Servicing your car - Backyard Mech vs Garage

[genetic]

I have a 1998 Golf Mk3 GTS with 250,000km on the clock. It's been well maintained and runs like a dream. As with any old car, parts start to fail when they reach this age - most recently my ignition switch. I usually get my car serviced by a friend mechanic I know. He is a brilliant mechanic and has always done a sterling job on my car.

I recently moved and my mechanic is too far away to get to now. So I sent my car in to get it's ignition switch repaired at a local VW specialist. I also asked them to do a full service while it was there.

I got a bill or R8,500 to replace typical worn parts, clean the throttle body and work on the injectors!!! My mechanic used to charge me from R700 to R3,000 max. The mechanic at this VW garage tells me as my mechanic never did a VAGCOM diagnostics on the car, he didn't pick up problems in the engine. He says this service would have been much cheaper if my mechanic was able to do computer diagnostics as he would have been able to pick up problems and repair long back. He says there's things which you will never know are wrong unless you pick up physical symptoms or use computer diagnostics to identify issues.

I knew my car had an ECU, but never knew it was able to give diagnosis feedback. I can only imagine that newer cars have way more sophisticated computers on-board. Obviously cars like BMW's and Merc's etc. are computers with engines that a backyard mechanic will never touch.

I'm sure this will kill a lot of business for backyard mechanics unless they get tech savvy...

 

[spiderz]

The VW ODBII unit is like R500-750. Buy your own one to see what the car says...

I just can't see how garages can warrant the prices they charge.
I service my own car, so i know exactly what's going on with them.

 

[Creepster]

well Tech savvy isnt easy.nor common.but how sure are you that the new vw service centre didnt take you for a ride?????
what did he do to the injectors?cleaned or re tipped isnt a 5 min job.
i clean dirty throttles like carburators......takes me 2 minutes.and maybe R40 can of carb spray

what must realy be done and what not.how do you save money without damaging enjine.....get the most out of enjine parts...
thats the question

 

[FrancTheTank]

Backyard mechanics will need to invest in VAGCOM or whatever car brand they service regularly's diagnostic interface. These can be bought online (legitimate or not??).

 

[ToxicBunny]

If you went to a VW stealership, you were ripped off.... plain and simple...

Either they didn't do half the work they said, or they didn't need to do half the work they did....

I have found that most stealerships "mechanics" are no longer good mechanics, but they're good at reading diagnostics off a screen.

 

[werewolf2]

If you went to a VW stealership, you were ripped off.... plain and simple...

Either they didn't do half the work they said, or they didn't need to do half the work they did....

I have found that most stealerships "mechanics" are no longer good mechanics, but they're good at reading diagnostics off a screen.

Hes right. Most dealership mechanics arent very good when the problem doesnt show up on an OBD reader

 

[I.am.Sam]

If you went to a VW stealership, you were ripped off.... plain and simple...

Either they didn't do half the work they said, or they didn't need to do half the work they did....

I have found that most stealerships "mechanics" are no longer good mechanics, but they're good at reading diagnostics off a screen.

Hes right. Most dealership mechanics arent very good when the problem doesnt show up on an OBD reader

and if the error doesnt pick up and you know something is wrong they wont fix it

come a week later it breaks and they say they didnt pick up anything

 

[Draconia2]

I have a 1998 Golf Mk3 GTS with 250,000km on the clock. It's been well maintained and runs like a dream. As with any old car, parts start to fail when they reach this age - most recently my ignition switch. I usually get my car serviced by a friend mechanic I know. He is a brilliant mechanic and has always done a sterling job on my car.

I recently moved and my mechanic is too far away to get to now. So I sent my car in to get it's ignition switch repaired at a local VW specialist. I also asked them to do a full service while it was there.

I got a bill or R8,500 to replace typical worn parts, clean the throttle body and work on the injectors!!! My mechanic used to charge me from R700 to R3,000 max. The mechanic at this VW garage tells me as my mechanic never did a VAGCOM diagnostics on the car, he didn't pick up problems in the engine. He says this service would have been much cheaper if my mechanic was able to do computer diagnostics as he would have been able to pick up problems and repair long back. He says there's things which you will never know are wrong unless you pick up physical symptoms or use computer diagnostics to identify issues.

I knew my car had an ECU, but never knew it was able to give diagnosis feedback. I can only imagine that newer cars have way more sophisticated computers on-board. Obviously cars like BMW's and Merc's etc. are computers with engines that a backyard mechanic will never touch.

I'm sure this will kill a lot of business for backyard mechanics unless they get tech savvy...

I will always trust my backyard mech to a stealership one. computers wont beat humans for a very long time ....

and if that time comes, only THEN will i accept a ecu in my plymouth gtx

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Try a 3rd party AA approved shop?

 

[noxibox]

I will always trust my backyard mech to a stealership one. computers wont beat humans for a very long time ....

and if that time comes, only THEN will i accept a ecu in my plymouth gtx

How many gallons to the mile is that thing?

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

If you went to a VW stealership, you were ripped off.... plain and simple...

Either they didn't do half the work they said, or they didn't need to do half the work they did....

I have found that most stealerships "mechanics" are no longer good mechanics, but they're good at reading diagnostics off a screen.

Hes right. Most dealership mechanics arent very good when the problem doesnt show up on an OBD reader

I will always trust my backyard mech to a stealership one. computers wont beat humans for a very long time ....

and if that time comes, only THEN will i accept a ecu in my plymouth gtx

Unfortunately it's not always about who is better. With newer cars especially, servicing it at anybody other than a dealership is a quick way to void your service/maintenance plan, which means that you'll get a kak trade-in for it. Even if the car is out of maintenance plan, having a full service history by the dealer helps it keep its value.

As much as I agree that backyard mechs are often better, I wouldn't take a car newer than 7-10 years to them for fear of my resale value being shot to hell. Also, it can be harder to hold them accountable.

 

[Sinbad]

Try a 3rd party AA approved shop?

RMI accreditation is a must.

I try to do most of my own diagnosis. I own a VW obd cable and software so I can see if there are any error codes etc. I also have a module installed that shows me various engine parameters on the dash that I just used to identify a problem that did not show up any other way..
That combined with a maintenance plan and a VW dealership foreman that I trust completely to do things right keep me happy and my car running optimally.

 

[Claymore]

I knew my car had an ECU, but never knew it was able to give diagnosis feedback. I can only imagine that newer cars have way more sophisticated computers on-board. Obviously cars like BMW's and Merc's etc. are computers with engines that a backyard mechanic will never touch.

I'm sure this will kill a lot of business for backyard mechanics unless they get tech savvy...

My backyard mechanic/insurance broker has a diagnostic unit that handles almost all models of car. Quite handy, though I don't think he sees that many issues. He specialises in Mercs (esp. S-Class).

Personally, I would never send my car to a dealership unless it was new, and within the warranty period.

 

[spiderz]

RMI accreditation is a must.

I disagree there. After all the horror stories I heard about RMI, I'd rather avoid anyone associated with them.

 

[AntiThesis]

The Golf line is pretty easy to service yourself as well - the right cable and a Haynes manual plus your local Goldwagen (check first with other locals that use them!) and you're all good. Look, at 250k on the clock, you're probably not looking at much of a trade-in or resale anyway.

But dealerships are the devil's work and they charge like it too.

 

[mfumbesi]

I trust my backyard mechanic, who also happens to be a former BMW employed Mechanic/Technician/Specialist and he has the OBDII reader as well. The OBDII readers are not that expensive, besides he knows what to look-out for in my car (he knows the regular issues with certain model generations) and most importantly he wants my business and he is honest. The dealerships/big garages work on numbers, they need to work on so many cars a day to reach certain daily/monthly budget milestones (nothing wrong with that), but quality (and honesty) can be compromised.

For a new car with a motor-plan common sense says dealership, for a used car with a third party service plan RMI/approved centers make sense, but for a car that has 250000 km and 14 years old it is a different matter.