Well I'm about to pull my hair out!!! A week or two ago something happened to my truck that wouldn't let me turn it off with the key. I had to use my clutch to kill it and take off the negative battery cable to prevent my battery from going dead while the truck was off.

So I called a local repair shop I was refereed to and described the problem to them. I asked several times can you have it done before Sunday, because I must have it Sunday. Otherwise I'd just wait until Monday because while it's a hassle it's certainly drivable and still safe. They assured me several times it will be done before Sunday and should cost about 100$ parts included. I get a call today telling me it wasn't the ignition switch and they thought something was striped and wanted permission to fix it. I asked how much and if they could still get it done for me to use on Sunday. I was assured they would have it done today and it would cost me about 60$ to fix parts included. So I told them sure go ahead then.

Well I didn't hear from them by 3pm (4 hours later) so I called to see what was going on. The repairmen then starts going on about a new problem and how it's some rod now in the steering column and how it would take 5 hours of labor at 60$ a hour to take it apart. So instead he's trying to find another steering column to put it in because that would only take a hour. The problem is they can't find one right now but they are still on the phone looking for one. So I ask will I still be able to pick it up on Saturday or Sunday and he informs he they are closed on the weekend!! I about flipped out but I stayed calm and he said he'd try to work late if he can find a new column.

So it started out as a less then 100$ job and they could get it done before Sunday. Now it's a $300-500 job I'm betting and the chances of getting it done before Sunday are slim to none. So now I've been on the phone trying to let my fishing buddy know my truck probably won't be done in time and he needs to start looking for another to haul his boat to his tournament! :-[

    Should have brought it to me the first time, I woulda shot you straight from the get go.........

Southern Illinois to Fairfax Virginia = 800 miles approx. one way.

Round trip = 1600 miles.

1600/17 miles to the gallon = 94 gallons of gas used

94 gallons X $3 a gallon average = $270

$270 + parts and labor not to mention the cost of food and lodging.

Should have brought it to me the first time, I woulda shot you straight from the get go.........

Well I just gave me friend the bad news and so he's getting on the horn to some friends. I jalso ust got off the phone with Daves Auto and the steering column won't be in until tuesday :'(.

Poor mechanics have a hard time these days. ;D

I work in the repair business.  

1. Never, ever hold a mechanic/technician to an over the phone guesstimate of what's wrong with your broken down whatever.  No sooner than you bring it in for the repair it will turn out to be the 1 in 100 that has a different failure than the normal frequent failures that usually occur.  Then you wind up thinking the mechanic/technician doesn't know what he's doing and you wind up being inconvienced.

I work in the repair business.

1. Never, ever hold a mechanic/technician to an over the phone guesstimate of what's wrong with your broken down whatever. No sooner than you bring it in for the repair it will turn out to be the 1 in 100 that has a different failure than the normal frequent failures that usually occur. Then you wind up thinking the mechanic/technician doesn't know what he's doing and you wind up being inconvienced.

Good posting right there.  8-)

Worked in repair for aircraft and HVAC; NEVER assume what's written up is actually occurring and always DOUBLE the time estimate you think. The mechanic needs to judge for himself.

Finding a good local mechanic can be difficult. At some point you have to trust them and put aside the mindset they're all out to screw you out of $$.

Car shops scam a lot and there's really no way in knowing if they are telling the truth or not about your car.

I've now recently found a guy who does this off the side as extra money and he charges half of what the shop would charge and his fixes seem to last much,much longer than any car shop i've been in.He'll call me back in 24 hours and shoot me straight how long it's gonna take him and exactly what is wrong.I haven't found somebody like him my entire life,so i consider him a blessing!

I've had my gas fuel head repaired 3 times in 10 years....each time cost me $600+.Everybody i know tells me it's a rare thing to be breaking that much and ask me if it's really getting fixed like it should. :-/ I've gotten to the point i'm completely fed up with auto shops.

As an Auto Repair Shop owner, one thing I can suggest is this. Mechanics are not robots / and cars are not perfect. If a mechanic could check out a car and tell you 100% what the problem was. Then tell you exactly how long it will take him to fix it. He Would be a Psychic. Remember Murphy's Law next time you drop off a car, "if anything can go wrong, it will."

 The ignition switch and the "stripped " part obviously weren't bad. You should at least not have to pay for the parts for those two items ( labor is a sep issue).

 I can tel this is a tougher than usual problem but something sounds out of whack troubleshooting wise here.