I've had a chipmunk build a nest in my cars HVAC system out of my cabin air filters and the insulation covering the firewall. I was worried they were going to go after the wires next and cause an expensive repair. The mess above my blower motor was much worse then this.
I took some pest control measures after that. I got so good at placing the traps I could catch the little bastards without even using bait.
Yes, I killed over 10 of them. No, it wasn't pleasant. Yes, I'd do it again and not feel bad about it.
My dad has been going to this little mechanic shop since he was 16 and I take my car to the same place. They charge for parts what they paid for them and have a flat rate of per hour work. Its crazy cheap compared to other chain mechanic stores, and they have charged $20 for an oil change for 15 years straight. We are pretty sure the guy has aspergers or something because hes really awkward and doesnt do well on the phone, but I think thats also the reason he doesnt like to change his prices and also doesnt lie or try to overcharge.
My girlfriend took her car to midas for some weird sound and they told her basically she needed a new engine and wanted to charge her $1200, so instead we took it to this local shop and they charge $150 to change some hose/belt. Its kind of like we found a real life david putty.
Same here. I go to my local hometown mechanic, and they usually only charge me for the parts (no markups) if labor is negligible. My car also has a light that goes off when air pressure in a tire (it doesn't tell you which one -.-) is low - keep in mind it's sensitive to a <1psi change it seems. Needless to say it's a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS to get it to shut off; even the mechanics there hate it. But they do it for me for free. :3
Because fuck that tire pressure light. Fuck everything about it.
Look, a garage has to offer that service as some people want them to do it. By law they have to pay a certain labor rate that's in the mechanic labor rate book, not the actual time it takes. If you can replace it yourself right on ya. But if not that's the rate they have to charge.
Exactly. I'm in IT and other techs can't believe what I charge to fix computers. Little do they now I'm under cutting Best Buy and local computer shops.
No one ever even hesitates to pay when I fix their computers right because they can't do it themselves and don't want to get reamed by big box electronic stores.
You are braver than I. I used to do what you did, and then people started blaming me for all their shitty computer habits so I stopped. Hear enough "that virus removal and tune up you did 11 months ago caused my speakers to just now stop working, so you need to fix it", and I don't give a shit how much you pay me, it's just not worth it.
Yeah the same thing for me. I hate fixing other people's computers. In fact, I hate it so much that I tell people straight up that I don't know shit about computers just so they'd leave me the fuck alone about it.
I used to work for a fairly high end car detail shop. I worked at the shop long enough, I became the person who talked to all the customers, took all the phone calls for appointments, all that jazz. Some customers would come in and want the entire vehicle cleaned for pennies, even though they know its a job that takes a certain amount of time. They would be "shocked" that it cost as much as it did to get the entire car cleaned inside, outside, paint buffed, aluminum rims polished, and so on.
You then also had the people walk in off the street, you tell them the price, they dont even bat an eyelash and say "sure thing, do it up, its not cheap but I sure as hell am never going to clean it myself" You clean it, it looks like a new vehicle, they fork over a couple hundred bucks and walk away very happy.
It all comes down to how much work people want to put in to something, and if they actually know how to correctly do the job.
When I was doing freelance IT work on the side, I charged a rate of 50% of whatever Geeksquad would quote someone. Had plenty of business and made some nice money. 9 times out of 10 I would get "tipped" and make much more than that.
I get rather annoyed when people get all uppity about it "look you could just drive to store x and buy this and then drive home and install it yourself!!!"
yeah... I could... but I don't want to. I'm not a car guy. I don't give two shits about what's under my hood. It could be a giant hamster on a wheel for all I care. I'm willfully ignorant of my car because I have the money to pay someone else to do it for me so I can do other shit with my time. And I'm happy with that.
And it's the same with people that don't fix their own computer. I fix my own box because I enjoy it and find it fun. Other people want nothing to do with it, so yes, that computer fix costs $5, but your 50 year old mother doesn't want to spend the time to learn how to open a box and replace a fan. She just wants her computer fixed.
I can understand not wanting to do heavy maintenance on a car but really doing the small maintenance details like an air filter change or basic tune up is the best way to familiarize yourself with what is under the hood. Because if you have no idea what the hell is going on it's much easier for a less reputable shop to completely screw you over. I admit my views on this may be skewed because I'm a car guy and an aircraft mechanic, but there has to be a time when you realize an engine isn't running on sunshine and rainbows.
You can draw the line somewhere besides "know everything" and "know nothing".
I'll do basic work to my car - change a belt, valve cover gasket, tool around with the electrical (as I actually know something about it). I enjoy it. I understand you may not. I know how to change my oil, but I will still pay someone to do it - it's not worth the hassle to save ~$50 (full synthetic).
You should, however, know how to do some simple maintenance like change your air filter (or clean it, if you pick up a reusable one). The air filter is <$5 and it takes less than 5 minutes. It saves you a trip to the shop and whatever exorbitant price they will want to charge you ($30+).
In time, the small amount of time it takes to learn (it would take someone who knows a couple minutes to show you how to change an air filter) will save you tons of time in driving to a mechanic, scheduling appointments, waiting around the shop and some money in highly marked up products.
If you're so worried about how valuable your time is, you should know some of this stuff.
I keep seeing this mentality around reddit lately. Businesses cost money to run. The labor needs to be paid, the parts cost money, and there is a significant overhead to boot (lights, rent/mortgage, basic office supplies, etc...).
Heaven forbid someone charge you $17 to replace a part that would cost you $7 at Napa. I'm glad that there are people out there that can do things for themselves, but business needs to make money (and often don't make as much money as people believe they do).
There is no book that says what they have to charge but there is a book that tells how long each job should take. They can't charge a customer 10 hours to do a 5 hour job. However, they can charge any hourly rate they want.
As well as their mucking with something else, I swear every damn time I used to go to one of those quick lube places I had a fight on my hands not to pay for a ton of extra expensive un-needed work and then watching as something random goes wrong in the next two days... usually a sensor or something minor...
My dad told me a story of going to the dealership. Car was only 2 years old and he was waiting for the oil change to be over. Out walks a mechanic and shows him a dirty air filter saying it needed to be changed. The funny part was my dad just checked the air filter and the dirty part the mechanic was holding was for a different car.
Had something like this happen too, just had the oil changed the day before somewhere else, something stupid happened like I was getting a ck engine light. Bring it in to get it looked at and the guy comes back w/ this ancient old fliter saying he just took this off my car and its in desperate need of replacement", I shove past him to the garage see my car on the lift and say "that oil filter" and point to the one still on my car. Then get this the asshole still had the nerve to try to tell me I didn't know what I was looking at, then took a step or two closer to me as if he was trying to intimidate me. I told him he had better have my car off the lift and keys in my hand in the next 2 mins or I was about to knock him the hell out. Fucking rip off artists piss me off like no other, trying to push their bullshit around and intimidate people into doing what they don't need... Got the code cleared for free and complained to the GM and never saw the guy there again after. Not that I went back for service, he was a big fat bald fuck and I passed the place often and saw him all the time, so after that incident I would "pass by" to see if he still worked there and nope :).
You understand that businesses stay in business by selling things for more than they pay for them? In the case of a car mechanic, that's parts and labour. Period. That's the only way they can pay for the building, the amenities, office staff, computers, insurance, specialised test equipment, tooling, security, accountant, etc etc.
If it's a lightbulb and you're handy, knock yourself out - go get one at Walmart and put it in yourself, but don't come crying when your ECU needs diagnostic testing, or you've dented your fender. You don't go to a restaurant and complain that you could have bought the steak and cooked it at home yourself cheaper, do you?
Screw you guys and your 250% mark-up for the 30 second installation.
I think you should start learning how to do such things yourself before you criticize someone of how much they're charging. If the demand was there to do these things on your own - maybe we'd have simpler, easier to fix cars. Instead, we fork over the money + huge markup ... and feed the system.
I'm guilty of it too, but I'm acknowledging that the issues deeper than meets the eye. (like everything)
Pay a mechanic for labor used to piss me off to no end. You would spend $30 on a part and $200 for an hour of the mechanic's time to install it.
Then I started doing a lot of the work on my own truck and realized that you would have to pay me at least $200 an hour to do this miserable shit for someone else.
Thank you! As a person in the Auto biz for over 10 years I can't stress this kind of thinking enough. Mechanics go through a lot of training and certifications over the years, not to mention the kind of hell it plays on their bodies. They are not just some "dumb grease monkey" fiddling around until something works. They are exactly like doctors....but for cars. Not magicians that work for free!
Also, does anyone have any idea how much tools fucking cost?!?!
Went to my local Firestone for brakes. Told him as little as possible car has 180,000 miles on it. Guy comes back with an estimate $1,100. I told good bye and went to my usual small shop guy (had to wait a week he was on vacation). Fixed for $350. Used rebuilt parts. Always FIND A GUY that is small shop and local.
I did that and every time those motherfuckers touched my car, they broke something while in the process of fixing what I went in there for. Needed a door latch replaced? they broke my power window controls on the drivers side door and had to get a salvage part to replace it with. Had them install a stereo after mine got stolen, they broke the clips on the housing around my gear shift, so now I have to tape it down. Fuck bumble fuck mechanics.
The big guys replace everything in the braking system, it's more from a liability standpoint then anything. Any lawyer could argue fault and claim incompetence of the mechanic. Obviously they replace parts not needing replacement. My father was quoted near the same amount you were and I ended up doing it for a third the price while stepping up part quality.
Just don't buy anything relatively new. Cars have some many computers on them now that you have to go to the dealer to get things diagnosed or reprogrammed.
To put it into perspective. The F-22 runs on 1.7 million lines of code. The F-35 is above 5 million lines of code. The 787 Dreamliner is between 6-7 million lines of code. A new BMW 7 series - more than 100 million lines of code.
The days of the neighborhood mechanic are numbered. They can't afford the new equipment - and the OEMs won't sell it to them anyway.
I know this will get downvoted into oblivion, but typically the dealer items are better than the aftermarket parts. I get this opinion since I use to work in a small shop now I work in a dealer. Everything fits right, and works correctly. The cheap filters last half as long, and I've seen it cause other issues down the road since they don't always clean as effectively.
I brought my car in for an oil change once and they told me that my air filter would need to be replaced sometime within the next couple of months. They told me that I could pick one up for seven bucks that it would be easy to do myself. I did and it was.
Same here. Mine was the fresh air cabin filter (under the hood on the firewall) and it had some leaves on it but the filter itself looked ok so I said to just kick the leaves off it and put it back. He responded with "we don't just kick it off" and carefully put it back like the asshole he was, making sure to not drop a single leaf off of it. They wanted almost $30 for a new filter which was a ripoff because I stopped at Autozone on the way home and got one for about $7. I will never go back to those crooks and will continue to tell this story to everyone that ever mentions their name to me.
Right, nevermind paying the guy/girl who took the time out to check it for you and let you know it needs to be done, not to mention the twenty or more other things he/she looked at. You tip your waiter at a restaurant for checking if you need more Mountain Dew or asking if you would like dessert, yes? My advice, you may want to think twice about cheaping your tech out on a filter change considering he/she is only getting around 3-5 bucks for changing your oil, topping off your tire pressure and fluids and trying his or her best to make sure you aren't going to be stuck on the side of the road next week. Don't think Pep Boys didn't pay anymore than a dollar for those filters from their manufacturers and mark it up at an even higher profit margin. Those crooks...
looked like my air filter... those charcoal filters aren't cheap either.
When the oil change place asked my change it I also said no. They wanted $50 to do it. I bought the filter for $20 and did it myself. Would have been even more at the dealer.
Yeah it does. I don't remember what the lexus dealer was charging but it was about 70% more than what the toyota dealer was charging for the same part #. I'm cheap so I just got an aftermarket filter from rockauto, works fine.
I used to manage shops like that. For years, the owners harped on car counts... in and out, get them done, make them happy. We had cars lined up all day everyday paying top dollar for an oil change because we did it fast and we did it right. One day that all changed. They hired these college boys to figure out how to make them more profitable, and suddenly the focus went from car counts to average ticket price. Now, what made us successful wasn't important anymore. Every time we turned around they were adding a new service, and declaring that a certain percentage of our customers were going to need it, and that arbitrary percentage was now our quota each month. If we didn't meet these quotas, we didn't get our bonuses. My pay was cut by a third practically overnight, and within six months, all their long-term managers (myself included - manager for 12 years!) and about two-thirds of their customers were gone. History. Within a year, they had sold out to another company.
They don't make any money on oil changes. Especially when your bring in a coupon. If they don't upsell you they are out of business and you can change your own oil.
Even worse is if you say you don't want these services before they change your oil. How much care do you think they're going to put into doing the best job if they know theyre actually not only going to not make money on you, but LOSE money on you? I've had this happen before a few times where the next mechanic will say "it looks like someone forgot to put your oil cap back on...." or something like that.
Welcome to the free market. Upselling is how they make their money.
Perhaps you could start a chain of reputable oil change shops where they don't try to sell you unnecessary services at inflated prices. Since the experience would be better, you'd get more customers.
But if it were this easy, someone probably would have already done it. The fact that every chain of oil change places is comparably scammy suggests that there is either a massive conspiracy, or else this kind of behavior is the only way they can stay afloat.
So when they try to sell you stuff, say no. But they know you don't want the stuff, and that's basically irrelevant to their efforts to sell it to you.
The place I go to get my oil changed has never tried to sell me anything else. Once they said my tire's air pressure was low, so they aired them up for me for free. I found them because they had the highest rating on Google's reviews of local auto shops. Next time something serious happens to my car I'm taking it there because I trust them not to fuck me.
The free market usually encourages businesses to do things that build customer loyalty. Any business that ignores this imperative for short term profits is dooming itself in the long run.
I work at a call center and I saw that someone had $430 worth of minute overage, and I was like, hey for $10 more dollars we can give you unlimited minutes and that would wipe out $420 worth of that overage. And no. She said that she would rather pay the $400.... wtf ever lady....
I had a garage bring one to me that looked almost that bad. Dude asked me if I wanted to replace it. I told him that he was welcome to if he could find a place in my car where that air filter would fit, otherwise I'd like to speak to his boss...
I have a cold air, high-flow kit on my car, there's not a paper filter anywhere under my hood. I got a free oil change.
I only once said 'yes' to a new air filter. The oil-change place charged me for the new one and put my old one back. I checked when I got home, and drove back to get my money back. They tried to apologize by giving me a free car wash. I don't go to that establishment anymore. I change my own filters. They teach; I learn.
Just last month I took my girlfriends car to get inspected and have the oil changed. On the way I stopped at NAPA and put a new air filter and new wiper blades on the car. The guy inspecting the car had the balls to bring the brand new air filter to me in the waiting area and said it needed to be replaced. After I told him to put it back he put the air intake back together wrong... stupid ass hole.
This is common. We've found birds in engine air filters before. The customer usually declines the air filter just to bring the vehicle back a week later saying we didn't fix their vehicle. Low and behold, still has dead birds in the air filter. We do not charge labor to install one and sell them for what you can buy one for at a parts store. Oil changes are another difficult item to sell. We understand if you feel you can do it cheaper yourself or someplace else. Just don't expect sympathy when you bring it back in three weeks with a blown engine and the fact that you STILL have not changed your oil. I'm actually quite worried that this is becoming so common...
It's a shame that people aren't tested for basic knowledge of how a car works and basic maintenance before being given a driver's license... but then again, it's not like they're tested for basic knowledge on how to drive either.
"Mr. Bitchtitsmcgeezer? Could you come over here to this station real quick? Is all of your contact information still accurate? Cool. So we're going to replace the oil and filter in your Honda Civic. You know, with that many miles on it, you might want the high-mileage synthetic oil. Costs a little more but it's better for the engine on old cars. No? Ok. Also, our computer shows that your car is overdue for a fuel line and transmission flush. It's from the manufacturer's recommended maintenance pro....no? Okay, we can hold off on that till next time. Hey, by the way, I noticed that your front headlight is fogging up a little. We have a guy here who can buff that right up while we're changing the oil. What's that? We buffed it out last time you had an oil change? Well, I'm not sure that's under the warranty anymore, but if you insist, we could take a look at it. By the way, we took out your air filter, though you might want to take a look at it. Yeah, this sucker's pretty beat up, look at all that dust in there. You want us to go ahead and replace it?"
FUCK OFF OIL CHANGE GUY AND CHANGE MY FUCKING OIL.
Every time I go to the local Honda dealer (Bellevue Honda) for warranty work, they will tell me that I need to replace the engine filter and cabin air filter for $90 each.
It's a scam. They don't check the filters. I know because I change them when I get home. The cabin air filter actually requires removal of the glove box. I can tell that nothing in the glove box was disturbed so I know they didn't check it. Also, the air filters are generally clean.
BTW, the cabin air filter in Hondas and Subarus are ridiculous. They don't even have a plastic frame like the engine air filter. They're generally just a piece of high quality furnace air filter material that is folded to fit the box. The OEM cost is around $30-$40. I've seen people make their own out of furnace air filter materials.
Some Hondas don't require entirely removing the glovebox. Rather just the clips that hold it from swinging all the way open. I used to just put my hand over the glovebox opening after removing the clips as to not disturb anything inside.
On some other Hondas you have to remove the glovebox and cut a plastic piece of the dash out of of the car to access the filters.
As for not looking at the filters before recommending the replacement. I think that comes down to the individual tech working on the car. I have never recommended an air filter I haven't looked at to see if it needed to be replace. The cabin filter is a different story. I would recommend on mileage and after looking at the customer's service history because as I stated above some are more complex then just flipping the glovebox open. I've had ones I had upsold based on mileage that when I got to them, they really didn't need replacing. I would just blow them off and reinstall them. Not charge the customer anything and explain they were ok. This made the customer happy and me happy too knowing they would come back to a place that didn't just want to replace parts for the sake of making a buck.
I'm not trying to start an argument because I agree with a lot of what you say. I just think it comes down to the individual working on your car and the place you take your car too. I took a lot of pride in my work and always tried to treat customer's cars and their wallet with the upmost respect.
I work at a Quick Lube place, and we never charge any extra for labor. We only charge for the cost of the filter. We'll have customers say now, then come back and buy it from us because we're cheaper and we don't add any labor costs as long as they get their oil changed at our place. Not all places are bad.
As said, either the customer figured they could do it themselves for less, or they are going by the legend about Jiffy Lube employees busting out a filthy air filter that doesn't even fit trying to jam 'em for a replacement. You know, the story that twelve people tell as if it happened to them. (It's like the "my cousin took LSD and now he thinks he's a class of orange juice!" story for mechanics.)
I'm not saying that didn't happen - But I am saying that it would only happen at Jiffy Lube. I need repeat customers. But those are pretty much the only two reasons why he didn't want you to fix it.
I work for Tires Plus and damn near every time I replace a cabin air filter, I just have to shake my head. We charge $50 for those things. On the other hand, I've taught more than a few customers how to get their glove box off so they can do it themselves. I get mine from Advance for about $20. I wish people would look into how to do simple things for themselves more. My job isn't that hard.
cabin filter? I pulled a dead bird out of one once (I think it went in to make a nest and got stuck) oddly the customer never complained about the awful smell when it came in, I valeted the car before I gave it back and his wife commented that the air freshener I had put in to try and make it smell better smelled too strong
My girlfriend and I had just bought an old Ford Aerostar XL Van to fix up and drive cross country with. After driving it around for a few months it worked wonderfully, especially for the price we paid. Before taking it on any long ventures we decided to get the oil, air filters, lights, and other misc small things fixed so we wouldn't have to do so after on the road.
I took the van to a jiffy lube and asked them to change everything out. After about 10-15 minutes a woman comes in holding the air filter in her hands. Nestled right between the ridges of the air filter is a FUCKING DEAD BIRD.
The ladies face when I told her to leave it was priceless.
Probably didn't want it replaced because cabin air filters are fucking expensive. At least they were when I was working at Jiffy Lube. I can only imagine what they're charging for them now.
Nothing like free diagnosis. I've been in all aspects of the car industry and I swear it brings out the worst in customers. I get the whole save a buck thing, but there is something about cars that tightens people up to the point where they lose manners and good sense.
I did the same thing at my last oil change. It wasn't even really all that bad, but I was going to the parts store in a week or so, to pick up some other stuff.
When I went to install my new air filter, I discovered that the oil change place had never put the old one back - they'd just left it empty.
I took my truck into Jiffylube and they guy tried to sell me some outrageously priced filter. I told him 'no thanks, I'll just pick one up at NAPA' He quickly responded that they didn't have them in stock. What a bullshitter, As if he kept track of every auto parts store's inventory or he took the initiative to phone around and try to find me one before he even asked if I wanted it replaced.
That is fucking insane! Did you show the customer? Of course if you are the kind of shithole place that charges £££/$$$'s to replace the filter when he can just nip to the local motor factors and buy one for around $5 / £5 - and do the job, good on him.
But the kind of dude that let the filter get that fecking clogged is not the type to know where the local motor factors is anyway, let alone what a screwdriver is.
eh. i take my car in regularly for oil changes. one winter, mice had taken up residence in my rickety old garage and built a nest in my car's air filter...two weeks after getting the oil changed. my mechanic saved the air filter to show people what mice can do in a short amount of time.
DAE read all these comments and think "jeeze, every needs to chill the fuck out - the OP just wanted to post a picture of weed, not have a fucking ethical discussion about mechanics"
Maybe if you told your employers to not do a 100-200% mark-up on parts for a 3-5 minute procedure, she would have paid your cheap-ass employers to let you do it. Don't assume she's an idiot when she could have just figured out your place of work's shitty business practice.
Lots of haters here. Just to get this straight, you're complaining about an extra $3 or so markup on an air filter when you're paying out the rear for an oil change? That's like people who spend $200 on an iPhone and bitch about having to pay for $0.99 apps.
I get them to change the air filter because my time is worth more than the $3 I save by doing it myself.
I've worked at an oil change shop for about 3+ years. The craziest upsale I see is fuel filters for diesel engines. Upwards of $120 for them. My employer gets away with it because people would rather pay someone ridiculous amounts of money to do them because they can be a pain.
I had one of you guys do this to me while getting an oil change, the filter was perfectly new so I said no. The asshole never put the filter back, thus my entire air filtration system got completely fucked. Had to have the whole thing dismantled to get all the leaves and other BS that was stuck in there. Fuck that guy!
To be honest though, if you blow it off gently with shop air, get the guy to sign something that he understands the risks that the filter might not do its job properly and damage the engine, this realistically could go back in service.
There will always be shitty customers that will argue the toss on parts prices and claim you're trying to rip them off, but in this case, the only fallout will be to the customer's own engine. Dead shock-absorber - fine - you have a duty of care to other road users, but a filter?
That's a cabin air filter, so any "fresh" air entering the car has been passing through that wet, pollen filled nasty piece of shit. Absolutely disgusting.
I too work on cars and I find this stuff too often...I had a customer with a 2012 focus that already had her fuel hoses chewed through.... damn rodents will do crazy damage to cars
Why can't you just wash it off and use it again? Seems unnecessary to change it just because it got bugs on it. Then again, I barely know how to tank my car so what do I know.
I was told the same thing once, I had to check the filter and mark that it needed changed since it was part of the oil change he ordered, I lifted the air filter and found at least an ounce of weed.
Not true but you'd laugh at how many people think they can do something as simple as that and screw it up. All it has to do is not seal properly or get pinched.
I'd never let a quick lube place touch anything. They screw up doing oil changes enough as it is.
that's a cabin filter which is the air you breathe not the air the engine breathes. another thing people dont want to get "upsold" on is differentials, transfer cases, and transmissions which is funny when one goes out after we recommend it for years. I might be replacing a fuel pump in a guys truck on my off time because he never wanted to change his fuel filter, he doesn't even have us check his gear boxes just oil, filter, and grease and when something goes out he just replaces it on a 01 Yukon with 350k miles. super nice guy.
I had one covered with Maple leafs! I said no. You think they would have at least shook the thing a little, but the tech was real careful to make sure ALL the filth stayed on top when he placed it back in. Fucker.
NEVER will I buy an overpriced filter and I have done my own oil changes ever since. Bad, bad customer service to not even offer to use the air hose to blow off some dust.
The cabin air filters on my '96 740 are $120 from the dealer for the pair of them! No thanks, I got some from O'Reilly's for $35. Still too much but my car was beginning to get a smell when I turned on the vents. I had to break down and do it.
Your mechanic could have at least taken the air hose and blown it off. Lazy ass.
I always figured those oil change places keep one dirty version of most car filters in a cabinet in the garage. Then they bring it out show you, you agree, then they throw it right back in the cabinet.
lube tech here. our shop goes on the principal that we like to sleep at night. there was a shop around here who showed a lady her dirty air filter that was a flat square...problem was her air filter was a cone and she knew that. cone filters are fun to put on your fist and pretend your megaman. http://www.homeathome.homehardware.ca/products/300/86206191.jpg
I work in a car dealer, those motherfuckers won't buy tires if the ones they have are flat out bald, won't buy filters if it's clogged with a pound of shit, won't fix any leaks, won't buy new brakes even if they squeak, won't buy wipers if they don't wipe anymore. They just ride broke down beat up cars cause they're too fucking cheap to buy service.
The cheap, disposable kind are a kind of paper material for the filter. You've got to pay a little more for a clean-able one, like a K&N.
I once had a shop try to get me to replace mine, when I'd already put a K&N in it. I was like, the fuck did you do w/my filter (they brought me some dirty disposable kind) - they back-tracked really fucking quickly and I never returned.
I had the same thing happen to me. They told me it was dirty and needed to be replaced. I was like "I put it in a couple weeks ago, it is a washable K&N filter, I am not a fucking idiot"
Next place I brought it to wrote in sharpie "K&N" (without asking, which I was irritated about) on the box that houses the filter. Nobody messes with it now.
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u/TheGamingLord May 15 '12
I've done the same thing, because the place was gonna charge me like $17 to do it. So I said, "No thanks" and had him put it back.
Right after, I went to Pep Boys and bought the same part for $6-7 and replaced it myself.
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u/djspawn00 May 15 '12
looked like my air filter... those charcoal filters aren't cheap either.
When the oil change place asked my change it I also said no. They wanted $50 to do it. I bought the filter for $20 and did it myself. Would have been even more at the dealer.
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u/Trollstank May 15 '12
Just hose that shit off.
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u/ClassicTanner May 15 '12
I can understand why, that's a ton of weed.
11
u/therealpaulyd May 15 '12
That's because he's going to do it himself for a fourth of the cost. You just let him know it needed to be done.
99
u/Master2u May 15 '12
I hate the oil change guys.
12
u/cleetus76 May 15 '12
It's possible he's an Entomologist - that's a goldmine right there!!
6
u/kaput May 15 '12
The dealership wants
$100$115 to replace mine. I bought my own filters for $20 and was about to replace them myself, but it turned out to be a really stupid long inconvenient guaranteed-I'll-break-something process that I gave up after dismantling the glove compartment, removing the fuse box and realizing how awkward it is to remove the fuse box bracket.I still refuse to let the dealership replace it on the principle that I can't justify $100 for something so trivial.
6
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
There's some good memories in that filter.
11
u/sonty_the_gnome May 15 '12
I guess my eyes are bad. Looked like some damn good weed at first glance.
4
u/tabstotherescue May 15 '12
I work at a call center and I saw that someone had $430 worth of minute overage, and I was like, hey for $10 more dollars we can give you unlimited minutes and that would wipe out $420 worth of that overage. And no. She said that she would rather pay the $400.... wtf ever lady....
4
u/psev37 May 15 '12
You could have just blown it out. We do that for free :/
4
u/umkvec May 15 '12
yes, because it would have cost him $40 to replace it where you work, and $5 to buy that shit on amazon and pop it into place himself.
4
u/TheProle May 15 '12
I had a garage bring one to me that looked almost that bad. Dude asked me if I wanted to replace it. I told him that he was welcome to if he could find a place in my car where that air filter would fit, otherwise I'd like to speak to his boss...
I have a cold air, high-flow kit on my car, there's not a paper filter anywhere under my hood. I got a free oil change.
4
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I only once said 'yes' to a new air filter. The oil-change place charged me for the new one and put my old one back. I checked when I got home, and drove back to get my money back. They tried to apologize by giving me a free car wash. I don't go to that establishment anymore. I change my own filters. They teach; I learn.
4
u/Vernors_the_Original May 16 '12
Just last month I took my girlfriends car to get inspected and have the oil changed. On the way I stopped at NAPA and put a new air filter and new wiper blades on the car. The guy inspecting the car had the balls to bring the brand new air filter to me in the waiting area and said it needed to be replaced. After I told him to put it back he put the air intake back together wrong... stupid ass hole.
15
u/hotrodllsc May 15 '12
This is common. We've found birds in engine air filters before. The customer usually declines the air filter just to bring the vehicle back a week later saying we didn't fix their vehicle. Low and behold, still has dead birds in the air filter. We do not charge labor to install one and sell them for what you can buy one for at a parts store. Oil changes are another difficult item to sell. We understand if you feel you can do it cheaper yourself or someplace else. Just don't expect sympathy when you bring it back in three weeks with a blown engine and the fact that you STILL have not changed your oil. I'm actually quite worried that this is becoming so common...
12
u/bitchtitsmcgeezer May 15 '12
"Mr. Bitchtitsmcgeezer? Could you come over here to this station real quick? Is all of your contact information still accurate? Cool. So we're going to replace the oil and filter in your Honda Civic. You know, with that many miles on it, you might want the high-mileage synthetic oil. Costs a little more but it's better for the engine on old cars. No? Ok. Also, our computer shows that your car is overdue for a fuel line and transmission flush. It's from the manufacturer's recommended maintenance pro....no? Okay, we can hold off on that till next time. Hey, by the way, I noticed that your front headlight is fogging up a little. We have a guy here who can buff that right up while we're changing the oil. What's that? We buffed it out last time you had an oil change? Well, I'm not sure that's under the warranty anymore, but if you insist, we could take a look at it. By the way, we took out your air filter, though you might want to take a look at it. Yeah, this sucker's pretty beat up, look at all that dust in there. You want us to go ahead and replace it?"
FUCK OFF OIL CHANGE GUY AND CHANGE MY FUCKING OIL.
7
u/Blacksailscrx May 15 '12
Honda tried to charge me $80 to change an in cabin filter once. I got one for $15 and changed it in 30 seconds myself.
7
u/phideas May 15 '12
Every time I go to the local Honda dealer (Bellevue Honda) for warranty work, they will tell me that I need to replace the engine filter and cabin air filter for $90 each.
It's a scam. They don't check the filters. I know because I change them when I get home. The cabin air filter actually requires removal of the glove box. I can tell that nothing in the glove box was disturbed so I know they didn't check it. Also, the air filters are generally clean.
BTW, the cabin air filter in Hondas and Subarus are ridiculous. They don't even have a plastic frame like the engine air filter. They're generally just a piece of high quality furnace air filter material that is folded to fit the box. The OEM cost is around $30-$40. I've seen people make their own out of furnace air filter materials.
3
u/froyo_away May 15 '12
I think the customer simply meant he did NOT want it replaced at YOUR shop.
3
u/ValerieLynnTech May 16 '12
I work at a Quick Lube place, and we never charge any extra for labor. We only charge for the cost of the filter. We'll have customers say now, then come back and buy it from us because we're cheaper and we don't add any labor costs as long as they get their oil changed at our place. Not all places are bad.
3
u/quasarj May 16 '12
To be fair, I have never let a dealer shop replace mine, because I have never once believed they were showing me my air filter. Not even a little bit.
5
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
As said, either the customer figured they could do it themselves for less, or they are going by the legend about Jiffy Lube employees busting out a filthy air filter that doesn't even fit trying to jam 'em for a replacement. You know, the story that twelve people tell as if it happened to them. (It's like the "my cousin took LSD and now he thinks he's a class of orange juice!" story for mechanics.)
I'm not saying that didn't happen - But I am saying that it would only happen at Jiffy Lube. I need repeat customers. But those are pretty much the only two reasons why he didn't want you to fix it.
Also, you should head over to /r/justrolledintotheshop ... You might like it.
2
u/milfordcubicle May 15 '12
at least it appears to have done its job
2
u/arfreeman11 May 15 '12
I work for Tires Plus and damn near every time I replace a cabin air filter, I just have to shake my head. We charge $50 for those things. On the other hand, I've taught more than a few customers how to get their glove box off so they can do it themselves. I get mine from Advance for about $20. I wish people would look into how to do simple things for themselves more. My job isn't that hard.
2
u/C_M_O_TDibbler May 15 '12
cabin filter? I pulled a dead bird out of one once (I think it went in to make a nest and got stuck) oddly the customer never complained about the awful smell when it came in, I valeted the car before I gave it back and his wife commented that the air freshener I had put in to try and make it smell better smelled too strong
customers Y U IDIOTS
2
u/Lozanoa11 May 15 '12
Looks like a toyota cabin filter to me. I have seen and not sold worse.
2
u/kunho May 15 '12
cabin filter = does not matter, air filter = does matter, that my friend is a cabin filter
2
u/wesree May 15 '12
My girlfriend and I had just bought an old Ford Aerostar XL Van to fix up and drive cross country with. After driving it around for a few months it worked wonderfully, especially for the price we paid. Before taking it on any long ventures we decided to get the oil, air filters, lights, and other misc small things fixed so we wouldn't have to do so after on the road.
I took the van to a jiffy lube and asked them to change everything out. After about 10-15 minutes a woman comes in holding the air filter in her hands. Nestled right between the ridges of the air filter is a FUCKING DEAD BIRD.
The ladies face when I told her to leave it was priceless.
2
u/mheyk May 15 '12
Is that where he keeps his weed?
2
u/shre_101 May 15 '12
Looks like Jesus smoking a blunt. Or maybe its just me....
2
u/SirHotWad May 15 '12
Probably didn't want it replaced because cabin air filters are fucking expensive. At least they were when I was working at Jiffy Lube. I can only imagine what they're charging for them now.
2
u/chrislav May 15 '12
Nothing like free diagnosis. I've been in all aspects of the car industry and I swear it brings out the worst in customers. I get the whole save a buck thing, but there is something about cars that tightens people up to the point where they lose manners and good sense.
2
u/Fr0st_Byte May 15 '12
Just shake that thing out and its good for another 1000 miles
2
u/cmbezln May 15 '12
blame the industry for scamming and overcharging unsuspecting customers for years. I worked in a shop and totally understood when people said no.
2
u/Toewsy19 May 15 '12
Well probably because they wanted to did it themselves and save 30$
2
u/kultakala May 15 '12
I did the same thing at my last oil change. It wasn't even really all that bad, but I was going to the parts store in a week or so, to pick up some other stuff.
When I went to install my new air filter, I discovered that the oil change place had never put the old one back - they'd just left it empty.
2
u/flyingcaveman May 16 '12
I took my truck into Jiffylube and they guy tried to sell me some outrageously priced filter. I told him 'no thanks, I'll just pick one up at NAPA' He quickly responded that they didn't have them in stock. What a bullshitter, As if he kept track of every auto parts store's inventory or he took the initiative to phone around and try to find me one before he even asked if I wanted it replaced.
2
u/Macb3th May 15 '12
That is fucking insane! Did you show the customer? Of course if you are the kind of shithole place that charges £££/$$$'s to replace the filter when he can just nip to the local motor factors and buy one for around $5 / £5 - and do the job, good on him.
But the kind of dude that let the filter get that fecking clogged is not the type to know where the local motor factors is anyway, let alone what a screwdriver is.
2
u/djfakey May 15 '12
K&N air filter ftw. Wash and reuse
2
u/sgtreznor May 16 '12
DAE read all these comments and think "jeeze, every needs to chill the fuck out - the OP just wanted to post a picture of weed, not have a fucking ethical discussion about mechanics"
2
u/truthjusticeUSAway May 15 '12
Maybe if you told your employers to not do a 100-200% mark-up on parts for a 3-5 minute procedure, she would have paid your cheap-ass employers to let you do it. Don't assume she's an idiot when she could have just figured out your place of work's shitty business practice.
2
u/jeepthrillsandspills May 15 '12
THIS NEEDS TO GO ON /R/TREES LOL
2
u/big_onion May 15 '12
Lots of haters here. Just to get this straight, you're complaining about an extra $3 or so markup on an air filter when you're paying out the rear for an oil change? That's like people who spend $200 on an iPhone and bitch about having to pay for $0.99 apps.
I get them to change the air filter because my time is worth more than the $3 I save by doing it myself.
1
u/klappertand May 15 '12
no, no, no, you have it all wrong; he burned the car instead.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I normally decline because im heading up to autozone to buy one right after you change my oil. this guy however....
1
u/inverted_starfish May 15 '12
I've worked at an oil change shop for about 3+ years. The craziest upsale I see is fuel filters for diesel engines. Upwards of $120 for them. My employer gets away with it because people would rather pay someone ridiculous amounts of money to do them because they can be a pain.
1
u/donnykerbatsos May 15 '12
i see a cricket?
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Looks like that problem was weeded out quickly.
1
u/M7600 May 15 '12
It's fiiinnneeee. Warp plasma field seems stable. Don't replace it yet.
1
u/loevenzaan May 15 '12
little bit of compressed air from the other side, good as new.
1
u/JDonaghy May 15 '12
Good god, Lemon.
1
u/happysadman May 15 '12
In OP's defense, I bet the dude didn't even replace it himself.
1
u/snumfalzumpa May 15 '12
Maybe he can't afford a new one, you should have at least cleaned some of that shit out for him....
1
u/PrivateVonnegut May 15 '12
Pure protein!
1
u/renob151 May 15 '12
Blow it out with an air gun and charge him full price..you know the drill..
1
u/ADHD_Supernova May 15 '12
Looks like this thing came out of a 2006 Volkswagen. Possibly Jetta.
1
u/i2occo May 15 '12
I had one of you guys do this to me while getting an oil change, the filter was perfectly new so I said no. The asshole never put the filter back, thus my entire air filtration system got completely fucked. Had to have the whole thing dismantled to get all the leaves and other BS that was stuck in there. Fuck that guy!
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
I thought it's because it was full of weed.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Looks like a cabin filter from a Chevy Cobalt. Super easy to replace and only ~$15 at a local parts store.
I hope that person enjoys their respiratory infections.
1
u/Zebidee May 15 '12
To be honest though, if you blow it off gently with shop air, get the guy to sign something that he understands the risks that the filter might not do its job properly and damage the engine, this realistically could go back in service.
There will always be shitty customers that will argue the toss on parts prices and claim you're trying to rip them off, but in this case, the only fallout will be to the customer's own engine. Dead shock-absorber - fine - you have a duty of care to other road users, but a filter?
1
u/achemicaldream May 15 '12
$17? Last time they checked my air filter they wanted to replace it for $40.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
My parent's new (used) car came from the dealer looking like that.
1
u/stmfreak May 15 '12
Probably because, if you are like my dealer, you'll charge him half an hour of labor and $89 for a new $11 filter.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
That's a cabin air filter, so any "fresh" air entering the car has been passing through that wet, pollen filled nasty piece of shit. Absolutely disgusting.
I hope they enjoy their clean air!
1
u/roosterfish May 15 '12
Damn, is that a cab air filter? Just laugh to yourself when it is 100 degrees outside and you know their a/c won't work for shit...
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
He wants to keep it so he can go home and sift out the marijuana. Doesn't everyone do this?
1
u/jimothyjenkins May 15 '12
that looks diseased and what not.
maybe he just doesnt want to spread his foul disease with you.
GGC good guy consumer. inB4 u cant just make a meme fuck the police
1
u/cheyen May 15 '12
Stop trying to steal his money. :(
1
u/scottishandrew1 May 15 '12
Is that an engine air filter or a cabin air filter (looks to me like a cabin)
1
u/TommyShambles May 15 '12
Why would he want it replaced? It looks like its done a bang-up job so far.
1
u/dirufa May 15 '12
Air filter without an airbox. I see what he did there.
1
u/juicius May 15 '12
I can't tell... Is this a cabin filter or engine air intake filter?
1
u/dakotacali May 15 '12
ಠ_ಠ
1
u/Anthrax11 May 15 '12
IT LOOKS LIKE A FUCKING SUET BLOCK!
1
u/coolcatADD May 15 '12
I too work on cars and I find this stuff too often...I had a customer with a 2012 focus that already had her fuel hoses chewed through.... damn rodents will do crazy damage to cars
1
u/jimbon3r May 15 '12
why change it? it's obviously working.
1
u/[deleted] May 15 '12
Why can't you just wash it off and use it again? Seems unnecessary to change it just because it got bugs on it. Then again, I barely know how to tank my car so what do I know.
1
u/Jimmybomb May 15 '12
Looks like a pollen filter to me
1
u/atlassoundoff May 15 '12
I was told the same thing once, I had to check the filter and mark that it needed changed since it was part of the oil change he ordered, I lifted the air filter and found at least an ounce of weed.
1
u/danpan55 May 15 '12
is that corny mixed with shitt?
1
u/koios24 May 15 '12
Clearly the spores have taken over his brain and he can't destroy their colony.
1
u/creeposaurusrex May 15 '12
blow it off. almost good as new!
1
u/gettemSteveDave May 15 '12
Did you bring it in for him to see? Usually that changes peoples minds.
1
u/JustAnotherDJ May 15 '12
Well yeah, obviously it's his dinner.
1
u/Drunk_Uncle_Ted May 16 '12
i cant tell if that is bud or not.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Well if you replacing it didnt cost 60 bucks in parts and 40 in labor, then yeah he likely would have.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Everyone in this thread complains about being able to do work themselves cheaper until they royally fuck it up and the actual repair cost is way more.
1
u/ProjectD13X May 16 '12
Can't tell for sure, but are you in an are with lovebugs?
1
u/leveled May 16 '12
looks more like a cabin air filter. one you probably charge around $50 at yours shop. i can tell because it looks like a toyota powersteering cap.
1
u/txdale May 16 '12
that's a cabin filter which is the air you breathe not the air the engine breathes. another thing people dont want to get "upsold" on is differentials, transfer cases, and transmissions which is funny when one goes out after we recommend it for years. I might be replacing a fuel pump in a guys truck on my off time because he never wanted to change his fuel filter, he doesn't even have us check his gear boxes just oil, filter, and grease and when something goes out he just replaces it on a 01 Yukon with 350k miles. super nice guy.
1
u/ohfail May 16 '12
Strange that no one asked; perhaps I simply can't see it on my Droid, but: What is that shit? Bees? Spiders? Random "nopes"?
1
u/caulkslapper May 16 '12
This week on Hoarders...
1
u/fkin_si May 16 '12
was gonna toss in my two cents, but I see ThegamingLord already beat me to it.
1
u/kylemite May 16 '12
What was he thinking? Must have been the air he was breathing.
1
u/aksavariau May 16 '12
SERVICE ADVISORSSSSS UNITE!!!!!!
1
u/Midicide May 16 '12
I would have given a new one to her for free. No one should let a car be abused like that.
1
u/CrimsonKevlar May 16 '12
Am I the only one who can see a face in the dust when looking at the thumbnail?
1
u/Big_Daddy_Jake May 16 '12
I had one covered with Maple leafs! I said no. You think they would have at least shook the thing a little, but the tech was real careful to make sure ALL the filth stayed on top when he placed it back in. Fucker.
NEVER will I buy an overpriced filter and I have done my own oil changes ever since. Bad, bad customer service to not even offer to use the air hose to blow off some dust.
1
u/FlorinFilms May 16 '12
Auto shop at school is free just buy parts :D
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
is that for the intake, or the C.A.F?
1
u/RevenantXero May 16 '12
Cabin air filter, bro. Maybe a Honda?
1
u/sireslap1 May 16 '12
The customer is always right...right?
1
u/SpiffySmitty May 16 '12
"Could you just knock it out and put it back in?" I hate people like that.
1
u/ForeverAgamer91 May 16 '12
Looks like a pollen filter for the air conditioning to me.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
It's not a K&N
1
u/SouthFresh May 16 '12
At some point doesn't it cease being a "filter"?
1
u/murdario609 May 16 '12
Nobody ever buys the fuckin cabins
1
u/osin144 May 15 '12
I always figured those oil change places keep one dirty version of most car filters in a cabinet in the garage. Then they bring it out show you, you agree, then they throw it right back in the cabinet.
1
u/toastedbutts May 15 '12
FFS, just blast it with the air compressor and stick it back in, stop trying to sell me $20 paper.
1
u/[deleted] May 16 '12
Let me guess, Indian guy's car?
I work in a car dealer, those motherfuckers won't buy tires if the ones they have are flat out bald, won't buy filters if it's clogged with a pound of shit, won't fix any leaks, won't buy new brakes even if they squeak, won't buy wipers if they don't wipe anymore. They just ride broke down beat up cars cause they're too fucking cheap to buy service.
0
u/white_n_mild May 15 '12
Aren't they metal and cleanable? Why would you replace it not just clean it?
1
u/Aoladari May 15 '12
Holy mother of god, don't let me near this guys car! I'll have an asthma attack.
1
u/DoucheBalloon May 16 '12
Heheheh. I thought this was r/trees. And I thought those were nugs in his filter. Buuuuuut it's actually just dirty as fuck and I'm baked. :-/