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View Full Version : Mechanic that will install aftermarket parts? (Clutch)



rocktot
10-22-2013, 18:41
Looking for a good mechanic that can and will install aftermarket parts (clutch)- I know there was a truck guy in Northglenn or something someone knew. Anyone? Thanks

tmleadr03
10-22-2013, 19:00
We do that at my shop. But I do not provide a warranty. That is going to be pretty standard. If a shop will put your parts in they will not warranty the work.

CapLock
10-22-2013, 19:30
What if he had you acquire the aftermarket parts he is looking for? Would it have a warranty then?

SouthPaw
10-22-2013, 21:30
Typically any "performance" parts carry little or no warranty unless offered as a factory option/upgrade and installed at a dealer. Now if you are talking about a aftermarket brand clutch vs an OEM clutch it should carry a warranty at most shops. Sometimes they may charge you a bit more in labor as well since they are not making any money on the part.

rocktot
10-22-2013, 22:49
Oh, sorry, well, I need closer to Boulder.

dirtrulz
10-23-2013, 07:14
Technically a shop should warranty the"work" but not the parts. If the part fails it is on the customer, if the shop did not do a competent job installing the parts, say they left a bunch of stuff loose, then they should cover their work if they are a good shop.

tmleadr03
10-23-2013, 07:36
Technically a shop should warranty the"work" but not the parts. If the part fails it is on the customer, if the shop did not do a competent job installing the parts, say they left a bunch of stuff loose, then they should cover their work if they are a good shop.

Technically no. The shop can provide a warranty on anything they want to. It is then up the customer to decide if it is worth it to take it to that shop.

I provide no warranty on work done with customer supplied parts. I also do not charge "extra" because I am not making anything off the parts. When the part fails I do not want a long drawn out conversation with the customer about my work being shoddy. Doesn't matter. No warranty. I do good work, but it just does not matter these days. If the part failed and I offered any warranty at all I would be on the hook.

I had a customer bring me an upgrade for swaybars for his vehicle. The front sway bar was routed through the subframe and I had to drop the subframe to change it out. I dropped the sub frame to access the brackets holding the sway bar in and saw that the brackets were wrong. Would not work. Nothing I could do. I put everything back together and charged him for the full job. When he finally finds the correct brackets he is going to pay for the entire job again. This is not the only example I have of this. Too many times I have had customers bring me parts, nope sorry wrong one. Not worth the headache most of the time for it. Or they want to buy the cheapest part they can find to do the job. There is a reason I have no warranty for when that cheap part fails.

SouthPaw
10-23-2013, 18:44
I should have worded that more clearly. As previous stayed if you walk in with your own part do not expect a warranty. If the shop provides the part for you expect a standard warrant from them. I've always been told it's like bringing your own eggs to the egg and I. If they cook the egg right and it still tastes bad is that your fault or theirs?

JMBD2112
10-23-2013, 22:29
Clutch's normally carry only a 7500mi warranty anyways, at least from my past experience

BushMasterBoy
10-23-2013, 22:59
I'm just curious, what kind of clutch in what kind of vehicle? I just bought a GMC dually and I think its got a throwout bearing going, so I figured since I am going to take it all apart, to replace everything, clutch, pressure plate etc. I've done a little research but, is a kevlar clutch superior to a OEM type clutch? I really want the most durable clutch I can buy? Money is not a issue.

dirtrulz
10-24-2013, 08:14
Technically no. The shop can provide a warranty on anything they want to. It is then up the customer to decide if it is worth it to take it to that shop.

I provide no warranty on work done with customer supplied parts. I also do not charge "extra" because I am not making anything off the parts. When the part fails I do not want a long drawn out conversation with the customer about my work being shoddy. Doesn't matter. No warranty. I do good work, but it just does not matter these days. If the part failed and I offered any warranty at all I would be on the hook.

I had a customer bring me an upgrade for swaybars for his vehicle. The front sway bar was routed through the subframe and I had to drop the subframe to change it out. I dropped the sub frame to access the brackets holding the sway bar in and saw that the brackets were wrong. Would not work. Nothing I could do. I put everything back together and charged him for the full job. When he finally finds the correct brackets he is going to pay for the entire job again. This is not the only example I have of this. Too many times I have had customers bring me parts, nope sorry wrong one. Not worth the headache most of the time for it. Or they want to buy the cheapest part they can find to do the job. There is a reason I have no warranty for when that cheap part fails.


So you would not take responsibility for work that you mechanic did that was obviously wrong regardless of that parts origin? I get there is no warranty for when "the cheap part fails" but you will be liable for when your work fails, either by you volunteering to fix it or by them taking you to court. When it is the work and not the part that is the problem you are responsible. You may not be responsible for the part and what it destroys when it fails, but what if the part isnt what fails and it was your work.

We had some warrenty work done on a nissan maxima we owned a few years back. The ecm fried and when it went it fried the electronic motor mounts. The dealership fixed the mounts and the computer and gave us the car back. The next day the wife had to go on a trip for work and had to drive 6 hours to get there. on the way there the car started driving funny, when she arrived she had a dealer look at it and when they replaced the motor mounts they dropped down the front subframe that contains the whole drivetrain and suspension and when they put it all back they didnt tighten the bolts that hold it to the car. she had lost 4 of the six bolts and the last two were almost all the way out. I hate to think what would have happened if they had all come out going 75 down the highway. Warranty or no warranty, if something had happened to the car or my wife they would be in court.

What it comes down to is that little piece of paper saying you have no warranty and are not responsible if the customer supplies the part means nothing if it can be proven it was your work that failed. Forgetting to tighten lug nuts on a wheel after a brake job and having the wheel fall off on the highway 5 miles later, you are responsible, even if the customer brought in the pads.

Even in your example with the swaybar. If your mechanic forgot to install or tighten something you will be responsible, even though you didnt do the original job the customer wanted. If your tech had forgotten to tighten the swaybar mounts when he reinstalled the original swaybar and it fell off going down the road, broke the end link and swung around and punched a hole in the oil pan. Who do you think is responsible. Willing to bet a court would say you were, and it wouldnt matter weather you had installed an original one or aftermarket. When you except money for work you take a certain amount of responsibility to make sure the work is done to the best of your abilities, if it is shown it was not then you will be held liable if the customer is willing to really push it.

I am in no way saying your shop does bad work, dont know your shop. I would also hope that if you were shown that your mechanic was having a bad day and did bad work that you would take care of it no matter where the parts came from.

Bitter Clinger
10-24-2013, 09:19
What kind of vehicle/clutch? It's not a very hard job. If you are a mechanically inclined guy just pick up a Chiltons manual and get greasy.

tmleadr03
10-24-2013, 11:19
So you would not take responsibility for work that you mechanic did that was obviously wrong regardless of that parts origin? I get there is no warranty for when "the cheap part fails" but you will be liable for when your work fails, either by you volunteering to fix it or by them taking you to court. When it is the work and not the part that is the problem you are responsible. You may not be responsible for the part and what it destroys when it fails, but what if the part isnt what fails and it was your work.

We had some warrenty work done on a nissan maxima we owned a few years back. The ecm fried and when it went it fried the electronic motor mounts. The dealership fixed the mounts and the computer and gave us the car back. The next day the wife had to go on a trip for work and had to drive 6 hours to get there. on the way there the car started driving funny, when she arrived she had a dealer look at it and when they replaced the motor mounts they dropped down the front subframe that contains the whole drivetrain and suspension and when they put it all back they didnt tighten the bolts that hold it to the car. she had lost 4 of the six bolts and the last two were almost all the way out. I hate to think what would have happened if they had all come out going 75 down the highway. Warranty or no warranty, if something had happened to the car or my wife they would be in court.

What it comes down to is that little piece of paper saying you have no warranty and are not responsible if the customer supplies the part means nothing if it can be proven it was your work that failed. Forgetting to tighten lug nuts on a wheel after a brake job and having the wheel fall off on the highway 5 miles later, you are responsible, even if the customer brought in the pads.

Even in your example with the swaybar. If your mechanic forgot to install or tighten something you will be responsible, even though you didnt do the original job the customer wanted. If your tech had forgotten to tighten the swaybar mounts when he reinstalled the original swaybar and it fell off going down the road, broke the end link and swung around and punched a hole in the oil pan. Who do you think is responsible. Willing to bet a court would say you were, and it wouldnt matter weather you had installed an original one or aftermarket. When you except money for work you take a certain amount of responsibility to make sure the work is done to the best of your abilities, if it is shown it was not then you will be held liable if the customer is willing to really push it.

I am in no way saying your shop does bad work, dont know your shop. I would also hope that if you were shown that your mechanic was having a bad day and did bad work that you would take care of it no matter where the parts came from.

How dare you say my shop has crappy mechanics. I am telling my boss on you!

Look the issue is that when the part fails how am I going to prove that it was the part and not the shitty mechanic I hired? How much time do I then get to spend deciphering what happened, was the work done wrong or was the part the culprit? Customer brings me an aftermarket timing belt, I put it in. Belt tensioner goes to shit and kills the engine. Was it installation or was it the belt tensioner they brought me? Tell me how I prove that one way or another. Seriously. Because otherwise I have to buy an engine out of my pocket. I don't know about you but with VW Audi engines that is at minimum 3k plus time and can easily go up to 7-10k on some of the v8s and I dont have that just sitting around. Just in engine cost, not everything else. But I should take that risk? Fuck. That. No warranty. Bring me your parts and I will install them. I will not warranty it. Do I do a lot of that? Almost never. Most people do not want to risk it. They either have me buy the part, or they take it elsewhere. Both of which are acceptable results from my policy.

dirtrulz
10-25-2013, 12:13
How dare you say my shop has crappy mechanics. I am telling my boss on you!

Look the issue is that when the part fails how am I going to prove that it was the part and not the shitty mechanic I hired? How much time do I then get to spend deciphering what happened, was the work done wrong or was the part the culprit? Customer brings me an aftermarket timing belt, I put it in. Belt tensioner goes to shit and kills the engine. Was it installation or was it the belt tensioner they brought me? Tell me how I prove that one way or another. Seriously. Because otherwise I have to buy an engine out of my pocket. I don't know about you but with VW Audi engines that is at minimum 3k plus time and can easily go up to 7-10k on some of the v8s and I dont have that just sitting around. Just in engine cost, not everything else. But I should take that risk? Fuck. That. No warranty. Bring me your parts and I will install them. I will not warranty it. Do I do a lot of that? Almost never. Most people do not want to risk it. They either have me buy the part, or they take it elsewhere. Both of which are acceptable results from my policy.

Did they bring in the belt or the tensioner, make up your mind. If they bring in a belt and it breaks, tell them to contact the manufacturer of the belt. If they bring in a tensioner and the bearing goes out 200 miles later, tell them to contact the manufacturer. If they could not show me how it was my mechanics fault for the failure then I would tell then to take a hike or sue me. If they could satisfy me that it was my works fault then I would have to pay for it and my mechanic would get and asschewing or be looking for another job.

Do you only install factory new parts or do you get parts from napa, carquest, etc? I bring in oil and filter for my car, you leave drainplug loose or forget to fill it with oil and the engine blows, not your problem because you didnt supply the parts, get real, your fault and you pay for it. I am talking about obvious installation errors by the shop, not "you were the last to touch my car so its your fault" problems.

How about I say it this way. It is not up to you whether you warranty your work or not. If it is proven that it was the work performed by your mechanic that caused a failure in court you will be held liable for it. That little piece of paper only saves you from someone who is not willing to go through the trouble to file against you in court.

You should always recommend a new tensioner when replacing a timing belt. If they sign saying they dont want it changed then that solves your problem. If them mechanic doesnt know to check it then you may not be liable but you may need another mechanic.

Have been a mechanic for a long time, have worked on cars, farm, construction, lots of different things. You think having to pay for a 3000 dollar motor is bad, thats nothing. Rebuilding a 8000 dollar hydro on a 350,000 dollar combine that runs on hills up to 30 degrees. If it blows and the machine goes into freewheel someone could die, that gets stressful. Not to mention, 30-50 thousand dollar motors, million dollar pieces of equipment. If you think about it too much you wont want to touch anything.

You can go on thinking that you will not be responsible for the work you are being paid to do, but that is not reality. You are paid to provide a service to the best of your abilities, regardless of where the parts came from, if you dont provide the best you can then you will have problems.

Once again, not saying you have or ever would do any of these things, I like to believe that the large portion of shops out there are upfront and honest and try to give the benefit of the doubt, but there are shops who cheat, lie and steal from their customers and dont take responsibility for their screw ups and it pisses me off. It ruins the profession.

tmleadr03
10-25-2013, 12:34
Did they bring in the belt or the tensioner, make up your mind. If they bring in a belt and it breaks, tell them to contact the manufacturer of the belt. If they bring in a tensioner and the bearing goes out 200 miles later, tell them to contact the manufacturer. If they could not show me how it was my mechanics fault for the failure then I would tell then to take a hike or sue me. If they could satisfy me that it was my works fault then I would have to pay for it and my mechanic would get and asschewing or be looking for another job.

Do you only install factory new parts or do you get parts from napa, carquest, etc? I bring in oil and filter for my car, you leave drainplug loose or forget to fill it with oil and the engine blows, not your problem because you didnt supply the parts, get real, your fault and you pay for it. I am talking about obvious installation errors by the shop, not "you were the last to touch my car so its your fault" problems.

How about I say it this way. It is not up to you whether you warranty your work or not. If it is proven that it was the work performed by your mechanic that caused a failure in court you will be held liable for it. That little piece of paper only saves you from someone who is not willing to go through the trouble to file against you in court.

You should always recommend a new tensioner when replacing a timing belt. If they sign saying they dont want it changed then that solves your problem. If them mechanic doesnt know to check it then you may not be liable but you may need another mechanic.

Have been a mechanic for a long time, have worked on cars, farm, construction, lots of different things. You think having to pay for a 3000 dollar motor is bad, thats nothing. Rebuilding a 8000 dollar hydro on a 350,000 dollar combine that runs on hills up to 30 degrees. If it blows and the machine goes into freewheel someone could die, that gets stressful. Not to mention, 30-50 thousand dollar motors, million dollar pieces of equipment. If you think about it too much you wont want to touch anything.

You can go on thinking that you will not be responsible for the work you are being paid to do, but that is not reality. You are paid to provide a service to the best of your abilities, regardless of where the parts came from, if you dont provide the best you can then you will have problems.

Once again, not saying you have or ever would do any of these things, I like to believe that the large portion of shops out there are upfront and honest and try to give the benefit of the doubt, but there are shops who cheat, lie and steal from their customers and dont take responsibility for their screw ups and it pisses me off. It ruins the profession.

You are clearly not understanding my point.

dirtrulz
10-28-2013, 09:15
You are clearly not understanding my point.


Ditto

jerrymrc
10-28-2013, 15:40
Ditto

Going to make a suggestion. Drop it. Man owns and runs his own shop = his rules. Just like many other topics this one has spun way off track.