How To – Spot & Avoid Auto Repair Scams

Many of you may have faced problems with repairing your auto. Complaints regarding auto repair are very common today. While there are bad players in the industry, there are also good players. The bad players are unscrupulous and bring a bad name to the industry. You must be very careful to avoid these scam companies because once you fall into their trap; you may lose a lot of money even before you realize they are scams. There are certain ways that you can identify the bad players and steer clear of them. There are various auto repair scams that you may fall prey to. It isn’t difficult given the precision with which it is done.

What the car mechanics do not want you to know

There are so many things that an unscrupulous car body shop would like to hide from you so that you can be cheated off your money. Let us take a look at the top 3 auto repair scams that take place so that you can avoid falling prey to them:

  • 1.    Repair Estimate: Whenever you leave your car to a repair shop, get the estimate in writing. If you do no get a repair estimate in writing, you may be in for a shock when you go to collect your car. The main problem occurs when a body shop will quote very low prices when you drop your car for repair and then finally when you go to pick it after repair, you are given a hefty bill as compared to the verbal quote. You can avoid such a scam by demanding for a written quote so that you can produce it in the end to show them what they had promised. You may be able to avoid paying such inflated amounts if you have written proof.
  • 2.    Maintenance scams: You will mostly find that the auto repair shops quote very low prices in advertisements when they want to attract customers to their repair shops. However, once you start working with them, the tables may turn. They may charge you much more money than you had first imagined paying. Sometime the auto repair scams include that the body shop would inflict new injuries to the car so that they can make new charges saying that they discovered new damages and needed to repair them in the car.
  • 3.    Counterfeit Car Parts: There are some unscrupulous car repair shops that use counterfeit parts to repair your car and this they may do to save some money. If a car repair company is going out of its way to promise you to repair your car even after replacing some of its parts at very cheap rates, you might want to inspect. Some companies charge customers the amount required for new premium parts but actually install sub-standard parts or even used car parts sometimes. You must always ask for your old damaged part after the parts have been replaced.

Whenever you drop your car for repair, get all correspondence in writing to avoid any kind of confusion or chances of cheating later. If you feel suspicious about a certain company offering you a hard-to-believe offer, then do your research well, before you drop your car there.

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

federico beras September 8, 2012 at 8:25 pm

necesito encontrar imformacion de como reparar la maquina yamaha jog artistica 50c, ademas accesorios, plasticos, y repuestos, manual partes y reparacion, gracias

Robert October 20, 2012 at 6:30 pm

I recently had, I think, a dodgy repair done on my YQ100 scooter. I wont name the garage till I have investigated further but, I was told new parts would be fitted. I received the bill, LARGE, and was told said had been done. 24hrs after I had left the garage, the same problems occured. I took the machine to another indepenant garage and asked them to check the work. Theyre report was unfavourable. I have bill proof and a written independant report as to what the “con” was and I will be presenting it to 1. The original garage that did my repairs and 2. Trading Standards. Will Keep you informed as to the outcome……….

Lightseeker001 June 23, 2014 at 4:03 pm

This happened to someone I know. Her five cylinder 2000 or 2001 Volvo station wagon had original, high quality parts in good working order removed and replaced with inferior parts without her knowledge. This was theft, pure and simple. The new part will not last as long as the original.

Tom Thurber August 22, 2015 at 8:19 am

Warranty Rip-off

P.T. Barnum said “There is a sucker born every minute.” 150 years later Guardian Warranty and Simmons-Rockwell are proving him right.
I bought a used car from Simmons-Rockwell and they sold me a Guardian Warranty deal for $1699.
My air conditioning quit working and they said Sorry, AC metal tubing is not covered. My $1699 didn’t do me any good. Apparently which parts are covered is a crap shoot. I never did get a contract, but I assume GWC got their share of my $1699.
Simmons-Rockwell also sold me “electronic corrosion protection” for $799 and there is a small box with red lights in the engine compartment that does the trick. I later found out this is pure snake oil and completely worthless. A friend who owns a body shop said to leave the red lights connected to remind me how dumb I am and they might increase my gas mileage by 25 per cent and my penis size by 10 per cent. Again no contract.
These so-called “protection agreements” are easy sucker money for GWC and S-R. And they are playing you for a fool.
Stay away from Guardian Warranty Corporation of Avoca-Wilkes-Barre, PA and Simmons-Rockwell of Big Flats, New York.
Stay away from these guys.
For more insight into the warranty scam racket, GOOGLE “US Fidelis”.
Yours truly, Tom Thurber Gillett, Pennsylvania

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