Has an auto mechanic ever tried to fuk you over?

[Voidgaze]

I got a new motor in my vehicle courtesy of my warranty. The shop I went to was good enough and gave me a rental vehicle. Not even a week later I have an oil leak so I go talk to them about it.

They tell me it's the "Rear Main Seal" causing the leak. I explain that I didn't have a leak until after they worked on my vehicle. Now get this: The fuker pretty much admits that they knew that would happen when they separated the engine from the transmission...

It's going to run me $1045 due to labor, but I'm not giving these quacks a dime due to their foul play. They had the audacity to call so they can put a note on my warranty account that I refused repairs. They likely did this so they could void it. The leak isn't covered in my warranty, but it they want to use it against me to void it so they can save a dime...


I'm only leaking a little bit, but the mechanic says it's a lot of oil, which isn't adding up at all. I'd have a puddle under my car if it was as bad as they claimed. Now I'd like to get this fixed, but I'm getting a second opinion first.


Inb4 "You should fix your own car" Yes I would gladly if I had the equipment to lift an engine out of my vehicle and fuk around with my own transmission. Can't trust anyone for chit these days.

[GordonXXX]

did you get the work done at the dealership?

[1slo5oh]

When I was young and dumb there were a few that tried and one that fkn managed to get me... but... it was about that time I said fk it and taught myself how to work on cars. I can pretty much do it all aside from body work , its not that I haven't tried but that's a fkn art that takes years to master.. not to many weekend warriors I know of that have that skill...

Now days I have a good friend I have known from childhood that owns a shop. I let him tackle all of my big work I dont have time to do and I dont mind supporting him to help keep the doors open and food on his familys plate

But yeah Opie that sounds pretty fkd up if they replaced the motor then I would say its on them to make sure its back on the road LEAK FREE and reliable

[Rajc]

never trust these monkeys brah srs

[bov188]

How old is the car and how many miles? I'm usually very skeptical of ppl accusing mechanics of shoddy work but that's pretty suspect. Getting an engine replaced and then a week later having a leak from where the engine meets the transmission is too big of a coincidence.

I bet you anything they reused the old gasket because they're *******s

[Voidgaze]

did you get the work done at the dealership?

My car is 10 years old.

Dealership doesn't take my warranty. However I get all of my essential maintenance done at the dealership. My fuel system is up next.

When I was young and dumb there were a few that tried and one that fkn managed to get me... but... it was about that time I said fk it and taught myself how to work on cars. I can pretty much do it all aside from body work , its not that I haven't tried but that's a fkn art that takes years to master.. not to many weekend warriors I know of that have that skill...

Now days I have a good friend I have known from childhood that owns a shop. I let him tackle all of my big work I dont have time to do and I dont mind supporting him to help keep the doors open and food on his familys plate

But yeah Opie that sounds pretty fkd up if they replaced the motor then I would say its on them to make sure its back on the road LEAK FREE and reliable

I wish I could make time for it. If anything I'll at least buy a book to give myself a better idea of how vehicles work. But yeah, I know they fuked me over and I refuse to give them business.

How old is the car and how many miles? I'm usually very skeptical of ppl accusing mechanics of shoddy work but that's pretty suspect. Getting an engine replaced and then a week later having a leak from where the engine meets the transmission is too big of a coincidence

2010 Chevy HHR with over 100k miles. Never ONCE had a leak. I'm telling you they fuked me over because when I called it's like they were expecting it, then they guy was trying to offer me all kinds of deals to get the work done.

Unfortunately my NOSY mother caught wind of this and got on the neighborhood message board asking questions. That got her an instant ban, which pretty much confirmed my suspicions. I kindly told her to stay out of my business next time.

[GordonXXX]

oh man you bought one of those rip-off scam warranties they sell on radio/TV/telemarketer/direct mail?

[Voidgaze]

oh man you bought one of those rip-off scam warranties they sell on radio/TV/telemarketer/direct mail?

It didn't cost me extra.

My vehicle has an official warranty which got me the engine replacement. The engine replacement came with a free 12,000 mile 36 month warranty on parts and labor courtesy of the auto shop.

[Nonsense916]

Mechanics are scum srs lol. I usually find out what part needs to be replaced then tell them to replace that part only.

I would clean the motor with degreaser and see if I could find the oil leak. Maybe it’s not the main seal

[Voidgaze]

Mechanics are scum srs lol. I usually find out what part needs to be replaced then tell them to replace that part only.

I would clean the motor with degreaser and see if I could find the oil leak. Maybe it’s not the main seal

Yeah I hesitated to go to them for a long time, but I needed the work done. Never again.

I get the feeling it's not the main seal, because they found the problem a little too "quick" if you catch my drift. I checked my oil level under the hood and it's completely fine so a major leak is NOT happening.

[GordonXXX]

It didn't cost me extra.

My vehicle has an official warranty which got me the engine replacement. The engine replacement came with a free 12,000 mile 36 month warranty on parts and labor courtesy of the auto shop.

oh ok. i would send an email to the president of both companies.

[bov188]

2010 Chevy HHR with over 100k miles. Never ONCE had a leak. I'm telling you they fuked me over because when I called it's like they were expecting it, then they guy was trying to offer me all kinds of deals to get the work done.

If it's a direct result of the work it's near impossible to prove and they're def not going to acknowledge any mistakes and fix it for you. They don't want to eat the labor costs. I'm not saying that's right, I'm just saying this is the reality of the situation.

TBH, if I were you, I would just top off the oil and go to a different dealership and try to trade it in. Let it be their problem. Hopefully you don't owe anything on it and you can put it towards a down payment.

[Voidgaze]

If it's a direct result of the work it's near impossible to prove and they're def not going to acknowledge any mistakes and fix it for you. They don't want to eat the labor costs. I'm not saying that's right, I'm just saying this is the reality of the situation.

TBH, if I were you, I would just top off the oil and go to a different dealership and try to trade it in. Let it be their problem. Hopefully you don't owe anything on it and you can put it towards a down payment.

Yup, I'm fuked LOL

She drives fine and technically I can afford the fix, but I wont be doing it there.

[bov188]

Yeah I hesitated to go to them for a long time, but I needed the work done. Never again.

I get the feeling it's not the main seal, because they found the problem a little too "quick" if you catch my drift. I checked my oil level under the hood and it's completely fine so a major leak is NOT happening.

I've had, "leaks" before.

Just check your oil after every trip to see if you're really losing oil. When you park at night slide a piece of cardboard under your car to help you locate where the oil is dripping from. Maybe they reused the crush washer for your oil plug (another thing you're not suppose to reuse but many ppl do) and that's actually the source of your leak

Yup, I'm fuked LOL

She drives fine and technically I can afford the fix, but I wont be doing it there.

Sometimes depending on how much you owe it could work in your favor. If they offer $2k on your trade in but you owe $3k you can just ask them to get you out of the current loan. Dealers make most of there money on financing so they may be perfectly happy just to sell another loan

[amikaelmorris]

rear main seal is part of the motor, it's the seal separating the motor from the transmission

if they put a new motor in, there damn well better be a new main seal on it. if they slung some junkyard motor in there it might have been leaking already. no reason for the separation to cause a main seal leak and it seems a bit convenient for the leak to be from the highest labor hour area of the car

after i rebuilt mine i had an oil leak that i thought was coming from that area but it turned out it was just a loose valve cover and the oil was running down the back of the block where i couldn't see it

this is second opinion territory imo

[ChangeOfStyle]

Took my car to a mechanic (first time), long story short - he sorted out my front and back brakes for like $300-$400

two days later, car crashes on a motorway because a driver stopped in the middle of the third lane (fast lane), we saw it ; hit the brakes but we just kept sliding

so yeah, got ****ed over. that mechanic place is now closed

[jamalfudge]

Never that bad. Had a mechanic try and tell me I needed a 3rd brake light replaced during a state inspection. I'll admit, in my state, garages kind of get shafted on required inspections but often they use this as a reason to nitpick and squeeze a few extra dollars out of you. So these 3rd brake lights are a pain in the ass to get to on cars anymore, they wanted to charge me $350 (literally) for it. Only come to find out the light wasn't even out. Luckily I was able to cancel the order I had on one to do myself before it shipped out and that was the worst of it.

[GravityLee]

1. I take it somewhere else
2. I dont get upset until i get a second opinion

What they did was unethical.. but stuff like this is so common in the automotive industry. I would google/research if they were supposed to replace that seal while they had it apart.

[Voidgaze]

I've had, "leaks" before.

Just check your oil after every trip to see if you're really losing oil. When you park at night slide a piece of cardboard under your car to help you locate where the oil is dripping from. Maybe they reused the crush washer for your oil plug (another thing you're not suppose to reuse but many ppl do) and that's actually the source of your leak



Sometimes depending on how much you owe it could work in your favor. If they offer $2k on your trade in but you owe $3k you can just ask them to get you out of the current loan. Dealers make most of there money on financing so they may be perfectly happy just to sell another loan

I'm sitting around 8k for this thing. I'm still ahead on payments due to my extra principal payments I've been making. I bought this car when I was young, in love, and stupidly trying to win an ex...lesson learned. This is the first major issue I've ever had with it though so I'm happy to keep it as long as it runs.

Thank you for the auto tips.

rear main seal is part of the motor, it's the seal separating the motor from the transmission

if they put a new motor in, there damn well better be a new main seal on it. if they slung some junkyard motor in there it might have been leaking already. no reason for the separation to cause a main seal leak and it seems a bit convenient for the leak to be from the highest labor hour area of the car

after i rebuilt mine i had an oil leak that i thought was coming from that area but it turned out it was just a loose valve cover and the oil was running down the back of the block where i couldn't see it

this is second opinion territory imo

I appreciate the detailed information. I'm going to take it to an oil change place to top it off this week. They always tell the truth about these kinds of problems because they know they can't fix them.

1. I take it somewhere else
2. I dont get upset until i get a second opinion

What they did was unethical.. but stuff like this is so common in the automotive industry. I would google/research if they were supposed to replace that seal while they had it apart.

The guy accidentally admitted they were aware of the issue. It's a $75 part they could've easily upsold me on, and I would've been fine. But this is too brazen to go back to them to get the work done. Even if they are right, they wont get a cent out of me, I'll go somewhere else.

I wasn't initially upset, but I mentioned it to my mother in passing and she decided to get on the neighborhood forum to make a fuss. I had to tell her she was out of line doing that because we don't know if it's foul play yet.

[propreffered7]

plenty of times. my old SUV went 5 years with 0 problems. to be fair, it was old

however, once i started taking it in it was NON stop. and it sucked because i had no clue what they were doing. it would be so easy to knock this, knock that, etc. with all the intricacies of a car

first problems the belt broke and it ended up hitting the fan and breaking it and hitting the water pump. that was like 1400 or 1600 after labor.

then my tranny blew

and then i replaced THE ENTIRE brake system.

soon after the brake system was replaced. we had problems. that shop closed down and there was a new owner. the new owner was like "ill look at it, but i didn't do the work" so we still paid him to "look at it".

we had 3 MORE brake fixes after the entire system was replaced. we ended up going to different spots.

guess what? the final problem with that car was more brake problems within a year of all of that. i was driving and my brakes went out. luckily i was going slow


now i have a new car and did a lot of research on my mechanic. before i was trusting someone else. i liked them but im still wary

[Plateauplower]

Check the torque on the bolts around the rear main seal. Loose bolts could cause a leak, torquing them down more gut fix it. If the leak isn’t leaving puddles or requiring adding lots of oil added between changes leave it alone. Or spread some RTV sealant. With 100k miles I wouldn’t worry about little things like some oil seepage.

[djwolford]

At the last job a few tried. I was managing a construction equipment site at the time so I just called them out and told them I'd go somewhere else. It's ridiculous.

[Spetznaaz]

I'm an amateur at best but i'm pretty sure they should have replaced the rear main seal when they did the work. When i replace or remove anything that has a gasket i make sure to replace the gasket as well - They are usually relatively cheap. For the shop to do all that work and not replace the gasket is just plain retarded.

I'd recommend getting some UV dye and a black light. You put it in the oil (make sure you get the correct one) drive for a few days then go around the car with the blacklight and hopefully you will be able to confirm where the leak is coming from.

[proteinsnake]

Mechanics are the least trustworthy people on the planet. It's impossible to get a straight answer out of them. They told me I needed to replace this one part and that it would cost 450$ on the low end. I look up the part on Amazon and the generic ones are about 75$ and supposedly takes an hour to install. So where exactly does this 450$ come from?

[CreepinIn]

just lol if you didnt make friends in HS.

i know dudes who will work on my vehicle for a 6 pack.

[Anachron]

I'm lucky enough to have a local mechanic that does work for a little over parts costs, and he's honest too. I don't even know how he is in business, tbh.

[nn586]

2010 Chevy HHR

Bruh



No wonder you can't get tinder dates

[HairyWBush]

Mechanics are the least trustworthy people on the planet. It's impossible to get a straight answer out of them. They told me I needed to replace this one part and that it would cost 450$ on the low end. I look up the part on Amazon and the generic ones are about 75$ and supposedly takes an hour to install. So where exactly does this 450$ come from?

that's why everyone wants to be a mechanic, so they can rip you off.

[wessneijder]

Bruh



No wonder you can't get tinder dates

Did OP also say he owes $8k on an HHR?

[Voidgaze]

Check the torque on the bolts around the rear main seal. Loose bolts could cause a leak, torquing them down more gut fix it. If the leak isn’t leaving puddles or requiring adding lots of oil added between changes leave it alone. Or spread some RTV sealant. With 100k miles I wouldn’t worry about little things like some oil seepage.

I'm an amateur at best but i'm pretty sure they should have replaced the rear main seal when they did the work. When i replace or remove anything that has a gasket i make sure to replace the gasket as well - They are usually relatively cheap. For the shop to do all that work and not replace the gasket is just plain retarded.

I'd recommend getting some UV dye and a black light. You put it in the oil (make sure you get the correct one) drive for a few days then go around the car with the blacklight and hopefully you will be able to confirm where the leak is coming from.

This is good stuff guys, thanks.

Bruh



No wonder you can't get tinder dates

That doesn't make sense considering it's never come up in a conversation??? Good effort I guess.

Sloot who wouldn't date you over a car = trash anyways

Did OP also say he owes $8k on an HHR?

Yes I did. I bought it at DriveTime with an extended warranty. I needed a car to get to my second job and most of these cash places didn't have chit. Car Max didn't want to help me due to no credit so this was my option.

My father was there with me but he explained that he wanted me to make the mistake due to some dumbass religious reason. "Disobeying god" or some chit. In reality he was just salty because he didn't like that I dated a woman he didn't like. Whatever, I learned the lesson.