I Must Vent!!!

[swingonthespiral]

Hello everyone....

Warning..... i am about to vent..... and i thank all of you who are listening out there even if you dont care!!! lol...

Now..... my car..... my lovely 'Scarlett' 1974 Datsun 260z all original..... is the non reptile apple of my eye....

For 5 years i had searched for her.... a 260 in her condition and i had seen some pearlers and i finally found her and shes perfect.... well for a 33 year old car she is.... she has 82K on the clock (she is a retired rally car from wa and has been in a garage for 14yrs and hadnt been taken out)...

So i expect things to go wrong with her and i had budgetted for this.... so i'm not whinging about having to fix her because i knew what i was goin to be in for.... its the quality and pride of work i am peeved about....

I work for holden in PR so i have seen the worst of it which is why i dont let my mechanics work on my car.... a word of warning to all you guys that are buying brand new cars.... to keep your warranty you must have ur vechicle serviced with the dealership u bought it from..... but i tell you now just go without.... go get a mechanic u can trust because our guys are totally hopeless and in our workshop we have no one with more than 2yrs experience out of an apprenticeship so just have a think about the experience level of the ppl you are trusting ur brand new car with....

Anyway thats not my point..... sorry

In the last month i have had alot of work done to get her in pristine condition as we are goin on a long trip up to the tablelands tommorrow....

I have had her into my mechanics for a service..... only to get her back and the next morning she owuldnt start for 20mins!!!! took her back and some moron apprentice played iwth my distributor and screwed all my timing......

I had her headlights fixed last week.... and was charged 55 bucks to put a signal dianostic through her to check that everything was fine..... and hse got the A+ and i was told my motherboard power supply was perfect.... well yesterday she has no tailights, dash lights, brake lights or parkers.... and i checked her over with our hand held signal kit and guess what.... her motherboard thingy is dead..... hmmmmm so much for my diagnostic....

I took her a carby place on monday to have them rebuilt paid out the bum for it and guess what.... i drive her away and before i even get to the first intersection shes back firing because of too much fuel....

I'm sure this has happened to everyone.... my problem is not that i have had to have this work done to her.... its that no one seems to ever double check anymore....

Why is it so hard to take five minutes and take her for a drive and go 'hmmm that bit we looked at isnt actually working properly yet how about we fix it before we charge the customer and make them come back cos we didnt actually fix it'....... just a thought....

And i knwo we have a skills shortage and im not even gonna get into that...

But as you would imagine I am peeved because this part will not be here in time for me to leave for the tablelands at 4am tomorrow morning....

Sorry for the long winded post.... if u could post ur car troubles up as well maybe i wouldnt feel so bad.... :evil:

 

[Bryony]

Dont you wish it was legal to slap some people?

 

[Troy 1000]

I thought it was standard that a car was taken for a test drive, after work was completed. Sounds like you had some incompetant fools working on your vehicle.

 

[swingonthespiral]

it is apparently standard.... although ive been talkin to our workshop manager and he says that alot of ppl cant do it anymore because of the skills shortage..... im not blaming my actual mechanic he fixed the prob with the distributor and timing asap at no charge and my next service is free..... but it still makes u wanna slap someone.... yes i wish bryony!!!

 

[swingonthespiral]

oh yeah and these ppl that have been owrking on her i chose because out of all the ppl i have rang they were the only ones that actually knew what she was..... makes u want to become a mechanic and autoelectrician just so u can work on ur own car!!!!

 

[kullafullsnake]

yeah i can relate about non testing, i took my 2 stroke 500cc motorcycle to the motorbike shop for a new ignition coil to be fitted, the bike was in the shop for 2 weeks whilst waiting for a part which i was told only had to come from melbourne, i later found out it was actually from japan it came from,so i got a phone call they said we have fitted your brand new coil and the bike is ready to be picked up, i got charged $200 bucks for coil $38 bucks for a mechanic to fit it,and $13 storage, can you believe that it`s a dollar a day for storage, i finally got the bike on a trailer drove 1 1/2 hours to where the other boys where for a day ride, i started my bike started no problem rode it for 1 hour only 1 hour it cuttout with backfire grrrrrrr 2 motorcyle mechanics where on the ride they said it was electrical,grrr i travelled back home and waited untill monday as it was a weekend ride,i didnt even ring them i took my bike back to them and some goose didn`t check the timing,the pulsar coil in my magneto got fryed in the process grrrr $300 more dollars i wasnt impressed,

 

[moosenoose]

Sounds about as fun as the time I decided to get an auto serviced. I made it out of Brisbane heading to a Bundaberg car show, got 3/4 of the way there, and after taking off from a service station I successfully blew out 1 & 2nd in an auto that was supposedly "running like a dream" I've been reluctant to ever service an automatic again after that :lol: Thankfully I've found a brilliant transmission specialist not too far from my work who I'd trust with anything! (Too bad my new car is a manual )

 

[swingonthespiral]

yeay its not only me!!! sorry dude that must have sucked....

 

[Hsut77]

Ahhhh, Mechanics and Dentists, two professions we can't do without and two professions you just can't fully trust.

(Disclamer - Based on personal experience only, not meant to offend or enrage.)

 

[nickamon]

Ahhhh, Mechanics and Dentists, two professions we can't do without and two professions you just can't fully trust.

(Disclamer - Based on personal experience only, not meant to offend or enrage.)

Hhhhmmm, never had a problem with dentists, but add real estate agents to the "can't live with them, can't kill them" list.

 

[Auzlizardking]

OMG where do I start - got a VH commodore in almost mint condition the only thing to fix was the starter - so I went to the auto elec and he said sorry mate no new starts o here at the moment but this second hand one will be fine (ok so it wasn't ) three starters motors later I got a new one which work fine for a week.
I then went to a mechanic who said he could fix it by changing the drive plate (he also told me a fix price) well two hundred over the fix price I got it back new drive plate - two weeks later it wouldn't turn over again Ok third place finally found someone who know what was going on (the spacer in the drive plate was worn) new drive plate reco the new starter.
Then next problem two weeks later car was running ruff - new cam and lifters this time - picked the car up just on closing time - the car wouldn't start
They got it going and I drove home at 10kmh they then had to come out to my place and fix it - I was sent a bill for this which was never paid
Now ever part under the car is new and I don't need the car anymore and is up for sale for a $1000.00 if anyone wants a car they will never need to spend any money on again for years apart for Reg etc

 

[Magpie]

We owned a Hyundai Lantra Sportswagon from new, all services done by the book.
At about 30,000km we sold it to my folks, who took it to Ultratune or someone for a full checkover as they were driving back across the Nullabor with it.
Flat tire on the way, no worries it has a spare.
Tire won't come off.
RAC called, needed a large "helper bar" to get the tire off, it still had the original locktite from the factory in korea or wherever they are made.
No one, in all the cars history had taken a wheel off to check the brakes

 

[swingonthespiral]

starting to feel better that its not only me this is happening to..... pray for my darling scarlett and whatever knobski is working on her now.... HAVE HER READY FOR MY DIRTY WEEKEND!!! lol

 

[swingonthespiral]

GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRR...... i just called up.... it got the better of me.... my other half was gonna look after the checking and picking up for me...... but she was booked in to be looked at at 7.30 this morning and its now 12.45 and no one has even looked at her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shock: :x :evil: ..... looks like no beautiful car driving up to the tablelands for a dirty weekend with my other half......... someone will pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Magpie]

You could always rent-a-thrash?
Mini Cooper?

 

[falconboy]

OMG where do I start - got a VH commodore in almost mint condition.....and I don't need the car anymore and is up for sale for a $1000.00 if anyone wants a car they will never need to spend any money on again for years apart for Reg etc

If its a 5 litre and not rusty, I'll take it. :lol:

 

[swingonthespiral]

its ok we have another car... andy has an RX7 but i get motion sick so its better for me to drive or im gonna ruin his interior lol.... fingers crossed...

 

[Earthling]

I cant feel the pain as i own an 'ol 92 Hilux 4x diesel which just keeps going and going and going and going and going and going and going....you get the picture.

Worst car though was a......Lada...always something going wrong. Absolute poo.

 

[Chris1]

i used to have a 84 model hilux diesel 4wd , brilliant car, till i let it run out of oil.

 

[Forensick]

cars are for chumps....

morotcycle baby!!!! and scooters too....

$15 a fortnight, driving to and from work and scool everyday (i work and study full time)