spark plug change by major tire store

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 1:23 am

Did a neighbors plugs tonight on her 04 Liberty. Last time they were done one of the "major " tire retailers did them, first I think they put them in with an air gun, second they were gapped at .035 even after 45000 miles ( suppose to be .040) three of the coils did not have the nuts put back on, she said it never ran right after they did it (but she drove it anyways)
Had Champion 3344's in it, have not cross referenced them yet to see if they would even work right

But it makes you wonder sometimes who does the work. Some places hire great people others ....???

Oh well she called later to say it never ran so good, also made it smoke real good for a short while :wink:

mrkake · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:32 am

They were probably pre-gapped at .035 and the guy never checked them.

Khaki-KJ · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:09 am

Same thing happend to a friend of mine at a major tire company's shop operation. A simple Miata tune up and oil change cost almost $400 and the work was not done properly in the first place. Luckily his cousin and myself were able to fix the problems as they came up. His gas mileage was so bad after the tune up, he probably paid as much in gas as the "tune up" cost him.

It also looked like the shop manager "forgot" to mention that the safety inspection also meant that if they found anything they felt might be wrong, the signed work order allowed them to fix the problem without contacting the owner. New brakes and some new hoses were "needed". Funny thing, the brakes had been replaced by another shop a few months earlier.

There are a lot of hard working mechanics that love cars and respect the people that drive them, then you run into a few that really screw it for the good ones.

riptricket · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:07 am

when i went to get mine at o-reilys the other day, they told me to gap them at .035!!!
so i got a gap guage at wally world for $0.50 and gapped them myself at .040

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:22 am

I used to manage tire stores for a couple of major retailers and the crap they tell you to do to get customers to buy more things is rediculous.
And then the one place (family owned 7 Goodyear stores) the son wanted to do all of the hiring of mechanics.......one of the main things he looked for was the size of the mechanics tool box!!! Because it would look impressive to the general public!! :lol:

Hired one kid that had every tool that Snap On ever made, problem was he didn't know how to use half of them, but he had the look! I fired his butt 3 days later

Too many people working out there any more selling things that are only there for the pay check, real honest customer service has went out the window.

OK my daily rant is over, I just feel sorry for people who get taken advantage every day by these idiots.

Tom

TAHOE · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:33 am

I'm waiting For Thunerbirdjunkie to chime in since he works at a major tire chain ( and they are working on my car this weekend....should I be scared???

) Many times some of those places just need bodies there to do the work, sometimes qualifications fall by the wayside.
My coworker just had a FP go out on his blazer. his "mechanic friend" was going to charge himalmost $1K to do it at his shop. I did it for under 500 including all parts with lifeimte waranties. Just have to be very careful, hard to find a good reliable & reasonably price mechanic nowadays....I don't even trust my b-in law sometimes. He's been doing it for 35 yrs

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 10:11 am

Yes I have been sharing stories with Tbird about working in tire/auto repair shops lately, tried not giving him a hard time ...yet about it :lol:

But there are too many parts replacers any more, not real mechanics. Used to be even behind a parts counter you found people who actually worked on cars and knew what they were talking about, any more they have people to take up space thats it

hooperswish · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 11:26 am

I like to listen to local car talk shows on Saturdays. They always have a list of local reputable shops that due diligent, honest work.

Joe C Renegade · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:00 pm

Don't forget to have them change your headlight fluid and muffler bearings. And if you don't see a charge for elbow grease on the bill then I wouldn't take it back there again.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:32 pm

Joe C Renegade wrote:

Don't forget to have them change your headlight fluid and muffler bearings. And if you don't see a charge for elbow grease on the bill then I wouldn't take it back there again.

You know I can remember when elbow grease was really cheap (3 to 5 bucks for 5 gallon) and now,or the last I bought, was almost 48 bucks for 5 gallon :shock:

mrkake · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 5:25 pm

tommudd wrote:

Joe C Renegade wrote:

Don't forget to have them change your headlight fluid and muffler bearings. And if you don't see a charge for elbow grease on the bill then I wouldn't take it back there again.

You know I can remember when elbow grease was really cheap (3 to 5 bucks for 5 gallon) and now,or the last I bought, was almost 48 bucks for 5 gallon :shock:

I have a bucket of elbow grease somewhere, but I can't remember how to use it! :lol:

Guest · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:36 pm

tommudd wrote:

Yes I have been sharing stories with Tbird about working in tire/auto repair shops lately

Yeah, there's this one jerk with a bright red liberty that co....er...oops!

I'm on the fence, here. Either a place does good work, or it doesn't.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:51 pm

Gee why do I see stupid idiots everyday that when they bring there vehicle in for something like a oil change and there vehicle takes 5w20 and I tell them(it cost just a few dollars more for 5w20) and they say no my car does not take 5w20 put 10w30 in.Even though they have OEM warrenty left I make them sign a waiver for putting the wrong oil in.I also see those idiots with vehicles that take 7+qts of oil only want us to put in 5qts since the other 2qts cost a whole $2 more,again they sign a waiver for this.Then you got those idiots with temp drain plugs,I just back there vehicle out and say it's going to $XXX.XX amount of dollars to change there oil since it needs a new oil pan,boy they get pissed at that one :roll:

.Then the real idiots are those that pay for the $15 basic oil change which is just drop the old oil/filter,replace with new oil/filter and a way they go and then they come back 2 weeks later and say I just had my oil changed there and my transmission lost all foward gears and it's our fault,yyyyyyyeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh :roll:

.

I see it all and get yelled at by the owner all the time because I make him get ALL the correct parts and materials to do the job right,then he get's to explain why the repair bill is so much more to the customer because he didn't ask me(he has no clue about vehicles,he was a school teacher) what all is needed for a job and then he misquoted the repair to the customer.Sorry I do the job right and get paid for the work I do.

Khaki-KJ · **Posted:** Sat Oct 11, 2008 12:08 am

I think that when you get a small minority of people that do not understand value or responsibility involved with a very small number of people that call themselves mechanics without actually having the ability of real mechanics and then throw in the general public's ability to blow things out of proportion, you have a recipe for distrust and rumour.

Owning a vehicle comes with certain responsibilities, like reading the owners manual to find out what you just purchased and what it will need to last a long time. The people that neglect this basic fundamental of ownership are usually the same ones that allow their brakes to wear out putting other's lives at risk or not checking tire pressure and finding out that braking while being forced to turn causes the vehicle to do things it was not meant to do.

The people that do not take responsibility for their own vehicles are usually the same ones that blame good mechanics for ripping them off. Why should they give a mechanic $50 to change their oil when WallMart sells oil for $2 per quart, or $10 for an oil change by their math. If they do not value their own abilities or their own self worth, why would they extend any value to the work others do their behalf?

TJKJ2002 was right when he pointed out that there are members of the public are also to blame for the bad reputations that mechanics have been given. I still stand by my origional point that there are far more good, honest and caring mechanics out there than there are bad ones, but I have to add that there are some people out there that will never take responsibilty for their vehicles and blame the mechanics for something that the mechanic was not responsible for in the first place.

TAHOE · **Posted:** Sat Oct 11, 2008 9:37 am

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

I'm on the fence, here. Either a place does good work, or it doesn't.

I hope you guys do, I'm dropping mine off this morning

spark plug change by major tire store

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