Dumb car situation
 

I took my car in to get an oil change. I have been to this place about 5 times in the last year or so. When I return to pick up my car, I am told that the plastic lever that pops my hood open has broke off when they tried to open the hood. I am then told that they will look into getting that part to fix it and will call me when it is in. I get a call a few days later, and I am told that due to the age of the vehicle (1999 Honda Civic with 145k miles), they are not going to fix it for free. It will cost me $175 or so. My play?

Re: Dumb car situation
 

Re: Dumb car situation
 

They broke the latch and I think they should pay for it. If it wasn't broken before you went in, then I dont see how its anyone elses fault but theirs

Re: Dumb car situation
 

dont use these mechanics again, thats for sure.

Re: Dumb car situation
 

also, you can fix it yourself with google and a part from the junkyard

Re: Dumb car situation
 

So long as you truly believe they broke it, then I would stand firm and insist they pay for that damage.

I had a similar thing happen once. My damper pulley broke on my car and it had sort of chewed a hole in the timing cover. I went to a mom & pop small town mechanic. They had to replace the damper pulley, timing belt, timing cover thing, etc etc. When they replaced the timing belt, they did not clean out all the chunks of timing cover in there so when they started the car, the new timing belt got tangled with the chunks and snapped off and basically blew my engine up. They had to send the motor to seattle to be fixed. They "generously" did not charge me for any more labor but I agreed to pay for all the extra costs including the damage to my engine (don't ask me why). I regret that I didn't demand they absorb all the additional costs. 2 weeks later my car starting driving like crap. I took it to a dealership this time and explained I just had a new timing belt put on. They said it was clearly not installed correctly, was [at this point] ruined, and needed to be replaced again. This time I DID call that first mechanic back and say "hey you're paying for this new one". He agreed to pay and was really a nice guy about it - I didn't have to make any threats.

Re: Dumb car situation
 

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So long as you truly believe they broke it, then I would stand firm and insist they pay for that damage.


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They acknowledged that they broke it.

Re: Dumb car situation
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So long as you truly believe they broke it, then I would stand firm and insist they pay for that damage.


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They acknowledged that they broke it.

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Remind them of that. When they bring up the fact that it's $175 to replace tell them you don't care if it's $1 or $10,000. You brought the vehicle there in working condition you only expect it returned to you in the same condition (+ new oil)

I would try and be tactful and remind them that you've been there 5x in a year and HOPE to use them for many more years.

I also think "my play" is so 2006 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Dumb car situation
 

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Remind them of that. When they bring up the fact that it's $175 to replace tell them you don't care if it's $1 or $10,000. You brought the vehicle there in working condition you only expect it returned to you in the same condition (+ new oil)

I would try and be tactful and remind them that you've been there 5x in a year and HOPE to use them for many more years.

I also think "my play" is so 2006 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Yeah this is the right play.

Also, any big city will have some kind of auto shop certification body which is usually run by the BBB or something similar depending on locality. They usually don't help much but in a case this clear I think they would actually help if the shop gives you trouble.

Re: Dumb car situation
 

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also, you can fix it yourself with google and a part from the junkyard

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this is the only correct answer.