Overzelous mechanic

zoe 3619

Just looking for thoughts here..
Have an old car,didn't cost much and have had a couple of years of driving out of it.
n.c.t last week,and it failed fairly miserably.Most of the issues were mechanical (shock absorber,track rod,handbrake etc),and was thinking it was worth getting the work done.Husband is fairly handy and we could have done a lot of it ourselves.
Failed on emissions also though,and not being sure how to fix that,I dropped it into a mechanic.Asked him to find out what the problem was,with the idea of scrapping the car if it turned out to be expensive.
So,left him my number and heard nothing.Was passing today and called in.Apparently he has done all the work on it.tyres,shocks etc,and is fitting a new catylitic converter.
I'm not too sure where I stand now.Really I just wanted him to hook the car up to a machine

and tell me if the job on the emissions was worth doing,and I'm sure I made that clear.
Dreading a huge bill now,when I was thinking if it was more than a couple of hundred to fix,I'd look for a new car.
Seems like a nice guy,but I never told him to go ahead with the repair.Don't want to leave him out of pocket for the parts he's bought,and he still can't tell me how much he might be charging.
(Sorry-post title was supposed to be 'overzelous mechanic'..not sure what went wrong)

Kenny Logins

Did you give him the NCT fail sheet?

biko

It might not be that high. Get an itemised bill and make sure to tell him you would have appreciated a call before any work was started.

BillyBobBS

Tyres, shocks, new cat etc.. you'll be looking at a grand or so i'd say. If you made it clear to him you only wanted a quote for the work then i'd demand he remove the fitted items and give you the car back. Sounds like he's pulling a fast one.

zoe 3619

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Did you give him the NCT fail sheet?

Yes

zoe 3619

BillyBobBS wrote: »

Tyres, shocks, new cat etc.. you'll be looking at a grand or so i'd say. If you made it clear to him you only wanted a quote for the work then i'd demand he remove the fitted items and give you the car back. Sounds like he's pulling a fast one.

That's what i'm scared of.only wanted a diagnosis on the emissions.car is a 2000 fiat punto.not worth the price of the work.

Supergurrier

Typical example of a mechanic chancing his arm with a female methinks.

Had this happen to afew friends

mickdw

A 2000 punto with test is worth only a few hundred.
He knows what its worth with and without test. He should have been on the phone telling you the repair is borderline worth while or not economical. For him to go ahead without quoting on a car of any value but particularly on a car of such low value means he has to be chancing his arm.
Id politely tell him you only wanted a quote for repairs and remove the car.

mickdw

A 2000 punto with test is worth only a few hundred.
He knows what its worth with and without test. He should have been on the phone telling you the repair is borderline worth while or not economical. For him to go ahead without quoting on a car of any value but particularly on a car of such low value means he has to be chancing his arm.
Id politely tell him you only wanted a quote for repairs and remove the car.

zoe 3619

Supergurrier wrote: »

Typical example of a mechanic chancing his arm with a female methinks.

Had this happen to afew friends

So,what to do?
Could buy a car with a test of done deal for the probable cost of repair.

BillyBobBS

zoe 3619 wrote: »

So,what to do?
Could buy a car with a test of done deal for the probable cost of repair.

Phone him and tell him you will be up to collect the car as you left it with him tomorrow. Something similar happened to my wife a few years back when she left the car in for a simple oil and filter change. She rang them about collection and they had changed the belt and plugs. They changed their tune when i went to collect it later that day and told them i'd given it a service bar the oil and filter the previous weekend including the plugs :pac: A asked him for the keys and off i went without paying a cent to the crooks.

I'd say they are pulling a fast one with women all the time hoping they'll know no better.

zoe 3619

mickdw wrote: »

A 2000 punto with test is worth only a few hundred.
He knows what its worth with and without test. He should have been on the phone telling you the repair is borderline worth while or not economical. For him to go ahead without quoting on a car of any value but particularly on a car of such low value means he has to be chancing his arm.
Id politely tell him you only wanted a quote for repairs and remove the car.

Yes,thanks.But how do I go about removing the car once he's put new parts on it?Appreciate he's put work into it,but it wasn't really wanted.Test required a new tyre..apparently he's put a new tyre on,and done tracking,and that's €100.I have a friend doing tyres who would have sorted it for 30.

mikeybrennan

Might not even pass with the CAT unless he's diagnosed and retested the emissions.

zoe 3619

mikeybrennan wrote: »

Might not even pass with the CAT unless he's diagnosed and retested the emissions.

Has the cat bought and ready to go on apparently.At a cost of 250,without labour.Says he'll hand it back tested.Wondering if it even needs that now,or whether it'll get through with a clean of the plugs.Car only cost 450 and it's done 2 years,so owes me nothing..

zoe 3619

Bit of an update,and really appreciating all or any advice.
Phone call today,and he has the car done and has taken it for a test.Pricing it at €800.Absolutely no way the car is worth that-could have picked up something nicer and newer for that.
Again,I appreciate he's spent time on it and money on parts,and want to be fair.
It failed on one shock,but he's done the pair.
Failed on having a winter tyre and a summer one on the same axle,so he's not only replaced tyre,but charging for doing tracking (wonder if that was neccesary?)
Has done brake shoe-not failed on test,and he didn't contact me first.
Too be honest,would have a hard time telling if he's done the work,or whether he's making stuff up to charge me for..

mikeybrennan

Has it passed .

Check did he fit a CAT and knock him down to a few hundred at this stage

mickdw

To be honest you are weakening your hand if you are calling him and being informed of it having gone for test etc and not at that time going nuts re not having instructed him.

mickdw

To be honest you are weakening your hand if you are calling him and being informed of it having gone for test etc and not at that time going nuts re not having instructed him.

zoe 3619

mikeybrennan wrote: »

Has it passed .

Check did he fit a CAT and knock him down to a few hundred at this stage

Yes,it's passed apparantly,which is great.
Car only cost €400,though,so this stings a bit.
Only asked for a quote,and he's not only done the work,but a few random bits and pieces that he took upon himself to do..
Wouldn't know how to check if there's a new cat there,or if he's done tracking.

nice_guy80

tell him to keep the car if he is chancing his arm

kirving

Not a hope I would be paying him anything. The mechanic is chancing his arm, big time.

zoe 3619

Thanks for replying.
Thinking of saying I'll give him €400 for the car,or he can give me €400 and keep it.
Leaves me stuck though,as I'm in the middle of nowhere and very dependent on having a vehicle.

zoe 3619

mickdw wrote: »

To be honest you are weakening your hand if you are calling him and being informed of it having gone for test etc and not at that time going nuts re not having instructed him.

It was him that called me,and yes,I did give out.Says he'll knock labour off the bill,but still seems high
Failed on emissions,track rods,one shock,one tyre,and handbrake needed adjusting.

Sexual Chocolate

Did he explain why he went ahead without your permission?

cml387

On the other hand, playing devil's advocate here, you now have a car that's passed the NCT and is good for another years driving.

If you got rid of the car, you'd need to come up with more than 800 euro's for a replacement car that would give you any peace of mind.

yop

cml387 wrote: »

On the other hand, playing devil's advocate here, you now have a car that's passed the NCT and is good for another years driving.

If you got rid of the car, you'd need to come up with more than 800 euro's for a replacement car that would give you any peace of mind.

Im with you on this one. The car sounds like its well road worthy now. If its worth 400 then fair enough, but without an NCT you would have got little to nothing, so would have been 400 down the shoot. And then you would have had to go pay 600-800 to replace it and possibly not in as good condition.

Thats my own thoughts, though on the other hand I'd be WELL peed off with him, there was no agreement to do the work, so you could have a case. He sounds like a chancer.

And sorry, if your husband is handy at this work, why the hell is he now down on your man like a brick.