Is it reasonable to expect a mechanic to tell you it'll cost to look at your car before he does it?

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Isn't the mechanic or any business for that matter required to tell you there will be a fee or have some kind of sign with fees listed on it before doing work? By work I am not talking about fixing the issue, but just looking at it to tell you what it will cost.

I do know many will apply this as credit to the total cost, but I found it a bit odd that he never mentioned anything about a price to look at it earlier. Maybe I just didn't notice it in the past?

 

[Aimster]

no mechanic has ever charged me for just looking at my car.

take it into the dealerships for major work. they will usually not charge you if they do not perform anything.

Even in the movies when they guy is like "how much do I owe you" the dude goes "nothing, I didn't do anything". This was in a movie I watched yesterday. It was Little Miss Sunshine.

 

[chambersc]

absolutely reasonable. his time spent is your money gone.

 

[waggy]

one place i go to charges to look at the car. bu the tells you up front and will deduct it if you have work done.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Originally posted by: chambersc
absolutely reasonable. his time spent is your money gone.

Not without telling your first.

Edit: By the way, you owe me $5 for refuting your statement. PM for paypal address.

 

[BlancoNino]

It's ridiculous IMO, especially if they just run a computer diagnostic. Body shops will take 20 minutes of their time to give you a free estimate, so I don't see why mechanics shouldn't either.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: chambersc
absolutely reasonable. his time spent is your money gone.

Why should that statement *ever* hold any value?

Well, maybe in opinions, but in the court of law I believe he is required to tell you, it's for the consumer's protection.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: waggy
one place i go to charges to look at the car. bu the tells you up front and will deduct it if you have work done.

Ok, that makes sense.

Here's what happened for those who care to know: I took our Volvo in because of an issue that turned out to be the passenger's side front wheel's hub assembly needing to be replaced. He threw some other stuff in there and quoted just under $1,000 after parts and labor - he was charging twice the actual price of the parts that I could get it from a local store from.

I decided to pick up the car and just have some other place do the work. My dad and I were both there to drop off the car (I took him back) and never once did they mention any kind of price. When I went there to pick up the car, he gave the keys and I started heading out. At this point he's on the computer not even talking to me at all. He asks me where I'm going and I tell him are we not done? He said no and printed out a bill for $40 saying I owe that.

I told him we were never told or even mentioned any price to look at the issue. Because of this reason, he has no right to charge us. He said he wouldn't allow the car off the lot and so I told him to ahead and charge this, but I would be disputing it. The CC provider can decide if he has the right to charge me without telling me in advance or not.

If I had known he was going to charge me, it might not really be an issue. He ended up saying that he'll cut me a deal for $25, but I repeated that he never once mentioned any kind of payment. At this point he takes the payment and says he never wants to see me in his shop again.

That's the story and I hope he someday realizes to not argue and yell at me in the way he did.

 

[Strk]

As long as they tell you upfront, I think it's perfectly reasonable, although I think it's stupid for a person to pay a mechanic to look at their car short of a super car.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Of course it's reasonable to tell estimates before doing any work. If the shop charges for just looking at car they should state upfront that too. Shops that do usually deduct that amount from final work too, although nobody guarantees you that they just won't jack up the final bill.

 

[chambersc]

I suppose I misunderstood the topic summary. I took it that the OP has entered into the business and was in the process of negotiations with the mechanic. The mechanic then says "yeah, I'll look at your car but it will be x dollars." Sorry.

 

[pontifex]

never really thought about it but i just assumed that if they were going to take time out to try to figure out what is wrong with the car, they should be paid for their time.

would you spend 2 hours of your day trying to figure out whats wrong with a stranger's computer and not expect anything in return when you could be working on a paying customer's pc?

 

[Toastedlightly]

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
It's ridiculous IMO, especially if they just run a computer diagnostic. Body shops will take 20 minutes of their time to give you a free estimate, so I don't see why mechanics shouldn't either.

The mechanicals of a car can either be easy or hard, and diagnostics aren't always very helpful.

 

[BoomerD]

ALL the shops I've dealt with will charge you to diagnose a problem IF you don't have them do the repair. Gotta pay that mechanic's time somehow...One hour (or less) times the applicable shop rate is normal...

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly

Originally posted by: BlancoNino
It's ridiculous IMO, especially if they just run a computer diagnostic. Body shops will take 20 minutes of their time to give you a free estimate, so I don't see why mechanics shouldn't either.

The mechanicals of a car can either be easy or hard, and diagnostics aren't always very helpful.

Yeah, I suppose. I guess it all depends on what you're looking at. If it's something that takes 10 minutes to diagnose, I can't see any reason for paying. If it's something that requires removing some stuff and a lot of troubleshooting, then yeah.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: TitanDiddly

Originally posted by: chambersc
absolutely reasonable. his time spent is your money gone.

Not without telling your first.

Edit: By the way, you owe me $5 for refuting your statement. PM for paypal address.

 

[Fritzo]

Most states have a law that states if the work costs over $25, a written estimate must be presented before the work is done.

 

[doze]

If they put the car up on a lift or pull it in their shop then you took up their time and shop space and should pay something. If they just peek under the hood and say "Yep that looks like the XYZ needs to be replaced" then no you shouldn't pay.

I got charged $10 once for a mechanic to tell me the job was too complicated for them once they got it up in the air, but I did take up their time and shop space so I had no problem paying it.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Lots of shops will charge "diagnostic time". This charge is typically deducted off of any work actually performed.

However, the shop should tell you how much the diagnostic will run, if there is in fact any charge.

Just dispute it with your CC company. Should be easy as you never agreed to paying the charge.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Aimster
take it into the dealerships for major work. they will usually not charge you if they do not perform anything.

I had a relatively large dealership charge me $70 to tell me what they thought was wrong with my car. It turns out their estimation of $3000 worth of parts + lots of labor was very wrong. In fact, it seems if I would have went to the OTHER dealership in my area, they would've got it, as the guy I took it to (whom I trust) ended up talking to his friend at said dealership and they figured it out.

Who woulda thunk that the aftermarket wheel bearings for the Stratus (and like vehicles) aren't the right size and cause issues.

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: Aimster
no mechanic has ever charged me for just looking at my car.

take it into the dealerships for major work. they will usually not charge you if they do not perform anything.

Even in the movies when they guy is like "how much do I owe you" the dude goes "nothing, I didn't do anything". This was in a movie I watched yesterday. It was Little Miss Sunshine.

I base all of my real life decisions off of something I saw in a movie
"It's ok, I saw this in a movie once"

 

[Thorny]

I think if you go somewhere and ask for service, you should expect to pay for it. Unless they advertise free estimates of course.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: Aimster
Even in the movies when they guy is like "how much do I owe you" the dude goes "nothing, I didn't do anything". This was in a movie I watched yesterday. It was Little Miss Sunshine.

In the movie I saw, the mechanic killed and ate the people. It was called The Hungry Wrench Turner, on Wrench Turner Classics.

So just charging them a fee seems pretty reasonable to me, you know, based on MY recent cinematic experience. :roll:

 

[CFster]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: Aimster
take it into the dealerships for major work. they will usually not charge you if they do not perform anything.

I had a relatively large dealership charge me $70 to tell me what they thought was wrong with my car. It turns out their estimation of $3000 worth of parts + lots of labor was very wrong. In fact, it seems if I would have went to the OTHER dealership in my area, they would've got it, as the guy I took it to (whom I trust) ended up talking to his friend at said dealership and they figured it out.

Who woulda thunk that the aftermarket wheel bearings for the Stratus (and like vehicles) aren't the right size and cause issues.

$3000 for wheel bearings?

 

[mwmorph]

Dealerships do charge to look at your car. $52 minimum charge at a local dealership and $35 at another,