Quicksand Fans

Best $20 you'll ever spend.
http://www.amazon.com/Honda-Accord-1998 ... 1563925389

I am getting my car back today (finally). Total repair costs ran $2,100. Part of that was some monkey business with either Pep Boys or Tires Plus having installed English bolts in metric threads. The ASE L1 technician (a very high rating in the industry) at Schlenker had to tap the threads and use thread locking compound to get them back to specification.

I called my Platinum VISA people and filed a dispute against the original Pep Boys charge and will send them complete documentation with their en route form next week. I will have my LegalShield lawyer review it and perhaps write a cover letter to strengthen it. I have read that Pep Boys have aggressive attorneys so this seems necessary.

Does everyone see how much a poorly reasoned choice of mechanic for "routine" work can cost?

This experience has proven some of my most expensive education to date!

They put imperial bolts in metric holes? Yea what that would do is damage (destroy) the threads in the part they're bolting into, the tech would've had to use a tap and reshape the threads so the right bolts would fit. I don't care if my car is on fire, I'm never going to Pep Boys.

In fairness to Pep Boys, that might have happened during a tune-up in the near or distant past elsewhere, though Pep Boys should have caught it in any case!

Pep Boys May Be for Sale

"Shares, which are up 24 percent this year, jumped 5 percent before the opening bell Tuesday."

How can their stock value rise with such lousy mechanics?

Maybe it's kind of like McDonald's. There's that one you know is safe to go to and there's that one you wouldn't go to if you were dying of starvation haha.
Might skip the Elio anyway. Jeep has confirmed a diesel Wrangler for next year. They're taking the Eco-Diesel drivetrain out of the 1/2 ton Ram pickups and putting it into a jeep. 400 ft-lbs of torque AND 30mpg? Here, take this blank check, and just write a number on it. I'll be out in the lot doing wheelies.

Someone just pointed me to http://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files as a good resource for locating competent mechanics.

Pep Boys issued a full credit back onto my card yesterday!

Hooray!

They even refunded the amount for the "properly" done steering column which together with the "improperly" done timing belt "almost" compensates me for the rebuilt engine.

I will eat the difference as an "educational" expense on how not to service a car.

Note to others: Always use a credit card with dispute privileges when servicing your car or anything else for that matter. It makes recovery for poor workmanship far, far easier than going to small claims court. If the vendor fails to respond within 30 days of the dispute, the bank will automatically perform a chargeback from the vendor to your card.

I know technically this is a "chargeback" and not a "refund" but I doubt at this point the merchant will challenge my dispute and chargeback given the documentation I supplied to the bank showing what happened to my car.

Good to hear man, that was a total noob mistake putting the wrong bolts in like that.