The Fixer

It could be semantics. It could be different business practices. Or, it could be greed. This is a look at how different businesses interpret the request to "fix" a problem with a car.

The car in question is my son Noah's 94-dark green Jeep Grand Cherokee with about 150,000 miles on it. For the past year the electrical windows haven't worked.

This required some interesting maneuvering at drive up ATM's, fast food restaurants, and toll booths( we don't really have toll roads  in Minnesota and Wisconsin) but a trip to Chicago would require some interesting contortions to get the money in the "catcher" do-floppy at a toll booth,

But,given that we live in Minnesota and Noah goes to the University of Wisconsin, having a car with windows that didn't roll down wasn't that big of a deal. In the winter we like those windows rolled up.

After driving around this way for almost a year, Noah took the car to our favorite auto repair shop and they "fixed" the problem for $400.

Oh the joy of being able to electrically roll a window up and down.The joy lasted three weeks.

Unfortunately, the window stopped working in the down position. So now, instead of having a window that wouldn't roll down, Noah had a window that wouldn't roll up.

A window in the down position is a much bigger problem.

Noah took the car back to our favorite auto repair shop and they said it would now cost an additional $600 to fix the problem. They assured us that this was a new problem, not the old problem that cost $400.

Noah and I were not amused. Time for a second opinion. The second opinion cited a different problem and said it would cost $500 to “fix”.

Noah then took it to the Jeep dealership. They charged him $60 for the diagnosis and then quoted yet a completely different reason for the problem and quoted him about $1200 to get it fixed.

At this point we decided to go to our auto body shop, Wreck Bros ( I kid you not) and he recommended that we go to Sparks(I'm not making these names up)

Sparks“fixed” the problem for $200. With one inconvenience. Noah can’t open the passenger side window from the driver side control panel.

Sparks explained that the other businesses idea of “fixing” the problem was to install all new parts.

Sparks is in business to repair the malfunctioning part.

“So,” we asked, “what was the problem?”

Sparks responded, “A screw.”

“A screw?” we were incredulous.

“Yes,” said Sparks,“The screw had broken off so we glued a new one back on.”

End of repair. The car is fixed. We got screwed and saved a heap of money.

P.S. Noah called the Jeep Dealership and shared what happened. The Jeep dealership is refunding his $60.

Comments

[George Lenard]

I'm not good at remembering and telling jokes with punch lines, though I have no trouble making people laugh.

However, your story reminds me of a classic that goes something like this:

A customer takes a car to a mechanic, complaining the engine makes a loud clanking noise when idling.

The experienced old mechanic opens the hood, starts the car, and listens for a moment. He then grabs a hammer and hits the engine car sharply. The noise stops.

"That'll be $100, please," he says.

"What? It didn't even take 5 minutes, and no parts!" complains the customer. "You just hit it with a hammer. Anyone can do that."

"It's true it didn't take long," responds the mechanic, explaining: "That's why I'm only charging you $5.00 for labor."

"Then what's the other $95.00 for?" asks the bewildered customer?

The mechanic responds calmly: "That's for knowing where to hit it."

[dick the shill]

The real funny part is I have a jeep that has the same noise...where do I hit it?