My car was diagnosed with a bad power steering pump. So I tell them to fix it and the bill comes out to $2500 for the pump and new reservoir {both 997 parts with a redesigned PCV} and labor. The car sounds exactly the same and now they are saying that it must be the accumulator or clutch slave causing the pump to overwork. I trust these guys but I feel ill used having to pay for parts and labor that didn't solve my problem. After all, it is their job to correctly diagnose the problem.

What would you do?

 

Sit down with him and discuss the issue just as you have stated.

If you were an Medical Doctor and he fixed the wrong knee, would you be expected to pay for the second knee when he was at fault?

If you hired someone the tear down your house and they tore down the house next door, would you pay them for their error?

If your painter painted your rooms the wrong color would you pay him twice?

If the plumber snaked out you main line and within an hour the drain was plugged would you pay twice?

Every walk of life has it's own particular differences, but paying to do the job twice is never done when it is an error of the one doing the work.

Did it say on your work or that you probably signed that he was not responsible for is misdiagnosis?

 

dam those are some funny examples. gl with the problem, just be real with the guy.

 

Can 't say I necessarily agree with all the examples put up by PorscheDude....but his logic is sound. You paid for something to get fixed and it didn't fix the problem...therefore the problem you paid to have fixed still exists. You in essence "contracted" with a professional and sought his advice on a problem. This professional rendered his professional opinion and performed what he thought was the proper diagnosis and fix....and it turns out NOT to the be correct solution. You are a layman...you go to a professional because that person advertises that he is experienced and qualified to diagnose and fix your problem....and you got charged $2500 for what? To replace a perfectly good whatever-it-was? No...ask for the original part back and have it checked out. Chances are there's nothing wrong with it....but PLEASE keep the contact and followup on a civil and cordial basis. A number of the problems we see on these forums come from an immediate polarization of the two factions.....which can and sometimes does start out with ....What the F*** did you do to my car? I'm not saying this is what went on, but certainly a straight forward and cordial inquiry gets you a lot further than an irate approach. In addition, you also probably put it on your VISA....you can also very politely remind the fellow that unless this can be resolved or explained to your satisfaction, you intend to dispute the charge. That usually gets their attention. The pervading critical element ultimately comes down to the $$$ IN ADDITION to the attitude.

Best of luck....but in reality you don't need luck...you just need someone with a fair sense of professionalism and a common sense approach to conflict resolution.

 

First off, ouch, that sucks... $2500 is a lot to dump on something even if it is fixed... And even worse if it is not fixed...

I agree a professional should be able to fix the car the first time, but lets get back to the real world. Cars are sometimes hard to diagnose and no one is perfect at it. That being said, it does not help the fact that it did not fix the problem.

Being a business owner, if I were the shop owner, I would offer to give you the labor for free to fix the next thing and parts at cost. They already made their profit on the first job, and you shouldn't be responsible for them to learn on your car.

I don't think removing the pump and putting the old one on would be an option - even if they had the old pump still - it was probably sent back as a core return. So only viable option is to focus on how they are going to help you out moving forward and fixing the problem.

Just keep in mind, no one is perfect and these things happen. What separates the boys from the men is how the issue is handled from here on... This is a lose lose for both parties and crap happens, IMHO.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

Larry,

Hmm. I think the bill is excessive. Was there a whistling sound that made you take it in for service?

 

No a growling gear sound.

Here's the thing. I like these guys and this shop. They have given me great service, treat the car and me with respect and my personal tech has been meticulous and always on time and done a great job. I don't want to get on the bad side of these guys, but at the same time, I can't just throw $2500 down the drain. I'll have to think about this for a couple of days and figure out the proper approach to resolve the situation.

 

Larry: Good approach...clears the mind and gives you a better perspective on how to approach the issue. The absence....or at the very least, the deferring of polarity always is a big plus.

 

I've done my own work, almost exclusively for years. As a result when crap like this happens, I just have myself to blame. Seriously. This kind of thing can happen even with careful diagnosis.

In the few times I've work with shops, I am usually involved in the diagnosis and decision making. However, if I am told, unequivocally "this is the problem, we will fix it" and they charge me 'full retail', I expect 'full retail service'.

Part of the reason shops make 30-40% on parts, and charge $120 an hour AND charge 'book time' when it takes them 2/3 of that time to do it, is to have a 'cushion' when they make mistakes.

They should step up to the plate on this and cover it.

It really frosts me when they claim "well, that was bad AND this other thing was bad, so we had to do both"... Reading your first post it sounds like they are building that defense already: the accumulator was bad, AND caused the pump to fail- we just fixed the pump first.

In any event, get educated on the interrelation of these issues- then have a serious chat with them...

Good luck.

 

So what have they said about moving forward? Have they offered anything or are they just saying both are bad and this also needs fixed, etc?

 

Larry long time..

who did you use? I had a similar problem with my TT, the accumulator mostly fixed it. when I when in they started with the accumulator then the said the pump may have been fouled by the accumulator. The guy that was working on it was very familiar in a couple different design flaws with the 996tt PS pumps. He also said it would be more like 1200 vs. 2500.

PM me if you would like.

 

Suncoast sold me my repalcement accumulator for under $200. Mike showed me how to install it for free.

 

So far no offers other than to switch out the accumulator and clutch slave. I'm sure they are hoping I am going to just roll over and take it. Can't really blame them for wanting to cover themselves but things will be made right in the end. Since I bought an accumulator and clutch slave months ago just in case, I'll have them changed out so the whole system will be new.

On another note, I was at the track yesterday and had another tech listen to the sound and he thinks its one of the timing belt pulley bearings giving up the ghost. An easy fix he says, but if correct, a complete misdiagnoses of the problem by my guy.

 

Well, If you trust the guy at the track more than your mechanic, he's your new guy!!! j/k. Tell your guy to replace the pulley bearing, if the noise goes away, you pay for the pulley bearing and the labor to do it, and NOTHING else. If it doesn't, ASK them why they changed a bunch of parts and the noise is still there?

 

This i got from my indy, if a customer comes in and saying repair this or that he does it but first tells them that might not be the problem. If the customer persits he repairs it if that's the problem it's fixed. If they come in and say my car is doing this or that, he says he'll diagnose it and fix it, then the buck stops with him. It's how you approach with your problem as to whose fault parts are that don't fix the problem. If you went in and told them your pump was noisy or needed replacing, you bought it. If they told you you need a pump you have the advantage. hope this helps, if not now for future reference. sorry for the thesis...