For many, car repair is a big problem. Only some car owners undertake the repair themselves, the rest are willing to pay any money to fix the malfunction. Unscrupulous car services take advantage of this and often a ten-ruble breakdown can be passed off as expensive repairs or fool the client in other ways.
"AiF-Chelyabinsk" has already shared that it is easy to sell overdue under the guise of shares, which pour unfinished drinks into a glass for a new order, and now has prepared new revelations. This time, auto repair shop workers shared their secrets. The site's correspondent interviewed current and former service workers. They only agreed to comment on the condition that their real names and surnames were changed.
“The main thing that car service customers should understand: if possible, repairs should be carried out in front of your eyes. You need to carefully observe what is being done with your car, - says former auto mechanic with experience Ivan.- In your presence, it will be more difficult for an employee to cheat, but many masters do not like and even swear when they are standing over them. In addition, you should not leave the car for a long time in any car service. I know a lot of stories when people ask to leave a car for a few days, not to repair it, but to ride it at night. "
Substitution of parts
First of all, auto repair shop employees evaluate car owners. The easiest way to cheat an inexperienced client, and better - a woman.
“If the client does not understand anything at all, then it is possible to supply a used spare part instead of a new one, or even replace the parts - remove the good ones and keep them for themselves, replacing them with worse ones. I know that they often put worn out pads, rarely - they even remove a good signal from someone else's car and put another one, ”Ivan continues.
Andrey from Chelyabinsk once almost became a victim of such a swindle.
“I came to the car service to change the timing chain on the“ six ”,” says the man. - He brought a new chain, a car mechanic in my presence threw it into a bucket of oil to supposedly lubricate. But I smelled a catch, because I know that the new chain does not need to be lubricated. I put my hand into the bucket, and there, besides my chain, there was one more, but already clearly used. "
Pseudo-breakage
“There can be many options, for example, the lighting fuse has blown, but we tell the client that the headlight control unit is faulty,” says auto mechanic Sergey.- Replacing the fuse costs 20 rubles, and blocks up to 50 thousand rubles. A favorite scheme: because of one worn out rubber band on the silent block, replace the entire suspension up to the struts. Or from the classics - when inspecting the engine, one auto mechanic distracts the client, the other at this time pours antifreeze into the oil. The oil turns into an emulsion, and they pass it off as burned out cylinder head gasket (author's note - the cylinder head), and the work of opening the cylinder head is considered expensive. Often, clients are bred to overhaul engine, although in fact they just change worn belts and wash the engine with a "körcher" so that it is as good as new. "
Broken parts
Unscrupulous auto mechanics intend to pull as much money out of the client's wallet as possible. Therefore, they love the so-called additional services: "Let's change along the way." If the client does not agree, then the car service workers may deliberately spoil the part.
So, resident of the Chelyabinsk region Vladimir Semyonovcar mechanics undercut drive belt, which he did not want to change "along the way".
“The belt was visually good, so why change it? As soon as I drove away from the service, it burst with me. Is it a coincidence? " - Vladimir asks.
Oil mix
Oil change horror stories are perhaps the most common. And, indeed, auto mechanics confirm that oil can not be added, replaced, filled with waste, or even make a mix - mix from what was poured - 0.5 from one car, 0.5 from another. Besides, oil filter may not change at all.
At the car owner Hyundai santa Fe Eduard Tumanovanother story with oil. For five years, a young man changed the oil in one car service. Each time he was asked to bring two cans of oil. Many years later, he drove to another place also with two cans. Imagine his surprise when the master returned him one full canister with the words: "Why so many?"
With the development of the Internet, services that previously required leaving the house and a decent investment of time became available literally on the couch. Clothes, books, food, and more can be ordered online. The next step is the assessment of car repair and the choice of a car service, which will offer the best repair conditions. American drivers can already get such a service at Dentbetty, an intermediary project between car services and owners of slightly dented or scratched cars.
Dentbetty service was launched in 2009. Dentbetty is an online marketplace where a car owner places an order for redecorating cars, and car services participate in the competition for the provision of better conditions repair. The owner of the car is required to upload from two to eight photos of the damage, indicate brief information about the car (make, age), requirements for repair, and also provide his location by entering the postal code. Car services - project partners located nearby, then receive information about the order by e-mail or SMS. Assessing the damage, their strength and the price of work from the photos, the servicemen give an answer. For the week given to them for reflection, no more than seven proposals from different companies (to avoid an unhealthy excess of competition). Since the rating is given without an actual inspection, the service provider can indicate the degree of confidence in the accuracy of the repair rating on a three-point scale. The car owner has to choose through the Dentbetty website the offer that is better in terms of price, timing, location of the service or other conditions, contact the car service and place an order.
The system offered by Dentbetty is very elaborate. For example, uploaded photos of the injuries are checked to see if they are the result of a pimply teenager pampering with a graphic editor.
To the car services of the national network BettyNet, created by the company, there are requirements for the quality of work, compliance with which is reflected in the rating of car services open to customers.
In its first year of operation, Dentbetty accepted car repair shops into its ranks free of charge. The basic degree remains free to this day. But the BettyNetPro extension launched in May 2010, which gives members additional functionality and an increase in the likelihood of getting a client, already costs $ 40 per month. (By paying them, you can, for example, link the price offer to detailed information about a car service, whereas previously the offers were anonymous for the client).
The company estimates the annual volume of the market for painting, repairing scratches and dents of car bodies in the United States alone at $ 5 billion. More than a hundred car services have already cooperated with the Dentbetty project, but so far less than 1% of the market falls on orders via the Internet. The online repair appraisal service saves car owners time and money (for now, let us note, for free) and helps to find customers for car services (which, according to Dentbetty, takes two minutes to submit their offer for a repair). So, the prospects for the project are very interesting.
Well, residents of countries with low Internet penetration can only repair cars the old fashioned way and wait for a happy time when the Internet in a nearby car service will become commonplace.
For many, car repair is a big problem. Only a few car owners undertake the repair themselves, the rest are willing to pay any money to fix the malfunction. Unscrupulous car services take advantage of this and often a ten-ruble breakdown can be passed off as an expensive repair or fool the client in other ways.
The AiF-Chelyabinsk correspondent interviewed current and former service workers. They only agreed to comment on the condition that their real names and surnames were changed.
“The main thing that car service customers should understand: whenever possible, repairs should be carried out in front of your eyes. You need to carefully observe what is being done with your car, - says former veteran auto mechanic Ivan.- It will be more difficult for an employee to cheat in your presence, but many masters do not like and even scold the client when they are standing over them. In addition, you should not leave your car for a long time in an unverified car service. I know a lot of stories when people ask to leave a car for a few days, but not to repair it, but to ride it at night. "
Substitution of parts
First of all, auto repair shop employees evaluate car owners. The easiest way to outwit an inexperienced client, and better - a woman.“If the client does not understand anything at all, then it is possible to supply a used spare part instead of a new one, or even replace the parts - remove the good ones and keep them for themselves, replacing them with worse ones. I know that they often put worn-out pads, rarely - they even remove a good signal from someone else's car and put another one, ”Ivan continues.
Andrey from Chelyabinsk once almost became a victim of such a swindle.
“I came to the car service to change the timing chain on the“ six ”,” says the man. - He brought a new chain, a car mechanic in my presence threw it into a bucket of oil to supposedly lubricate. But I smelled a catch, because I know that the new chain does not need to be lubricated. I put my hand into the bucket, and there, besides my chain, there was one more, but already clearly used. "
Pseudo-breakage
“There can be many options, for example, the lighting fuse has blown, but we tell the client that the headlight control unit is faulty,” says auto mechanic Sergey.- Replacing a fuse costs 20 rubles, and blocks - up to 50 thousand rubles. Favorite scheme: because of one worn out rubber band on the silent block, replace the entire suspension up to the struts. Or from the classics - when inspecting the engine, one auto mechanic distracts the client, the other at this time pours antifreeze into the oil. The oil turns into an emulsion, and they pass it off as a burned-out cylinder head gasket ( cylinder head. - Ed.), and the work of opening the cylinder head is considered expensive. Often, customers are "bred" to overhaul the engine, although in reality they just change worn belts and wash the engine with a "kercher" so that it is as good as new. "
Broken parts
Unscrupulous auto mechanics intend to pull as much money out of the client's wallet as possible. Therefore, they love the so-called additional services: "Let's change along the way." If the customer does not agree, the auto repair workers may deliberately spoil the part.
So, resident of the Chelyabinsk region Vladimir Semyonovcar mechanics cut the drive belt, which he did not want to change "along the way".“The belt was visually good, so why change it? As soon as I drove away from the service, it burst with me. Is it a coincidence? " - Vladimir asks.
Oil mix
Oil change horror stories are perhaps the most common. Indeed, auto mechanics confirm that oil can be underfilled, replaced, filled with waste, or even make a mix - mix from what has already been drained - 0.5 from one car, 0.5 from another. In addition, the oil filter may not be changed at all.
At the car owner of Hyundai Santa Fe Eduard Tumanovanother story with oil. For five years, a young man changed the oil in one car service. Each time he was asked to bring two cans of oil. Many years later, he drove to another place also with two cans. Imagine his surprise when the master returned him one full canister with the words: "Why so many?"
Recently, car owners increasingly find themselves in conflict situations related to the repair of a warranty car.
Sometimes service centers refuse to warranty service the car if the owner did not regularly undergo scheduled maintenance. Lawyers believe that such a refusal is not always legitimate. Everything will depend on how many times you missed the inspection, what kind of problems occurred. If in the service book you were instructed to undergo an inspection at the very service center that performs the functions of the manufacturer or seller, then you acted to the detriment of your interests when you did not appear at it. The technical center has the right to charge you a fee for carrying out the inspection. Otherwise, the manufacturer would have to include the cost of all “free” services in the price of the car, which in practice no one does.
By the way, if you decide to purchase a small and practical car, take a look at the Peugeot 208, which is ideal for city driving. You can buy it from an authorized dealer, for this you just need to.
Scheduled maintenance is a good thing
Pass order scheduled maintenance assumes only that specialists will be able to check the serviceability of your car in a timely and professional manner. However, there is no legal sense in this prescription. The bottom line is that failure to undergo a technical inspection within the prescribed period is not a reason for the owner of the car to be recognized as the culprit of the malfunction. In practice, it is through the owner's fault that the technical center refuses a free warranty repair... The Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection of Consumer Rights (Article 16 of the Law) enshrines the consumer's right to freely choose goods, works or services and, at the same time, prohibits imposing them on the consumer in any form. Nevertheless, the manufacturer has the right to inform you (which is done in technical data sheet), how to maintain the technical condition of the vehicle.
Expert will make a verdict
In the event of a conflict, it is necessary to conduct independent expertise, and at the expense of the seller (Art. 18 of the Law). If the expertise fixes a manufacturing defect or fails to give a definite answer, then your guilt will not be proven. Then you have the right to demand from the technical center to eliminate the breakdown at its expense. If you refuse, go to court. But if your fault is established, then any of your demands will be unreasonable, and the repair should be made at your expense. Therefore, in order to avoid conflict situations, it is still recommended to follow the requirements service book... Moreover, it is much cheaper than the cost of a possible refurbishment.
The first step is to choose a service location. Today, especially in large cities, there are no problems with this. On the one hand, it is good, on the other hand, the eyes run wide. Not understanding who to choose, many car owners turn to the official dealers listed on the brand's website. But such a solution is definitely not economical. The cost of standard hours for work and the spare parts themselves at the dealer is more expensive. Even a banal oil change on some models can cost a pretty penny, more precisely, 15-20 thousand rubles. But this procedure in another place is unlikely to cost more than 5 thousand.
You can tell a good but informal service from a semi-clandestine one among a lot of organizations. As a rule, so-called club car services provide high-quality services to cars. These are technical centers that cooperate with clubs of owners of certain models. They are easy to find, even with unpopular brands.
You can also understand the level of service by other characteristic features.
"First of all, find out about the availability of a license, a certificate of conformity and documents for the control of measuring equipment," advises Alexey Khruslov, Technical Director of Master-Motors... - In the car service, everything should be in order with the paperwork. For any work, a work order is issued with an indication of the timing and cost. The client should be given the right to control the process in the workshop. "
The unofficial service, contrary to popular belief, can be contacted even during warranty period without consequences. There is no legal concept of “removing from the guarantee” at all, although dealer managers claim otherwise. Even if the purchase and sale agreement contained a clause on consent to service the car only in an official technical center, in case of trouble, the dealer will still have to prove the connection between the breakdown and previous service work.
Finally, repairs in an unofficial service do not mean a loss of quality. In large technical centers specializing in specific brand, there is necessary equipment... In addition, the staff in such places has been working with certain cars for a long time and knows everything about them.
“Official dealers often make a decision on the basis of a single diagnosis to replace a whole unit, although it can be repaired,” adds Aleksey Khruslov. - Moreover, in unofficial services for work in this case, they also provide a guarantee. The problem will also be solved, and the difference in price is significant - sometimes tens of thousands of rubles are at stake.
The second sore point when repairing a car is the rapid rise in prices for spare parts. But there is a way out. A huge number of factories around the world stamp machine parts. Official dealer, of course, offers to install only original spare parts recommended by the manufacturer. Although in most cases non-original analogues of other brands are easily on sale. In terms of quality, many of them are not inferior, and sometimes cost 2-3 times cheaper. And the more expensive the part, the more tangible the savings.
When choosing the right part, do not rely on the opinions of friends, shop assistants and other advisors. Best of all, the club workshops will tell you which company it is worth taking this or that spare part, so as not to lose in quality, and to save money.
Unofficial services are actively working with analogues original spare parts... It is also not worth rushing from one extreme to another. As a rule, very cheap Chinese parts, although they cost 5-10 times cheaper than the original, have an extremely limited resource. Some services do not even contact such details, because they guarantee normal work cannot. For the exact same reason, you should not search for used parts in ads.
As a result, choosing a good unofficial service and non-original spare parts will help to save tens of thousands of rubles a year on car repairs, or even more.
