My Mechanic Horror Story

[propr'one]

Why would you not post the shops name? We've all figured out who it is through other members posts, but if we hadn't, what would the point of reading your whole 3 page thread be? It wouldn't be slander if you had posted the shops name, it would be a review. The only possible reason for this thread is to warn other people about alphaworks, without that info this is just a rant.


Also, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..."

[BMWdouche]

Originally Posted by BMWfan

I don't think the word 'rave' is an accurate description of my post, because my message was very clear (not insane or incoherent), and I did not slander anyone's name or business; I could've easily mentioned which shop it is but I refuse to do that.

And yes, I came here specifically to post my review but I don't see how that makes it a fake story. Everyone has to start from somewhere. But of course you have the right to question, and you don't have to believe me. You can simply skip to the next topic.

And it's fine if someone wants to track my IP--I did not commit a crime, you know. I am simply sharing my bad experience with a certain shop/mechanic. I definitely have the right to do that. I am sure many others can identify with having to deal with a bad mechanic, especially BMW drivers who love their cars and really want to fix them.

I decided to create another account so the shop won't be easily tracked from my original user name. I hate to be the reason a business suffers financially, after all their business is the source of their income. May be my case was a rare unlucky case with this mechanic; may be others had better luck, I don't know. I am not claiming that he is a bad mechanic because of my experience with him. All I am doing is sharing my frustration. I bought my first BMW few months ago and I thought it was going to be an exciting experience, but so far I have been unable to enjoy it like I had hoped to.

And your apologies are accepted.

I find it shady that you aren't releasing the name of the shop that screwed you over so bad... most people would be quite pissed and create a thread saying "STAY AWAY FROM XYZ MOTORS" if they got screwed that hard.

I find it hard to believe that you are keeping your cool to not hurt their business... if this is true (which I am 99% that it is fake from your wording and use of grammar).. you are absolutely the nicest person on the planet and some sort of christian missionary who goes door to door preaching about jesus and forgiveness.

But since you drive a BMW.. we all know you aren't nice... because BMW owners aren't nice.

[BMWfan]

Originally Posted by propr'one

Why would you not post the shops name? We've all figured out who it is through other members posts, but if we hadn't, what would the point of reading your whole 3 page thread be? It wouldn't be slander if you had posted the shops name, it would be a review. The only possible reason for this thread is to warn other people about alphaworks, without that info this is just a rant.


Also, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..."

I guess it's just a rant then. Sorry. Not all messages have to be about warning others. People communicate their experiences for different reasons. Sometimes people just want to share what happened to them, you know. And since this is a BMW forum I decided to share it here. Sorry, but you didn't have to read my whole 3 pages thread--thank you for doing so though.

[BMWfan]

Originally Posted by BMWdouche

I find it shady that you aren't releasing the name of the shop that screwed you over so bad... most people would be quite pissed and create a thread saying "STAY AWAY FROM XYZ MOTORS" if they got screwed that hard.

I find it hard to believe that you are keeping your cool to not hurt their business... if this is true (which I am 99% that it is fake from your wording and use of grammar).. you are absolutely the nicest person on the planet and some sort of christian missionary who goes door to door preaching about jesus and forgiveness.

But since you drive a BMW.. we all know you aren't nice... because BMW owners aren't nice.

Sorry about my wording and grammar but English isn't my first language. I am Christian, but I don't go door to door preaching--I actually don't even go to church.

I wish I was the nicest person in the word, but sadly I am not. I bought a BMW because I am passionate about the brand since my teens. (I promised myself that my first car will be a BMW and I waited 10 years until I bought one! And I am pretty sure my next car will be a BMW too!) I didn't buy it to race on the streets, or be rude to other drives, or impress girls. I don't agree with you by saying BMW owners aren't nice. I've met quite few nice BMW owners, including a member on this forum who offered me the use of his garage and liftjack when I asked for help on this forum.

[Barnsdale]

What model was your car? E36, E46. E90...?

[NOTORIOUS VR]

Originally Posted by BMWfan

So what is wrong with the first mechanic? Here is what I think are his main weaknesses:

1) He has no experience. He has 16 years experience working for BMW, and 2 years in his shop, but he really doesn’t seem to know what’s wrong when a car has a problem. At least he doesn’t seem to know BMWs well, but then again he didn’t even know how to fix the noise in the rear wheel! And I am sure all cars don’t shut down under hard braking! (Manual cars might if the drive doesn’t know what he is doing, but definitely not automatic ones!)

2) Almost every time I went to his shop he was on his cell phone. I wished for once he was focused only on what’s wrong with my car. That’s why the second mechanic ended up doing a lot of the work.

3) He did not have a BMW scanner so he used a generic scanner which gave him strange codes every time the engine light came on.

4) Most importantly he seems to guess what’s the problem (since he doesn’t seem to have the knowledge, guessing seems to be his method) and stick with that idea! So, the shimmy must be from the drive shaft—if it’s not the driver side then it’s the passenger side. (He could be right, after all I haven’t replaced the passenger side drive shaft!) The engine shut down problem must be because of the fuel, if putting Octane doesn’t work then put more Octane, if putting premium gas from Shell doesn’t work then put more premium gas from Shell. The noise from the rear wheel must be from the brake pads, if sanding the brake pads doesn’t work then sand them again and again and again! And if all of the above don’t work then give it a week and redo the above steps again!

What's wrong with the first mechanic is that he shouldn't be operating a shop and you should have never gone back to him that many times in a row.

THAT is what's wrong.

[SiR]

chalk it up as a learning experience.

next time you notice that kind of incompetence dont keep bringing the car back to the same place.
lol

[cisco911]

It is people like this that give mechanics a bad name. You say you hate going to the mechanic more than the dentist? This is because you don't have a good mechanic! There are many good mechanics out their. A couple are sponsors on here and there are many other independants. My father is an independant mechanic that works on mainly german makes. He sees people come in all the time with problems that other mechanics can't fix. The funny thing is that in alot of cases, these other shops have taken these customers for alot more than my father will actually fixing the problem, just like Rocco made next to nothing fixing the problem, while the first mechanic made good coin replacing un-necessary parts.

Also, if you have a BMW and you go to a shop that can't scan it properly, your in the wrong place! What kind of ex BMW Tech runs a shop without a proper scanner??

At the end of the day though, you can't put all the blame on the mechanic. It is the customer's responsibility to make sure who they are leaving their car with. I know sometimes people refer you to people they know, but you should still do your due diligence. Not having a scanner for a make you are trained on repairing and is your bread and butter is a dead give away to get out of there fast.

A mechanic is like a doctor. You have a family doctor because he/she knows your medical history and can provide better service to your health because he know that history. Your mechanic is the same thing. He will know your vehicle and know what kind of shape it is in, your driving style, and common problems with that vehicle that will help him better diagnose the issues. That is why shop jumpers always get screwed.

So in the case of the original poster, you see that rocco did a great job, maybe you should make the drive to have him be your regular mechanic. Or maybe you will do some more research and be able to find someone as good or better than rocco near your home.

Or lastly, maybe you will be lazy (like many people are) and take your car to the quikie lube down the street because it is close by and your engine will seize because the 16 year old trainee forgot to tighten the drain plug (just an extreme example...not taking jabs at anyone or any place).

[BMWfan]

Originally Posted by NOTORIOUS VR

What's wrong with the first mechanic is that he shouldn't be operating a shop and you should have never gone back to him that many times in a row.

THAT is what's wrong.

I agree with you. But this is my first car and my first mechanic experience. Hopefully I learned my lesson.

[BMWfan]

Originally Posted by cisco911

It is people like this that give mechanics a bad name. You say you hate going to the mechanic more than the dentist? This is because you don't have a good mechanic! There are many good mechanics out their. A couple are sponsors on here and there are many other independants. My father is an independant mechanic that works on mainly german makes. He sees people come in all the time with problems that other mechanics can't fix. The funny thing is that in alot of cases, these other shops have taken these customers for alot more than my father will actually fixing the problem, just like Rocco made next to nothing fixing the problem, while the first mechanic made good coin replacing un-necessary parts.

Also, if you have a BMW and you go to a shop that can't scan it properly, your in the wrong place! What kind of ex BMW Tech runs a shop without a proper scanner??

At the end of the day though, you can't put all the blame on the mechanic. It is the customer's responsibility to make sure who they are leaving their car with. I know sometimes people refer you to people they know, but you should still do your due diligence. Not having a scanner for a make you are trained on repairing and is your bread and butter is a dead give away to get out of there fast.

A mechanic is like a doctor. You have a family doctor because he/she knows your medical history and can provide better service to your health because he know that history. Your mechanic is the same thing. He will know your vehicle and know what kind of shape it is in, your driving style, and common problems with that vehicle that will help him better diagnose the issues. That is why shop jumpers always get screwed.

So in the case of the original poster, you see that rocco did a great job, maybe you should make the drive to have him be your regular mechanic. Or maybe you will do some more research and be able to find someone as good or better than rocco near your home.

Or lastly, maybe you will be lazy (like many people are) and take your car to the quikie lube down the street because it is close by and your engine will seize because the 16 year old trainee forgot to tighten the drain plug (just an extreme example...not taking jabs at anyone or any place).

Beautifully said, and I agree with you. But it takes a couple of bad experiences to realize you are in the wrong place. If you don’t mind me asking: which shop does your dad run? (Just out of curiosity.)

To be honest, I think that mechanic is such a nice person (one of the nicest people I’ve dealt with), and he really tried to help me but he simply didn’t know how. It’s good to be nice, but nice without knowledge and skills is not much of help if you want to be a professional.

Even the rotors he installed 2 months ago (brand new), I am not happy with them because the brakes pulsate when braking indicating uneven rotor surfaces.

[cisco911]

Originally Posted by BMWfan

Beautifully said, and I agree with you. But it takes a couple of bad experiences to realize you are in the wrong place. If you don’t mind me asking: which shop does your dad run? (Just out of curiosity.)

To be honest, I think that mechanic is such a nice person (one of the nicest people I’ve dealt with), and he really tried to help me but he simply didn’t know how. It’s good to be nice, but nice without knowledge and skills is not much of help if you want to be a professional.

Even the rotors he installed 2 months ago (brand new), I am not happy with them because the brakes pulsate when braking indicating uneven rotor surfaces.

It is all a learning experience, but you have to be careful, especially when dealing with higher end vehicles.

My father runs a small shop in downtown toronto (College and Ossington). It's called Mauricio's Auto Repair. If you want more details, PM me.

[SiR]

you probably got shitty pads installed when you did the rotors. thats the problem. pad deposits.

get a proper pad in there and bed them in nicely and youll be fine.

[5style]

I dunno whether to laugh or cry at this thread....

Violent shaking? Shimmey? What did you get china brakes??

Shutting off?

Facepalm.

[3x Beemer]

Can't go wrong with RMP. Trust me. Been to dealers, so called local BMW specialists over the years and keep going back to RMP. I am sure there are some other well recommended places on this forum. Listen to the guys and girls on the forums. We are passionate about our cars different than the guys that just lease a new one every 3-4 years and never worry as they are always under warranttee. I'm an hour away from RMP and it's worth the drive.

[5style]

Picking up a book and DIYs off BFC and pelican is also a great way to get this done right.