Should You Worry?

Auto repair costs are going up every year as mechanics are charging much higher amount for their hourly labour. Some shops are charging $85 per hour to perform any type of repair or service. These price gougers are giving their own auto repair service industry a bad reputation and many of them are just out to scam their customers.

Many investigative news programs have conducted undercover assignments to inform the public of these types of dishonest service shop tactics. They set up hidden cameras with microphones under the hood to reveal all the tricks and scams these people pulled on their customers.

Study shows, women are more likely to be scammed by their dishonest mechanics or repair shops than men. Also, people who speak a different language or drive a more expensive car are more likely to be targeted or ripped off.

Some auto service repair shops are charging $70 to $85 for a simple oil change? They claim it requires an hour for the mechanic to complete for something that can be done within 15 minutes. With all the proper equipment available at their service shop, how difficult is it to raise the vehicle up; unscrew the oil pan to drain the oil for recycling; unscrew and change the oil filter; then, refill with fresh oil?

Ever had the engine light come on? Some service shops charge $85 just to plug their machine to the vehicle’s computer to find out the trouble code that caused the engine light to come on. This code is used to identify the actual issue on the vehicle. The entire process takes less than one minute. It has no purpose other than to read the code issued by the engine computer. It will not repair or fix anything on the vehicle.

So, why do these service shops charge so much to plug the reader into your vehicle? They claim their device cost over $200,000 and that’s why they charge so high per use to recoup their investment. In reality, these diagnostic vehicle engine check devices cost very little. They are available online for $35 for a simple code reader or approximately $95 for a more professional model. All models can reset or turn off the engine light.

Repairs are even more outrageous! The labour often cost three to eight times the amount of the actual replacement parts. Most repairs average out to at least $500.

In many auto repair or service shops, the mechanics on duty will work on one or two other vehicles at the same time. To the service shops, they believe this is acceptable. But why should anyone pay for two hours of labour when the mechanic is not working on your vehicle 100% during those two hours? Perhaps keeping track of the actual amount of time the mechanic physically spent working on your vehicle will be the solution to confront the service manager for a better price on the ‘actual’ labour cost?

These service repair shops are dishonest and should be reported to the BBB or their franchise head office. These dishonest mechanics and service shops are giving themselves the bad reputation they deserve. Customers have lots of options to spend their money as there are many other reputable service shops competing for the same business opportunity. With social media being so popular, it is very easy to spread the word on a bad customer service experience. One negative comment about a bad experience on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube can go viral. The mechanics and service repair shops ripping people off may one day go out of business.

Should you worry about being ripped off by your mechanic?

Should you worry about dishonest auto service repair shops?

Should you worry about auto repair costs?

You decide!