Text 3070, 71 rader
Skriven 2010-01-12 13:49:32 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
   Kommentar till text 3028 av Lee Lofaso (3:800/432.0)
Ärende: Misconceptions
======================
11 Jan 10 21:13, Lee Lofaso wrote to Roy Witt:

 LL> Hello Roy,

 >> LL>What a scam.  If the owner of the car has no idea as to what is
 >> wrong
 >> LL>with the car, any auto mechanic can easily scam the owner. I tested
 >> LL>this theory on a reputable maintenance shop.  And sure enough, the
 >> LL>mechanic tried to scam me.  The mechanic did the computer hook-up
 >> LL>thing (or so he said) and told me what repairs were needed.  I told
 >> LL>the mechanic to go take a hike, and drove away, without paying a
 >> LL>cent.  But how many others would have gladly handed over their
 >> LL>hard-earned money, or known they were getting fleeced?

 >> LL>Okay.  How did I know the mechanic was lying when he told me he
 >> LL>had done that computer hook-up thing?  Because the car I brought
 >> LL>in was pre-1996.  I knew he could not legally force me to pay
 >> LL>the fee for the computer hook-up, given the fact that it was
 >> LL>a pre-1996 car, meaning it was impossible for the mechanic to
 >> LL>have done as he had claimed.

 RW>> FYI, pre-96 vehicles had ALDL computer connectors, just like they do
 RW>> today only the diagnostic ports had different shapes. OBD1 (On Board
 RW>> Diagnostics, version 1) vehicles were manufactured beginning in 1982
 RW>> thru 1993 with a 12 pin ALDL connector, which was changed to the 16
 RW>> pin ALDL OBD2 connector in 1994. Even though the 1994 and 1995
 RW>> vehicles had the OBD2 connector, they were connected to OBD1
 RW>> computers.

 RW>> Unless your car was pre-1982, you submitted a vehicle that any
 RW>> mechanic can scan.

 LL> The whole thing was a joke when I brought the car in.  It was
 LL> a 1990 Ford Thunderbird with a busted radiator.  No need for a
 LL> hook-up of any kind to tell a mechanic what was wrong with the
 LL> car.  The mechanic insisted on the computer hook-up, claiming
 LL> it was shop policy.

You, knowing what was actually wrong with it, should have insisted that he
first look at the radiator. All a computer scan would show is that the
engine had overheated or not.

 LL> I was not going to argue with an idiot.

:o) No comment.

 LL> When he returned (with his computer diagnosis in hand) he told
 LL> me a complete engine overhaul was needed, citing an exhorbant
 LL> cost estimate, without saying a word about the radiator.

He was probably right about the overhaul.

 LL> I refused to pay for the computer diagnostic and drove the car
 LL> elsewhere - to a service station, which then gladly replaced
 LL> the radiator.

With a 10mm wrench and a screwdriver, you could have done a radiator
swap while out back of the funny farm. Or give any 10yo kid $5 to do it.

 LL> The shop manager and other mechanics found
 LL> the incident to be hilarious, probably due to the smoke that
 LL> was coming out of the front end of my car as I drove off.

I'll bet they weren't laughing at the smoke, just the smoke screener.


                R\%/itt

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