Im an ASE master tech "boasts"

[candymancan]

How many times have you guys heard someone boast this, but then get cold feet when it comes to real wrenching ? Ive lost count haha. My other Hobby is fish tanks, mainly Reef salt water stuff. I decided to frag aka cut my corals to sell on the reef forums to fund my wagoneers tires and lift and stuff.. And i get this message from a guy in Virginia where i live.. Talks about maybe working out a deal to trade corals for work on my car because i mentioned im selling corals for my Jeep on the forums.

Well he boasts. Im a ASE master tech, i own many shops and blah blah blah. So i said well the Jeep is an 90 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, he goes well. most mechanics dont touch cars that are old because repairs out value the vehicle. Im like really now ? You sound like a car insurance company lol. Since when does it matter if someone pays you $3000 to fix a transmission in a 30 year old vehicle vs a 10 year old vehicle. A transmission is a transmission, and youre getting paid to do the work.

Then i said well the only thing id like a shop to do is fix my rear main seal it leaks badly. But then i decided to look this guy up. His name is Ed Hutchings. I guess he owns many shops but all they do is tune vehicles. I asked him, can you tube my Carb for me ? It doesnt run right (it runs great i just wanted to see if this tuner could "tune" a carb).... He said he doesnt work on carbs... LOL I asked him when the last time he even touched a socket wrench was ? He told me to not text him again.. . I said sure np, i wasnt about to trade corals for some Tuner ASE Master Tech to touch my car anyway, i then said now please go back to your laptop and tune that LS engine.

You know, this is why i started working on my Jeeps myself 12 years ago, mechanics these days are lazy. Even if you have a rust free vehicle if its 10 years old or more no one wants to fix it. Its like cars are disposable, and the mechanics today dont even know how to tune or adjust a carb and i guess picking up a wrench is scary these days .

Am i the only one whos experienced this or have you guys noticed this as well. Oh and before you go corals and trading car work what ?? The corals in my fish tank are worth 6000$ or so.. I could buy any fsj model i wanted if i sold them all.. So yea they have real value lol thats why i guess he messaged me

[shortbus4x4]

I'm an ASE master tech and if you're paying I'll fix whatever you want on your car. I have advised customers before that the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the vehicle by thousands but at the end of the day it's the customers choice on what they want to do. I have done repairs that greatly exceeded the monetary value of the car but due to sentimental reasons the customer choose to do them. I have also had customers go why are we sinking 5k of repairs into a 1k beater when we can go get something a little newer and better.

As far as techs knowing how to work on carbs and points, well it's been a while since cars came from the factory with them and it's not something we work on anymore on a daily basis. You need to find a shop that has an old tech that has the knowledge. The young guys just don't have the experience and will probably never just because they don't see old stuff like that in their shop anymore. And if you're getting paid flat rate why would you want to work on something that you have no experience on and will probably never see another one come in the door.

[candymancan]

Yea see that was my point if i wanna fix the car and pay for it.. why do you as a mechanic care ? Youre getting paid. He just wanted a quick buck. And that iritates me

[letank]

I can relate... , I started to work on vehicles from bicycles, motorcycle, car and Jeeps because of the BS that was constantly fed when I had to drop a vehicle at the local shop or dealership, either in France or the US. There are some honest shops... but not everywhere...

In fact the problem is teaching, when I had that old wrangler with the french ignition system Renix, I found a good website in France with testing specs... it was done by an automotive school teacher, his introduction sentence was: it is useless to teach current troubleshooting classes because in 5 to 10 years those techniques will have disappeared from current models, we need to teach an approach to troubleshooting. He is so right...

As for fees, any shop has to give you an idea of costs, if the shop does not want to work on it, they will X5 the price to get you out of their place... if you are willing to pay... then it is a bonus for the shop/flat rate tech... who gets the deal

[fulsizjeep]

Yeah, I have never had that happen. Never.

[sirrus]

When I just got my Jeep and was looking around for a decent mechanic, I came to this shop where a guy was telling me he’s an expert on old Jeeps. When I mentioned that I need to pass DEQ (smog testing in Portland area), he seriously asked me if check engine light is on lol

That was last drop before ordering TSM and starting to work on it myself


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[candymancan]

Yeah, I have never had that happen. Never.

Youre lucky.. it must be northern va. There are only 1 or 2 shops that i know of that work on old cars.. everywhere else its like your car needs to be 5 years or newer.

Like the t.v show with the dude in richmond va who restores and fixes antiques. He will di anything as long as people pay and if the can of worms open up hell call and tell the customer.. do you want this fixed itll cost more.. And its either a yes or no.

Why is that so hard to do for some shops. I dunno. Its ok.. Ill save my money and keep doing it in the parking lot i guess.

[RustyDusty]

Many techs now can only read and trace codes. Years ago, I had a Mazda MPV that I could tell was running lean at freeway speeds. I took it to the dealer, but the computer threw no codes. No codes, no problem (according to the tech.) Car was sold.

When I bought my Wag, it was a craigslist find out of Boise. I took a chance, and began the drive to DC in mid-July. As I climbed the Rockies, the temp climbed, and the oil pressure fell. I found that at 65, the temp came down, and the pressure went up. No idiot lights, just a guy who was able to make some decisions based on the good information that the gauges were giving me. Part of the experience of owning one of these, is being part of the car. I am the computer, and I like it that way. We might sometimes pay more than the car is worth for a repair, but the pleasure of being an active part of the experience has a value also.

I feel sorry for the techs that will never know that.

2¢

[letank]

AH.... in fact new cars are not better... talking about 2005 and newer... one of my kids 05 AC is warm, connected the AC manifold, we have low pressure but nothing on the high side, the compressor is not engaging.... told him to get diagnostic from totoya... they could not give him a diagnostic... in the mean time I found the TSM... and 2 senders need to be checked out with a DVM....
Neighbor with a german star car... no crank... the anti-theft has 3 fuses... and a bunch of other garbage...
GF bimmer w trans issues, 10 years ago the dealership tried to charge $400 for a chip upgrade so they could do diagnostic... I said " your problem, I want my old trans chip back", ah, ah, no charges...
Looks like I am keeping the waggy for a few more years, I am the flat rate tech...

[carnuck]

I remember the saying for owners who went to the shop behind NAPA after the dealer gave up that BMW stood for Bring Money Wussies.

[letank]

I remember the saying for owners who went to the shop behind NAPA after the dealer gave up that BMW stood for Bring Money Wussies.

ha, .... I have so many stories, we could do a TV show... once I told the indy what to do... and where to buy the part... he calls past 10pm... yes pm... we did what you recommended, no more forward or reverse.... put the shop in contact w an expert... the indy did not test the bmw part before installing, the part was defective...

[ProTouring442]

Back when I was still wrenching, I'd happily work on anything, but I would, on occasion, ask for a deposit up front on vehicles where I was certain the cost of repair would surpass the cost of the vehicle. I appreciate you want me to work on your old vehicle, but I need to ensure I'm going to get paid.

[csuengr]

The worse thing I hear is someone having their FSJ worked on by a Jeep "expert". I have had to fix too many problems created by Jeep "experts".

[letank]

Back when I was still wrenching, I'd happily work on anything, but I would, on occasion, ask for a deposit up front on vehicles where I was certain the cost of repair would surpass the cost of the vehicle. I appreciate you want me to work on your old vehicle, but I need to ensure I'm going to get paid.

Very good advice, I remember when I worked in a motorcycle shop, one of the tech got carried away in fixing a bike... then realized that the repair bill was higher than the bike was worth, the owner never picked up his bike... not too sure what went on later... as for me it was a summer job...