A couple of weeks ago Im driving down the street when the "service engine light" comes on in my car. Being close to an autozone, and since they offer free diagnostic on this type of problem, I stop. The associate states that the code is a P0403 fault, or an EGR valve problem, and that it should be replaced. Rather than buying the part, I went to my mechanic who I have had a 2 year relationship with for 2 years and trust and told him what had happened.
He asked if I wanted to run the test again at their shop and it would cost 75-100 dollars. I said that was pointless since we already had the code, and he said ok. I made an appointment for the following day.
I went to the shop and had them make the repair based on the code and the replacement of the EGR valve. I paid $223.11 for parts and labor and got in my car. I started it and low and behold the "service engine light" was still on. I immediatly went back up to the mechinic who worked on the car to ask if he had reset the fault. He stated that he had, but the part they put in wouldn't have set off the fault light in the first place. At this time he wanted to clear the fault again, and ran the same diagnostic check they would have ran for 75 dollars and the determination was the same P0403 error.
I went up to the owner of the shop and stated that if they knew the part being replaced wouldn't have caused the fault in the first place, then why did they do it and charge me $223.11? At this point the owner stated that they weren't liable because they didn't run the inital diagnostic, and just replaced the parts I told them to (even though I didn't tell them to, only what the fault was and the previous advise I had recieved).
Its ridiculous to think that somebody will replace parts they know don't need to be replaced because their angry you didn't want to spend another 100 dollars to find out the same information you already knew.
I would advise anybody in Chicago or passing through to steer clear of this un-respectable mechanic.
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