will shops install parts you bring to them

[ellington12]

something else worth noting. when a customer shows up at your shop with part in hand and says to change the water pump, i have to naturally ask why. customer's reply. "because it's making noise." so let's just say i do exactly as he says and replace the water pump because that is what he asked me to do. a quick listen with a stethescope tells me the alternator bearings are shot and making the noise that he thinks is the water pump. do i do only what he has asked or do i tell him he's misdiagnosed his own car? i refuse to work on his car.

customers who try to diagnose their own car and then arrive at a shop to have it fixed are the same type of people who if you do their brakes one week and then two weeks later their voltage regulator takes a dump, they blame it on you, " you just worked on my car." yeah ...new brake pads took out your regulator. a large part of being a mechanic is weeding out those people who are more trouble than they are worth.

 

[chris777]

I just have to remind the posters that I started this thread because I said my brake pedal was soft. I mentioned to the owner of the shop, Ken, that I DO NOT want cheap aftermarket or rebuilt parts, that I was willing to spend more time and more money for Toyota new parts ( so I am not a cheapskate, but more concerned with quality than he is). I warned Ken that Irving Toyota totally incapable of FINDING PARTS for OLD LAND CRUISERS and he should order his parts from DALLAS TOYOTA, the next nearest dealership. I was being the owner of a 21 year old vehicle that plans on driving it till I die.

He calls later, leaving me a message that Irving Toyota says it will take 10 or 11 days to get the part. He is so arrogant, that he does not take my advice about avoiding Irving Toyota, and he does not bother to double check with Dallas Toyota. I call Dallas Toyota and they say they can get the part the next morning and deliver it to him directly. I call Ken, he is unavailable. I know that there is a cut off time for ordering parts. I order the part and tell them to deliver it to ken. I pay for it, because I can not get a hold of Ken.

Because he won't intall it, I find someone else to install the master cylinder (Ken's diagnosis), and the problem (pedal fade) is still there. So Ken misdiagnosed the problem. I took it to another mechanic, he diagnoses it as a rear wheel cylinder problem, replaces them, and the problem with my Cruiser is gone.

So I will never ever go back to Kens Brake and Alignment in Irving Texas again ( after years of patronage ), and recomend that anyone reading this, who lives in the area, do the same.

 

[Tinker]

Chris -
The other mechanic didn't find the rear cylinder problem until after you had the MC changed. And maybe the MC did have a problem. No telling what Ken would have done after he changed it & the problem remained - maybe credited you for the labor.

If you like the new guy, stick with him. Ken knows you're POd. Hard to imagine that someone who specializes in brakes would be that far off on his diagnosis.

I do my own because I don't trust anyone else.

 

[Mark W]

something else worth noting. when a customer shows up at your shop with part in hand and says to change the water pump, i have to naturally ask why. customer's reply. "because it's making noise." so let's just say i do exactly as he says and replace the water pump because that is what he asked me to do. a quick listen with a stethescope tells me the alternator bearings are shot and making the noise that he thinks is the water pump. do i do only what he has asked or do i tell him he's misdiagnosed his own car? i refuse to work on his car.

customers who try to diagnose their own car and then arrive at a shop to have it fixed are the same type of people who if you do their brakes one week and then two weeks later their voltage regulator takes a dump, they blame it on you, " you just worked on my car." yeah ...new brake pads took out your regulator. a large part of being a mechanic is weeding out those people who are more trouble than they are worth.

Wow. I get this stuff all the time. Customers who misdiagnose their own problems. I don't refuse to work on their rigs. I talk to them and figure out why they have reached their conclusion, spend some time on the rig, figure out the real problem if it is not what they think, let them know what really needs attention, and fix it. My customers consider me their friend, they come back and no one else gets to work on their rig.

It works a lot better than chasing people away because they are not proffesional customers.


Mark...

 

[roscoFJ73]

In the US there is a pricing race to the bottom between several large chains: Autozone, PepBoys, Checker, Advance, etc. The failure rate for their mexican reman brake MC's and chinese wheel cylinders and rebuilt Denso electricals is pretty bad. Double digit percentages, IME.

And again, the normal customer who brings in parts is doing so because they didn't want to pay the price for good quality aftermarket (CarQuest/NAPA) or dealer OEM parts. They bring in the cheapest part they can find.

I didnt realise it was that bad. In oz the importer is responsible for ensuring the part meets the AS
A mechanic cant be expected to know the quality of a product by looking at it.
The importer who is importing thousands of units is in a much better position to conduct QA/QS testing.
The PS shop and diesel injection shops lay the dismantled unit out in a tray and give the good/bad news and the choice to proceed or cut your losses and run as these pics of my injector show

 

[Shickalee]

I have several mechanics I use locally that let me provide my own parts. I may bring in tow or my mechanic will diagnose and advise the parts I need. Works out great, of course the labor isn't guaranteed since the mechanic didn't furnish the parts but we are both good with that. I won't even consider using a mechanic that balks at me using my own parts. Been supplying my parts for nearly 30 years.