Question about car mechanics wasting my car's gas.

[Number Of The Priest]

Every time one of our family cars needs maintenance or has a problem, we call our mechanic who is a friend of a family friend.

My family and I have noticed that when the cars come back to us all fixed up and working properly again, the gas meter is DANGEROUSLY close to being empty! I fear that the car will die before I even reach the gas station when I go to fill it up.

This has happened on every occasion the cars need work done, even though we fill up the gas tanks beforehand!

What a futhermucker!!

We also do not use the cars' air conditioner in the summer anymore, as we prefer to roll down the windows, and when we receive the cars back in the summer, the air conditioner knobs are jacked up to full, so we know he's splurging with our family vehicles! But I have noticed that the gas is used up at a faster rate when the air conditioner is on, so we think he's having fun cooling himself in the car and taking joyrides to use up our gas.

Can we do something about this dude, other than "Get a new mechanic" which we are already considering? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I mean, if we document proof that the car has a certain number of clicks and a full tank of gas BEFORE we give him the car and then approach him or the garage with it, can we bring the law into this? He is clearly wasting our gas. I don't think it's right to abuse your clients' vehicles.

I know it's such a frivolous issue, but come on, gas is pretty expensive and we pride ourselves on driving as little as possible.

Maybe next time the cars require maintenance, we should wait until the gas is DANGEROUSLY close to empty before calling him, and letting HIM fill up the tank when he comes to pick up the distressed car... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Serves him right. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Ace]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

There's a thing on the dashboard called an odometer. Ask it if he's driving your car too much. It will give you a real number you can use. You have to ask it the right way though.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

I mentioned documenting (taking photographs or video of the dashboard) the mileage prior to turning the car over to him in my post above, but do you think it will work?

Another question. If he truly IS joyriding in our car(s), and ends up in an accident, is my family responsible for anything?

[wulfe13]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Sometimes mechanics need to test drive a car they are working on... SOMETIMES... When doing this on a hot day, it's common to use the a/c... BUT, a test drive shouldn't typically be longer than 2 or 3 miles unless it's a driveability issue on the highway. With that said, I would document this the next time something like this happens, and contact the Better Business Bureau.... I think a lawsuit would be overkill and you would probably have trouble getting a lawyer to take the case.

[Manyaxes]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

When you say he's a family friend does this mean it doesn't go to a garage with a work order? If not, the work order should have mileage in and mileage out. If he's doing work on the side then ask him what's up In a friendly joking ballbusting way but yet he get's your point.

[kevhogAZ]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

I'm a mechanic, and I believe he's using your gas for his personal pleasure. No job I do, ever requires more than a two or three miles road test to diagnose, or confirm a problem. The odometer is your best friend, and never lies. These days, even if it's unplugged, which is quite easy on some cars, the ECU keeps track of the mileage anyways. I say find a new mechanic.

[etaeniura]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

just bring it in with the gauge on "E". Personally, if he is a good mechanic and doesn't charge you an arm and a leg, I'd be willing to forgive the couple bucks worth of gas. If you bring it in nearly empty, maybe he will actually put some gas in!

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

I'm in the transmission biz. Most every car that comes in is on E. We are about to start charge 5 bucks a gallon for any gas we have to put in.

We often have to run a lot of miles to something to get it to act up. I personally just ran a 00 Windstar through 110 miles before we ID'd the customer complaint. Not like I enjoyed that at all when I have much better money jobs to get to. Same with a 97 Mercury Villager I ran 60+ miles on it and it never did reset the codes again.

So, he may or may not be using it for recreation. The trans biz is different than say a water pump, or something. Some things don't even require road tests...

[mm2002]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Cleve is absolutely right. Sometimes you have to drive a car for days to re-create the problem the owner is having and properly diagnose it. Damn, I remember my days as a service manager at a GM dealership. The customer comes in with a 2 week old vehicle and says some sh!t like: well, sometimes when I'm going up I-70 at around 35mph and hit the uphill grade with groceries in the trunk and a green car is following me too close, then I turn up the radio and the car makes a little "clicking" noise. It seems like it only happens on wednesdays or thursdays during a half moon, and after I've picked the kids up from school and ate lunch at Wendys. I think I only notice it when the window is down too........
(You're standing there ready to shoot this person for no obvious reason ) [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

Looks like time for a 500 mile test drive to me!!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Hollywood]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

[ QUOTE ]
Cleve is absolutely right. Sometimes you have to drive a car for days to re-create the problem the owner is having and properly diagnose it. Damn, I remember my days as a service manager at a GM dealership. The customer comes in with a 2 week old vehicle and says some sh!t like: well, sometimes when I'm going up I-70 at around 35mph and hit the uphill grade with groceries in the trunk and a green car is following me too close, then I turn up the radio and the car makes a little "clicking" noise. It seems like it only happens on wednesdays or thursdays during a half moon, and after I've picked the kids up from school and ate lunch at Wendys. I think I only notice it when the window is down too........
(You're standing there ready to shoot this person for no obvious reason ) [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img]

Looks like time for a 500 mile test drive to me!!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, you have worked on Grandpa Simpson's car? Cool! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Yeah, that crap sucks. With todays electronics you never know what is causing these weird intermittant troubles. They get a bad connection somewhere that is intermittant and you may never experience what the customer is. Like MM is saying they give some cryptic account on what the trouble is and it turns out to be something else. Or a certian bump somewhere hits something just right etc. etc.

I just had a late 90s model GMC van in that was stopping shifting at time and had no codes at all. I drive the thing several ties times for a bit of time each time, and it never quit shifting. But the trans was in rough condition with burnt fluid and some clutch plates fried so it was giving a good TCC slip percentage in lockup. So with no obvious electrical troubles, we rebuilt it and installed new solenoids/harness etc. Then, it came back with the same main complaint!!!

Turned out it had a bad ground that didn't show up till I was running the windshield wipers, headlights and heater, which I hadn't done till Friday. Soon as I hit them all in some crappy weather, it was too much draw and it would lose a body ground and I figured it out in minutes.

So, these things can be elusive at times... Not saying he isn't joyriding for no reason, but there are reasons for these things to happen sometimes.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Okay, once, it was just to fix the driver's side door speaker. And he needs to test drive all our gas for THAT?

Another occasion, it was just the right rear passenger door that wouldn't close properly. He fixed it all right, and the gas tank was nearly empty. Surely he does not need to be opening and closing the door while driving to test it out...

Those are the two "no need for a test drive to make sure it's okay" repairs that really stick out in my mind. The other times MAY be reasoned with, but who needs to drive a full tank's worth to test the ABS brakes in a CANADIAN WINTER where there are slippery roads everywhere to test the damn brakes on? (This was the most recent repair.) Test a few slides and skids around icy corners for ten minutes or so just to be sure the ABS works, but damn, a FULL TANK OF GAS gone for testing that?

To answer ManyAxes' question, I THINK he does it as a side job kind of thing for us and maybe a few other people, although he DOES work at the authorized garage during the day. But don't quote me on that... I've never really asked.

[dg]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

I think he's siphoning the gas, especially since it happened during the speaker & door repairs. He probably knows people will check their odometers, but he can just play dumb if they confront him about missing gas. How much is gas up your way these days?

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Gas is maybe 76 cents per liter last time I checked. And actually, I had a discussion with my dad about siphoning gas. I was asking him whether we could siphon most of our gas out of the car and then turn it over to the mechanic... let him feel the fear of driving to the gas station running on empty. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] My dad mentioned something about how it's difficult so siphon gas out of newer cars or something, but he could totally be talking bull. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Ace]

Re: Question about car mechanics wasting my car\'s

Trust me, it is hard to siphon gas from newer cars. They have something in there blocking your hose from going into the tank.