I'm going to take my car to a transmission shop. It's not shifting right ( I've checked the basics), but want them to do a road test and see what they have to say, before I go out and get another tranny.
My question is this. I've known people that have taken their car to shops, and the problem wasn't fixed, yet they were still charged for it.
By law if I were take it to a shop and they say oh well it just needs this, But come to find out that wasn't the problem and I'll need a rebuild. Am I required by law to pay them for the work eventhough it didn't fix my problem?

I'm sure it is,but I think that's and allows them to rip people off.

 

Laws vary from state to state...but i'll bet that your gonna pay for for the work they did before they let you have your car anyways.

 

Good luck with that. Im sure no matter how little, much or no work they do theyre still going to charge you for some bs things. but read up on the laws in your state and im sure youll find out

 

If the tranny needs a rebuild it might just be cheaper to buy a used tranny and swap it in cause most shops that rebuild will charge an arm and a leg for a stock rebuild.

This comes from experience on my old 91' Escort. Cost $1,200 when the tranny took a dump the first time. I should have just gone with a used tranny.

 

oh, I know, I have one I can buy for a good price and will install the TransGo kit if needed.

 

Put a turbo 350 in it. The way your motor's built , the overdrive is not saving you anything in mileage. The th350 will cost half as much to rebuild and last a lot longer.

 

I've thought of that , plus wouldn't have a stupid TV cable to deal with, Idon't do a lot of highway driving. But, with 3:73s it's nice to be able to cruise at 70 mph if needed at only 2500 rpms.

 

I got tricked with my first trans... limped up to the shop with only 1st gear left. They said they'd take it apart to find out what happened. Turned out my fluid pump ran dry (82-86 700r4's), and everything inside was fried. Quoted me $2500 to rebuild it. I said I'd think it over... had plans to limp back home and put a j/y trans in it.

Yeah, well, then they tell me that if I don't have them do the work, they'll charge me $300 to put my trans back together with the same ruined parts!! But, if I have them do the work, they won't charge me that $300.

I was pretty pissed... had them put a rebuilt trans in instead of rebuilding it themself. $800 for that, $350 for drop/install labor, and I was outta there.

Don't get tricked...

 

If they touch the car they can legaly charge you. If they replace any part and another is bad but unknown they can still charge you. If there is any internal damage its better to get the entire transmission rebuilt instead of having it gone through latter.

 

You didn't get tricked at all. Did you think they were going to look at your transmission for free?

 

Mechanics aren't magicians, and they don't have Ms. Cleo on speed dial. Good luck finding somebody that will only charge you if they fix the problem.

 

Yeah, its kind of amazing how some guys expect a business man to spend hours of his time diagnosing a problem, then think he's ripping them off when he wants to charge them for his time when they decide to go elsewhere for the repair (or do it themselves). On the other hand, we all know stories about how some shops figure they got ya by the cahoonas when you limp in with a problem, and they try and take ya for everything you're worth. That's why the 2 most important things to have and to get are ....reputation and recommendations.
Here in NY, auto repair shops are monitored by the DMV (along with the usual places like the better business bureau, etc. But motor vehicles is where you turn if you have a problem or a complaint). I suppose you could find out from them a shop's track record as far as customer complaints. Or, if you're anywhere near LI, I can give ya a few recommendations...

 

Tricked...? They TOLD you they had to tear apart the trans to find the problem. You gave them the OK. You expect the mechanic to pull apart transmissions all day long for free? Diagnosis isn't free.

Some of you guys on here are ridiculous...

Now throwing parts at something and not fixing the problem - that's another story.

Mark - my advice to you is not to bother with rebuilding your trans. There is no one in the area that know how to build a 700R4 properly for high performance use (been there done that ). It'll cost the same for a properly built 700R4 by a reputable builder than some run off the mill rebuild that will end up failing in a few years anyway. I wouldn't trust a stock 700R4 behind your motor.

 

Any shop should give you an estimate with your initials on it before doing any work. If they quote you $100 to diagnose your tranny then that is the most they can charge you without additional authorization.

In your case did they quote you $300 to diagnose the trouble? If not then you got railroaded.

 

I'm getting a low milage one and having a TransGo kit put in, basically I need something to hold up till Nationals at least, but I would think it should be ok for a little while.

 

That's exactly what happened. If they had told me straight out that it'd be $300, I would've gone to my nearby friendly junkyard and gotten a 700r4 for $100.

Which is almost what I did, by the way, after that POS trans died after a year and a half. A friend of a friend (you know the deal) rebuilt mine for me for $360. I just had to drop it out of the car myself, and put it back in.

Obviously, guys, I know if someone's going to do work on my car, they'll charge me. But don't go doing $300 worth of work without telling me what's up. That's yet another reason why I do all my own work now. Know what the guy did for the road test? Floored the gas all over the damn place... scared the hell outta me. Then he pulls over on a side street, shuts the car off, and slams the gas pedal down 5 or 6 times to the floor. Started the car up, and off we went again. I still have no idea what his 300 pound frame was trying to do- reset the TV cable?

I probably should've taken that as a sign and ran far, far away.

 

Basiclly most shops will charge you for the dig. but if they start adding on charges that you are not authorizing, thats where things get heated and thats how people start law suits. Becuz i work for pepboys and after we do the diag. for what ever were doing it for weather its electrical, engine, or coolant. we will only charge the person the price of the diag. Now after we find out whats wrong with the car we will write up what it needs and how much the final bill will be with tax and call the customer for approval. if they dont want the work we'll just charge them for the diag. and give them a list of things wrong and we will put the car back together (what ever was needed to be taken apart), and then send the customer on there way.

But if they want the work done we will still charge the customer the cost of the diag becuz we had to find out what was wrong with the car first before doing any kinda work.

but basiclly if a shop does work that you do not personally authorize, then you better make sure you can get something out of it. like either the job gets done for free or u get 10-15% off the final bill or you get a nice law suit and take them to court.

 

I work in a transmission shop and yes somtimes things do tend to look worse than they are, but as for lawsuits,cant file one if you gave them the ok to fix the car.We test drive if possible,check things out some are obvious some arnt,we give a quote without hard parts,if it is something lesser than we thought we charge less,if it is going to be more than the quote we tell the customer the new adjusted price if they want to continue,but WE NEVER go over the quote unless permitted.And yes there ARE some shady guys out there