Complaining About Your Shop's Diagnostics Charges?
On your way to work Wednesday morning, your car starts to stutter, spit and sputter, then dies at the traffic light. Next light, same coughing, car stalls, you begin to rage. You've noticed a band of wild monkeys trailing you, so on a hunch, you get out of the car to check things out, but it turns out not to be the banana-in-the-tailpipe trick. Would've been a cheap fix.Time to take your car to the shop. So you leave your steed in the trusted hands of your local independent repair shop (since you gave up on the dealer years ago). Your mechanic calls the next day to inform you that all the drama was caused by a broken connection in the wiring to your #2 oxygen sensor. He says you're lucky, it'll be a 5-minute fix. But when you pick your car up the bill is $240. "What the @*#!?" you're thinking. "Why am I paying $240 for a 5-minute repair?!!!"
Settle down. Hold your horses, take a powder, count to 10 -- whatever works. You're forgetting that you walked into the repair shop with a giant question mark over your head. Your mechanic, who has years of experience and participates in expensive continuing education classes to stay up on technology, figured it out for you. And it didn't take 5 minutes to diagnose, either! He spent more than 2 hours on the diagnosis alone. That's 2 hours he didn't spend replacing Mrs. Grimley's alternator. So is his time worthless? Come on. Stop complaining. Your car's fixed, and $240 is cheap these days.
What about those monkeys? Those hungry little critters chasing you down the street were a different breed of primate -- service writers from your local dealership. Good thing you got those monkeys off your back.
Comments
Said like a political crook! Paying for a diagnostic on a frickin car? I was a mechanic 40 years ago if it was broke you fixed it. (A mechanic is supposed to know how to fix it) Pay for diagnosis is THEFT. Your not getting a heart transplant. It’s a frickin engine.
I have to agree with JimmyGee. I took my 74 Ford to a local shop because it wouldnt start. They kept it for three days then called me to have it towed out of the shop. WHAT? They couldnt diagnose the problem on an older car. Some mechanics these days cant figure out whats wrong with a car unless they can plug a computer into the dash and punch a couple buttons. The shop still charged me $140 for diagnostics fee.
Diagnostic charges are pointless. What ever happened to free “quotes” on jobs.
Take a look at garageseek.com to read, rate and review your own local garages!
If Jimmy was a mechanic for 40 years, I’m sure he came across a problem that didn’t have an immediate answer. What do you do if the engine doesn’t start? It’s a simple no-start, right? According to this logic you would just replace the “start?” Maybe just replace the key? The fact is that a no-start problem, especially in an emissions-jammed fuel-injected vehicle, could be any one of a dozen issues. You can’t replace what’s “broke” if you don’t know which part is malfunctioning. If shops routinely performed 3 hours of diagnosis without charging for it, there would be a lot of garage space for rent.
I think your attack on Dealer Service Advisors is unfair.I work at a Five Star Dealer.I feel we are competative in our price structure our diagnosis goes towards the repair not in addition to the repair.We have Factory trained Technicans that know the vehicle very well and the more commonly seen complaints.Parts installed have a nation wide warranty at any Chrysler,Dodge or Jeep Dealer.I work hard for my customer satisfaction and take extreme pride in what I do.
I agree with you. The Technition’s time is well worth it. It takes YEARS of experience, training and not to mention thousands of dollars of tools and diagnostic equipment to diagnose and repair todays high tech vechiels.
I was an auto tech for over 20 years untill I fiannaly finished my Doctorate degree. So I know what I’m talking about. A good tech has extensive knowedge that costs a lot of time, effort and money, and is well worth his weight in gold.
This reminds me of the joke about the plant manager & the repairman…
The repairman spent 5 minutes looking at the machine, took out a hammer & banged on the machine 3 times…everything worked perfectly. He then presented a bill for $500.
The plant manager was outraged & demanded an itemized bill. The repairman did just that:
“Banging on machine with hammer– $5…
KNOWING where to bang–$495
In other words, if you could have figured it out for yourself, then it would be cheaper.
I’m an auto tech in brooklyn. Many people don’t know what goes into diagnosing a car these days.
Mechanics from 15.. 20 years ago wouldn’t know what to do if a late model car came in with a drivability problem.
Technicians have to take classes to keep up with technology like the article said, but what it didn’t tell you was that the classes cost $500+ for an 8 hour class per technician. And the many quality professional grade scanners used to help diagnose a car’s problem costs well over $5000 each, and they have to be updated 2-4 times a year which costs another $1800 per update.
Put those costs on top of the regular shop expenses like rent and utilities and wages, and you can see why it cost what it does.
With all the new systems and new sensors in cars, it’s never really easy to find a problem in a newer car then it was in an older car (trust me, i know first hand). Back then, it used to be the mechanic spent 10 mins to figure out what the problem is, and 2 hours to fix it. Now with the complicated electrical and computer systems in cars, it takes hours to find a problem that may be caused by just a shorted wire, or corroded connector, or some other simple job. Times have changed.
If you take your car into the shop and don’t have a clue as to what’s wrong with it, and I’m talking no clue at all, then you should not be surprised to see a diagnostics charge on your invoice. If you can tell the mechanic what the problem is (such as “my car is overheating”), then a good shop should work with you on the price. Mechanics who do SIDE WORK are the way to go for older cars, though. My Honda has 194,000 miles on it, so I’m not as concerned with shop warranties and insurance as I would be if I had a brand new car.
My car was in the garage twice within a month for diagnostic and repair charges because of the yellow “check engine” light. Both times it cost me over two hundred dollars to replace supposedly two differnt sensors but again the light came on. The car was again “diagnosed” and apparently nothing was showing up. There was no charge… Because I had become aware of another individual’s experience with this check engine light and what solution they had been told to try first, I asked to have the gas cap replaced and haven’t had a problem since… I still have the old gas cap and have been tempted to put it back in and see if the check engine light comes back on. If it does, it means I spent over four hundred dollars unnecessarily…. I feel the need to discuss this issue with the mechanic and would appreciate feedback as to how to approach the subject “diplomatically.”
Shannon,
Tough situation. The leaking gas cap problem usually causes a different trouble code than a faulty oxygen sensor, so I would wonder why the O2 sensors were replaced first, assuming the OBD codes were read before the repairs started. Every mechanic knows about the gas cap issues with check engine lights. Communication is the key, but I wouldn’t expect much since you already paid for the O2 sensor repairs.
“Your mechanic, who has years of experience and participates in expensive continuing education classes to stay up on technology, figured it out for you.” Yes this is true but drive ability diagnosis needs to be controlled by the customer. You should always be kept up to date on the diagnostic charges. In fact I recommend approving diagnosis in 1 hour blocks. I have some free articles on managing the shop and controlling
auto repair bills.
Thanks for posting an article like this.
As an auto shop owner, I have to constantly evaluate and update my shop rates and charging procedures. Updating is key to ensuring that the customer has the best price.
-Dwayne
Carriage Works