Thank you for having me over Wizard! Had a great time poking around and chatting with your techs. You have some solid guys working for you and I’m sure your customers are thrilled! Now, if only my Ford parts would hurry and show up….
Damn part shortage is screwing everything up! What trips me out the most, is JR says he “over nights” most of his packages but they still take a few days to get to him! Insane.
Omega Auto Clinic seems like the kind of shop I used to work at. Customer satisfaction was our highest priority, and the job was done right the first time. Unfortunately, there was the rare occasion when we messed up something, but the customer never paid for our mistakes. We never padded the bill with unnecessary repairs, we always verified every repair, and we warranted every repair. If I hadn’t become disabled, I’d love to still be diagnosing and repairing vehicles. I loved the challenge of finding a hard to find problem, and the instant gratification of fixing the problem.
I was talking to a really talented mechanic recently and he was mentioning how a lot of local shops are not able to retain experienced mechanics, his explanation was that the shop owners didnt want to pay the best mechanics enough to keep them around and they would rather hire an inexperienced tech since theyre cheaper
I litteraly trained my replacement for a month. Was supposed to be my new "helper". Why pay me $25/hr when he can pay this schmuck $10 and a little dope😡🤬😡🤬 Went from 5-6 days a week to 2-3, sometimes less. Meanwhile my "helper" is there 6 days a week. Found a new job, took a MASSIVE pay cut, but at least I don't work for some POS junkie anymore 🙄
Having been a mechanic I know that money is a very small part of what goes on and the motivation behind why people leave. A lot of times in my experience the management and a lot of the shops has been completely inapt. You've got a two-faced manager who won't let you fix anything right yet tells the boss that it's all the mechanics fault. Anymore, most shops want people who know how to plug in a computer, not people who know how to fix things. He can pay the keyboard Warriors a lot less
The biggest problem in our town: it’ll be a four hour book rate job, and the mechanic will charge eight hours, because he knows he can get away with it.
Well done mr wizard, helping the little guy out to kick start his channel. Jakes a great interviewee as well. He pays attention to what you say and applies well thought out responses. Nice touch. Have him on more often. Ty
I have a shop I use locally... I've had some junk cars, and I mean junk ... 93 Grand Am V6 for instance... that were kept on the road much longer than they should have been. This shop has been outstanding. I had a 2000 Sable and the head gasket blew... it had just under 210k on the clock... he was up-front with me, "sure I'd be happy to charge you 3 grand to resurface the heads and do the repair... but with all these miles, the car is worth 500 bucks... why don't you invest that 3 grand into something newer instead."
The reason I started working on my car a decade ago in my early 20s. I’m an engineer by trade and a car enthusiast. I didn’t trust the local shops. I truly enjoy doing the work myself.
Same, I started at probably age 21 in 1990 or 1991 with oil changes. Worked my way up to Master DIY I fix everything car, home, yard equipment, HVAC. I too have saved multiple hundred$ of thousand$ not having to replace cars, roofs, HVAC nor paying for repairs. Its freedom. What for others is a crisis is for me a minor issue to be fixed on Sat morning.
FANTASTIC VIDEO!!! I have not taken a car to a dealership or shop in more the 45 years. I’m a retired bomb technician and I learned to do EVERYTHING myself. If I knew someone like the Car Wizard, it may have been different. But he is a rare mechanic, indeed.
FANTASTIC video. More of Jake please. This was a very good set up ... a hobbyist mechanic giving his take on what's in the shop. JAKE'S CHANNEL - highly recommend it. Informative, step-by-step, everything explained, very well edited. And he's a very nice guy and super enthusiastic about his work.
The failing to put a part in the mail is disgustingly real. Recently, I needed a relatively inexpensive part. It was in-stock and supposed to ship in three days. A week later, nothing. I emailed and used other means to get a status. I called and got the run around. One day (3.5 weeks into the process) I called and got to an actual parts person. She put it in the mail the same day. Disappointingly, I'd order from them again. Good price on a good part that my local shop told me couldn't be found anywhere in the country. The way things are now, you put up with the headache.
Thank you Wizard for turning me onto 100percent Jake. I have enjoyed watching your channel and was binging yours and his channel all day yesterday during the blizzard we had here yesterday.
I understand what you and Jake are talking about with parts becoming scarce for certain cars. My experience was with a 2000 Olds Intrigue in 2008 and the dealership telling me that GM did not make a certain part needed. I told them to try to go through the auto wrecking yards.
You have a reputation as an ethical hard working mechanic. You should consider franchising your brand and overseeing new locations that adhere to your ethics. I would love to bring my car here in LA to a car wizard shop where I know they wont cheat me.
Lists are a beautiful thing! We ask all our customers, who are looking for more than just an inspection or LOF, to make us a punch list of what they desire us to do. Of course it gets copied onto the work order/invoice and filed, then we attach a copy to the work order, just incase of the off chance, an item didn't get copied to our paperwork. Often times, a copy may also end up taped to the windshield.
And this is why I stick with the small and big block GM, Ford and Chryslers simple to find parts for them even the Torqueflite, Turbo-hydromatic, Ford C4/C6 is simple to get parts for.
Wizard, you have already said it before. Skilled labor is not cheap and cheap labor is not skilled. Also experience does not happen over night. You have to put the time in and expect to learn from our mistakes. We have all been there who appreciate the industry. The old school guy.
When I need work on my car and it's something I've never done or aren't very comfortable with, I feel more confident in doing some research and learning how to do the repair by myself than I do taking it to a shop. So far, so good. I've learned alot and saved a bunch of money.
A good, honest mechanic is an invaluable resource. I miss not having a Volkswagon because I had such a great mechanic. He was 2 hours away but it was well worth making the trip. I’m contemplating getting another after my Veloster has run it’s course.
Thanks for another instructional video, Wizard. As I have written before, after hearing the horror stories you have shared, I am grateful for my local trusted BMW Whisperer. I am even thankful that I have had good, albeit pricey, experience with two of the local BMW dealers. The local Honda dealer has done good work on my wife's Accord as well. If anyone with a BMW or a Honda is in the Houston Area, I am comfortable referring them to these shops. If you have an Audi, BMW, Mercedes, VW or Volvo and you do your own wrenching, I cannot recommend FCP Euro enough.
I’ve have a 2009 Corvette that I have had for 7 years. When I bought it I knew how much run-flat tires cost, that you can’t get a 6 qt Mobil 1 oil change for $19.99, and that repairs will cost more. But I have maintained my car and I don’t drive it broken. And overall I have had great service and pleasure from my car. Put your Big Boy Pants on before you buy a performance car. This is why so many older performance cars are money pits, the high school kid who was the third or fourth owner could not afford the maintenance.
I have a very hard time taking any of my vehicles to any shop in Wichita anymore. All of the things that you described have been happening to me. As a semi truck owner and Driver, getting a semi truck fixed in Wichita is almost impossible. I have had wretchedly horrible, and expensive, experiences in town. It's so bad that I get the bulk of all my work done in South Dakota now. The lazy ineptitude of some of the shops is quite literally Criminal. I would love for the car wizard to be able to work on my stuff because I am quite literally out of places to go in the Wichita Area. It's gotten so bad that I've actually went out and bought as much tooling as I could just so I wouldn't have to take my car to a shop
If I were younger, I'd love to become a diesel mechanic. There just aren't many good ones out there. I know I'd be good at it due to the laziness of people.
Good mechanics are few and far apart. In my experience, there are many mediocre mechanics and tons of bad mechanics, both in local shops and even in dealerships. I would imagine that a lot of the parts swapping and upselling is nothing more than profit driven.
Your comment evoked a thought about every other profession, from engineers to Doctors , from teachers to mechanics. Mediocrity is the norm. Oh and BTW, ASE certification means nothing.
@@romeoroze2357 You are spot on. After I posted that I started thinking about other jobs and professions. When I worked for the State of AZ, one of my favorite sayings was that the really good people got disgusted and left, the really bad people were found out and fired, but the mediocre just continued on and on and on, often receiving promotion after promotion. Such a sad state of affairs.
I have dealt with those lousy dealer mechanics before. Some dealers have good mechanics and some have a bunch of jack legs. I had one that didn't even do the damn work they were supposed to do and I questioned them on it. "How can you replace valve stem seals and not even touch one bank of the engine". It was still dirty and didn't even have a hand print on it while the other side was clean and had fresh gasket goo oosing out. Even after the second time, they still didn't fix my damn car. It still use a quart of oil every 400 miles and it only had 30k miles on it.
I had a local dealership try to sell me a whole new short block($7800), saying I had a spun bearing. I learned to rebuild my own motor, new rods, new pistons, new main bearings, and new connecting rod bearings, but guess what, no spun bearing(s). The problem was a oil plug on top of my motor threads got ripped to shreds, and leaked oil under pressure.
Thanks Jake! I agree once we drove the SC430 we knew we would have to keep it. Nothing on earth drives quite like it. Its a small hard top convertible that has seats and cruises like a Lincoln continental.
@@despiracy9151 well said, most people who regurgitate that TG quote have never sat in or driven one. especially the 2006 and up with the 6 speed transmission and revised gearing.
As a hobbyist I ran into the showing available but not really being available a lot on a Toyota Pickup I was fixing recently. First time I've had that problem. I ended up forming a relationship with a local dealer and actually going in and placing an order at their parts counter as the most reliable approach. The other issue is even hunting for used parts, I tend to buy new parts but when they aren't available I'll turn to used parts. A lot of the salvage yards aren't keeping the vehicles on their lots as long (or they're getting stripped super quickly) and so I have to check regularly to see if a compatible vehicle has turned up on their lot.
I've had a few small issues with repair shops in my area, and because of that I stopped taking cars I care about to them. They can handle my work truck but not my fun cars. I've had issues lately with a body shop that cannot seem to get the door on my GTI properly. It's gone back to them 4 times and it's still making a ton of noise at highway speeds because of wind. And now the door card is creaking and stuff because it's not designed to be taken off and replaced 4 times
So true. It amazes me when I see people with high-end cars tearing their cars apart to put in car stereos. These people are taking apart 2 and 300 thousand dollar cars and they're never put back properly.🤔🤯
I’m reminded of that commercial from the 80’s where the guy brings in his vehicle to have the transmission fixed and there’s a tech off to the side trying to get a garden hose nozzle to spray and saying, “Gee boss I always wanted to fix a transmission!”, while there’s a couple of chimps in the background jumping around a transmission and beating on it with sticks
Alignments are really sketchy to get. If it isn't the front toe, there's a good chance that'll it'll never be done or they will say it's "unadjustable" (which is not true depending on the car or what needs adjusting).
The first shop that did my truck did a great job and had great customer service. The second shop did okay, but still having a slight pull issue. Regardless I don't own the proper tools to do it myself.
It's a shame we can't get parts for some of these older vehicles. I am trying to restore my Grandfathers Vega and Summit racing had the valve guides but some of the frame and fenders are either not supported by Chevy as they have deemed them "obsolete".
Very interesting, guys. The issue I often have is that places are simply not prepared to work on an old car. My daily is a 386,000 mile Volvo 240DL wagon. Luckily, parts are generally very easy, and FCP and IPD are good about shipping. The problem is finding someone who cares, who believes me when I say I want the old car fixed properly. I am not replacing the old boy. There is no need. 32 winters have definitely taken a toll, but the car is solid and it works. Only issue is that in a town of 142,000 people, mine is the only 240 in town.
I went into a Mercury dealership back in the early 1992 for a tire rotation for my 1991 tracer LTS. I drove away hearing clunking in the trunk. When I looked in the trunk, I had 12 lug nuts rolling around. They never did the rotation, because they could not remove the factory lock nut that came with the car (key was in the glove box).
I got into a flood situation nothing major except a shorted out starter and some water got into the turbos. The dealership had it for almost 6 months. I got it back missing clips, not running right, interior panels damaged finally. They claimed the car came in like that. They then did a 13+ hour job to just check the turbos and put them back in and they made so much noise when I got the car back. They charged two times for all new fasteners. I put an exhaust on the car a little later and all the fasteners were rounded off and/or missing. It was billed at $13000.
In Sacramento niello Acura Mechanics did a great job on my cars. I would always check after them and every time I could not even tell they did anything other than the new part lol.
I do everything I can on my cars. Biggest issue for me is crappy parts. Even Moog balljoints are crap now. have replaced 3 on our Acura TL. quality has gone downhill
I hear you. My family/close extended work on all of our own cars, pretty much Toyota/Lexus and the odd Honda/Acura or Infiniti. We've also discovered aftermarket parts are getting crappier and try to plan ahead and stick with OEM if keeping the car, ordered discounted through online dealers (Bell Lexus is my fav). I recall my dad was redoing the front end on my moms Lexus ES (struts, axle, lower control arm, outer tie rods, ball joints, etc). He either forgot to order or didn't plan on doing BJ's, so he ran to the parts store. The only ones they had were low end at around $30 each but he took them...didn't fit right. Called around to every parts store and found some 'premium" ones at $74 each that had zirk* fittings that required a grease gun/grease ($20). One ended up splitting the boot as it filled with grease...back for an exchange...had to wait 2 days for more to arrive. He looked up the sealed OEM...$50 each online, but a 3-5 days to arrive.
A shop fitted new rear struts to my Skyline in '93. First hard left I made one lower bolt fell out, and the body dropped down left on side. They hadn't put the nut on the bolt. I'm a mechanic, but they wouldn't supply struts unless they fitted them.
Arrrgghhh... that issue of people not willing to spend money on a good shop is frustratingly common on all fronts. As an IT professional, I see it on a constant basis with computers and equipment. As an avid kayaker, I see people wanting to by a whole kayak for what they should be spending on just the paddle.
This stuff you and Jake are talking about in your video is precisely why I work on all my vehicles myself. Now I’m lucky enough to have a friend that owns a shop so if I need information or knowledge I have access to it. But shops in this area are notoriously bad especially tire shops.
i know August of last year I spend $400 on a set of Cats for My Lincoln LS V8. It burned them out because of valve cover Gaskets failure that killed a couple ignition coils and flooded them with unburned fuel. Was a fun experience getting those changed. Without a lift and only a couple floor jacks.
I guess this is why a lot of people lease their cars. Problems become someone else’s in 3 years. Cars are becoming so complicated with electronics, no one knows how to fix them. Time to start thinking of modern cars like cell phones. Planned obsolescence in the warranty period. No parts or support beyond that.
Finding parts is going to be even more of a nightmare once these computers on wheels start to age out of warranty support and parts availability will be the largest issue. An average car these days has over 3 miles of wiring in it if you took out all the wiring out and lay it all out end to end. For me personally I stick to vehicles from 2004 or so on back. I don't want all of the sophisticated suspension management, hvac controls integrated into a giant touch screen, electronic steering and throttle and all that other crap that will break and cause major down time since parts availability will be crap.
It seems like we can tell you about the same stories you had in the US over here in Germany !!!! Parts sold which are not actually on stock, shipping delays and s.o. I own a Mitsubishi Sigma 3.0V6 12V from 1991 and parts supply is very difficult. If I did not have a tech who has got those parts on stock I would never ever be able to make the repairs. Even the Mitsubishi authorised dealer is buying those parts from him, like for the 3000 GT ! Right now my front ABS sensors have given up live. They will be shipped from my tech to the MMC dealership,so they can make the repair. I just love my car and want to keep it. It was never sold in the US, only as a Diamante which has a different design ! Omega is doing a great job and you.....Wizard and Mrs. Wizard.
I've purchased many parts from various sources over the internet. Never had a problem. Some times they arrive sooner than expected. A lot of eBay sellers do not have the items they are selling. They either order it when you purchase it or direct ship from a source
Had my Opel at the dealer for several fixes needed, they forgot to tighten one of the break bleed nipples, saw that a few moths later when changing to summer tires.
Minor parts are impossible to find for even newer cars. I can't find a shift boot and trim ring for a manual 2011-2015 Cruze without buying the entire shifter assembly. Ebay and Amazon parts simply don't fit, they're too big. But I've had parts issues since new - oil filters were difficult to find early and are still not always available.
Some warehouses are backed up a week. It takes 5 days from the time you order til the day they pick parts pkg parts and get them out to overnight express companies. These overnight companies are also backed up maybe a day or two but I've seen just the delivery companies 12 days behind. The entire business has expanded faster than ever before. Purchasing delivery vehicles, building sorting terminals, acquiring uniforms, training personnel all takes time.
I've had this problem with eBay recently. I was trying to get bicycle parts & of the 3 things I tried to get, I only got one. I kept getting emails that item was either damaged or no longer in stock. I found an old bicycle shop that had me set up in no time for cheaper.
@100PercentJake Hope you read this..... regarding your seat heating, try the aftermarket universal carbon heating mats. Might have to cut out a resistor because your car already has that installed in the switch but other than that these things work just fine with the original switches/circuit.
Great tour of works in progress, and visit with ol' Jake. Now that he fixed my Ferrari, can I come and pick it up? Hovies Ferrari - Wizard should have rubbed fender for Genie of the engine.
The one with the Charger, I understand him. Some dealerships just do it for the money or just don't care. Which is why I'm happy at my work placement where they do good and honest service! Some of the mechanics even clean the plastic cover
our local chain stores do the same thing, they say the what I want is stock when its not, then i found the part on E_Bay, plus they hire teen agers that dont know carbs or how they work
If need work done my car I drive to shop about hour away. As Dodge Dealer nearst me for does oil changes quick lube style. They not really very good about found issue. My parents have 2011 Dodge Caliber rush. The failed to find that frame that is supporting the engines badly rusted. To point were it could failed.
Put 35,000 miles on an 2006 Honda ST1300 ABS I purchased brand new….. with a 7.7 gallon tank, it was a great long distance cruiser…. Many of my peers had over 100k miles on theirs
In Australia parts supply situation is from my point is very good l was going to use ebay but l found a local spare parts shop so far has been good every part l need for my 25 year old toyota hilux (pick up) l can get over the counter
“Doesn’t take 30 minutes any more!” Thank god i have a 97’ Cr-V. Took my shop aprox. 1 hour total to get the driveshaft out and put the new one in. (Bout a month in-between with only 2 wheel drive due to budget but that’s why i’m grateful for that model car.)
A lot of good points brought up here that potential customers of repair shops should be aware of. The conflict of interest is huge. The more corners the shop cuts with regard to parts and proper repair procedures, the more money they make. Generally no one is watching them, and most shop owners (most human beings in general) do not have the integrity to resist being slowly corrupted by the desire to make short term profits. By the time the customer suspects or realizes that the shop did a lousy job, usually it is too far down the road to realistically hold the shop accountable. I don't have hard figures or proof, but I understand this industry and would estimate that well over half of all US repair shops are absolutely corrupt. This applies to both dealership service departments and independent shops. I work on my own cars. Not so much because I like it or am cheap, mainly because I don't trust shops.
I was in the Plumbing business for forty years and I would always be asked where to find a Good Cheap Plumber and I would always reply that such a thing does not exist. Take your pick which you want. I guess this applies to many professions.
OH!! Yes I forgot too Comment on that Breathe Taking 1975 Grand Marquis even prettier that Dolly Pardon sitting in the distance and that 1954 Blue Plymouth flat head straight 6 cylinder in the back ground"
Yeah wizard im on a shop search as of now my last shop i brought two trucks to for oil changes spark plugs they did everything but they didnt even change the oil filter and changed maf sensor i suspect was jus fine
I have a 2012 Chevy Volt and I couldn’t find a window regulator anywhere but the dealer. So a 60.00 part became 180.00 because they had it. I really wish everything would just go back to normal.
Long time subscriber here, And yes Wizard it really is that bad out there. I'm a semi retired ASE certified mechanic and have been doing it since it was NIASE, so over 30 years. I still have people begging me to work on there cars at my home shop because they have had such bad experiences.
Never had good experience with shops, one quoted me 600 for factory control arms that come 300 a set from ford, also have changed my tires once and had a shop do it, and they put steel weights on the OUTSIDE of my aluminum wheels
I'm waiting on a radiator for a 2018 Nissan Armada. OEM on back order. Nissan certified on back order. Not even in production. Over two weeks in the shop. Will probably be at least a month... for a radiator for a four year old mass produced common vehicle. I'm beyond frustrated.
Had truck in to have spring re-seated on the strut. After settling up, I drive off and check engine light comes on - my code reader says O2 sensor error - turns out it had been disconnected. Detailed why I don't go to mechanics - that was 'the trusted' shop in the area.
A friend had a chevy cavalier it ran great until we took it to a garage locally and it was diagnosed with a bad idle air intake valve it cost 13 dollars and it took 2 minutes to install and remove and cost me 1200 dollars because they couldnt get it to work like they thought it should so a new ecm/ICM at 90 bucks and 200 bucks to have the car flashed by a dealership and none of it was necessary I undone all their work put the ecm back that came from it and found the problem a 68 dollar vaccum booster for the brakes
Talking about people not wanting to get warranty work done at a dealer, just today I had a transit 250 come in to my shop for an inspection. I found the flex disc on the back of the transmission was coming apart and I looked it up and found out there's a recall on it so I told the customer and he said he'd rather pay me to fix it right than have it done wrong for free and pay down the line for it to be fixed right.
The parts situation is a pain on a good enough day, with respect to finding them. When I had my 95 Integra (the red in my pic), for certain parts, especially the rear suspension setup, there was no cheaping it out. When I pencil out the cost of replacing vs conversion, I was still at dead end in cost, because I had the bushing style strut base, as opposed to the y shaped base. Worse, getting parts here in Jamaica is even a greater pain in the rear. This had the JDM headlamps, so used on Ebay were an arm, tooth and other body parts. I can understand that. Its a 20+ yr old car. BUT this time last year, my mom bought an 05 Civic and one key thing we needed, our local dealership did not have - a wide band O2 sensor. Its a common Civic here, yet I could only find one used part shop that had it. So no new and 1 used. Ended up buying one on Amazon while she was in America. But almost a month ago, (the PAIN you highlighted), we bought a complete strut set from a company that lists on Amazon and after a few days, we got a notification that we were getting a rebate. That's it. No other info as to why we were getting the rebate. Only to find out when we got the package, that they ran out of front struts. No notice to say whether we're out for good or we'll notify when new struts are available. At least we got back our money. Wizard, power to you, for dealing with all those and worse on a daily basis.
Go to your local scca, drag strip, or circle tracks get involved. Most people who maintain, these type of cars are trying to prevent brake downs. The people who help maintain these cars are mostly precise and know what their doing. Take,s time but anything you care for deserves it
Wizard - of course there are crappy places out there. Your channel benefits greatly because of them. BUT not all other garages and dealerships are crappy. Omega is not the only place that can do quality work.
BOSCH SERVICE CENTER is always a good choice for Euro cars. Firestone is good for chassis and tire work. I've been buying a lot of Firestones and Nokians.
Thank you for having me over Wizard! Had a great time poking around and chatting with your techs. You have some solid guys working for you and I’m sure your customers are thrilled!
Now, if only my Ford parts would hurry and show up….
240Z content !
Parts QC has gone down to
Damn part shortage is screwing everything up!
What trips me out the most, is JR says he “over nights” most of his packages but they still take a few days to get to him!
Insane.
Jake from State Farm
I swear I thought this was a green screen composite video for the first half.
Omega Auto Clinic seems like the kind of shop I used to work at.
Customer satisfaction was our highest priority, and the job was done right the first time.
Unfortunately, there was the rare occasion when we messed up something, but the customer never paid for our mistakes.
We never padded the bill with unnecessary repairs, we always verified every repair, and we warranted every repair.
If I hadn’t become disabled, I’d love to still be diagnosing and repairing vehicles.
I loved the challenge of finding a hard to find problem, and the instant gratification of fixing the problem.
"The things with the stuff", yup that's Jake in a nutshell, Love his channel , and a great crossover
he is so cringy
"Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless!"
I feel like there's room for an "interview with a satisfied customer" segment.
Excellent suggestion
85% of Hoovies videos...
Hoovie being his customer is enough to know
I was talking to a really talented mechanic recently and he was mentioning how a lot of local shops are not able to retain experienced mechanics, his explanation was that the shop owners didnt want to pay the best mechanics enough to keep them around and they would rather hire an inexperienced tech since theyre cheaper
Most business owners have no idea how to run a business.
I litteraly trained my replacement for a month. Was supposed to be my new "helper". Why pay me $25/hr when he can pay this schmuck $10 and a little dope😡🤬😡🤬
Went from 5-6 days a week to 2-3, sometimes less. Meanwhile my "helper" is there 6 days a week.
Found a new job, took a MASSIVE pay cut, but at least I don't work for some POS junkie anymore 🙄
Having been a mechanic I know that money is a very small part of what goes on and the motivation behind why people leave. A lot of times in my experience the management and a lot of the shops has been completely inapt. You've got a two-faced manager who won't let you fix anything right yet tells the boss that it's all the mechanics fault. Anymore, most shops want people who know how to plug in a computer, not people who know how to fix things. He can pay the keyboard Warriors a lot less
@@chrisjie2127 Yes, in what aspects did you mean? Financial, managerial, business analytics? just curious
@@ImTheJoker4u This is nothing new, had the same scenario happen to me back in the 90's, working prototype in Detroit.
The biggest problem in our town: it’ll be a four hour book rate job, and the mechanic will charge eight hours, because he knows he can get away with it.
Well done mr wizard, helping the little guy out to kick start his channel. Jakes a great interviewee as well. He pays attention to what you say and applies well thought out responses. Nice touch. Have him on more often. Ty
I have a shop I use locally... I've had some junk cars, and I mean junk ... 93 Grand Am V6 for instance... that were kept on the road much longer than they should have been. This shop has been outstanding. I had a 2000 Sable and the head gasket blew... it had just under 210k on the clock... he was up-front with me, "sure I'd be happy to charge you 3 grand to resurface the heads and do the repair... but with all these miles, the car is worth 500 bucks... why don't you invest that 3 grand into something newer instead."
If you enjoy dry humor Jake is 100% for you.
One of the best channel intros as well. 👌😄
That check engine light gets me every time 😂
The reason I started working on my car a decade ago in my early 20s. I’m an engineer by trade and a car enthusiast. I didn’t trust the local shops. I truly enjoy doing the work myself.
Mine is just cost. A repair manual is my bible and worth more than it's weight in gold to my eyes.
@@jagtan13 That too. I was a poor college student. I either learned it or had no car to drive.
@@djolecar88 Same reason I started. I probably saved myself over $200,000 in the past 20 years doing my own repairs.
Same, I started at probably age 21 in 1990 or 1991 with oil changes. Worked my way up to Master DIY I fix everything car, home, yard equipment, HVAC. I too have saved multiple hundred$ of thousand$ not having to replace cars, roofs, HVAC nor paying for repairs. Its freedom. What for others is a crisis is for me a minor issue to be fixed on Sat morning.
FANTASTIC VIDEO!!!
I have not taken a car to a dealership or shop in more the 45 years. I’m a retired bomb technician and I learned to do EVERYTHING myself.
If I knew someone like the Car Wizard, it may have been different. But he is a rare mechanic, indeed.
FANTASTIC video. More of Jake please. This was a very good set up ... a hobbyist mechanic giving his take on what's in the shop. JAKE'S CHANNEL - highly recommend it. Informative, step-by-step, everything explained, very well edited. And he's a very nice guy and super enthusiastic about his work.
Jake is great... the everymans at home mechanic...I love Jared, Alex, & you as well.... inspirational
The failing to put a part in the mail is disgustingly real. Recently, I needed a relatively inexpensive part. It was in-stock and supposed to ship in three days. A week later, nothing. I emailed and used other means to get a status. I called and got the run around. One day (3.5 weeks into the process) I called and got to an actual parts person. She put it in the mail the same day.
Disappointingly, I'd order from them again. Good price on a good part that my local shop told me couldn't be found anywhere in the country. The way things are now, you put up with the headache.
Thank you Wizard for turning me onto 100percent Jake. I have enjoyed watching your channel and was binging yours and his channel all day yesterday during the blizzard we had here yesterday.
I understand what you and Jake are talking about with parts becoming scarce for certain cars. My experience was with a 2000 Olds Intrigue in 2008 and the dealership telling me that GM did not make a certain part needed. I told them to try to go through the auto wrecking yards.
You have a reputation as an ethical hard working mechanic. You should consider franchising your brand and overseeing new locations that adhere to your ethics. I would love to bring my car here in LA to a car wizard shop where I know they wont cheat me.
Lists are a beautiful thing! We ask all our customers, who are looking for more than just an inspection or LOF, to make us a punch list of what they desire us to do. Of course it gets copied onto the work order/invoice and filed, then we attach a copy to the work order, just incase of the off chance, an item didn't get copied to our paperwork. Often times, a copy may also end up taped to the windshield.
And this is why I stick with the small and big block GM, Ford and Chryslers simple to find parts for them even the Torqueflite, Turbo-hydromatic, Ford C4/C6 is simple to get parts for.
You goddamn right.
Jake speaks so clearly and eloquently! I subscribed!
Wizard, you have already said it before. Skilled labor is not cheap and cheap labor is not skilled. Also experience does not happen over night. You have to put the time in and expect to learn from our mistakes. We have all been there who appreciate the industry. The old school guy.
The problem is a lot of unskilled labor is also not cheap. You pay full price and still get ripped.
When I need work on my car and it's something I've never done or aren't very comfortable with, I feel more confident in doing some research and learning how to do the repair by myself than I do taking it to a shop. So far, so good. I've learned alot and saved a bunch of money.
Love 100%jake, it just baffles me that he doesn’t have more subscribers then he actually does!! His editing is top notch and his videos are great.
A good, honest mechanic is an invaluable resource. I miss not having a Volkswagon because I had such a great mechanic. He was 2 hours away but it was well worth making the trip. I’m contemplating getting another after my Veloster has run it’s course.
Thanks for another instructional video, Wizard. As I have written before, after hearing the horror stories you have shared, I am grateful for my local trusted BMW Whisperer. I am even thankful that I have had good, albeit pricey, experience with two of the local BMW dealers. The local Honda dealer has done good work on my wife's Accord as well. If anyone with a BMW or a Honda is in the Houston Area, I am comfortable referring them to these shops. If you have an Audi, BMW, Mercedes, VW or Volvo and you do your own wrenching, I cannot recommend FCP Euro enough.
Very cool to see 100% Jake and the Wizard together.
I’ve have a 2009 Corvette that I have had for 7 years. When I bought it I knew how much run-flat tires cost, that you can’t get a 6 qt Mobil 1 oil change for $19.99, and that repairs will cost more. But I have maintained my car and I don’t drive it broken. And overall I have had great service and pleasure from my car. Put your Big Boy Pants on before you buy a performance car. This is why so many older performance cars are money pits, the high school kid who was the third or fourth owner could not afford the maintenance.
I have a very hard time taking any of my vehicles to any shop in Wichita anymore. All of the things that you described have been happening to me. As a semi truck owner and Driver, getting a semi truck fixed in Wichita is almost impossible. I have had wretchedly horrible, and expensive, experiences in town. It's so bad that I get the bulk of all my work done in South Dakota now. The lazy ineptitude of some of the shops is quite literally Criminal. I would love for the car wizard to be able to work on my stuff because I am quite literally out of places to go in the Wichita Area. It's gotten so bad that I've actually went out and bought as much tooling as I could just so I wouldn't have to take my car to a shop
If I were younger, I'd love to become a diesel mechanic. There just aren't many good ones out there. I know I'd be good at it due to the laziness of people.
Good mechanics are few and far apart. In my experience, there are many mediocre mechanics and tons of bad mechanics, both in local shops and even in dealerships. I would imagine that a lot of the parts swapping and upselling is nothing more than profit driven.
I always say finding a good mechanic is like finding a good barber/hair cutter. Or girlfriend. lol
Your comment evoked a thought about every other profession, from engineers to Doctors , from teachers to mechanics. Mediocrity is the norm. Oh and BTW, ASE certification means nothing.
@@romeoroze2357 You are spot on. After I posted that I started thinking about other jobs and professions. When I worked for the State of AZ, one of my favorite sayings was that the really good people got disgusted and left, the really bad people were found out and fired, but the mediocre just continued on and on and on, often receiving promotion after promotion. Such a sad state of affairs.
I have dealt with those lousy dealer mechanics before. Some dealers have good mechanics and some have a bunch of jack legs. I had one that didn't even do the damn work they were supposed to do and I questioned them on it. "How can you replace valve stem seals and not even touch one bank of the engine". It was still dirty and didn't even have a hand print on it while the other side was clean and had fresh gasket goo oosing out. Even after the second time, they still didn't fix my damn car. It still use a quart of oil every 400 miles and it only had 30k miles on it.
I am presently having to wait 2 weeks for a rear lower control arm for my year 2000 Honda CR V MK1 here in Scotland!
I had a local dealership try to sell me a whole new short block($7800), saying I had a spun bearing.
I learned to rebuild my own motor, new rods, new pistons, new main bearings, and new connecting rod bearings, but guess what, no spun bearing(s). The problem was a oil plug on top of my motor threads got ripped to shreds, and leaked oil under pressure.
Wizard you are such a Classy person. This is why I watch your channel!
Jake and the Wizard, my two favorite grumpy old men of TH-cam!
Thanks Jake! I agree once we drove the SC430 we knew we would have to keep it. Nothing on earth drives quite like it. Its a small hard top convertible that has seats and cruises like a Lincoln continental.
Also chosen worst driving car ever by the 3 Grand Tour guys.
@@machtschnell7452 Who cares what those guys think. I enjoy the car and the opinions or 3 old men will not change that.
@@despiracy9151 well said, most people who regurgitate that TG quote have never sat in or driven one. especially the 2006 and up with the 6 speed transmission and revised gearing.
As a hobbyist I ran into the showing available but not really being available a lot on a Toyota Pickup I was fixing recently. First time I've had that problem. I ended up forming a relationship with a local dealer and actually going in and placing an order at their parts counter as the most reliable approach. The other issue is even hunting for used parts, I tend to buy new parts but when they aren't available I'll turn to used parts. A lot of the salvage yards aren't keeping the vehicles on their lots as long (or they're getting stripped super quickly) and so I have to check regularly to see if a compatible vehicle has turned up on their lot.
Love this video! Jake provides a good angle of knowledge.
Jake you're content is really starting to take off. Keep doing what you're doing man love your channel!
Jake, always humble... Love your content!
I've had a few small issues with repair shops in my area, and because of that I stopped taking cars I care about to them. They can handle my work truck but not my fun cars.
I've had issues lately with a body shop that cannot seem to get the door on my GTI properly. It's gone back to them 4 times and it's still making a ton of noise at highway speeds because of wind. And now the door card is creaking and stuff because it's not designed to be taken off and replaced 4 times
So true. It amazes me when I see people with high-end cars tearing their cars apart to put in car stereos. These people are taking apart 2 and 300 thousand dollar cars and they're never put back properly.🤔🤯
I’m reminded of that commercial from the 80’s where the guy brings in his vehicle to have the transmission fixed and there’s a tech off to the side trying to get a garden hose nozzle to spray and saying, “Gee boss I always wanted to fix a transmission!”, while there’s a couple of chimps in the background jumping around a transmission and beating on it with sticks
I believe it was an AAmco commercial
As a hobby mechanic, I refuse to let a shop touch my car, unless it's tires or an alignment, and tbh they're barley trustworthy enough for that
Alignments are really sketchy to get. If it isn't the front toe, there's a good chance that'll it'll never be done or they will say it's "unadjustable" (which is not true depending on the car or what needs adjusting).
The first shop that did my truck did a great job and had great customer service.
The second shop did okay, but still having a slight pull issue.
Regardless I don't own the proper tools to do it myself.
It's a shame we can't get parts for some of these older vehicles. I am trying to restore my Grandfathers Vega and Summit racing had the valve guides but some of the frame and fenders are either not supported by Chevy as they have deemed them "obsolete".
Very interesting, guys. The issue I often have is that places are simply not prepared to work on an old car. My daily is a 386,000 mile Volvo 240DL wagon. Luckily, parts are generally very easy, and FCP and IPD are good about shipping. The problem is finding someone who cares, who believes me when I say I want the old car fixed properly. I am not replacing the old boy. There is no need. 32 winters have definitely taken a toll, but the car is solid and it works. Only issue is that in a town of 142,000 people, mine is the only 240 in town.
Id love a feature on the e320 cdi, theres a sort of cult following of these. Keep up the great work guy!
I went into a Mercury dealership back in the early 1992 for a tire rotation for my 1991 tracer LTS. I drove away hearing clunking in the trunk. When I looked in the trunk, I had 12 lug nuts rolling around. They never did the rotation, because they could not remove the factory lock nut that came with the car (key was in the glove box).
Jake is great. Love the episode.
I got into a flood situation nothing major except a shorted out starter and some water got into the turbos. The dealership had it for almost 6 months. I got it back missing clips, not running right, interior panels damaged finally. They claimed the car came in like that. They then did a 13+ hour job to just check the turbos and put them back in and they made so much noise when I got the car back. They charged two times for all new fasteners. I put an exhaust on the car a little later and all the fasteners were rounded off and/or missing. It was billed at $13000.
100PJ vids are fun to watch because it’s what we called shade tree mechanics.
Also I enjoy seeing the Wizard yacht on plane during the intro.
In Sacramento niello Acura Mechanics did a great job on my cars. I would always check after them and every time I could not even tell they did anything other than the new part lol.
I do everything I can on my cars. Biggest issue for me is crappy parts. Even Moog balljoints are crap now. have replaced 3 on our Acura TL. quality has gone downhill
I hear you. My family/close extended work on all of our own cars, pretty much Toyota/Lexus and the odd Honda/Acura or Infiniti. We've also discovered aftermarket parts are getting crappier and try to plan ahead and stick with OEM if keeping the car, ordered discounted through online dealers (Bell Lexus is my fav).
I recall my dad was redoing the front end on my moms Lexus ES (struts, axle, lower control arm, outer tie rods, ball joints, etc). He either forgot to order or didn't plan on doing BJ's, so he ran to the parts store. The only ones they had were low end at around $30 each but he took them...didn't fit right. Called around to every parts store and found some 'premium" ones at $74 each that had zirk* fittings that required a grease gun/grease ($20). One ended up splitting the boot as it filled with grease...back for an exchange...had to wait 2 days for more to arrive. He looked up the sealed OEM...$50 each online, but a 3-5 days to arrive.
A shop fitted new rear struts to my Skyline in '93. First hard left I made one lower bolt fell out, and the body dropped down left on side. They hadn't put the nut on the bolt. I'm a mechanic, but they wouldn't supply struts unless they fitted them.
Arrrgghhh... that issue of people not willing to spend money on a good shop is frustratingly common on all fronts. As an IT professional, I see it on a constant basis with computers and equipment. As an avid kayaker, I see people wanting to by a whole kayak for what they should be spending on just the paddle.
This stuff you and Jake are talking about in your video is precisely why I work on all my vehicles myself. Now I’m lucky enough to have a friend that owns a shop so if I need information or knowledge I have access to it. But shops in this area are notoriously bad especially tire shops.
i know August of last year I spend $400 on a set of Cats for My Lincoln LS V8. It burned them out because of valve cover Gaskets failure that killed a couple ignition coils and flooded them with unburned fuel. Was a fun experience getting those changed. Without a lift and only a couple floor jacks.
Aftermarket?
Yep, can style highflows. Definitely helped the sound of the car.
Man that GOLD Jaguar S type is so freaking clean, I love how its painted in that 1960's/70's color.
I guess this is why a lot of people lease their cars. Problems become someone else’s in 3 years. Cars are becoming so complicated with electronics, no one knows how to fix them. Time to start thinking of modern cars like cell phones. Planned obsolescence in the warranty period. No parts or support beyond that.
Finding parts is going to be even more of a nightmare once these computers on wheels start to age out of warranty support and parts availability will be the largest issue. An average car these days has over 3 miles of wiring in it if you took out all the wiring out and lay it all out end to end. For me personally I stick to vehicles from 2004 or so on back. I don't want all of the sophisticated suspension management, hvac controls integrated into a giant touch screen, electronic steering and throttle and all that other crap that will break and cause major down time since parts availability will be crap.
It seems like we can tell you about the same stories you had in the US over here in Germany !!!! Parts sold which are not actually on stock, shipping delays and s.o. I own a Mitsubishi Sigma 3.0V6 12V from 1991 and parts supply is very difficult. If I did not have a tech who has got those parts on stock I would never ever be able to make the repairs. Even the Mitsubishi authorised dealer is buying those parts from him, like for the 3000 GT ! Right now my front ABS sensors have given up live. They will be shipped from my tech to the MMC dealership,so they can make the repair. I just love my car and want to keep it. It was never sold in the US, only as a Diamante which has a different design ! Omega is doing a great job and you.....Wizard and Mrs. Wizard.
100% Jake is one of favorite channels. Great Wichita collaboration.
I've purchased many parts from various sources over the internet. Never had a problem. Some times they arrive sooner than expected.
A lot of eBay sellers do not have the items they are selling. They either order it when you purchase it or direct ship from a source
I just bought a 2007 Quattropotre now the learning begins. The Cheap Florida car.
Had my Opel at the dealer for several fixes needed, they forgot to tighten one of the break bleed nipples, saw that a few moths later when changing to summer tires.
Minor parts are impossible to find for even newer cars. I can't find a shift boot and trim ring for a manual 2011-2015 Cruze without buying the entire shifter assembly. Ebay and Amazon parts simply don't fit, they're too big. But I've had parts issues since new - oil filters were difficult to find early and are still not always available.
Jake had a very good comment at the end
Buy a car that suits your budget instead of trying to be all flash and no cash 👍👍
Some warehouses are backed up a week. It takes 5 days from the time you order til the day they pick parts pkg parts and get them out to overnight express companies. These overnight companies are also backed up maybe a day or two but I've seen just the delivery companies 12 days behind. The entire business has expanded faster than ever before. Purchasing delivery vehicles, building sorting terminals, acquiring uniforms, training personnel all takes time.
I've had this problem with eBay recently. I was trying to get bicycle parts & of the 3 things I tried to get, I only got one. I kept getting emails that item was either damaged or no longer in stock. I found an old bicycle shop that had me set up in no time for cheaper.
Having Jake on ur channel is gonna make his channel grow; I mean I subscribed lol
@100PercentJake Hope you read this..... regarding your seat heating, try the aftermarket universal carbon heating mats. Might have to cut out a resistor because your car already has that installed in the switch but other than that these things work just fine with the original switches/circuit.
Love that MB from Vermont! As a Vermonter myself in my experience there are very few "qualified" shops to work on anything around here....
Great tour of works in progress, and visit with ol' Jake. Now that he fixed my Ferrari, can I come and pick it up? Hovies Ferrari - Wizard should have rubbed fender for Genie of the engine.
No mechanic in my town ever takes my old cars seriously first thing they say well it's an old car.
That just means they are hacks and to stay away.
The one with the Charger, I understand him. Some dealerships just do it for the money or just don't care. Which is why I'm happy at my work placement where they do good and honest service! Some of the mechanics even clean the plastic cover
our local chain stores do the same thing, they say the what I want is stock when its not, then i found the part on E_Bay, plus they hire teen agers that dont know carbs or how they work
If need work done my car I drive to shop about hour away. As Dodge Dealer nearst me for does oil changes quick lube style. They not really very good about found issue. My parents have 2011 Dodge Caliber rush. The failed to find that frame that is supporting the engines badly rusted. To point were it could failed.
Put 35,000 miles on an 2006 Honda ST1300 ABS I purchased brand new….. with a 7.7 gallon tank, it was a great long distance cruiser…. Many of my peers had over 100k miles on theirs
In Australia parts supply situation is from my point is very good l was going to use ebay but l found a local spare parts shop so far has been good every part l need for my 25 year old toyota hilux (pick up) l can get over the counter
“Doesn’t take 30 minutes any more!”
Thank god i have a 97’ Cr-V. Took my shop aprox. 1 hour total to get the driveshaft out and put the new one in. (Bout a month in-between with only 2 wheel drive due to budget but that’s why i’m grateful for that model car.)
A lot of good points brought up here that potential customers of repair shops should be aware of. The conflict of interest is huge. The more corners the shop cuts with regard to parts and proper repair procedures, the more money they make. Generally no one is watching them, and most shop owners (most human beings in general) do not have the integrity to resist being slowly corrupted by the desire to make short term profits. By the time the customer suspects or realizes that the shop did a lousy job, usually it is too far down the road to realistically hold the shop accountable.
I don't have hard figures or proof, but I understand this industry and would estimate that well over half of all US repair shops are absolutely corrupt. This applies to both dealership service departments and independent shops.
I work on my own cars. Not so much because I like it or am cheap, mainly because I don't trust shops.
I was in the Plumbing business for forty years and I would always be asked where to find a Good Cheap Plumber and I would always reply that such a thing does not exist. Take your pick which you want. I guess this applies to many professions.
Thanks for the recommendation on another channel…. Now I have lots to watch this weekend while it snows…
OH!! Yes I forgot too Comment on that Breathe Taking 1975 Grand Marquis even prettier that Dolly Pardon sitting in the distance and that 1954 Blue Plymouth flat head straight 6 cylinder in the back ground"
Yeah wizard im on a shop search as of now my last shop i brought two trucks to for oil changes spark plugs they did everything but they didnt even change the oil filter and changed maf sensor i suspect was jus fine
I wish gentleman like Dave would be in charge of passing future technicians in school. I bet 80% would fail of techs we have today
I have a 2012 Chevy Volt and I couldn’t find a window regulator anywhere but the dealer. So a 60.00 part became 180.00 because they had it. I really wish everything would just go back to normal.
Long time subscriber here, And yes Wizard it really is that bad out there. I'm a semi retired ASE certified mechanic and have been doing it since it was NIASE, so over 30 years. I still have people begging me to work on there cars at my home shop because they have had such bad experiences.
Never had good experience with shops, one quoted me 600 for factory control arms that come 300 a set from ford, also have changed my tires once and had a shop do it, and they put steel weights on the OUTSIDE of my aluminum wheels
I'm waiting on a radiator for a 2018 Nissan Armada. OEM on back order. Nissan certified on back order. Not even in production. Over two weeks in the shop. Will probably be at least a month... for a radiator for a four year old mass produced common vehicle. I'm beyond frustrated.
Had truck in to have spring re-seated on the strut. After settling up, I drive off and check engine light comes on - my code reader says O2 sensor error - turns out it had been disconnected. Detailed why I don't go to mechanics - that was 'the trusted' shop in the area.
A friend had a chevy cavalier it ran great until we took it to a garage locally and it was diagnosed with a bad idle air intake valve it cost 13 dollars and it took 2 minutes to install and remove and cost me 1200 dollars because they couldnt get it to work like they thought it should so a new ecm/ICM at 90 bucks and 200 bucks to have the car flashed by a dealership and none of it was necessary I undone all their work put the ecm back that came from it and found the problem a 68 dollar vaccum booster for the brakes
Pretty Jag!
Love the color.
Talking about people not wanting to get warranty work done at a dealer, just today I had a transit 250 come in to my shop for an inspection. I found the flex disc on the back of the transmission was coming apart and I looked it up and found out there's a recall on it so I told the customer and he said he'd rather pay me to fix it right than have it done wrong for free and pay down the line for it to be fixed right.
Thanks for the update!
The parts situation is a pain on a good enough day, with respect to finding them. When I had my 95 Integra (the red in my pic), for certain parts, especially the rear suspension setup, there was no cheaping it out. When I pencil out the cost of replacing vs conversion, I was still at dead end in cost, because I had the bushing style strut base, as opposed to the y shaped base. Worse, getting parts here in Jamaica is even a greater pain in the rear. This had the JDM headlamps, so used on Ebay were an arm, tooth and other body parts.
I can understand that. Its a 20+ yr old car. BUT this time last year, my mom bought an 05 Civic and one key thing we needed, our local dealership did not have - a wide band O2 sensor. Its a common Civic here, yet I could only find one used part shop that had it. So no new and 1 used. Ended up buying one on Amazon while she was in America. But almost a month ago, (the PAIN you highlighted), we bought a complete strut set from a company that lists on Amazon and after a few days, we got a notification that we were getting a rebate. That's it. No other info as to why we were getting the rebate. Only to find out when we got the package, that they ran out of front struts. No notice to say whether we're out for good or we'll notify when new struts are available. At least we got back our money.
Wizard, power to you, for dealing with all those and worse on a daily basis.
Go to your local scca, drag strip, or circle tracks get involved. Most people who maintain, these type of cars are trying to prevent brake downs. The people who help maintain these cars are mostly precise and know what their doing. Take,s time but anything you care for deserves it
Jake’s channel is awesome, it should have 10 times the subscribers
I 100% love 100% Jake 100% of the time. Best outro music in the game.
Wizard - of course there are crappy places out there. Your channel benefits greatly because of them. BUT not all other garages and dealerships are crappy. Omega is not the only place that can do quality work.
New episode just in time for my morning cup of Yorkshire Tea Gold!
Just having a cup of that myself.
BOSCH SERVICE CENTER is always a good choice for Euro cars. Firestone is good for chassis and tire work. I've been buying a lot of Firestones and Nokians.