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"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote in message
news:ea4cd$449ee397$180fead6$7258@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue]
>
> <henree21@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1151255890.861571.84830@r2g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> Check out the contacts on the starter relay. I doubt if it is an
>>> exhaust
>>> problem.[/color]
>> Yeah I am pretty sure the solenoid contacts are a good choice of
>> culprit. But I don't know anything about cars. If I go to a mechanic to
>> look at the starter. How do I approach him, without looking like a
>> complete imbecile. I have always been a sucker for cons. The mechanic
>> may tell me I have thousands of dollars of work that needs to be done.
>> I like to be specific as possible when I have to get work done at the
>> shop. That way they think I know what I am talking about.
>>[/color]
>
> Pick a shop that employs technicians certified by the National Institute
> of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), preferably a shop that also has
> AAA certification. A shop that goes to the trouble of going through the
> AAA certification process and employs techs who take the time and effort
> to become ASE certified is more likely to be honest and competent.
>
> It is never a good idea to go to a repair shop and ask them to repair or
> replace a specific component, i.e., the starter or starter contacts,
> unless you are absolutely positive of your diagnosis. If your diagnosis
> was incorrect, you have nobody to blame for the unnecessary work except
> yourself. One should go to the repair shop and describe the symptoms as
> clearly and completely as possible so that the technician working on the
> vehicle can come to their own diagnosis and recommended repairs. When I
> take one of my vehicles to a shop for service, I describe the symptoms,
> even when I am pretty sure of the diagnosis myself. That said, having an
> idea of the cause of the problem is a good reality check for the shop's
> diagnosis.[/color]


Another good tip is to have them write on the estimate exactly what problem
it's intended to fix. A couple times I've taken a vehicle to some place for
a specific problem, they diagnosed a bad whatsis, asked me to approve
replacing it, they then replaced the whatsis and the problem was still
there. If you have them state on the estimate what the specific problem is
you want them to fix, you have more leverage when you say "Please replace
the part(s) you took out, take back the new one(s) and I'd like a full
refund since you did not fix the problem and clearly this faulty whatsis was
not the cause of it."

I've never done that, but at a Precision Tune I asked them specifically if
replacing a certain part would fix the problem, and when it didn't, they put
the old one back in and gave me a full refund after very little pushing.
They tried to use the excuse that the part they replaced was indeed bad, but
I countered with the fact that bad or not, I would not have paid to replace
it if they had not told me it would fix the problem. In retrospect, I'm
amazed that worked since I didn't have anything on paper, just a verbal
understanding.