Man fools kid

Topic: Man fools kid (Read 5428 times) previous topic - next topic

Reply #15 – February 25, 2012, 10:52:59 PM

I'm very blessed to have a well stocked and spacious personal garage.....2500sq ft, twin post lift, undercar lift, tons of tools, hydraulic press, drill press, torches, three welders, etc, etc. I do a lot of side work for free on vehicles belonging to family and friends. They will call me all the time saying what they need and what the local shop wants to make the repair. To this day I have not asked for a penny to cover heat or electricity...but will usually get a can full of kerosene dropped off, a box of cut off wheels, spool of welding wire, etc. The neighbor lets me cut all the firewood I want for free! That alone is worth it's weight in gold!

Man fools kid

Reply #16 – February 25, 2012, 11:12:25 PM

Dan payment is a choice issue as you so correctly point out. As a business owner in a way you choose to barter and that is great. But be careful!!! When doing side work. It can get ugly and just cover the bases like 100%. The public can get NUTTY even if they are old friends and neighbors. Just be cautious. I commend yo for being a good guy and that is great. I have a high school senior in auto Tech that works after school. The kid is in heaven at the shop. To bad i cant talk him in to becomming a dentist and make boat loads of money. Just messing around. But it is fascinating to me how some youngins are just naturally mechanically inclined and love fixing cars

Man fools kid

Reply #17 – February 25, 2012, 11:19:09 PM

Quote from: TOM Renzo;381951

I know what you mean but as a shop i have a HUGE OVERHEAD

Insurance Electric salaries local taxes personal property taxes equipment leases so on and so forth. We have a set hour rate and my techs make good money. We can add to the cost of parts by 30% as is normal in the business. With that we are fair and dont sell product the customer does not need. Anyone in business will know this instantly. As a business owner we are allowed to make MONEY. But on the other hand we dont CHEAT CUSTOMERS. Our taxes and utility's including insurance has tripled in the last ten years. We have no choice in the matter to charge higher rates. We beat the dealers hands down. But we also have compassion for people that are hurting or lost their jobs. We do some community work for my church for people that have hard times. Dont judge a business for charging fair prices and dont compare a person that moonlights without insurance and liability insurance to cover his work. But helping out a kid that clearly was ripped off is great. I would do the same thing. I saw a bill the other day from my SNAP ON GUY. They replaced his starter and charged him 1300 BUCKS. I guess the shop got some pay back!!!!! That was a rip off but he paid the bill and was happy. So who can figure!!!

Not blaming all shops. Just the majority. I understand rates going up due to shop bills going up, but going up 100%? As for the moonlighter, I was just saying. It can't be compaired to the shops, because there is no overhead whatsoever. That's why he makes a killin that way. I would be proud to work for a shop that does business like yours does.

Man fools kid

Reply #18 – February 25, 2012, 11:32:13 PM

Wooowww. That's some upselling right there. I just did my rear shoes this morning myself. A few months ago I took it to a brake specialty shop and they told me that my pads were almost completely worn and that my drums were way out of specs. He wanted to charge me $400 to replace the drums and shoes. I said sorry bud but I don't have even a quarter of that to give you and went home. Pulled the drums off, checked everything out, and not really that bad.

So I looked up the prices online. For top of the shelf reman drums and new Motorcraft shoes I could be done for less than $100. So I checked my drums again today and they're withing spec so I learned this morning how to change brake shoes. I've done front pads before but having never done drum brakes I was a little intimidated at first cause there's a lot of in there but with the help of my trusty Haine's manual, I conquered the first side, and then once I knew what I was doing, knocked the other side out in literally half the time. Total job cost: $24. Sorry brakes guy.

Man fools kid

Reply #19 – February 25, 2012, 11:35:13 PM

Quote from: TOM Renzo;381964

The public can get NUTTY even if they are old friends and neighbors. Just be cautious.

Tom...thanks. I am selective on what I take on....pretty basic stuff to keep people from getting raped on basic maintenance items. I know folks that are "wrenches" for a living that do side work that I trust with more involved jobs. I don't want a job to take more than an evening if I'm not getting paid.....also don't want my lift tied up in case I need it for my own use.

Man fools kid

Reply #20 – February 25, 2012, 11:49:33 PM

Quote from: sarjxxx;381968

Wooowww. That's some upselling right there. I just did my rear shoes this morning myself. A few months ago I took it to a brake specialty shop and they told me that my pads were almost completely worn and that my drums were way out of specs. He wanted to charge me $400 to replace the drums and shoes. I said sorry bud but I don't have even a quarter of that to give you and went home. Pulled the drums off, checked everything out, and not really that bad.

So I looked up the prices online. For top of the shelf reman drums and new Motorcraft shoes I could be done for less than $100. So I checked my drums again today and they're withing spec so I learned this morning how to change brake shoes. I've done front pads before but having never done drum brakes I was a little intimidated at first cause there's a lot of in there but with the help of my trusty Haine's manual, I conquered the first side, and then once I knew what I was doing, knocked the other side out in literally half the time. Total job cost: $24. Sorry brakes guy.

Man fools kid

Reply #21 – February 26, 2012, 12:21:13 AM

Yeah to be honest if I didn't plan on doing the TC rear conversion before it comes time to do my next shoe change I probably would have gone ahead with the drum change too but I just can't validate the need considering the state they're in and how much I will be using them in the future. I just thought it was funny cause the guy was acting like they were a 1/2 inch out of spec, in fact I seem to remember him giving me some HUGE number like that...

Man fools kid

Reply #22 – February 26, 2012, 12:33:30 AM

I am of the mind if you own a car, then you need to learn some basics and protect yourself as best you can. i told my girls to never believe a mechanic and ALWAYS get 2-3 estimates, and ALWAYS ask to see the old parts.

The ONE time i let someone else do my oil change, they left the oil filler cap off and spewed 2 quarts of oil all over my engine bay. it was my wifes 2012 fiesta w/4k on the clock. They didnt even apologize.

Man fools kid

Reply #23 – February 26, 2012, 01:45:53 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;381837

But...shops, dealerships and the like, I imagine they have a good bit of liability insurance to carry....

Ahem.

Man fools kid

Reply #24 – February 26, 2012, 01:51:48 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;381985

Ahem.

Yes, I did miss that.

Man fools kid

Reply #25 – February 26, 2012, 05:02:16 AM

Ahh it's ok...I was tryin' to lighten the mood some

Man fools kid

Reply #26 – February 26, 2012, 07:00:19 AM

Can't explain thier prices, but I can explain why they were wanting to replace drums. Although the drums or rotors may not need attention upon pad replacement, they will want to turn them anyhow. If it comes even close to being too thin they will replace them. Brakes are way too much of a liability to skimp on repair. Truely, drums and rotors should only have to be turned every other pad replacement, but that's just a rule of thumb. It kind of depends on driving conditions and the pads. I have seen some rotors wore out before the pads. Exessive or harsh brake use could cause warpage.

Actually rotors today are so thin even when new turning them will cause them to bounce in a very short time. normally rotors are cheap now because they are HATS (no HUB). So a set of good quality rotors should only cost 100 bucks or so. Cheap insurance against a job coming back. Drums on the other hand can be turned with good results if in speck. But then again i have not seen drums on cars for a long time since rear discs have replaced them years ago. just on the cheaper models and our old rides. Totally agree with you on your post Thanks

Man fools kid

Reply #27 – February 26, 2012, 05:23:42 PM

Tom and I agree with each other! Write this down on your calanders yall!

Man fools kid

Reply #28 – February 26, 2012, 06:44:28 PM

Yeah, he's not so bad

Man fools kid

Reply #29 – February 26, 2012, 08:19:40 PM

If people are not capable of changing their own starter or doing routine maintenance on their car, then they should be willing to pay for a decent mechanic to do the job for them. Its amazing how uneducated people are about cars. A girl my wife works with had a headlight burn out on her SUV.

Neither her or her boyfriend (who is a very smart guy and a lawyer) had any clue how to change a headlight bulb. She was going to take it to the dealership until I showed her how to do it. Growing up on the farm I guess I just take being mechanically minded for granted. We just always fixed and maintained all of our own stuff. That's just normal around here, lol.