April 16th, 2010
The following is an actual email from a consumer that we supplied and estimate for repairs too. She wrote this email to HAE after she interacted with this shop owner. We are currently looking into this matter to see if in fact a rip off did occur. As soon as we have the answer we will post our findings to this blog. The opinion expressed by this consumer does not reflect the views of HAE, rather simply the consumers opinion.
From: Elaine S.
Date: Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Subject: ripp-off
To: honestautoestimates.com
Jay owner of Wayne Sunoco at 558 Alps Road, Wayne, N.J.is a crook. He had his employee Adam overcharge me for labor & a starter for my car. He lied to me and told me that because my car is old the parts are very expensive. This is obviously a lie.. .I am sure he is ripping off other customers also.. Please make sure that word gets out about this crooked mechanic. Thank you for your help.
Tags: auto repair, auto repairs, auto shop, automotive news, car repair, consumer advocate, consumer news, repair shop, rip off
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
April 16th, 2010
A lot of young people are into the tuning market and like the look and performance of low profile tires mounted on very large wheels. The problem is the tire is the first line of defense when you hit a pot hole or turn into McDonalds. The energy from the collision that is created when your vehicle runs through a pot hole or any other large bump, has to be absorbed by the tire first and then into the wheel, then wheel hub, the suspension and eventually into the chassis, then your seat. If you have a very low profile tire (Sidewall), the energy is not absorbed by the tire it is transferred completely into the other parts. These parts are not designed to take the complete impact so they begin to fail prematurely or worse they fail immediately and cause lots of callateral damage. The idea of street tires having to be low profile to handle well is solid, but it has to be tempered with reason. There is “Too low” when it comes to the tire’s side wall and you could cost your self a lot of money trying to look sporty!
Tags: auto repair, car, car tires, collision, low, low profile, repairs, sell tires, suspension, tire, tire sale, tires
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
April 16th, 2010
Many companies have began to use the catch phrase “Consumer advocate” to appeal to Americans since of fair play to cash in. They do this by setting up websites to provide information and then do not have actual people to assist consumers. Information by itself is not the total solution to the issue that consumers face of being overcharged for repairs to there cars. Consumers need help to navigate the information provided and support to back up that information that is real, not just virtual concepts. Consumer advocacy began as a movement to protect consumers from being taken, not just monetarily but subliminally as well. The term a wolf in sheep clothing comes to mind when we hear of some websites that are capturing people attention only to direct them towards the parent for profit companies commercial outlet for auto parts or repair facilities that they own or do business with to supply parts too. HAE does allow auto repair shop to interact with consumers to provide repairs, but HAE has “Hands on” oversight of this process to ensure the positive out come for both the consumer and the repair shop. Through this medium HAE has helped and gained the respect of thousands of consumers all over the U.S. It can be a great partnership between consumer and advocate as long as the consumer is the reason for the relationship and not the bottom line of the parent company selling parts or repairs. We would ask that you investigate any website calling them selves a “Consumer advocate” to find the source of that company and their motives for providing help. It’s kind of like knowing why someone is holding the door open for you, are they trying to help or just trap you inside?
Tags: advocate, auto repair, auto repair shop, automitive, car repair, cars, consumer, consumer advocate, repair, repair shop, website
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
December 3rd, 2009
I was talking to someone the other day and they mentioned they had 2 new tires put on their car. I asked them if they really wanted to go into the ditch that bad? They answered, “What?”, I explained to them that if you mix tire tread patterns it can cause vehicle stability issues. You see, most of today’s vehicles are equipped with some kind of Vehicle Stability Control system and ABS (Anti-Lock Brakes). These systems calculate many factors and then make decisions about transmission gear changes, engine speed, braking and steering to keep you from driving beyond the vehicles limits. The problem with having tires that do not match (Tire design, manufacturer, rubber compounds, age etc.) is that all these safety systems assume that the traction or road contact is the same at each point of the vehicle. If one or more contact points are different, the systems will react incorrectly and possibly destabilize the vehicle potentially causing an accident. The moral of the story is saving a few bucks may cost you your life under certain conditions, BUY 4 TIRES!
Tags: accidents, alert, anti lock brakes, brakes, car tires, contact, dangerous, match tires, purchase tires, tires, traction, traction control, vehicle stability
Posted in Uncategorized, car maintenance | No Comments »
November 10th, 2009
I would guess that most people have no idea of what a DOT number is on your tires. This is perhaps the most important number associated with a vehicle tire, even more important than the price, it’s the age. Watch the following report from ABC news before you kill your family or friends trying to save money and time:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897
Tags: alert, alerts, auto repair, automotive, automotive news, car, cars bad tires, DOT, kill, killed, news, recall, recalls, repair, report, tire recall, tires
Posted in Uncategorized, car maintenance | No Comments »
November 9th, 2009
In the U.S. we seem to be in love with the word “NEW”. We want new cars, new girl friends or boyfriends, new shoes, new relationships, new furniture, etc. Why? that’s what I want to know. New is always going to get old eventually, are we just going to trade up ever time there is a “NEW” available? Why not fix that car, relationship, girl/boy friend first and then see how things are.
Cars are HAE’s specialty, not girl/boy friends or shoes. When it comes to the automobile, people are often to quick to through in the towel. Sure if you have an extremely high mileage vehicle that is costing you repair money of more than a car payment monthly, you need to consider looking for something else. But, ig you do the math and consider that a car is a depreciating asset, you might find that a new car payment (Typically around $478 per month for 6 years) is a lot more expensive than the repairs for that same period on your existing vehicle.
The auto manufactures would like you to buy a new car ever few years, that keeps the wheels of industry rolling, but can keep your budget rolled up! In reality, you can keep your car repaired and servicing your needs for many years beyond the last payment as long as you do the required maintenance. There are published reports that show savings in most cases of over $15,000 during a 6 year period of payments versus repairs. That’s $15,000, WOW! Imagine the credit cards that you could pay off and get rid of the high interest loans.
The next time you think “NEW” car, stop and ask yourself, “How much have I spent on actual repairs over the last 2 years?” Excluded maintenance, since that has to be done even on the new cars. Then figure out the expected car payment and see which one is less, I would bet the repair is going to win out on that.
Tags: auto cost, auto loan, auto mechanic, auto repair estimate, automobile, car, car purchase, cosnumers, cost, loans, new car, old car, repair, repairs, save money, tips
Posted in Uncategorized, car maintenance | 1 Comment »
October 8th, 2009
The following is an email article circulating around the internet, read this and then read the comment I make at the end, thanks.
Driving in the rain
> >>
> >> I wonder how many people know about this ~
> >> A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her
> >> car.
> >> A resident of Kilgore , Texas she was traveling between Gladewater &
> >> Kilgore. It was raining, though not excessively, when her car suddenly
> >> began to hydro-plane and literally flew through the air. She was not
> >> seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence!
> >>
> >> When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told
> >> her
> >> something that every driver should know – NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH
> >> YOUR
> >> CRUISE CONTROL ON . She thought she was being cautious by setting the
> >> cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain.
> >>
> >> But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on
> >> when
> >> your car begins to hydro-plane and your tires lose contact with the
> >> pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you
> >> take off like an airplane. She told the patrolman that was exactly what
> >> had occurred.
> >>
> >> The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the driver’s seat
> >> sun-visor – NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR
> >> ICY,
> >> along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise
> >> control and drive a safe speed – but we don’t tell them to use the
> >> cruise
> >> control only when the pavement is dry.
> >>
> >> The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the
> >> patrolman), was a man who had had a similar accident, totaled his car
> >> and
> >> sustained severe injuries.
> >>
> >> NOTE: Some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not allow
> >> you
> >> to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.
> >>
> >>
> >> If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn’t know about
> >> this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.
This vehicle probably did not have a vehicle stability control system as most cars manufacture after 2007 are equipped with. Virtually all vehicles priced above $18,000 built after 2006 have some form of stability control and all detect wheel spin and turn off the cruise control. Now, that being said, the idea of allowing the vehicle to control the speed based on just the vehicles current speed and not road conditions is where the real issue comes into play. Common sense should have stepped up and prevented this accident and unfortunately you can’t manufacture that into an automobile.
Tags: accident, common sense, insurance, prevention, state police, vehicle, vehicle control
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 24th, 2009
We recently,September 23, 2009, spoke with an HAE Consumer Member who took their 2004 VW Passat to a repair shop in Fayettteville North Carolina. The car’s thermostat had failed causing the vehicle to overheat. now that’s were everything goes off the charts for rip off. You see, the shop quoted a price of over $450 to complete this repair. They said the labor time for this was 4.5 hours, we looked up the labor time on Alldata, mitchell’s and Chilton and the highest time was 2.5. Now, in explanation of the labor times, this shop to remain nameless, gave the following;
cooling system diagnosis 1.0
verify complaint .1
check coolant condition .1
check coolant level .1
pressure test radiator .1
TSB search (Look up codes in computer) .1
Visual inspection .1
pressure test radiator .1 (That’s right, twice)
inspect belts .1
check cooling fans .1
inspect for proper coolant .1
replace thermostat 2.5
That’s 4.5 hours of labor, for what? Ok, let’s set this aside for a minute. We also looked at the parts pricing model to determine why this overcharge occurred. The following are the prices as listed on the estimate:
Thermostat $50.57, this is twice the manufacturer suggested retail price at the VW dealership.
Coolant $30.90, where is the gold in this fluid? Every parts store in the U.S. has this item for under $15.
The conclusion we came to was the same as you are probably thinking, “They saw him coming!” These shops get away with this because of the previous lack of knowledge of auto repair the public once had to endure. HAE was founded to prevent this type of hideous, out right abuse of the consumer. For further details about the exact shop name and location you can email customerservice@honestautoestimates.com and request the information.
Tags: auto repair, car, cars, consumer, news, overcharged, rip off, shop
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 10th, 2009
HAE is going to assist Americans in paying for their health care by furnishing them with $22 billion for use to buy coverage. HAE’s average consumer members are the people who spiraling health care cost affect most. You see, last year the U.S. Government estimates that Americans were over charged by over $22 billion for auto repairs. If they join HAE for FREE, they can save that money for their health care expenses.
The President said the governments plan would take 4 years to get into full swing. Here is the beat part, HAE’s $22 billion investment into the health care problem is available now and it’s FREE. This means Americans can start purchasing health coverage now when they join HAE as a Consumer Member and stop over spending on auto repairs. HAE has calculated that the average person is overcharged an annual average of around $1260. That’s about $105 per month. The U.S. Government estimate the average persons individual health cover cost them about $257 per month. All this math mean that if someone joins HAE for FREE they could use that extra $105 per month towards their heath insurance cost. This means HAE’s $22 billion health plan reduces the finacial impact of your health insurance by over 40% or at least the affect it has on your budget. The point is that by joining HAE, Americans can send a clear message to American business including insurance companies, “We are not going to sit back and be taken advantage of any more!” This is a significant way to make health insurance cost less of a burden on your already strained budget. HAE’s is offering this membership for FREE because of the mission HAE was started to accomplish, protecting Consumers against being overcharged for auto repairs.
Benjamin Franklyn said “A penny saved is a penny earned!”
$22 billion being diverted into American’s pockets, should certainly make a difference in the health care of those Americans that take advantage of the offer made by HAE to protect them and keep their money for a better use to pay for their health coverage. Send me an email about how you would use the money saved by not being overcharged for auto repair at haehealthplan@honestautoestimates.com, HAE will post some of these here on this very popular blog and send them on to congress and let them know what you think.
Tags: health care, health cost, health insurance, health plan, president speach
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 9th, 2009
The most popular labor guides such as Alldata, Chilton and Mitchell’s purchase repair information from the manufacturers. The factory sets a time for every repair to the vehicle. They come up with most of these labor times by formulation not by actually dismantling the vehicle. This means that some labor times can vary from actual time, but the overall labor time is fairly accurate. The idea is that the more experienced the technician is, the faster the repair time. This is called the technicians efficiency rate and most shops like to see at least 130%, which means the technicians billable time net about 30% profitability. If the technician is given a job that is rated at 10 hours and does the job in 7, then he is available for more work that will overlap that 10 hours. This leads to profit because the technician will also work faster on the 7 hour job. Auto repair shops sell parts and time not repairs, which is why consumers have to be careful when analyzing estimates for repairs. An estimate for repair to your car has very few components, labor time, parts and sales tax. Other fees such as shop supplies, hazardous waste or any other fee is added by the shop to cover a specific cost the shop may incur while performing repairs to your car. These fees however are sometimes abused and are simply added profit.
Tags: auto, automotive, car, cars, consumer, money, rip off
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »