Repair guy puts 700 miles on the clock

[Duniel3000]

Is there an alternative explanation for this?

I had the car over at a guy who I'd found thru an craigslist ad.

He appeared quite trustworthy and competent, a proper mechanic, works on old cars as a hobby, has his own Oldsmobile cutlass, that he's renovated.

He did a good job too. It seems he finally found the broken wire, that has plagued with recurrent no starts for over a year. He also repaired the sunroof and the leaking AC, all for a reasonable price.

I'd taken fotos of the odometer just before I brought it to him (thinking of selling), and again, after I'd picked it up. I was shocked to note a difference of 700 miles (124453 to 125148).

He had it long enough, over at least one weekend. Confronted he's adamant he drove only a few miles, and that car and key were always under his eyes.

This cannot be an odometer malfunction can it?

What do I do? Do I charge him a dollar per mile?
What nags me most is the abuse of trust.

[flat6pilot]

I'd find a new mechanic.

It seems something similar happened to the guy who dropped his Ferrari off with these clowns:

[manbridge 74]

Did you show him the pics?

[proporsche]

Hi..i`m with boys..change mechanic.....even better, learn your self slowly to work on your 911

Ivan

[michael lang]

Originally Posted by Duniel3000

It seems he finally found the broken wire, that has plagued with recurrent no starts for over a year.

Whenever my shop is working with an intermittent issue like you described we are very upfront with an owner with getting permission for extended road testing. Yes, sometimes we will put 3, 4 hundred miles on a car to track down an issue. I had a car for a month one time tracing down an intermittent stalling and no restart one time. I put over 2000 miles on the car trying to get the car to malfunction. It happens. In all fairness, from a management perspective, we have to be very proactive with the owner in what's going on with their car even if it means getting permission for and explaining there will be a lot miles put on the car. Mechanics/Techncians, they don't think that way. They care about what they need to do to fix the car and how many hours are they getting for a job, and some times not in that order. You said you found this guy on Craigslist, he probably a small independent or trying to pick up side work, he's not thinking about calling you every five minutes with status updates.
I'm sure you're right, 700 miles very well may have been put on your car. You said for yourself this guy fixed the problems and for a reasonable price, unfortunately it meant in order for him to find that intermittent problem he had to get it to happen which meant, he had to drive it. How long have you been dealing with it, how hard have you looked for that problem, have you had other shops look for the problem?
Most importantly, are you happy with the work this guy gave you and if it weren't for the potential "excessive" miles, would you call him again when you need something you can't do yourself?

[tobluforu]

What's done is done, your car is fixed, be happy. But 695 miles is a lot of miles, how many days did he have it? That's like driving the car on the freeway for 6 hours straight, around town, twice that many hours.

[911 sc]

He drove it more than he worked on it lol sorry not funny

[DanielDudley]

I had an intermittent no start problem that took me over two months to trace out because it was intermittent. In a classic Murphy's Law scenario, it would only fail to start if I took the car out and drove it some distance away from home before turning it off. Additionally, the problem was compounded by a tired cylinder head temp sensor which could make the car hard to start, and the fact that the intermittent connection was to the fuel pump, which made it look like the DME relay was faulty when it was not.

I did in fact spend a lot of time tracing this, driving the car, and hoping it would permanently fail, so that I could properly diagnose the issue. Maybe you made out like a bandit, and you just need to adjust your perception.

It's not like you took your car in for a new stereo, and the installer blew your engine on a joy ride. This happened to a friend of mine.

[Matt Monson]

Find your next mechanic through Pelican and PCA referrals instead of Craigslist.

[tista]

Most shocking part of story: working odometer! I kid I kid. Strange situation.

[bbturbo]

Well... IMO, there aren't many options here. If you wanted to try and charge him a mileage for his joy driving, you could, but it would probably turn into a legal battle. I doubt he's going to fork over a standard miles charge, let alone an exotic mileage figure (going by renting a 911).

I agree with you, something should be done with people like this, especially since he already lied. However, it may cost you more in the end to give the guy a lesson. If you don't care about money, or have an attorney friend, and want to do it out of principle, then get an attorney involved and make him sweat--show him who's boss. You will have to prove when your photos were taken, and have everything in line. This scenario assumes that you have at attorney that will even take it on. I don't know, as I'm not an attorney and not educated on the law.

I would be more concerned about the high mileage put on, and no doubt it was probably beaten on in those miles. People that joy-ride, don't usually cruise. However, common sense would figure that it may be easier to walk away, and spread word of mouth about your experience. That could end up hurting him on his bottom line for helping himself to your car. This option doesn't make anyone feel good, but it's the reality of what may happen, even after going at him head-on.

I don't envy you, but feel your pain in dealing with dishonest mechanics.Best of luck figuring this out, but either way, you're shopping for a new mechanic that anyone on here could point you toward a good one.

[Jdub]

This is a he said he said situation. Who are we to believe? He tells you it never happened and you tell us that it did. There is not solution to this post.

[kreeshp]

Protip: whenever leaving your beloved vehicle in untested hands, leave a Post-it or sticky note of the odometer reading when you park the vehicle in a conspicuous spot on the dash. Also make a conspicuous show of taking a photo of the sticky note with the mileage recorded next to the odometer reading so that the person you're leaving the vehicle with sees you documenting the mileage.

I've done this with valets and with one-off garage visits (for windshield replacement or when trying a new mechanic for the first time) and never had any unwanted joyrides.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jdub

This is a he said he said situation. Who are we to believe?

The "perp" nailed three issues for a reasonable price.

Let's see.......... I am a competent mechanic but yet I am going to steal this guys car for a weekend adventure. Also, I know a lot about old 911's but I won't take the three minutes to unplug the speedo because I don't know how to do this.

Not buying it.

That said, if opiates are involved, all bets are off. He or his kid did it. Yesterday heard of a H addict that let her 15 year old daughter drive because Mom was too high. Kid dented a car at the gas station. Not a huge issue but with opiates there is no logical explanation to the shiet that effs normal people over from the "overspray".

[Fixer]

What a dirtball. Not Bob, the 'mechanic' ;-)

[dfhtrhjn]

You learned a valuable lesson about this guy without any harm being done. Be thankful what you asked for is fixed and it was at a reasonable price. Now find someone else to work on your car.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Oh my. Definitely find a new place to bring your P car. Can throw in your postal code here: https://www.pcarshops.com/ and ask some Pelicans if they have any first hand experience with any of the shops that pop up. Also, you could DIY some easier type repairs with the help of our articles as well. Sorry to hear about this and happy to hear that the vehicle is A-OK.

Porsche 911 (1965-1989) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[Jeff NJ]

Originally Posted by michael lang

Whenever my shop is working with an intermittent issue like you described we are very upfront with an owner with getting permission for extended road testing. Yes, sometimes we will put 3, 4 hundred miles on a car to track down an issue. I had a car for a month one time tracing down an intermittent stalling and no restart one time. I put over 2000 miles on the car trying to get the car to malfunction. It happens. In all fairness, from a management perspective, we have to be very proactive with the owner in what's going on with their car even if it means getting permission for and explaining there will be a lot miles put on the car. Mechanics/Techncians, they don't think that way. They care about what they need to do to fix the car and how many hours are they getting for a job, and some times not in that order. You said you found this guy on Craigslist, he probably a small independent or trying to pick up side work, he's not thinking about calling you every five minutes with status updates.
I'm sure you're right, 700 miles very well may have been put on your car. You said for yourself this guy fixed the problems and for a reasonable price, unfortunately it meant in order for him to find that intermittent problem he had to get it to happen which meant, he had to drive it. How long have you been dealing with it, how hard have you looked for that problem, have you had other shops look for the problem?
Most importantly, are you happy with the work this guy gave you and if it weren't for the potential "excessive" miles, would you call him again when you need something you can't do yourself?

Your points are valid, however, this mechanic denied putting the miles on the car.
Any mechanic with integrity would not lie about putting miles on the car when asked directly, and for that reason, he cannot be trusted with the car again.

But to the OP, your only decision is whether to go back to him again. You cant take the miles off, you cant get him to admit to driving it or paying you for them, and you cant give him his integrity back.

[puddy]

Borrow his cutlass for a couple days, drive it like you stole it!

[plexiform]

Finding a reliable Porsche mechanic has been the most difficult part of my Porsche addiction. I'm slowly learning how to do the little things myself. Unfortunately I will never have the time to learn how to do the major things myself. Work life will never allow for that much investment in to my hobby. I now have to get my car painted and it scares the hell out of me to find a reliable affordable painter. Sadly I have found most of my local mechanics to be unreliable and untrustworthy.

Here is a picture of my last porsche I dropped off to get painted....this was two hours after I left it with the shop.



Sorry to hear about the extra joy ride miles on your car....just be happy it didn't end up like mine. And I agree with others....find a new mechanic.

Anyone know a reliable paint shop that will not cost an arm and a leg? I'm in central coast California. Thanks.