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:
Posts Tagged ‘car’
Deadly contact!
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009NEW NEVER GETS OLD?
Monday, November 9th, 2009In 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.
Actual Case of a Rip Off in Fayetteville NC
Thursday, September 24th, 2009We 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.
Where do labor guides get their repair times?
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009The 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.
Hey is it just me or did I really see………………
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009Maybe I am old fashion, but I think that auto repair should be auto repaired. So many times we take our cars to a repair shop only to hear, “We have to start with this and hope”, hope? Why not fix! With the level of computer intergration, most vehicles self diagnose. If a shops says this to you, look out wallet! They are telling you they are not sure whats wrong but if you don’t mind footing the bill, we can throw enough parts at the problem until it goes away. I know some problems are difficult to find, but dilligence can be a money saver. The key to getting a direct answer to “What’s wrong with it” is really a 3 pronged appraoch; 1) Technical knowledge 2) Tools 3) Technician. If you have these things going for you, there is a good chance you will only pay for the repair and not that shops training session on your car.
Protect your A/C
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009It is a good idea on early model cars to turn off the A/C when you turn off the engine. Newer cars have a relay that shuts the compressor off while the engine is being started. This saves energy and stress on the starter motor. Older vehicles do not have this relay so the starter has to turn the compressor as well as the engine components, using more fuel and causing starter wear.