Quote Originally Posted by tmleadr03 View Post
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.