Precision Tune Automotive Ripoff Crummy mechanical work had to pay twice for their mistake refused to refund after paying another company to redo their work Fort Walton Beach Florida

You keep using the term "tune-up". You never got a "tune-up". A tune-up makes the engine run exactly as it did when it left the factory. This takes time, and parts. The average time is about 1.5 hours. At my $60/hour, that comes to $90 labor, minimum. Add plugs, wires, cap, rotor, filters, pcv valve, vacuum hose, etc, and the bill starts adding up. The typical 4 cyl runs about $175. A V6 goes for about $250, and a V8 runs from $350-up. THAT'S a tune-up. These Jabronies-R-Us shops scam you with a make-believe price from $20-$60.

In comparison, take a lawnmower to a repair shop. Tell them it needs a tune-up. You will pay about $75. That engine has 1 spark plug, and a very basic carburetor. Explain how you justify a shop taking MORE from you to replace 1 plug, adjust/clean a single barrel carburetor, and a couple minor adjustments to the magneto, while considering it reasonable for a shop to charge next to nothing to work on an engine they have to get at, and then have at least 4 times the number of components. One is fine as long as it starts with one pull. The other only runs fine if everything is perfect. One takes less than 15 minutes to complete, while the other takes from 1 hour, to as much as 4.

This may or may not be the case with you. If it is, explain. If it's not, ignore it.

In the past 15 yers i have probably had about four to five different cars. Right now I own a van, a suv, a turbo convertable and a truck. Some old, some new, none of that is the point. The point is, if a tune up is that simple, why not do it right. If you read my first complaint, they didn't even gap the plugs right, nor stand by their work. Very sad in this work of customer service and capitalism.

Does anyone actually know what you get when you purchase a "tune up"?

A "tune up" is nothing more than a spark plug change and a quick visual inspection. That's it! Thats because nowadays in most cases, we no longer have carburetors to adjust or points to replace or adjust. This used to be part of the standard "tune up".

$59 for a spark plug change. WOW, what a deal.
How can anyone in the business mess up a spark plug change?

The terminology "tune up" should be eliminated as it misleads the uneducated customer. It should be called a "spark plug change".

There is absolutely no adjustments or diagnostics being done in the standard "tune up". The customer needs to know this.

I agree with Robert. It may be slightly beyond the point but why would you go somewhere else? Did they have a special deal? Was it closer? I just can't imagine a repair shop not doing maintenance, especially since it is actually more profitable than repairs in most cases. Didn't they fix the mistakes that Precision made by basically tuning up your car?

Being in an auto repair business, it is hard for us to understand why customers do this sort of thing. We work hard to do quality repairs and be honest with customers, and then they go somewhere else for maintenance. Why?

So Robert may have a slightly harsher way of asking but I guess it's due to the fact he has probably seen it happen to a thousand and one customers by now.

If they really don't do maintenance don't they recommend a shop for quality maintenance service? BTW 120 sounds pretty inexpensive for a tune-up, if your car was made in the last 10 years anyway. I would find out what kind of parts are being used and then you could avoid so many "extensive repairs"!

I have never heard of a shop that doesn't do tune-ups, as long as the shop isn't an oil change place like JL.

I used to build race cars. My business partner and I put at least two/month together. Unless we built the engine, we didn't do oil changes. We still did tune-ups for anyone who wanted one. I don't understand how doing major repairs prevents them from doing minor work. Apparently nothing does, as they corrected the work you had PT attempt.

I guess what threw me off was this..."I have been using for over 15 year for extensive mechanical work)".

Now you say that shop only does major work. You've been using them for extensive mechanical work for 15 years? How much damage can you do to a car before you figure out it would be cheaper to maintain it properly? I ask because you say they only do major repairs, and for 15 years, you've been having them do this for you.

I guess I am missing your point.

Robert - I didn't go to the other company originally because they are a mechanical shop that does major auto repairs, not simple tune-ups. Understand now??
Beth
Riped off in Niceville/Fort Walton Beach

Here is a consumer, who has been happy with the service she recieved from the same shop for 15 years.

One day, she goes somewhere else to have work done. Why? What possible line of reasoning could she have been using?

"Gee, I've always been treated fairly by the guys I've used for the last 15 years... I think I'll go to a different shop and have work done by total strangers, instead of the guys I have trusted and been happy with for the last 15 years".

Which was then followed by:

"Gee, the different shop screwed up my car...something I never had to worry about for the last 15 years, when I go to the shop I know and trust".

Followed by:(upon arrival at shop she used for the last 15 years)

"Ummm, I went to Precision Tune and they screwed up my car. Can I get you to fix everything they screwed up"? "Huh"? "Why did I go there instead of here, like I have for the past 15 years"? "Ummm, because they had this really low price, and you would have charged so much more". "Now, can you fix it for FREE, since all the new parts are there... they just aren't put together right". "You can't"? "Gee, I guess I didn't save any money after all".

Followed finally by:

"Wow, I should have just gone to the same shop I've used for 15 years". "They treat me fairly, and always do the job correctly". "What was I thinking when I fell for the CHEAP price from Precision Tune"?

DUH!

Robert you need to look at the big picture. The original post is to warn people of the quality and response of an incompetent repair facility. Why the OP went there in the first place is not the point. Here is a place called Precision Tune who cannot properly tune a car. I would thank the OP for warning others to avoid this facility at all cost.

If you have used the repair shop that actually fixed your vehicle for 15 years, why did you take your vehicle to Precision Tune at all?

It seems to me, if you already have a mechanic you know and trust, why would you go elsewhere?