Exhausted all my options?

[280Z Turbo]

Nair his shampoo then.

[the Teuton]

Nair his shampoo then.

Duly noted.

[Rupert]

You're ridiculous, Teuton. I don't know why you would insist on an OMG new! part, reinforced or not, when what you have is just fine. Two hours of labor is a lot of money and time, FYI. A full quarter of the work day.

And don't give me this OMG customer service! crap. He explained things, went through the whole bit, and then you were a sarcastic twerp. I'd hang up on your ass, too. The customer is wrong 90% of the time.

[the Teuton]

You're ridiculous, Teuton. I don't know why you would insist on an OMG new! part, reinforced or not, when what you have is just fine. Two hours of labor is a lot of money and time, FYI. A full quarter of the work day.

And don't give me this OMG customer service! crap. He explained things, went through the whole bit, and then you were a sarcastic twerp. I'd hang up on your ass, too. The customer is wrong 90% of the time.

When he tells my dad on Wednesday that he's ordering a new part, I expect a new part to be put onto my car.

You're dense.

[Rupert]

Maybe he should have called and said that this would be better, but jeebus, everything works, and probably better than with a new part. You want a new part that he then reinforced? Extra money for the labor.

[Cookie Monster]

Why are you so hung up over the fact that it's not a new part? The mechanic did it in your best interest, figuring it'd be stronger. In the end for him it's far easier to just stick a new part back on there instead of reinforcing and rewelding everything.

[Rupert]

You know that the world isn't out to screw you, right, Teuts?

[the Teuton]

Maybe he should have called and said that this would be better, but jeebus, everything works, and probably better than with a new part. You want a new part that he then reinforced? Extra money for the labor.

Fortunately, communication doesn't cost a dime. Why are people so lousy at it?

[Rupert]

It's a pain in the ass, that's why.

[the Teuton]

It's a pain in the ass, that's why.

See, by him not conveying this to me earlier, it caused headaches around, and it lost him a family that has been a fairly decent user of his services for the past year or so.

I don't trust the guy at all, and I still don't believe in the integrity of his work anymore. A phone call would have saved half of the posts in this thread, too.

[Rupert]

OK, so you're really just super worked up that he didn't call you?

It's fixed, better than new, you didn't pay anything, but holy hell, he didn't call you, so he must have screwed you.

[the Teuton]

OK, so you're really just super worked up that he didn't call you?

It's fixed, better than new, you didn't pay anything, but holy hell, he didn't call you, so he must have screwed you.

Communication would've solved a lot. That and honesty.

[Rupert]

What was dishonest? And who the hell cares about a phone call? If he had chosen to, say, paint the car pink instead of fix the flex pipe, and he didn't call first, sure. But he chose to fix it better instead of fix it worse.

[Rupert]

I just don't see a problem here.

[the Teuton]

I just don't see a problem here.

I know you don't. It's called doing what you say you're going to do.

[Cookie Monster]

Considering your family has been going there for a year now without problems I think those welds should be OK...

And to drop a decent mechanic over a phone call is laughable.

[the Teuton]

Considering your family has been going there for a year now without problems I think those welds should be OK...

And to drop a decent mechanic over a phone call is laughable.

He wanted to charge my dad $400 for a new ECU for the Legacy before I found one online for $45.

It's more than that.

[rohan]

Considering your family has been going there for a year now without problems I think those welds should be OK...

And to drop a decent mechanic over a phone call is laughable.

It's not laughable- being reliable is what being a businessman is about.  It might not be smart on the customers part by any stretch but it's not laughable. 

You're ridiculous, Teuton. I don't know why you would insist on an OMG new! part, reinforced or not, when what you have is just fine. Two hours of labor is a lot of money and time, FYI. A full quarter of the work day.

And don't give me this OMG customer service! crap. He explained things, went through the whole bit, and then you were a sarcastic twerp. I'd hang up on your ass, too. The customer is wrong 90% of the time.

God you're an arrogant ass sometimes- why?  Most of the time you're not even close to right but you still insist on being an arrogant ass.  I don't get it.

These mechanics have to remember they're employed by the guy who's car they're working on- piss him off for any reason and 5 of his friends won't be recommended to the mechanic-  even if only 1 out of those 5 would normally go there that's 1 lost customer.  If he lost 1 out of every 5 customers he might go broke. 

[2o6]

Why are you making such a big deal out of this?  Exhaust is just a metal pipe that channels gases and fumes from one area to another..... you shouldn't have to destroy a perfectly good piece of metal for no reason. A weld should fix it.

He wanted to charge my dad $400 for a new ECU for the Legacy before I found one online for $45.

It's more than that.

You sure it was new? $45 sounds like an ECU from a junked car. I remember that's roughly what guys were selling PCM's for my Neon for.

It's not laughable- being reliable is what being a businessman is about.  It might not be smart on the customers part by any stretch but it's not laughable. 


God you're an arrogant ass sometimes- why?  Most of the time you're not even close to right but you still insist on being an arrogant ass.  I don't get it.

These mechanics have to remember they're employed by the guy who's car they're working on- piss him off for any reason and 5 of his friends won't be recommended to the mechanic-  even if only 1 out of those 5 would normally go there that's 1 lost customer.  If he lost 1 out of every 5 customers he might go broke. 

And on the converse, you can't (and won't!) please everyone. Sometimes it's better to cut your losses and go.

I know you don't. It's called doing what you say you're going to do.

HE FIXED A DEFECTIVE PART, FREE OF CHARGE.


That's AWESOME business, considering that he didn't have to do anything and could have just said "I'm sorry".

[2o6]

I mean, replacing the part makes absolutely no sense.

[the Teuton]

1) Who buys an ECU for a 1995 Subaru brand new?

2) He wasn't doing me a favor; he was doing himself a favor because small claims court is only so far away.

3) I paid for a new part; I wanted a new part. It was under factory warranty.

[2o6]

But replacing the part makes absolutely no sense.


I mean, if you were to order a steak "medium-rare", but the center was too cool inside (closer to rare), would you insist they throw that steak out and start over?



And due to legal issues, he'd have to buy the ECU new.

[the Teuton]

I think it's more like this: If I ordered a rare steak and it came out well done, you bet your ass I'd tell them to throw it out and start anew. I'd probably ask for a discount on my meal, too. What's worth doing is worth doing right.

[2o6]

But it isn't.


A good piece of metal is still usable and the situation can be rectified easily. Similar how a rare steak can be done to the right level, a piece of metal used for exhaust can be fixed and repaired.



It's not like he billed you for new exhaust when it was in reality your old exhaust.

[the Teuton]

I think the overarching issue is that he told me he was going to put a new part on there, and he didn't.

[giant_mtb]

Oh, fun times, fun times...

My dad spoke with the mechanic this past week to make sure the parts would be available to do the job -- the flex pipe and whatnot. He said it would. Okay, cool, I thought.

I get the car back today, and as soon as a I open the hood, I notice the pipe is exactly the same. The car is quieter again, but all they did was weld it back on with some reinforcements. That's not what I was expecting, especially given the fact that I just spent $400 to have it replaced two months ago.

My dad calls the guy up (he was busy towing a car, so one of his mechanics gave me my receipt and key back when I was there), and he says that the part would've been ordered from the same company, and he felt that this weld job would be stronger. I said that I didn't pay $400 for a greasemonkey weld job. I told him that it was either the integrity of the people who put it on or the part itself, and perhaps he should order better quality parts, to which he said he'd have to charge me more if that were the case. I said why should I have to be charged more for the job to be done right?

In the end, he told me that this will do, and he feels that he doesn't think it'll break. The conversation basically ended there with a rather sarcastic "Let's hope" from me. He hung up on me. What a fucking piece of shit.

The car is fixed now, but I am not happy. I will be calling the Better Business Bureau next week to express my discontentment.

You're ridiculous, man.  I hope you know that.

[Rupert]

I know you don't. It's called doing what you say you're going to do.

He did. He fixed your car.

[MX793]

I think the overarching issue is that he told me he was going to put a new part on there, and he didn't.

And perhaps he was going to install a new part but when he actually took a look at what failed, realized that the part was fine and that simply replacing it with a new part would result in the same problem another month or two down the road, so he actually fixed the problem.  Why does it matter that he chose to reinforce the practically brand new part he just installed a couple of weeks ago rather than bolt in another new one?  It's not like you had to pay another $400 for this fix.

And exactly how much more pissed off would you have been if he'd just tossed in another of the same and it too failed after only 1000 miles and you'd have to drive another 120 miles back to have it fixed again?

Do you know what the difference between a grease monkey and a good mechanic is?  A grease monkey will mindlessly replace broken parts without ever bothering to look at why they failed.  A good mechanic actually fixes the problem.

[Rupert]

It's not laughable- being reliable is what being a businessman is about.  It might not be smart on the customers part by any stretch but it's not laughable. 


God you're an arrogant ass sometimes- why?  Most of the time you're not even close to right but you still insist on being an arrogant ass.  I don't get it.

These mechanics have to remember they're employed by the guy who's car they're working on- piss him off for any reason and 5 of his friends won't be recommended to the mechanic-  even if only 1 out of those 5 would normally go there that's 1 lost customer.  If he lost 1 out of every 5 customers he might go broke. 

I'm well aware of all of that, but there's only so much that can be expected from anyone. Given the replies in this thread, only one of the five people (you) Teuton tells about how terrible this guy is are going to listen and not use him.

[sportyaccordy]

All jokes aside,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/91-98-Saturn-SL2-SC2-DOHC-Exhaust-Exhaust-Header-OBX-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem230a89f6d4QQitemZ150500669140QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

I don't know if you've linked w/any Saturn forum dudes but now would prob be a good time...

Welding or fixing that shit's a waste of time... you already have a new cat back... kop a new header & a shitty little $60 cat and find someone to install it all for you, problem solved.