away with this. the guy is reacting like that because he knows he fucked up your car and he doesn't want to pay for it.
Shit does happen, not every mechanic is bad. I'm a mechanic and I've ran in to a couple of problems, where I've repaired something on a customers car, and the next day something else messed up. Which had nothing to do with the previous repair. Of course the customer always blames the mechanic. I can remember one instance where I replaced a rack and pinion in a Chevy Impala, due to a leak and not having power steering. I got the car to the parking lot and the radiator started pissing anti-freeze everywhere right in front of the customer. Of course, I got blamed. And the shop had to pay for it. In your case, the shop should have paid for their fuck up, and gave you your money back for your inconvenience.
I used to have a guy who worked for me in maintenance in a hotel . When I told him I got a great deal on a motor rebuild for a 100 HP CW pump, he always advised me: Patrick, when you pay with peanuts, you get monkeys. He was right 75% of the time.
This is one case where you definitely need to sue them. Not for the 300 bucks, but for the cost of a new car plus your psychological trauma and time wasted
I love the arrogance of no matter what you'll beat him in a fight or kill him. To quote Daniel Cormier, "SO Jon you think I'm just gonna sit there and let you kill me Jon?""
I'm in school to become a mechanic and I'm absolutely ashamed to be in the same industry as people like that. I would walk out of the door of that shop if I met a tech that carried himself like that. When I meet a customer I give them my full name and a handshake before anything. He should lose his certification if he even has one. I really hope you get your Monte Carlo back to its former glory.
My daughter drives a 2008 BMW that we bought from my mom. She was the original owner so we know the history of the car. It has been meticulously maintained and garage kept since new. Anyway it has 80 thousand miles so little things need fixing to keep it in top condition. It developed an oil leak so I took it to a local shop. It was the valve cover gasket leaking. I really didn’t have the time to do it myself. They charged me 500$ and I got it back and it still leaked. I took it back and they charged me 250$ more and I got it back and still leaked. Took it back a third time and they charged me 250$ more and guess what?? Still leaking. The three times they had it they kept it 2 weeks each time. I’m so pissed now that I order the part myself and fix the car myself in 4 hours and at a cost of 55$. So brother I feel your pain!!! They had charged me a grand and fixed nothing. I went and told him that I had fixed it myself and that I wanted my money back but he has refused to refund me a single cent
A car is a holy sanctum for a man, it is a mancave on wheels with horsepowers and explosions. A mechanic has the same trust as a surgeon, at least for me. So I completely understand you Jeff, you were dealt a bad hand. I hope your car will be good as new soon.
Hey, just some advice for your truck from a parts guy, but it's absolutely worth the investment of going with an in tank fuel pump for your truck. Chances are your mechanic is going to use an inline pump from Carter or PosiFlo or Airtex and there's nothing wrong them except for longevity. Most are not mounted in a way that allows fuel to saturate the pump and they burn out. An in tank pump is constantly saturated which provides lubrication and can end up lasting you 100k miles or more as long as you're not running it out of gas consistently. Rule of thumb for all your cars is to never run them past a quarter or half tank if you can afford it. That Chevy truck probably uses a top mounted fuel pump from the factory and that in line pump can't be installed correctly for longevity. This is because being mounted up top the fuel ends up back down in the tank and not at the inline pump like an old vehicle where almost all of the feeds from the tank where mounted at the bottom for the sake of a mechanical pump.
You gave him way too long with the car in my opinion. After the first phone call and the excuses I would have come there, took my car back, and told him to kiss my ass. I would report them to the BBB and leave a really nasty review on every website that they're listed on.
I know exactly how you feel. My truck is an 04.5 dodge with over 265,000 miles on it. I've personally learned all the mechanical work on that truck to do it myself after getting screwed over once. I can't say there's but one local auto repair I trust to work on that truck. The only reason I trust them; two of the mechanics are very close friends and I specifically request either of them to do the work on it and will wait for them to have an open slot for it. I've loved learning about the truck though and grew greatly to love diesel trucks and their awesome power capabilities.
That is the kind of shit that gives small shops a bad name. If you (as a mechanic/tech) cant do a job you should just say its over your head, save everyone a bunch of trouble. Your 100% right about really cheap work!!! Always ask what training mechanics have. If the first thing they say is "ive been doing this for 25 years" instead of giving you a legit title or school... be careful.. Experience matters but not if its experience with a old small block or lawnmowers and someones bringing in a new Cadillac.. lots of stuff to learn and stay current on to be a good mechanic/tech.. Sorry to hear about your bad run here bro. Get her going yourself and you'll be more proud of it man. good luck brother.
I have a 1977 Chevy Silverado Sport Package Suburban, 33 inch tires (Mastercraft Courser MXT2) and a 2in leveling kit. 4.10 gear ratios and full time 4wd. I recommend the Np203 Fulltime case for winter driving. Throw a limited slip in the front diff and a Detroit locker in the rear diff (Like mine) and you will never have an issue in the winter and never have to get out of the truck to engage 4wd. Your 86 K20 if it is unmodified will either have an NP208 or more likely, an NP241, both part time cases that you will need lockouts for on the axle hubs. My 1975 GMC K25 Camper Special 4x4 has an NP205, good strong case and truck, bad idea to keep 4wd on at all times, even in the winter unless is is sleeting or mushy. You can really do in your front axle from driving on dry pavement, even for just short periods, with 4wd on. Especially in a K20 with more than likely a Dana44 front differential.
I know that the whole situation sucks and all but I couldn't stop laughing my ass off when you said you were "contemplating running off the road into a tree" 😂
Brother, I'm proud of how you controlled your anger enough not to pound your fist in his mouth. For what it's worth, this 'story' captivated me (as all your stories do). Good job and mahalo, bra!
I live in Alaska and personally would not bother replacing the windshield on your truck. My truck has a long crack along both the bottom and top of the windshield and have not had a problem, and i have known many people with worse windshields. The cracks on mine never expanded or anything and where im at the temps will typically drop down into -20's for a week or two at a time. But if your not comfortable with it you should replace it.
That's the reason why I've never taken my truck into a shop. I've done 100% of the work and I'm only 17 years old. It's better to learn how to do it and mess it up yourself than to have someone mess it up and hide it from you.
1 call and see how much a small claims court filing is from $40 to $80 depending on the amount in dispute 2 The court has a maximum you can ask for in damages 3 File for the max (do not itemize the filing), you can always accept less. 4 Itemize expense and do not reveal until you appear in court (keep these cards close to the vest). Just let anyone asking know you have the records for your hearing. a) the repairs at the shop #1 that broke your car (if it was done right you may not get this but it establishes he had his hands on it under an agreement) b) the second mechanic you had to use to fix the first shops damages at shop #2 c) your cost and man hours for you and your wife lost dealing with the problem d) any additional parts you have or still need to purchase and labor or show car unsafe an inoperable with estimate for repair or replace car as totaled (unsafe and un road worthy) e) loner car or rental 4 Document the negligence the second place shop #2 you went to indicating the first place shop #1 was at fault. Its normally worth the cost of filling when you are out this much money, most people have no experience and shy away from small claims court but this is what its for. To keep you from resorting to violence ; )USE IT! Ask for max and show your itemized cost its often more than you can request. Let the judge/magistrate decide. This guy will have to appear with you and explain him self. Your receipts of having to go to a second garage shop #2 immediately will be hard for garage #1 to over come when showing fault. Do a kick starter for the court filling and make a story time video, It could go a long way towards educating allot of others. Most of the time people who know they are at fault settle and never want to be judged. Pennsylvania Small Claims Court Information www.smallclaims.com/?cat=41
The moral of the story is to encourage your siblings to become lawyers as you are growing up so that when you are a grown up and need a lawyer you have a free one;) Then sue people like this into oblivion;)
They say helplessness is one of the few things that can bring a grown man to tears. Really sorry that you had to go through such an experience. I have been repairing stuff for people in my past and I just can't understand such an attitude. Mistakes happen, I have done some damage by accident too, but then it was obvious to me that I have to put extra money in to return the equipment to it's fully working order. And in case of cars this is really quite common, which bothers me double, because in this case often human health and life are at stake, so it's even more unimaginable to me. I always thought that people who hide a major flaw in what they have done or sold are plain stupid, because the owner will discover it sooner or later, usually sooner. But now I came to a conclusion that they may be devoid of any imagination, intellect and such, but they are not dumb: they have keenly observed, that most people will eventually let it slip. There will be shouting, threats etc, but nobody would really bother to either go to court or punish the bastard as they promised. So it's people like us that condition those mofos to keep their fu..ed up work ethics.
Some cars from the 80's and down, you do have some clearance to drop an oil-pan, but, not your car, tho. Don't know where those other guys got 300 dollars from either, you have to disconnect everything and jack the motor up or remove the exhaust system and sub frame. more like 450-650 for parts and labor. That's the owner's fault for low balling the job (eager to please) and putting it on the worker to figure it out. It's a two day job, disconnecting everything, collecting parts, exhaust systems usually breaks somewhere as part of the process of removal, dealing with that, putting everything back together and going back over the car for any faults. You should of know 180 between the shop owner and the worker is no money to do a job running over 10 hours. the only fast turn around on most cars are brake jobs and oil changes, everything else is an up hill battle.
My grandfather has a limited edition commemorative mustang, all the engineers signed the dash, super low miles. He has the oils and transmission fluid changed every couple thousand miles. He took it for a transmission fluid and oil change and the shop never put fluid back into the transmission. It shredded the transmission, ruined it. He took them to court and had the whole transmission+work dealer replaced.
Can relate to this so much. I had a shop fix rust hole in my jeep floor and I got it back with the floor pan crooked and the seat bolts not even tightened down! I was furious....never went back to that shop. Keep the story time videos coming, love them!
I totally feel your pain. I put my prized truck in when the transmission was starting to go and had it replaced. Cost me close to $2500 to fix it. I go and get the truck from them and drive about 1 mile from his shop when my truck transmission. Slips and doesn't go back I to gear. I tow the truck back to the same shop and this fool tells me that a radiator hose that came off drained all the fluid and now I need to replace the replaced transmission I just paid for and since it was a hose attached from the transmission he took out but he says he didn't have to take off it was my responsibility to repay to fix the vehicle. Well long story I argue with this jerk, pay for my truck to be removed back to my house And stopped the payment on my check since he refused to fix my truck. One week after that I get a police officer who was his high school football buddy I find out comes to my house and reclaim my truck on a mechanicacs lean. How to go to court and off course lost. Still pissed.
PA doesn't have small claims court. For amounts under $8000, you file at the Magisterial District Court where the Defendant is located. You pay a filing fee and they will have him served. All filing fees are added to what you say he owes. In your case, you'd also add the costs paid to the other mechanic to fix what was broken, not just the original $300 you paid. You'll have a hearing and the judge orders him to pay. If he doesn't, they will levy his property. You should have filed.
Also just a heads up. A real mechanic shop will have a book. Every repair is listed in this book based on the number of hours they are allowed to charge you. Then the shop should have a thing saying their rate is this much per hour. So let's say your oil pan, for a quote they look up year make and model for remove and replace oil pan. It takes 3 hours (by the book) their rate is $100 an hour. So that's $300 plus the cost of the gasket. That's all they can charge. If it takes them 6 hours cause they have never done it, it's still $300. On a side not this is also how most mechanics get paid. By the book price. If it took him 6 hours he only gets paid for 3. That's why you meet bad ones who cut corners to get the job done. Because if it pays 3 and it took him 1 he just got paid 2 hours extra for that job. That's not to say a good mechanic can't do it right in an hour, just have to watch for the corner cutters.
Those K20's from that era are great trucks. Just gotta be careful with those gas tanks on the side... you get T-Boned and that gas is spilling right on the catalytic converter and going boom real quick. Great video! and sorry to hear about the mechanic issues. -Owen
i work on my cars to a point.We have a family mechanic that we've used for 23 years.They are expensive.When they say the vehicle is ready its ready.They walk me through repairs that i can do.Maniford gaskets and the like.Dont get loud with a stranger;you may both be carrying a gun.Mechanics Doctors and Childcare are worth the money you pay.
"Fuck you things happen." LMFAO!!!! Man that was GREAT!!! I LOVE IT! I've had some super shitty experiences when my old mechanic. Who was a family friend for decades....
Man , this is the Exact reason why I do all my work on my cars. Last time I went to a mechanic was 1998 when they fucked me !! Thanks for the story .........ThumbZ UP !!!
My Friend brought a new car for the first check-up, they where supposed to change the engine oil and filters. So after they said the car was done, the mechanic closed the hood and started the engine to warm it up, after 20 seconds the engine seized. The mechanic tried to start the car few more times but it was dead, my friend walked to the car and saw 2 unopened oil jugs standing by the car. The mechanic panicked opened the hood took off the cylinder heads, he took a fu**ing hand file and started shaving the metal off the cylinder block with all the shavings falling into the engine. My friend was in shock, he gave the shop owner the keys to the car and said this is your car now,i expect a new car from you. Afterwards he sued the shop for damages, the engine was a total loss, he won the case and the shop bought him a new car, and it was a better spec'd model.
Jeff, for the truck you might consider getting a silicon injection for the windshield instead of replacing it. My moms windshield got cracked and we had a silicon injection put in before it got down to freezing temperatures (so water wouldn't get in and expand) it worked well and is still holding up from last year. I live in California, during the winter it hits freezing most nights but warms up right after sunrise so maybe it's not an option for you.
I know you don't want to take him to court, but he still has your $300, and caused damages... Do your fellow man a favor and hold this mechanic accountable.
I can understand the frustration, in my case a Valet driver took my car for a 35 mile joy ride and stripped the third gear in my transmission. I had to shift from second to fourth for a month before finally selling the car. 14 years later I am still bitter.
Dealer told me I needed a new O2 sensor, but since it was fused to the cat, that needed replacing as well. Quoted me over $1200 dollars to replace. Took it to my local mechanic and he told me they didn't even identify the right sensor and had it fixed for half that.
Guarantee they identified the right sensor..........dealers have diagnostic tools that no outside mechanic has plus other information But they charge an arm and a leg for it so going to other shops is smarter
I'll say this, I work at a dealership, and no matter were you take your car, things like this happen. Having said that, the best case is to find someone you know personally, a person you can really trust. Since that is not an option most of the time, it can be hard. But, good dealerships take pride in customer satisfaction, and making things rights can take priority over making a profit, sometimes. But dealers are expensive! As much as I hate to say it, the car business seems to be a shady business. The dealership were I work is good to people most of the time, but really shady stuff still happens. It all comes down to the the type of day, or month the business is having. Listening to your story, they were taking higher priority work, higher paying jobs, and then as you said, they rushed it to get your car done done. Sorry this happened to you, as someone who works on cars for a living.
As a heads up, we can NEVER give a real quote over the phone without every looking at it and knowing whats wrong with it. All a quote is, is the minimum amount it could be.
as a mechanic I am so sorry.Shit happens yes, BUT you need to own up to it. I quoted $110 for a starter on a Northstar caddy, well come to find out its under the damn intake and here I thought it was going to be an hour job with a smoke break. I got under the car... wtf.. looked it up on alldata and had to call the guy and tell him I'm an idiot and I had never seen anything like this from GM, He laughed and was fine with the extra time. He was ok with it because of good communication, I also charged 110 I told him even though it was a lot more work I told him $110 plus parts so that's what the bill was. He was so happy in the end he gave me $200 and had pizza sent over.Most people are fine with small oops and get over bigger ones it you are honest and a) fix it or b) pay for some one else to if its over you're head.
I'm so sorry about these stupid Mechanics man, I'm a mechanic myself and I hate people that do these things and its sad to say that these things even happen. You go in for a fix that thing should be fixed, nothing else wrong to it. It sucks that this keeps happening to you bro. Anyways, find a good mechanic and remember try to save a buck but not too much.
The mechanic i have is basically the guy that your parents and sister described, super cheap, great work, no wait, and hes like 5 minutes away and really cool.
If you paid with credit card you can get your money back for that job without having to go to small claims court. Take pictures or bring in invoices of the damages that they caused to your bank or send them to your credit card provider. Give them a call and explain what happened and say you want to do a charge back on the payment. With the proof they will perform the charge back no questions asked, and when they try and fight it they will show the mechanic the invoices and refuse them the money.
I have a '76 C20 Scottsdale. Wood bed. The royal blue with baby blue stripes. Beautiful barn find. I'm the second owner😁. Now has 126000 miles on the original engine. Had 95000 when I bought it 2yrs ago. There is a serious lack of how to's on 76's. I do all my own work with y.t. vids of similar trucks. I wish someone as charismatic and knowledgeable as you did these diy mechanic vids. I love your vids. Been sub'd for like ever.
Dispute the credit card charge. Take him to court. Do the manifold or you will burn a valve. Basically don't drive it until you fix the manifold. I don't care what it cost I would take him to court and have him pay all the repairs to fix the cart. You will win.
Another car story from PA. jerry's garage in Clifford was fixing my car. It turned out the whole engine had to be replaced. I agreed and the estimate was $2,000. He finally calls me 2 weeks later that the car was ready. Only slight problem: the car needed more work and parts than originally estimated. The final bill was for $5,500. So he went $3.5k over the estimate and didn't even bother to consult it with me...
I do my own work 90% of the time, but in May I had my inner CV joint pull out of it's splines and stripped the splines destroying my half shaft. Anyways, I could have bought one for $120 and done it myself, but I had it taken to a local recommended shop. I've been living in Florida now for two years, PA before this, and I've never needed a mechanic down here, but I had to work all week and this happened on Tuesday, it rains in the afternoons so I just wanted a mechanic to fix the damn thing and be done. At first I thought they did a good job, it was about $270 which is reasonable considering the work they did, but shortly after I left (a day or two) my ABS light came on. I decided to inspect... they had routed the cable for my ABS/Wheel speed sensor so it TOUCHED the spinning half shaft on my car, it literally chewed through the cable. By going to the local and cheap shop I cost myself a $75 sensor. I'll never be going back, and I don't think there's a point in telling them they fucked up. Unless you sue which is expensive and time consuming most places could give zero fucks.
Jeff, I had a similar situation with Garner Chevrolet in Midland MI (yep, I said the business name). I took my '95 Chevy Camaro z-28 to them to be fixed. They replaced my intake manifold seal but never flushed the engine or changed the oil. So I drove my car 40 miles low on oil with coolant mixed in and spun my bearings. They refused to honor they're warranty and replace the engine. I sued them and won. Sue that mechanic, he is liable to make you whole.
If you have some mechanical ability and time, it is worth it for you to do the work yourself. Will save a ton of money, especially brake jobs, it is so easy to do. Your old vehicles probably have drum brakes which are a little harder. I think every repair has a how to video on youtube.
The biggest mistake you made besides going to a cheap hack was telling him you weren't in a hurry. Never ever say that to a mechanic. I guarantee you they worked on it within the first 2 days it was there and when they were done realized the car was fucked. It took them 3 weeks to get the nerve to attempt to give it back and steal your money.
This is why I do all my own auto repairs. I'm so glad I learned, it pays dividends all the time. You just cant trust these mechanics, even if they are good they are still trying to get it done quickly and they don't care about your car anywhere near as much as you do.
Went to Canadien Tire with a leaking gas tank, had my own replacement tank, the guy quoted me 171.50, after all the lines they broke and had to order in (which took a week, a full week without my car which is my only means of getting to and from work everyday) it ended up being more than 650, over half of that being just for labour costs. Its expensive to own a car.
I got an oil change at Walmart and a few blocks away I could tell the Jeep was not running right. Luckily I was close to my normal auto shop. Found out they never put oil back in.
Bro, paid $5000 for an engine rebuild, leaks oil, misses on one cylinder, engine light on. Took it back 4 times over the course of 6 months. They said they rebuilt it twice. Michigan Motor Exchange in Waterford. $300 aint shit! :(
Always look at what you sign before you hand over the keys. A lot of states require that anything over 10% of the quote requires customer approval. i.e., 18 buck max over what he quoted you. I had Mechanics try to pull that crap a few times. I pushed it, and I DID NOT pay the overage.
Jeff, absolutely do the small claims court, it doesn't cost much at all, you can represent yourself, and based on this story, and a statement from COAST, you will win, perhaps not only the $300, but the additional costs of the damage....DO IT !
