Why do people ask you for car advise then ignore it?

I understand taking a poll and getting opinions from people about stuff to do or mods but why do people ask for mechanical work and then either completely ignore your advise or argue what youre saying?

ive had one person ask me for brake advise/work, i told her the problem and what i could do to fix it and a price of 40 bucks over material cost replacing rear pads and rotors on a camaro, she replies back with my boyfriend says thats not what the problem is and i say well if that aint it let him fix it...get a call back a few days later, her rotor cracked and locked up the wheel.

or when i do a oil change 10 bucks over material and i catch hell for being too expensive and then they come back whining when walmart or jiffy lube screws up their car

or the most recent, car is making a funny noise and has a CEL, i offer to check the CEL for free, i get the reply of oh ill just keep driving it. then why did you even bother calling me?


just a rant and if you want share your stories

 

I quit giving car advice a long time ago. When someone asks me nowadays I just give 'em the "holy trinity". If they are pro Japanese Honda/Toyota, if they are pro American GM/Chrysler/ Ford.

 

I quit giving advice years ago....

I used to work on cars as a side project/hobby and only asked that they pay for parts, solvents/gasket adhesives/grease, and generally all the work was done for a 12 pack of beer... I gave this up when the people I knew, started telling their friends and they wanted to borrow a vehicle from ME while I worked on their shit....I thought I was working cheap enough already without having to pay for the gas in my vehicle I didn't use.

What really bothered me was when I told them they needed, let's say, a CV joint replaced and they would ask what they could do to "get by"...they got pissed off when I recommended keeping a tow company on speed-dial and prepare to pay $100 for a tow, 250 for a rebuilt axle and 300 for labor. (not exaggerating the local prices at the shops either) Strangely enough, the last CV I replaced was like $130 from Auto Zone and 45 minutes of work (old Chrysler product of some type, don't remember).

 

i ask them how much money they have and how much they are whiling to spend lol. if they really want to fix it then ill work on it but if not ill let them take it else where

 

some people just dont like to hear the truth when that advice is more expensive than they can afford (or think they can afford or want to spend). so basically they go into denial, cut corners or ignore the problem which winds up costing them even more in the long run.

my good friend owned a repair shop and got so sick of people cutting corners and then blaming him when things went wrong later he finally closed the shop and became a train mechanic where he didn't have to deal with the public.

 

Don't give advice anymore people don't want to listen when they have to spend money to fix something and in the end they can spend even more to fix than it would have been to prevent. My sister for example has a ~01 Ford Focus that has a bad wheel bearing in the back tire and a bad cv boot. I saw, heard, and isolated the problems and told her what it would take to fix it, about $100 and a few hours, she wouldn't spend the money for me to fix it for her and now her car is stuck 40 miles away from home with a blown out wheel bearing and no way to get it home because she didn't want to pay the 100 bucks to fix it. She called me and the only thing I had to say was 'told you so'.
Edit: She's home now but the car is still in the home depot parking lot she's going to pay 400 to have it towed tomorrow so she has already throw away 300 dollars by ignoring mine, my fathers, and our mechanic's advice. She's on her own now.

 

People ask for advice or help hoping that you will do the research and work for free. I used to offer to do oil changes for my friend's cars for the price of a burger or a 6-pack on top of parts. Now I don't even offer because some of them still think that is too much and I shouldn't charge anything for being a friend.

I've always heard this and found out the hard way - Never do business with friends or family.

 

^ I only do it to current gf's or friends w bennies. I like to be pleasantly rewarded...

 

I think most people don't really want advise, they want someone to reassure them that their logic is sound and that they have already made a very good decision.

There was a kid on here a few weeks ago that wanted to know if a cheap lift kit that his parents would be buying for him would be safe. Everybody said it wasn't, and he got indignant and said he couldn't afford to pay any more than that and his parents didn't want him to do any work on his own. Whatever, dude.

dp

 

Simple.
They want reinforcement for what they already believe.

 

It happens on this forum all the time. I work at a shop, some guy had questions on here and when the conversation turned into "don't top off your gas tank because...", people basically told myself and some technicians on here that we're full of crap. Sometimes this site, and especially time at work just make me think people are stupid. My advise to people that ask me now is simple. Don't ask me. I'm trained but I guess that a person that empties their transmission to do an oil change knows more than me. It's like webmd.com- why go to the doctor who's been trained, has 12 yrs of schooling and knows what's going on when you can just tell the computer where you feel pain and it spits out that you either have a splinter, tonsillitis, terminal cancer, or a urinary tract infection.

 

Why don't you top it off?

 

I don't know why this popped in my mind but here's what I thought of as I started reading this thred.

I've been to a ton of different countries working with lots of military around the world and the one thing that I see keeps the US on top is maintenance. Sounds crazy, but I believe it's true. We spend a butload of money fixing and preventing problems to keep our gear running. Other countries don't do that. Then when it really breaks they can't afford to fix it and turn it into a monument where it sits. Hilarious some of the places you'll find a tank or better, a fighter jet monument.

Anyways. Those of us who recognize the $100 fix now and do it are like the US. Yeah, we may waste money in some areas, but at the end of they day our car still gets us where we want to go. Those others who'd rather save that expensive $100 eventually have a monument in Walmart, Target, or some other store until they can afford to fix the now much more expensive problem.

 

it can mess up the charcoal canister haha

nice to know i aint the only one that gets pissed off dealing with the general public, Happy New years yall

 

What the hell does the charcoal canister do?

 

THIS

THIS

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If it cost more than 5 bucks to fix it, it's to much.
They make a mistake on their vehicle and they get pissed when it's going to cost them double to fix their problem.
Every vehicle repair should be free forever with a loaner and a car wash and not have to pay for anything. Every part needs to last forever.

I'll give advise when i can. But if it cost me time and money, your gonna pay. Believe it or not, i have bills too......

 

Well said.

I'll be dipped. I grew up in Chicopee.

 

I grew up in southwick, but ended up in Chicopee 7 yrs ago. Howdy!

And tacomamike, I could tell you're from a dealership from the whole "loaner" statement! It's amazing how many people demand a free car to use because they're inconvenienced. I don't get one if m toyota goes in or when my motorcycle needs dealer service 45 minutes away!

 

Possible. But often people get a new perspective and form their own new opinion. I find this happens often.

 

Unless it's a close friend or relative, I'll give very general advice but won't look at it or offer to fix it for them. I always worry that if something else goes wrong, even if it's 100% unrelated, they'll try to come back and blame me. Because of that, they can pay a mechanic to do the work for them. If someone has to do something like a brake job and asks me for help, I'll gladly help them out because it's not a diagnosis, it's just asking for help on a particular, straight forward job. I agree with Whipper, people are generally very ignorant when it comes to certain things.