The ethics of auto repair mechanics

[DougJ]

Some things in life never change. One universally maligned "profession" are auto repair mechanics, and recent experience certainly confirms this perception.
My daughter lives in downtown Chicago and took her 2012 Honda Fit (70,000 miles only) in to her city Honda dealership because her "check engine light" went on.
Service writer (do these folks rake in a gigantic commission on upsells?) tells my daughter they will run the computer diagnostic. Perfect. Honda dealer then calls my daughter to encourage her to drop $2K on various services because "we don't know what's wrong with your car, but its' misfiring on all four cylinders." They claim none of the $2K fixes is guaranteed to "solve" the problem, which they say they don't know what that is, just that yeah, the check engine light is on.

Really? Daughter is smart enough, didn't authorize any work, and will be taking her Fit elsewhere. It drives fine, which is contradictory to having a car supposedly not firing on all 4 cylinders.

Shameful. Can't call it a "profession", but don't know a better word for these career scammers.

[notes1]

was it the profession or the city it occurred in or the combination?

[Galeygoo]

My last vehicle required some electronic problems and, if your daughter will drive to drive to Car-X in Oak lawn at 107th and Cicero to find a MOST honest, helpful repair shop, tell her to drive here and consult with Ray, the manager...

I truly DOUBT that my city has the ONLY distrustful.....professions of that matter

[Jstark]

Sounds like a bad ignition module. Had one go bad in one of my cars years ago. 2 cylinders fired fine, the other 2 weren't at all.

[DougJ]

I've lived in states all across the country, though Chicago will always be my hometown. This is not about Chicago, for sure. It is about auto mechanics as a collective group- - - routinely panned as one of the least trustworthy workers.
I'm miffed because it's as if you need to be a mechanic yourself to not be scammed when repair work is needed.
Appreciate the suggestions above. If it's a bad ignition module (whatever that is), are computer codes not specific enough to identify that as the issue?
Either way, I'm suggesting she drive out to Oak Lawn, maybe they can diagnose the problem before telling her to drop $2K.

[seemoreroyals]

On my truck the check engine light comes on every 60,000 miles or so. I simply disconnect then reconnect the battery. Problem solved. Check engine light goes off. Have not had any issues with my truck. Keep the oil changed regularly, make sure fluid levels are proper, tires balanced, rotated, and properly inflated. If you do have a genuine issue with daughter's vehicle, my guess would be when you disconnect then reconnect battery, check engine light will stay on. Otherwise, more than likely, it is just a ploy to get you into the dealership to extract money from her pocket.

[pokerpokerpoker]

Take it to Auto Zone and they can scan the engine codes free of charge.

#1 cause for a light - gas cap was left loose, which may take a few fill-ups and more driving before the light goes out.

[felix]

Yes, gas cap is frequent prob for ck engine lite, happen all the time. Titen the cap and in a week +/- the lite will go out. Auto Zone -Advance Autro - ORileys will give her a code on the ck engine lite, free no charge.

[paco13]

If the codes are for misfires that is not the gas cap. Do you know what code or codes it's throwing. Sounds like P0300 Random multiple cyl. misfire. But are there other codes as well? The computers and codes don't always pin point the exact cause. They just lead you in a direction. Hopefully the right one. Multiple things can cause a misfire. Could be fuel problem, could be electrical/ignition, could be vacuum leaks, could be valve timing. There are alot of parts to the puzzle. Many different sensors the computer relies on. Could even be low oil level or pressure not allowing the hydraulic tensioner for the timing chain/belt to function properly therefore screwing up the valve timing. Cars today are very complex. Not as easy as it seems.

[DougJ]

Yesterday, I asked my Vegas Honda dealer (I have a Civic Hybrid), who suggested that this Chicago Honda dealership is "taking advantage of" my daughter here. He recommended what others here have said - - - that it may just be a gas cap issue AND that she should take her car to Autozone or similar to get the code FREE. So, going forward, she rescues her Fit tomorrow morning (dealer was closed yesterday before she could get there), going to Autozone, then a second Honda dealership in Schaumburg.
Miffed also that she owes them around $150 for diagnostic testing, which of course revealed nothing, "we don't know why your engine light is on." Garbage.