Auto Repair Gone Bad: A Classic Example

A friend called me last week to tell me about her first negative car repair experience, a classic situation into which anyone can fall.

She bought her car to a shop because of a problem that has to do with the engine suddenly dying while she’s driving. There was nothing else together with this problem. The engine would just die all so sudden, with no warning whatsoever.

The mechanic told her to replace the fuel pump because it was not providing enough pressure for the fuel to reach the engine. After paying for the new pump and for labor, my friend brought her car home. The car was normal for a few days, until the same thing happened again—the car suddenly dying without any warning.

My friend returned the car to the shop and complained about the problem. The mechanic looked into it and then said that the regulator and the filter needed a replacement. My friend, who was growing a bit suspicious but was in dire need to have her car fixed, gave in.

But, the same thing happened—she got the car back and the problem returned. This time, she brought the car to another shop. Upon inspection, the shop found that it’s the inertia switch that’s failing. This switch is a component that shuts off the fuel when the car gets in an accident in order to protect the passengers from possible fuel hazards like fire. When the switch is damaged, it may prevent the fuel from reaching the engine.

True enough, when the mechanic pressed the reset button found on the switch, the car got back to its original shape. That was a temporary solution, though, and the switch had to be replaced. My friend agreed to the replacement, and the car ran fine since then.

According to the second mechanic, the old switch shows signs of wear that had most probably started for a long time, so there’s a great probability that it was the reason for the previous problems and not the fuel pump, regulator, and filter that have been replaced.

Auto Repair Shops: A Look at Phantom Parts, Services, and Repairs

This is a very common form of deception and rip-off that many vehicle owners encounter with auto repair shops and mechanics. You bring your vehicle to the shop because of a problem, and the mechanic tells you that there is a damaged part and that you need a new replacement. You give the mechanic a go signal to replace the part and leave everything at that, trusting that the mechanic will do the right thing—only for you to find out later on that the supposedly damaged part was actually in good condition and was not replaced, and you paid for nothing. That is, if you find out.

Phantom parts, services, and repairs pertain to parts that were supposedly installed and services and repairs supposedly performed, but were not. These are just another trick performed by some auto repair shops and mechanics to rip you off of your hard-earned dollars.

This kind of trickery comes in two common forms.

1. Mechanics do not perform the entire service and repair. They do not replace the part that they said to be damaged. In cases like this, a mechanic complicates an otherwise very simple problem, telling you that a replacement part is needed when all that’s actually required is a little tweak here and there to restore the operation of the old part. Then, once your car works fine, they’ll tell you that they have already replaced the part when actually they have not.
2. Mechanics perform the service or repair, but not as extensively as mentioned. They replace the part, but not with a brand new part but with just another part from a random vehicle. Although this can remedy the problem in your ride, the truth is that you still have been ripped off.

You may not know it, but it’s very easy for some auto parts shops and mechanics to perform phantom services and repairs. But, you can avoid being deceived. How? Check out the next post.