some mechanical advice please?

How often would you need to replace a computer in a car? And what could possibly cause it needing to be glfully replaced?

My sister has been messed around BIG time bus mechanic. She needed ylthe clutch/gear box looked at. Just so they knew what the problem was. $330. Fair enough, big job. Didn't tell her that before he looked.

Told her he was pretty sure problem was in the gear box, rather than the clutch. Asks if its just the pin, should they just put it in. $380. (she thought thiswas total price, not seprate to looking costs).

AFTER telling her he didn't think it was the clutch REPLACED the clutch, then told them it didn't need it... Wtf?

Then some $900 price. They go to pick it up. Car won't start, no power to anything at all. That was Wednesday last week. They closed Thursday & Friday.

Monday morning sister & bilturn up to find out what's happening. 'they're just replacing the computer'. Cue sisters 'what??'. 'we were closed Thursday & Friday how were we sposed to notify you?' im sorry, but that's possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard... Wait til you're open again might help yeah?

So how do we know it needs replacing & why now?

They also charged her for a rear engine oil seal... Its a front wheel drive? Engine is sideways? Dad says there is no rear engine oil seal? But I assume there's something...

I dunno. It all seems dodgy. Dad called & they're putting the computer in for free, only charging for it & no labour. No phone calls to let sister or bil know anything before work was carried out. Clutch put in that didn't need to be. Refusing to tell sister anything about the car because bil dropped it off, so was in his name? Its her car? I don't get this at all. its not confidential information??? Lol.

So i don't know. If they were closed when did they find out it was the computer & when did they order in the new one?

Its a mess, but im sure this isn't the way any of it should've gone?

As frustrating as is it seems, sometimes the only way to get straightforward, honest answers from some people is to front up with someone else on your side who you think they might respect. When I was very young, I would take someone older. Now, if I suspect a bit of mysogynistic 'we'll fleece the little lady, she won't know the difference' attitude, I would front up with all my questions ready, and a man by my side to back me up.

It shouldn't be necessary, but sometimes it is.

And I would be insisting very strongly that there should have been no work done without my prior consent, and that I would pay only for parts OR work that I had agreed to up front.

Ok even a transverse (sideways) engine has a rear engine seal, it's the rear main crankshaft seal that goes just behind the flywheel. If they had the gearbox out there's no point refitting it without replacing the clutch and rear main seal as these are items that constantly wear and are time consuming to get to, so saves you money in the long run if the gearbox is already out. Kinda like you if you only had half a litre of milk left and you were going to the shop anyway, you'd get milk even tho you've not completely run out yet. Make sense?

Can I ask what sort of car it is? My husband is a mechanic so I can ask him about it. I do know that what little_mrs said is right but the whole saga sounds a bit wrong to me...

They should have called first tho. Just to clear up, I'm a mechanic, have been for years now and have 10 years experience in the trade. I'd never let work go on without the customer knowing, they should've explained why its best to replace the parts they have if she was unsure.

My husband says before paying for and collecting the car get a written invoice and take it to someone for an independent second opinion. He says the computer would generally last the life of the car unless there has been an electrical mishap. They may have possibly shorted the starter motor during gearbox removal by forgetting to disconnect the battery terminals or jump starting the car incorrectly due a flat battery.

Little mrs, they didn't do it when they had the gearbox out though. They took it out again to do that from what I've been told.

And faye, i would think if the car was running when it went in, it must be their responsibility to fix it? Turns out the full thing didn't need replacing anyway.

And its not the work they did that's the problem. Its that it was to be looked at, nothing else. A look has cost close to $1000. With an unnecessary clutch. They also machined the fly wheel etc, so we do understand some things need to be done, but if they had the box out it should've been done while it was out shouldn't it?

Unfortunately she's already paid for the work, last week. FiNally got it home today. As far as fair trading goes, im pretty sure she's now accepted it. Nothing more she can do.

Yeh they're not supposed to replace anything without phoning first. Tough way to find out where not to go!!!

Such a shame that its happened to her...
DH and I run our own workshop and never replace anything we don't have consent to, no matter how small it is I always call the customer first. Pity there are those few out there that don't do the right thing by people. If the reason it suddenly stopped running was their error they should take responsibility for it.

Thanks. I think in the end they didn't charge for the computer. She still has a tie rod end & rocker cover gasket that need dealing with, but she's not getting them to do it.

I think its a huge relief to just finally have it out of there. Mum & dad foot the bill for them, another reason for the stress of it costing so much & they have our mechanic over an hour away from them who will get after market parts etc to reduce costs. But they wanted to know the problem first, then decide if it was easier to get them to do it then & there, or talk to our mechanic & put it on a car trailer to get it to him.

It's a Daewoo Lanos... 97. Its not worth much more than that $1000 & they're selling it anyway!