Is there anyway to tell if a dealer really changes the parts he charges you for?

Question

They charged me 12 thousands when i hit a curb with my front tire. now 4 thousands miles later, they tell me that the mount and barrings needs to be replaced again. 300 up to 500 dollars again. I don't think they would go bad that soon and if they did, they should stand behind their parts. they say no. Is there anything I can do to tell if they put new ones in the first time?

Answer 1

Look over the original repair bill with the dealer shop manager or another shop that you trust to do good work and see if the parts that need replacing now are on that original bill---if they are, I would think they would be covered by a warranty on the original work, most replacement parts have a one year warranty but the labor may not be covered....check with the shop manager. If they are not on the original bill, I would find out if they are bad because of the damage done in the accident---if it was an insurance claim repair, check with your insurance company for a supplemental repair to the original claim if it is related. Any time you have suspension damage from a curb hit, it's best to itemize all the components replaced in case something goes bad shortly after the repairs because it could have been missed....especially wheel bearings which may sound ok when first driven after repairs but may get noisy shortly afterwards.

Answer 2

You have to be familiar with your car. You should be able to tell by inspecting the repairs if someone has in fact change something. I always inspect my car if I let anyone work on it. Generally speaking, I will allow three trips (prepare mentally) to the same shop for the same repair. Most of the time it is done right the first time but if they really gof it up then the three trips are already anticipated. Things can go wrong at any time with a car, even after you just picked it up at the shop.

You didn't mention what kind of car it was and why it cost $12K to repair. This sounds steep unless it was a rather expensive car when new.

Some problems from the crash cannot be seen or diagnosed until the car is driven and they could not have driven it when it was wrecked. I've been there and done that and had to take the car back right away and later took it to two other shops to replace items that the insurance company would not pay for druing the initial repairs.

Big headaches. Many people will immediately sell their car after it comes out of the body shop so they don't have to worry about the "What's next" problems.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

I would take it elsewhere and have them check it and ask if they thought those parts were fitted recently. For that sort of money you should have got work sheet and that should tell you what parts were fitted and what work was involved in the fitting. You should be able to demand that document.
Get a second opinion and find out whats guaranties apply where you are on parts and labor.
For 12 thousand I would expect it to do more than 4 thousand miles before anything in that area needed to be done again.

Answer 4

I try to make some kind of mark on the parts before I take my car in and then I ask to see the old parts after the work is completed. I look for the mark I made on the part.

Answer 5

This is a good question and an easy one to answer. Obviously you got into a major accident with substantial body damage. When that happened they sent an insurance adjuster out to where the car was towed to, to determine the actual damage of the vehicle. Sometimes things can be missed, so if you think it was related, I would call your insurance company and theirs if it wasn't your 'fault' and explain that this damage might be related to the previous accident and overlooked, be polite, and most insurance companies will send out an adjuster to re-examine it and they might authorize the work to get done for you, good luck with it, you'd be stupid not to do that

Answer 6

They are ripping you off. Identify the parts on your car, and mark them with a marker or scratch some kind of identifying mark on the parts. Also, always ask for the old parts back. They are yours and you should at least see them.