Post by
IanS »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/ians-u23642.html
Tue Dec 28, 2010 12:30 am
Just my 2 cents.
That article is very misleading. It is based entirely on what the women said, and no evidence is given. I think she is a complainer. Without a single knuckle to stand on.
Let me break it down. This goes for men and women, but in my experience, women are more prone to it. People do not understand their own cars. They often do not understand the terms being used when discussing an automotive repair. If you don't understand the words that are being used, you are much more likely to forget details. I see it all the time. Something can be clearly explained to a person, they take the price for work, and call a "friend". This often leads to massive miss communication, and mistrust is formed. Guess who gets the blame. Not to mention that "friend" has no overhead, no markup, no warranty, and limited tools/skills.
She says they tried to pull $2000 out of her for a $150 job. In truth, it was a $2000 job, she just found someone to do half of it for $150 dollars worth of used parts.
Volkswagens of that era will turn the brake warning light on for many different reasons. The fact that the dealership said she needed a new knuckle tells a story in itself. Cars dont just end up needing a knuckle. I would bet 1 of 2 things happened. Either she hit something, (you would be amazed how far people will go to cover their own screw up) and bent the knuckle, there by damaging the ABS, or brake wear warning system. In the dealership world, as well as many other shops, we dont take chances. If the knuckle is damaged from impact, the strut, the knuckle, and the control arms are all replaced, to avoid a return problem. Because one strut is newer, both sides are replaced, to make sure handling is not effected. Another possibility, is that she had a wheel bearing begin to fail. I have been blown away again and again how long people will try to ignore certain things. Ignoring a wheel bearing can easily destroy an ABS tone wheel, as well as the hub, and the knuckle.
Either way, add in the cost of a VW dealership labor rate (higher than average) and a full wheel alignment, and its not at all hard to run a bill up to $2000.
This doesn't even take in to account all the maintenance issues that could have been recommended based on the mileage of the vehicle. Is she going to separate these from the singular issue that caused the brake warning light? Or is she just going to use that higher number to make her complaint seem more valid?
When she got the car to her "friend" a $150 used knuckle/bearing assembly was installed, with no cost for labor, no wheel alignment, and no warranty. I can see why she is getting her panties all bunched up, but the problem is, its as much, if not more her fault, than anyone else's. More likely than not, everything was explained to her, but she was too busy staring wide eyed at the $2000 bill that was attempting to give her a pulmonary embolism, to realize what was being explained to her.
For every valid "crooked repair shop" complaint, there are 20 that are misplaced, or fraudulent. The women who wrote that article is a fear monger, and she knows little, if anything about that which she is writing. Anyone can use google, she needs to stop pretending to be a journalist.
PS, stay away from fast lubes, (valvoline, jiffy lube), a lot of those shops are so crooked Im surprised the walls aren't falling down. I could spin heads with the stuff I have seen. Can anyone tell me what happens when you put power steering fluid into a brake fluid reservoir on a 2006 Nissan Murano?
Bex, Im not saying stuff like this doesn't happen, Im just saying that article is a poor example.
