Econo Lube N Tune Tune Up..... to the Tune of $358.00 Bremerton Washington

I am the service manager for a small 6 bay shop in wisconsin.
I merely wanted to point out that I have a Bachelors in business management, an Associates in Automotive Technology, and I am working on my Masters degree currently. I am also A.S.E. certified in automotive repair.
I have two full time technicians. One has a bachelors degree in engineering, he is also an A.S.E. master technician for automoive and bus repairs.
My other technician is a Master auto tech, and has a degree in Marketing.
Coincidentally, we all have military training too.

My point: We are educated, we are motivated, and we provide top notch customer service.

We do it because we love to do it, it is not merely a job.

If anyone ever took the time to talk to top techs, I think you would find a treasure trove of knowledge and downright genius in some cases, as cars really are not easy to fix, if they were, 100 million people would be out of a job tomorrow.

I am not arguing with anyone here, merely pointing out that techs - good techs - are not the dumb guy in the class. (some make more than 100k per year)
If you doubt me, take your car to autozone (or wherever) the next time your chk eng lite comes on, ask them to pull the codes (most do it for free to sell parts) Think about the technician when you are trying to decipher a PO306 or a o2hsb1s1 code, where do you start? what tools do you need? how will previous experience help? if I go fast and misdiagnose, how will the customer/manager react?

remember, techs in the u.k. are respected much the same as doctors are in the u.s.
how many of you are doctors? and if you are why are you bitching about a repair bill?

Ok Joseph, your right! Indeed 75% of the American public does view a mechanic as being of less intelligence or at least an underachieving nature. This was confirmed a few years back by a poll on Best and Worst.com.

I find it ironic though that roughly 85% of that 75% need a mechanic to perform a task that they are incapable of performing themselves! I also find it ironic that 90% of the public believes the dealership is the most capable of performing repairs on thier vehicle yet only 23% choose to have "out of warranty" repairs performed by the dealer.

In fact I once read an article by a major news magazine that made a clear arguement that the dealerships had the most capable technicians yet recommended only using the dealer for warranty repairs since they may be as much as 5 or even 10 dollars more on the hour! Such is the stupidity of the public, the best is only good
if its free? and for as little as 5 or 10 more dollars on the hour you should seek lower quality service since its cheaper?

There is a reason you admittedly dont like people
(the same people who comprise the 75% you use as an arguement to defend your opinion of mechanics), they are stupid!
Just like you Joseph!

The automotive industry is the biggest business in America, millions are directly employed by this industry and even more are indirectly
employed by it. Nearly every facet of your everyday life is dependant upon the automobile in some way or another, from the way our cities and towns are designed, built and function to the most basic issues of our foriegn policies (over oil).

In spite of Americas utter dependance upon the automobile, the public chooses to look down upon 90% of those directly employed in its service! Ask yourself this Joseph, You have already proven that you needed to seek out the services of my profession (and chances are you will again) but will I ever need to seek the services of someone employed in your profession? If I choose never to do so, how will that affect my life?

I dont need to rip someone off because Im jealous of thier job.....Knowing that they need me more than I need them is satisfaction enough!

The automobile is also one of the most complex peices of modern technology, billions of dollars are spent in its design, manufacture
and testing. Even more is generated by its sales and repairs. Yet you say its not that "tricky" or complex?........Joseph, you really must suffer from some serious delusions of a greatness you simply do not possess! Funny, here I am one of those less intelligent guys forced to settle for being a mechanic and from Kentucky no less...........Yet I feel so much smarter than you .

And J is conducting. First, Kentucky was neutral. So was Maryland. That does not mean they are not in the south, both are. Next, the 2nd dumbest guy turned out to be a mechanic? So, what do you do for a living? Must be something special to be #1 in the same category. 3rd, what is your problem with the military? I was a Marine for 9 years. Mad because you are to fat, lazy, stupid, scared, etc to do what MEN do?

Go to any reputable small engine repair shop and find out how much a real tune-up costs on a mower. Again, putting 4 new plugs in an engine is NOT a tune-up. Plugs will fire over 200K miles. The ripoff shops like Econotune etc advertise them as "starting at $19.95" or so. This does nothing. Typical tune-up "by the book" on any vehicle is at least 1.5 hours and usually more than 2.5 hours.

At the $60/hour I get, that means the customer is paying at least $90 for labor and usually more than $150. I make a very good living doing this. Yes, I was raised in a "single family home". That means it was NOT a duplex or apartment, or in your case apparently, having the rest of the "special" people in there with me. Your lack of intelligence on ALL matters is showing you to be the #1 "dumbest guy in my class" as you put it. My father taught me early on "you get what you pay for".

Pay for cheap, get cheap. Pay for the goods or services you WANT and tip big for an exceptional job, and you will always get what you want, when you want it. And yes, I am married. Have 2 children too. Why, is your wife actually looking for MEN? Or is it she wants someone elses seed to father her children so they don't end up like YOU? For someone you try to look down upon, why is it I have a home in NC and FL? I guess while you are trying to figure out why you're #1, others like me are earning a living. Good luck with your meds.

Neil(Roger), Bobb(gregg) & Stupid,

Gregg, I don't know why you decided to take sides on this other than your probably a mechanic and a sneaky one I'm sure. No one was talking to you or aimed any ill will your general direction. But, you had to open your fat mouth in which case you should have stuck the foot your mother has implanted in your a*s into your pie hole.
Only a sneaky mechanic or a retard who doesn't know s**t about cars would retort with your come-back. Nothing in life is that hard and fixing a car sure enough isn't very tricky in most cases. For those of us with jobs though sometimes it's harder to find the time so we send the wife while we're working to mechanics who then proceed to try and rip off anyone that walks into the shop.
Heck if I took a poll on the types of folk that become mechanics I'm willing to get 75% of the people would say the 2nd dumbest guy in my class is now a mechanic. The funny thing about that is he's just jealous that everyone else has a decent job, so he tries to make up for it by ripping off the masses to pay for his lack of intelligence and moderate social standing. I know the guys that became mechanics they are the one's who know a fair amount about cars and little about everything else. You know the class clown who didn't do his homework and made everyone laugh because he was too stupid to know any better. He didn't realize, "We weren't laughing with you," REALLY! Heck most of them probably quit high school and couldn't find any other work and since they knew or thought they knew about cars they became mechanics. Heck guys that even work at these places aren't mechanics they are high school kids trained by someone who thinks he's a mechanic.

There are some good decent mechanics out there that don't rip people off. Mechanics that tell you what needs to be done in what timeframe and whether or not things will be ok for the time being. Then there's the overall group of garages that I speak of. Of which most mechanics fall under and that's the sad thing almost as sad as you Gregg.

So, YES I could have changed everything I said I chose not to and that was my mistake. Stupid folk, you included, can take it for what it's worth but if you want your car worked on by someone who can't pass his algebra class so be it, good luck with that, but from this point forward I'll deal with fixing my own cars. You said mean mouthed then you proceed to call me a b*****d. Well for one thing I have a father so b*****d is out, genius.

Robert,
Do you even have a wife? Feel sorry for yourself, anyone that thinks he has to pay $75 bucks to get his lawn mower tuned up needs to get ripped off. You probably pay $1000 bucks for a toilet seat too. You must be military, and since the people that are in the military are one step below mechanics it's safe to say your one of the absolute dumbest people on the face of the planet. Not everyone just about 90% of the people in the military are stupid. You and Gregg must own, work, or be closely affiliated with econo lube, and if that's the case then your opinons are worthless. And don't sit there and say the MOST ignorant comment known to man. Anyone and everyone especially folks in Kentucky know that the entire state considers itself as a southern state. NOT A NEUTRAL or Yankee state. I know more people from there that still call anyone not from the South a Yankee. Make sure you know what your talking about before you spout off, and make sure you pay $200 for a tune up because if you don't pay that much then it must be not be a good tune up, the ignorance is amazing. 1 question, you had to have been brought up in a single family home, because no MAN or father would allow his son to sound as stupid as you do about cars, lawn-mowers, or money.

Rob,
It's funny but big bertha wouldn't appreciate you calling her that i'm sure. But, believe what you will, ever notice though that fat people refrain from using the word fat very often. Which has to lead me to believe that only people with the lack of fat use the word in which case I am one of those folks. So, fatso how's the chicken? I do live in a small town but from here, I'm not. I don't like people you see and I can't stand stupid people so the less people stupid in most cases I have to deal with the better off the world will be. Maybe, however I'll move to Louisville since the Petino's group is going to be kicking some Wildcat a*s. Hey, do you guys even have a football team? Ohh yea that's right that fat lineman is your QB. Kentucky must be a maven for econo lube since clearly, if your IQ speaks for the state there's some serious lack of common sense. Kentucky must be good for econo lube, horseracing, and basketball and here I thought it was only good for the latter two.

Well, first of all I was suckered by their $9.99 oil change coupon. While they were changing the oil they said I needed a tune up and a differential fluid change. I did not have the money for a tune up but I did authorized the differential fluid change at $59.99.

2 weeks later and 1 more paychech in the bank I took my truck 1995 mazda B2300 back for the tune-up. It cost $324, They counter guy said it would take 2 hours it ended up taking 2 days. Then when I went to pick up the truck he said I needed to change the differential fliud. I told him I just had it serviced. He asked me who did it, And I said YOU DID!! So they had to do it all over again. I honestly don't think they did it at all the first time.

After I finally got my truck back I noticed it was sounding and idleing funny. I jumped off the freeway and began to drive back to the shop. Well about 2 miles down the 99 freeway heading back to the shop The sparkplug blew right out of the engine block!! They had never tightened the spark plugs, So they had to replace the plug that shot out of the block, it took 3 more hours and I lost another days pay. The next morning I decided to check out all the work they did and I began going over everything with a fine tooth comb. I discovered that they never changed the fuel filter which they charged me $65.99 on my reciept, So back to the shop I went this time I was fuming. He changed it but all inall It took 4 days to complete all the services and I was left on the freeway for 3 hours. Missed a day of work was late for another days work, Needless to say if you see the $9.99 oil change coupon BEWARE!!!!!!!!

For the ignorant masses out there, Kentucky was NEUTRAL during the Civil War. The only people on this planet who don't know that, are the same ones who whine and complain because of their own stupidity after sending a defenseless woman after an errand her idiot wimp husband wasn't MAN enough to handle himself. The fact he thinks he can get a tune-up on any car for less than $200 anywhere shows his ignorance. A tune-up does not mean plug swap. It means TUNE-UP. That involves time and parts. You can't get a lawnmower tuned up anywhere for less than $75, so why do you think you can get a car done for less than that? Total slam dunk for the mechs, total shut out for the husband. I feel sorry for his wife. Maybe she'll find a man to take care of more than just her car.

AT this point, Joseph, I'm glad you think they got over on you. You actually got what you paid for. If you had gotten off of your FAT a*s and gone to the repair shop yourself you could have been on the scene and still f**ked it up. Valve cover gaskets are tricky and take a light touch, whereas distibutor caps are pretty straight forward. To claim you could do the first and probably the second proves what an ignoramous you are.

You are an ignorant small-minded mean-mouthed b*****d. I hope they put pebbles in your hubcaps.

Ok Joseph, first of all my comments are WARRENTED by the fact that you chose to describe your SITUATION in a manner that condones feedback from others. If this is a problem for you then contact the editor. Secondly I never said you "can't" fix your car. I said you lost credibility when you stated you could have done the job in 15 or 20 minutes.....At this point I will say that your earlier report leads me to beleive two thing: 1, It was a counter man at NAPA who suggested you could replace the valve cover gasket yourself in 15 or 20 minutes, and needing to think of yourself as a real man you chose to beleive this! 2, I seriously doubt that you or "BIG BERTHA" (AKA: your wife) could replace a LIGHT BULB in 15 or 20 minutes! Now as for my being a FAT, JOBLESS southerner? Well Im far from being fat or jobless and I think it is soooooo funny that people from the Northwest resort to the "southern folk" stereotype so often when they do not have any thing intelligent to say! I decided to check out Hansville Wash. and see how its superior culture
is represented. I sure didnt find much about it because there doesnt seem to be much to "Little Hansville".

Anyway here is a link to a site that tells about it....as well as a link to a site that represents Lexington Ky. Im sure that going on stereotypes alone, people will surely believe I must have them confused since Lexington KENTUCKY? seems like a booming metropolis compared to Hansville Wash?.....Gee Hanville certainly seems like a good home for "Tree Huggers" with coke bottle thick glasses and ugly wives!....http://www.northwestcharm.com/kitsap/hansville.htm. ....
http://www.wlextv.com/

Ok, you made your point. I know I made mistakes in this situation and I didn't hide that fact. Your comments aren't warranted because you weren't in the situation nor do you know me. So, saying I can't fix the car show's your ignorance for making an assumption you clearly are in no position to make. One point for me none for you JACKASS. I know what the problem was with the check engine light that's why it went in for a tune up. The other parts that "needed" to be replaced may or may not have needed to be replaced I can't say either way cause I wasn't there. I could have changed the valve gasket and probably the distibutor cap as well. Mark-up is business I know that but I'm not one that likes to pay for bullshit that other people say I need. If you are one of the stupid comsumers, as I was in this situation then it's fine be one of them that's why we are in America and businesses flourish. I however don't like paying roughly $90 bucks for a service I could have performed in the time it takes you to screw your sister. If you don't mind paying those prices then put your money where your mouth is. If not go pester someone else dickhead.

I didn't post my situation to read some a*****e in Kentucky post bullshit about what I did wrong. I know the mistakes I made in the situation. I posted because the company I was dealing with has poor customer service to say the least and the manager is probably your brother. So, Mr. Smartass you must be a mechanic, otherwise you would probably be able to understand the problems with the situation. And by the way, I didn't get a $30 discount becuase I didn't ask for the service they performed nor did I ask for the $20 off they gave me originally. As far as I'm concerned the $10 I haggled was the discount I was given because the service they wanted to perform wasn't something I even needed to have done. If someone say's they'll sell you a bridge for $100 that was originally $200 "according to them," and you tell them you'll pay $50 for something you didn't ask for what's the discount? $50 for the person with any sense, $150 for the moron that purchases the bridge and thinks they got a great deal. When the guy selling the bridge is laughing his a*s off cause you just paid $50 bucks for something you probably don't need. I F*&*ed up, yes that's clear. The company I was dealing with over the phone none the less, is terrible. Since you think however that they are legitimate. Take your car there stupid, and deal with the fat a*s manager that acts like you owe him something for bringing your car in to his station. I learned my lesson alright, and your lack of insightful information, and unintelligent commentary was stupid. Don't post a message to someone you don't know if your going to be a jackass. Get a life, this site is for people reporting issues with businesses or bad businesses. Not for fat, jobless, southern folk, eating barbecue, and watermelon, and still bitter bitchin' at anyone they can cause they're pissed the south lost the war.

First of all JP, 79.95 down to 59.95 is $20 off! So when added to the $10 dollar discount you price haggled for, the total DISCOUNT does come to $30!.....1 point for the mechanics!...none for you! Secondly, the $49.95 for a part you could buy elsewhere for $30 represents a standard practice for ALL business!

Its called MARK-UP!...2 points for the mechanics!...none for you! Thirdly, sending an unarmed person (ie: one without the goodsense to make thier own choices, be they man or woman) to deal with people who you do not trust to begin with, is just plain LAMEminded!...3 points for the mechanics!...none for you!...

Fourthly, stating that you could have replaced a part in 15 or 20 minutes when you clearly had no idea of its function or purpose until moments after agreeing to the repair is just plain... well its pretty discrediting to say the least!... 4 points for the mechanics!... none for you! lastly, requesting a "simple tune-up" when the check engine light is on and you have no-clue as to what it could mean is the kind of blind assumptions consumers make that allow "mechanics" to earn a quick buck by honoring your request!...

No points to either side on this one since the mechanic should have forewarned you that the check engine light may mean something other than just a "simple tune-up"..... Sending a mentally defenseless person to carry out a doomed request made in ignorance = $358.00..... Having the mental aptitude, personal drive and skills required to do the job yourself, or at least the foresight to seek a proper diagnosis before "Gettin her tuned-up" LOL = PRICELESS.... you make me laugh JP or at least you have!