With
a little bit of technical vocabulary car repair prices can skyrocket.
Who has the skills or the necessary car repair information to
make heads or tails of the auto repair jive talk?
Here's the article....
Car
Repair Prices: Jiving
the Talk, Jacking the Price
The
automotive industry is slowly expanding its vocabulary. For decades
service customers were
accustomed to such greetings as "Yeah, wudda ya want?" Or such in-depth diagnostic explanations as "It’s all set!" The industry is learning that it can’t get away with this
"Joe’s Garage mentality" of service. What the industry has
learned is to pack its vocabulary with value, real or fabricated.
Most service
facilities get the repair description from the technician. A typical
technician’s description of a repair is quite brief. He may
write: "Changed oil." If one is lucky, he may add, "and filter" too.
For an oil change this may be good enough to justify the
$29.95.
However,
what if there was a serious diagnostic problem such as a car not
shifting gears properly? What if the technician determines the vehicle
needs a new transmission for $3700. A description stating: "Replaced
trans," for a whopping $3700 does not justify the expense—it
doesn’t show the value.
To be sure,
most shops still practice abbreviated descriptions; however, the
sharper ones have discovered the value of jive talk. Jive talk is
technical jargon used to embellish the repair or service description to
inflate the price.
Some jive
talk is justifiable, as today’s cars are very technical.
Here’s a description that shows the value for transmission
diagnostics and replacement:
Customers
Complaint:
Vehicle consistently hesitates when shifting between first and second
gears.
Cause/Description: (Technician notes)...
Step One: Road tested vehicle. Mileage
documentation 5 miles: 37,455 to 37,460. Confirmed customer’s
concern. Vehicle is not shifting properly between first and second
gears. Performed basic and visual inspections: no signs of exterior
damage, transmission fluid clean and full, external conditions normal.
Step Two: Set up diagnostic equipment
and performed full diagnostic scan. Retrieved multiple transmission
codes" 0032—shift solenoid malfunction, 0098—park
indicator malfunction, 0098—torque converter error,
0987—transmission control module fault.
Step Three: Per manufacturer guidelines,
began diagnostic tests to pinpoint error. Cleared all trouble codes,
recalibrated transmission and shift points, and road tested vehicle.
Mileage documentation 4 miles: 37460 to 37464. No change in shifting
concern. Rescanned vehicle, all codes returned.
Step Four: Continued tests per factory
guides: Removed all necessary parts and hardware in order lower
transmission pan to inspect valve body. Valve body intact, but found
particles of metal at the bottom of the transmission pan.
Step Five: Continuing diagnostic
evaluation, removed valve body to inspect. Found damaged retaining pin
on top off valve body. Suspect major internal transmission fault.
Step Six: Dismantled transmission and
found multiple broken and/or fractured transmission components.
Technician
Recommendation: Vehicle needs a
new or rebuilt transmission. (Estimate with parts and labor break down
attached)
I
won’t continue with a complete parts and labor outline, but
the idea here is that this description (which would continue with the
actual step-by-step removal and replacement procedure of the
transmission) shows the value. In other words, you’ll be
leaving the service facility with documentation longer than a
paragraph, which in many ways is comforting—you got what you
paid for.
Here’s
the twist,
the detailed description above was a total fabrication. It was a
"real-life" car repair scam. The kind that occurs every day: Learn More.
While the vehicle did have a transmission problem, it was
fixed with the replacement of a new control module and recalibration.
This particular repair costs about $876, parts, tax, labor, and
diagnostics.
With the
industry’s new vocabulary skills, a little bit a jive talk
opens wide the door for price-gouging scams in the $1000’s.
This is not
to say that every facility takes it to the extreme described above.
However, by learning how to express itself, the industry has learned to
charge significantly more for car repair
prices without actually doing anymore work.
To learn more about eliminating repair scams Click Here
-Theodore P.
Olson ©
http://www.repairtrust.com/
Auto
Estimate Repair Solutions and Car Repair Help
MLA Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. "Car Repair Prices: Jiving the Talk, Jacking the Price" RepairTrust. 23 January 2007. http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_jive_talk.html
APA Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. (2007, January 23). Car Repair Prices: Jiving the Talk, Jacking the Price. RepairTrust. http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_jive_talk.html
Chicago Style Citation:
Olson, Theodore. 2007 Car Repair Prices: Jiving the Talk, Jacking the Price. RepairTrust (January, 23), http://www.repairtrust.com/articles_jive_talk.html |
