car shop surprises me with a report that my distributor is dead?

[cocoy_01]

Brought the car early saturday morning (8am) to this well known suspension specialist. Had my suspension problem estimated, i left the car and went to sm to have a facial because the manager told me that it would take around 7 hours.
Went back to the shop at around 3 o'clock, yung mga kasabayan ko and mga nauna na, tapos na, yung akin, naiwan pa. After hours of waiting, alas! Tapos na! As always, wala ako reklamo sa service nila, ang husay trumabaho. The mechanics suggested me to have the oil seal also repaired dahil may tulo na daw, at pati yung cv joint ko may play na daw though wala naman toktotok when having wide turns suggested me to repack the grease, ika nga prevention na din from future gastos.

[cocoy_01]

Here’s the problem, early morning I brought the car (lancer itlog ‘93) for the said complaints to the well respected shop. Repacking of the cv joint and repair of the oil seal. I left the car sa talyer knowing and trusting the shop. This afternoon, the manager texted me quoted “Your car wont start, sira distributor”

How would that happen? My complaint is purely mechanical and then they’ll surprise me that my distributor is dead? Brought to them the car in good condition, one click lang start agad tapos ngayon nasira daw? How could that happen? Can a distributor just fail without any symptom?

[jim]

nope it would not fail unless may nagalaw or sinadya nilang sirain....

[1D4LV]

tama si jim. baka may nagalaw lang.
OT: kainggit ka bro...nakakapag pa facial ka pa....

[cocoy_01]

napapamura na ako! %^$&$&^% that shop! I wont divuldge the name of the shop, kawawa naman. Trabaho wise, wala naman ako reklamo. Could it be an isolated case? Or impossible talagang masira yun, knowing the car is in tip top shape and walang kahirap hirap i-start yun.

tsk..tsk..tsk..

[1D4LV]

it could be an isolated case, imho.

[orly_andico]

They Done Something (TM).

Now best of luck to you getting them to admit it.

One day, in a galaxy far, far away, I went to a car repair shop in Banawe which is affiliated with a well-known Mazda parts dealer. I wanted them to replace the clutch and timing belt. They found out that there was oil all over the clutch plate. Some gasket in the tranny had to be replaced. As this $%^%$!! gasket was on the bell-housing side of the tranny, THEY HAD TO DISMANTLE THE TRANNY to replace that gasket. "Tranny overhaul" agad yun. I paid up without complaint.

Next big problem... after they put everything together, the car wouldn't start. At all. And the A/C cooling fan would turn even if the ignition was off! but otherwise, total blackout. No dash indicators, no annoying "door open" bell.

Long story short --- they eventually discovered that in the course of their mechanical ministrations, THEY HAD ACCIDENTALLY SHORTED THE AIRCON RELAY. Now that $%^%!! relay is DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE ECU.

Guess what happens next --- busted ECU (computer box).

But they strenuously denied any wrongdoing, even if it was patently obvious it was their fault the ECU exploded. I mean, I couldn't have PUSHED my car to Banawe if it had a faulty computer box, right?

In the end, I had to cough up ANOTHER 10,000 for a surplus computer box. The extent of their "customer support" was not to charge me for the labor of fixing all the electricals they ****ed up.

I'm never going back there again.

Do you see the parallels with your case?

[artpogi]

cocoy,

you should divulge the name of the shop, baka dati nang ganyan yan, pero ngayon ka lang nadali, catch my drift?

[cocoy_01]

can i insist that the car should be repaired without paying anything?
Kasi ang punto ko ay ang pinagawa ko ay suspension, paano mangyayaring masisira ang distributor eh electrical yun!
IMHO, mechanical parts(suspension) is definitely different from electrical parts(distributor). WTF!

[artpogi]

Kasi ang punto ko ay ang pinagawa ko ay suspension, paano mangyayaring masisira ang distributor eh electrical yun!

kaya dapat i-post mo kung ano ang pangalan ng shop na yan, kasi baka dati na nilang gawain yan or whatever, pero ngayon ka lang na biktima.

[cocoy_01]

Zee Car Plus, am still hoping its a super super isolated case but i dont want my wallet to shoulder the expenses! Potek yan oh.. Several car groups trust this shop kaya madali din ako nagtiwala.

[orly_andico]

can i insist that the car should be repaired without paying anything?
Kasi ang punto ko ay ang pinagawa ko ay suspension, paano mangyayaring masisira ang distributor eh electrical yun!
IMHO, mechanical parts(suspension) is definitely different from electrical parts(distributor). WTF!

cocoy,

i can see the parallels to my case. here's your problem (which was my problem). items like computer boxes and distributors are BIG TICKET COMPONENTS. i don't know about your car, but a Mazda 626 computer box is like 40,000 plus and a distributor is 25,000. I assume prices for your car would be similar...

so if you "insist" that they replace the blown-up part, it will set them back a very goodly amount, far more than the profit they made on your repair (or even all the repairs that day...) so they are going to strenuously resist fixing the problem.. UNLESS you buy the replacement part. There's the thing -- mapapagastos ka ng di oras. A surplus distributor might cost you 4,000 to 5,000 or so. Unless gusto mong mapa-away. Being someone who doesn't "know" anyone, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor (yeah, yeah, call me chicken). So I just paid up for that $%^$%%$!! computer box.

[cocoy_01]

OT:
during one of their test drive last saturday, the mechanic was the one driving, 2nd gear kagad and tamad kumambiyo considering puro humps yung area! ^#*$*#$ been hearing the car tumotope! Jeepney siguro minamaneho nun dati.

[artpogi]

ah, I know that shop, and a lot of people is praising that shop for it's workmanship, I also have an officemate who had his suspension fixed there and okay naman daw.

Baka nga isolated case lang, balita ko madali naman daw kausap may-ari nyan, Mang Toti ba yun.

Sana eh all's well that end's well for you.

Good luck.

[orly_andico]

I guess this is one of the problems here in the Philippines --- no matter how "good" the reputation of the car shop, you can't control the misbehavior of the employees. After all, they are just lowly-paid blue collar workers.

I really feel for you. It's EXTREMELY annoying when something like this happens. I was essentially FORCED to pay up for a replacement ECU kasi wala akong ibang kotse. Sobrang hassle talaga mawalan ng kotse.

The owner? manager? of Zee posts in ProtegeTech. Someone should make him aware of this thread...

[cocoy_01]

hey guys, funny side of my sama ng loob. I asked my mom to get the vehicle for me (BIR employee as an intro last sat. to Mr. Toti, HR dept). I told her to insist not to shed a single peso and told her that it was brought in a great condition. Texted her, "ano balita?"

She texted me this:
Meron switch na secret. Nahirapan din sila.1 hour din nila hinanap. OK na.


%&*%#$%* where in the hell would you accidentally switch that, ang concern mo lang oil seal and cv joint! It took them an hour to find (or were they just playin under the hood to make it seem a bit difficult)

[theveed]

I suggest talking to Toti directly about it, while you're at it, hanap kang mechanic na trusted mo in terms of engine works. Then ask him for his opinion din.

As a shop owner myself, the internet is a double edged sword, wala kang control sa praises and complaints ng customer, the best thing to do is to settle the problem and klaro ang issue, meaning, kung kasalanan ng shop talaga, panagutin mo, if di mo talaga ginalaw, lalabas at lalabas din na natsempohan ka (the shop) lang ng "last-touch" scenario.

This is especially true for older cars, wherein di mo masasabi kung may natabig na wire lang, nawala na daloy ng kuryente or something like that.

To make it clear lang, I'm not saying Cocoy is lying, nor am I saying Zee is/isn't liable, the fact that 2 forum users ang involved, baka mapagusapan and maimbestigahan nyong maayos kung ano talaga nangyari before magchime-in ng "bystander" reactions na magkakasamaan ng relasyon diba...

Update us nalang kung anong nangyari.

[orly_andico]

%&*%#$%* where in the hell would you accidentally switch that, ang concern mo lang oil seal and cv joint! It took them an hour to find (or were they just playin under the hood to make it seem a bit difficult)

hey... good thing that ended out well.
(na-shake dun ang confidence ko kay Zee ahh.. plano ko pa naman pumunta sa kanila for suspension fixes...)

[cocoy_01]

best thing is not to leave your car na lang..

[cocoy_01]

I dont have any reklamo about their workmanships, i even commend their mechanics also toti's brother, pulido talaga sila gumawa.

Best tip na lang is wag iwanan ang auto be it a reputable shop or not, di natin masasabi. Para walang sisi sa huli.