Fun YouTube Video: 2009 S60 with 148K miles; $4K repair estimate

[scot850]

Agreed, a lot of repair shops get bad reputations for deserved bad business practices. The problem is often the lack of knowledge on the part of the owner and just posting a repair shop is run by scammers on reviews. The issue is just as often the owner not the repair shop. I get lots of calls from friends looking for help or advice, also for clarification if the work being quoted is genuine and seems fair. Most times they are fair based on the issue, but the cost is way more than the owner expected. The issue there is their lack of knowledge not the shop and the quote.

Once I explain the issue and what is involved in lay person language, most then have a lightbulb moment and then are happy to get the repair. There have been a very few cases where I have questioned the quote but it is rare. If it happens I will help by speaking to the repair shop for clarity on behalf of the owner.

Good example is my neighbor. He has a 2016 Nissan Pathfinder AWD. Following an accident and the repairs carried out by the Nissan dealer, the car developed a rattle from the engine area. He took the car back and they gave him the "we don't want to seal with this' and quoted him $10k for a replacement engine. Repair shop 2 quoted near the same amount. He stopped me and asked if I knew of a reliable repair shop and if I would mind to look at his car. It took all of about 5 minutes to realize the issue was the timing chain/guides which is a not uncommon issue with the Nissan 3.5 V6. I spoke to my local repair shop and they said to drop the car off and based on the info I gave them they immediately said it was likely the timing chains. I warned my neighbor the repair would be in the $3k CDN as is is a big job. Sure enough that was the quote, but they are trying to reduce the cost if they can. That is worst case.

So this is where the dealers get in trouble. Rather than say they don't want to repair the car they just make up BS to scare the customer away. They also often are poor at explaining the job and when it is high $$, they need to explain why. This is going to get them better reviews when the customer understands where the quote comes from. Most customers no longer have any idea how much parts are for cars these days. Stuff is stupid expensive for stuff that was 25% of the price pre-Covid.

I spend time with young Volvo owners and the not so young locally helping them learn about their cars and most want to learn how to fix them themselves due to financial restrictions. Some don't want to repair their cars themselves and that is ok. However, they do want to understand what the issues are to learn for the future should they need to get the car repaired. I can make the time to explain and show the owners the issues so they get a better understanding of costs and what questions to ask when taking their cars to a repair shop.

If more owners took the time even to watch some Youtube videos on the issues and what it takes to fix them, they would be better off.

So long way around to say the issue of car repair is a 2 sided one. But finding the repair shop you feel comfortable with is a good thing to do. Just like P80GLT who has used the same shop for nearly 40 years. That trust is a 2 way street. A regular customer is also likely to get more info and deals on repairs. So go out and nurture those relationships.

A repair shop with a bad work ethic and business practices should never be excused. They may eventually find themselves without customers............

Neil.