No matter how much we trust our automotive service providers, nor how long we’ve been doing business with them, there’s always an understandable distrust on the part of the consumer. The reports we receive from service consultants on needed repairs and maintenance often include terms they don’t understand for systems that are equally mysterious to them, and it’s fair to wonder whether additional tasks are simply up-sells. Here are a few common repairs that usually necessitate another service item, and how skeptical customers can make sense of their doubts.
Exhaust & fuel
Exhaust repairs and fuel leaks don’t mix. While there’s really no excuse for driving a vehicle with a fuel leak of any type, some drivers of older rides ignore the risk. Thankfully these special people are in the minority, but rarer yet are repair shops willing to risk their safety by doing any work on these leaking rides that would be likely to cause sparks. So don’t be surprised if your shop responds to your muffler replacement need with a recommendation to fix an existing fuel leak first.
Air conditioning drier
‘Why do I need a drier, is my car wet?’
Air conditioning system repairs are just about the most declined and deferred services any shop experiences. After all, they’re often expensive and when money is tight, and the weather cooperates, many consumers will put things off until the next scorcher of a day. But when an automotive AC system has a leak (the number one cause of failures) and an owner decides to leave things until the next warm season, additional problems can crop up.
The most common of these is a receiver-drier that becomes contaminated due to exposure to moist air. Some shops will ignore this and just proceed to fix the original leak, but depending on the vehicle, you might need to have the drier replaced. Another AC component that can suffer from the system being inoperative is the expansion valve. If these valves stick due to a prolonged period of non-use, they won’t let cool refrigerant gas flow into the cabin system, thus no cool air.
Electrical diagnostic trees
Follow the diagnostic tree, but don’t get hit by a branch.
Electronics are wonderful until you have to pay for repairs. When vehicle ‘check engine’ lights come on, techs often turn to a shop manual to trace the root cause. These online tomes will provide step-by-step inspection processes to weed out the problem, and many times on these diagnostic tree charts a troublesome phrase will appear: ‘replace ____ with a known good component before proceeding to the next step’. The problem with this step is, there are no parts libraries in existence that will let techs ‘try’ out a component and then return it afterwards. Consumers are often stuck paying for a repair before they can get the final estimate to fix the problem.
If you’re faced with these, simply ask for an explanation. Most of the time a good service advisor will be able to explain things in an understandable, non-condescending manner.
Keyword: Troubleshooter: Why does my mechanic want to fix a different problem first?