What can a fella do?

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FishingBuds

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You bring in your truck to a mechanic and say you need your 4-wheel fixed up front, it won't engage.

He calls and says its fixed, you go get it pay the man and a week later its doing the same thing, won't engage.

Let me add that this happened over a 4 week period where he claimed it was fixed and it was not twice, so this finale one he said the hole inside needed replace and this would fix it, sadly it has not.

He has said that to fix it, its gonna cost more?

He said that he thinks that the axle is bent and that he doesn't check that, so thats why it got missed.

Nothen has gotten out of hand yet but its at the boiling point.

So, does the customer lose here, did ya just go by and pay the man over $500 bucks for nothen. Is there a leg to stand on here?
 
as a mechanic, i can say that sometimes things get missed, nobody's perfect, but this is way too much. at my shop, it would be fixed for free at this point, even if we had to ship it to a axle rebuilder at our own expense. but thats just my shop, and we never make mistakes. lol
 
have you thought about taking it in to another mechanic for a 2nd opinion?

If he says that everything that was done was done right, and it was something else - then it's not the mechanics fault and not much can be done except to not take anything else to him.

If your second opinion things you were getting scammed to keep coming back to spend more money - I would take him to small claims court and get your money back - that would only cost about $50
 
first off what year/modle vehicle is it? do you have manual 4wd or electronic?

i can probably be some help to you.

was it at an indapendent shop or a dealer?

from what you say i personally dont beleave you have a bent axle. a bent axle shaft should case a shimmy in that wheel resulting in a bad grease seal wich is easily noticible, but cars do do some crazy stuff so i wouldnt rule it out 100%.

lemmy know
 
It's hard to find a good honest mechanic. It would be worth taking it someplace else to have it looked at. Maybe the next one will be a keeper. I had taken in my 93 gmc pickup for a new oil pump. the next day my moter siezed up. The mechanic didnt correctly hook up the oil lines for the cooler. It was a big fight (they put solvent in the block to un-sieze the pistons then tried to pass it off as good because it would start), but I finally ended up with a new motor and a 1000 bucks in my wallet 2 months after. I probably could have got more if I got a lawyer. Also let the mechanic know how you feel about how they have handled the situation, and tell everyone in the area about the service (good if they take care of it, or bad if they dont). They may be quick to tuck their tail and make nice.
 
In my opinion you should take it to another mechanic to get it checked. It sounds to me like the current one is taking wild guesses at it. They don't seem to have experience at this problem. It may turn out to be something simple and then you may take the first company to small claims court to retreive some if not all of the money paid to them. My practice is to fix it for the price quoted and if it runs over it comes out of my pocket. If I don't know the exact problem I will tell them I will have to investigate it further before giving a price quote. Tell them you are taking it up with the Better Business Bureau if they refuse to refuse to come to a settlement with you. As a mechanic myself, I don't know a whole lot about automotive 4WD but have heard that the electronic lock ins have had problems engaging more so than the manual lock in versions. I think Loggerhead Mike is right that the axle is not bent. I believe if the axle was bent you would notice a rougher ride than usual and noises that were not there before. Good Luck.
 
I agree get a second opinion my wife took her camry in for inspection at the dealer and was told the head gasket was leaking $1200 repair
we took it to a second shop and he found a leaking oil sending unit $25 dollar part 65 total repair bill

Wayne
 
I don't know a whole lot about automotive 4WD but have heard that the electronic lock ins have had problems engaging more so than the manual lock in versions

yup they're simply a pain. its kind of the "the more stuff you got, the more that will mess up". ive put plenty of actuators and encoder motors in. the late 90's blazer was the worst for um. have replaced a few encoder motors on the new silverado's lately too. gotta love parts made from little kids over seas
 
a fresh set of eyes on the situation is always a good idea.

also Dont mention the previous shop to the new guy. let him go in blind. if he recomends a part that was just replaced you will know right away to turn and run.
 
This guy is a 4-wheel shop only, thanks for all the info back fellas.

I for one can work and fix most of my auto problems, I also know when to take it to a pro. The Dodge is a 96 full size,

I took it to him due to his reputation, he's well known around here for his quality lifts and fixes. But, I have not personally used him mainly due to once again I fix most my own issues, this one floored me tho, so I took it in. BY the way I'd like to take this time to say I HATE the vacumm systems on 4-wheel drives and IMO they suck.

Today he sung a differant tune, and will look at it tomorrow. He's a bit upset that 4 customers' checks have bounced, I for one reminded him mine did not :wink:

I also told him that I really would like to resolve this and understand buisness, and of course realize how your not perfect, THen I said I was peed off that you blew me off so quickly yesterday and I was seeking some advice about it

(little did he know that the advice is coming from a bunch of fisherman) :lol:

I won't post all about what I found before I took it in, writers cramp :shock: so He's not able to fool me, I'm very aware.

well I'll see tomorrow hopefully where this goes.
 
FishingBuds said:
(little did he know that the advice is coming from a bunch of fisherman) :lol:

You can tell him that some of us Fishermen solve these sorts of problems all the time :wink:

And even better, might have a friend local to you that can help solve it as well. :wink: :wink: :wink:

You did the right thing by going back and talking with the shop again - often time that is all it takes
 
That's what is so great about the web. Sure wer'e a bunch of fishermen, but we also have regular jobs.
I agree about the vacume 4x4, the more stuff that can go wrong, the more stuff will. Nothing like pulling a lever vs pushing a button. A few friends of mine have it on Jeeps, they fixed it by doing away with the vacume and replacing it with a cable.
Good luck with the fix.
 
Captain Ahab said:
FishingBuds said:
(little did he know that the advice is coming from a bunch of fisherman) :lol:

You can tell him that some of us Fishermen solve these sorts of problems all the time :wink:

And even better, might have a friend local to you that can help solve it as well. :wink: :wink: :wink:

You did the right thing by going back and talking with the shop again - often time that is all it takes

that was my point, who else better than the ones that use mostly trucks themselves :wink:
 
FishingBuds said:
Captain Ahab said:
FishingBuds said:
(little did he know that the advice is coming from a bunch of fisherman) :lol:

You can tell him that some of us Fishermen solve these sorts of problems all the time :wink:

And even better, might have a friend local to you that can help solve it as well. :wink: :wink: :wink:

You did the right thing by going back and talking with the shop again - often time that is all it takes

that was my point, who else better than the ones that use mostly trucks themselves :wink:

I do not use a truck - but if you notice my old screen name was esquired - as in LAWYER
 

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