VA Auto Mechanics

[amoeba15]

What a bunch of freakin BS.

My favorite mechanic left his employer late last year and every freakin time that I go back to his office, I am left sooooooo freakin confused.

Earlier this year, I had a new water pump and timing chain put on my car.

In the Springtime, my radiator hose sprung a leak. I immediately replaced the hose, but there were several related radiator problems. I replaced a radiator plug, the lower and upper hoses were replaced and repeatedly tightened and yet the radiator continued to be leaking.

Sooooo, this past Sunday, I replaced the thermostat and radiator cap and the right side of the radiator was boiling hot, while the left side was mildly warm. In fact, the radiator cap was cool as a cucumber. These symptoms indicated a clogged radiator and/or clogged fluid system or even air in the system.

This auto shop took off hoses and inspected air flow throughout the radiator and engine. Finally, the mechanics determined that the radiator had to go. I responded by saying, 'since your company installed this radiator and this radiator has a 'lifetime' warranty, when can you perform the work? The Manager, who remembers my having a lifetime warranty re the radiator COULD NOT find my warranty on his computer.

Soooooo, I went home, found the warranty and when I produced the warranty the following morning..the mechanics wanted to flush the radiator, thereby saving the radiator..WTF.

As the mechanics were patching things together to return the car to me, I mentioned IF they could tighten the belts because there was a squeeking noise sometimes when I accelerated.

AFTER TWO FREAKIN DAYS, I am now told that the water pump may be defective and/or the pulley may be bent and that has been the culpret to my problems.

I called the mechanic who replaced my timing chain and water pump in January, 2011, and he wants me to bring the car back to his shop since everything is still under warranty.

Did this really have to happen during football season?

[TW]

You need to change shops. It sounds like they don't know what they're doing.

What are you driving? It sounds like a beater!

[amoeba15]

;)The car that I was trying to get fixed is a car that my Grandfather left me..the TANK that I was driving, when I was in the 9/8/08 car accident and which ONLY has 132,000 miles..tis a car that I am sure that you are familiar with...
a 1977 CHEVROLET CAPRICE CLASSIC, V8, 5.0 engine.

It has LIFETIME warranties on the following;
transmission (first replacement in 2000, or so),
radiator (3 radiators since 2000 -- leaves between grill and radiator were problem not initially detected),
power steering pump (never replaced),
water pump (my 3rd replacement since 2000),
starter (my first replacement in 2010 after 32 years),
belts (replace every 5 years, or so),
brakes (front & back)
Sears Thrust Angle Alignment (Yup, I still have this baby).

Also, after 32 years, I had to replace the shocks for the first time.

Of course, despite sooooo many lifetime warranties and the parts being free..I still have to pay the labor costs, unless I choose to do the work myself, in some instances. The transmission and labor is free.

I only use this vehicle for local transportation, but since my Grandfather bought the vehicle brand new from my Uncle, who worked for a dealership, I do not want to abandon the vehicle. Also, my transmission has a special 'overdrive' switch which I had installed so that I get an extra 10 mpg on the highway.

It was important that I not do too much cosmetic work on the vehicle until after the November, 2011 trial. However, the car was listed as totalled because the paint job and body repair would exceed the worth of the vehicle and I was given around $2500.00 in October, 2008.

I fishtailed into the other vehicle and the rear right panel of my vehicle was extremely dented. Had I not fishtailed, braced my left (twice surgically repaired) leg on the dashboard to avoid hitting the other vehicle and instead, hit the other vehicle head on, the other driver would have, most likely, been dead.

How hard was the impact?

The rear axle to this tank was broken. Accordingly, I had the rear axle replaced for a total cost of $450.00 by the mechanic, who recently left the shop that I was asking to repair my radiator leak problem.

Also, an exact quarter panel to replace the damaged quarter panel will only cost $125 dollars, but I will need somebody to install and paint the quarter panel..which means that I will have the entire car painted, but can not do so until after the upcoming trial.

BTW, the car has FULL coverage auto insurance, which allows me to rent cars at Enterprise car rental for $9.99/day WITHOUT having to pay for rental car insurance.

Since I do very, very little local travelling and since I get to fly for FREE, since my Mom is a retired AA airlines employee..I do not need any other vehicles, despite ALL of the deals that people keep coming up with.

I simply DO NOT like these NEW computerized paper-thin crap vehicles.

Besides, the interior of the vehicle is big enough to display many Packer items and the backseat is big enough for me, JD and a few babes.