Is my trusted mechanic screwing me?

Question

On my way to Cracker Barrel one beautiful weekend last month, I rolled down the wondow and BANG. It fell off the track and down into my door. Fearing the worst I waited and waited to take it to the mechanic. After all, i fished it out of the door panel and shoved it back up. The motor is still working fine it is just off the track. I don't know if the track is broken or what, and furthermore my mechanic didn't even LOOK at it before saying it WAS broken and I had to get a whole new motor assembly which comes with a track because you can't buy them seperate. He said the junk yard wanted $175 which was more than the GM dealer (2002 pontiac aztek, by the way) who wanted $143... so my question is this. Is this what I need, because I found it at this website for $50 and the refund $25 BACK when you send in your OLD one for them to rebuild!

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/products/products.php?year=2002&make_text=pontiac&model_text=aztek&category=body_mechanical_-and-_trim&subcategory=windows_and_glass

but it doesn't look like it comes with a track to me, unless that's what the 'gear' is...

Answer 1

Well I guess it is how you want to define screwing you... he may not be telling you the whole story or over simplifying it for you. A lot of the power window motor / regulators have a plastic gear that over time gets brittle from heat and ozone and use the just fails. Same goes with the window clips that you find sometimes on the end of the lifting arm. I don't know the specifics of your vehicle so I can't address them properly but this could be the case. If there is a dealer in your area go to the parts department or call and ask what you would need to fix a fallen window. Better still because they are pretty objective in my area is the local NAPA auto parts store. I say Napa because they employ people that have real knowledge about working on vehicles. Not high school shade tree mechanics like auto zone or checker. Ask them what you would need and if you could see the explode parts diagram for the power window regulation system. The NAPA guys here would be glad to do so. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Many GM vehicles have a cable style window regulator(track) these cables are a common failure item. A lot of these assemblies are sold as a complete unit with the motor attached but some are avaliable seperate. I have even had local dealers try to sell my shop parts at a higher price (after our wholesale discount!!) than what they would charge a retail customer at their dealer service counter. So I would not blame the mechanic just yet just suggest that the price you got from the dealer was less. Be cautious about internet rebuilt parts because if somthing goes bad you are going to expect someone to stand behind the repair (the mechanic). That is why those of us who do this professionally have our preferred parts suppliers, you will pay a little more, but a job done right is better than a job done for less!!

Answer 3

You're a sharp cookie. I would have liked to have seen the interior door panel removed to find out exactly what was broken. Occasionally the slides and arms are computer tack welded together. if the electric motor still works, the plastic worm drive is in one piece, the glass is still inside the track the unit should be able to be re-welded if he was the least bit sharp.
If the pieces can't be repaired I'd certainly buy one from autopartswarehouse as I've dealt with them on a lot of high dollar items. The Cardone unit that is shown in the description is re-manufactured outside Philadelphia, PA. They're a very good company. If you want to buy the part locally most auto part stores and auto paint and body panel shops can get it for you. The beauty of auto parts warehouse is you duck the sales tax and shipping is free if the part costs more than $50.00. The only question I would ask them is: Who pays for the shopping for the core (old part) return.

Get some other "guesstimate's" on the repair job itself to be sure your not being shall we say "compromised" in any way!

Answer 4

The window motor you are looking at is not the problem,the regulator has broken or the window has simply come loose from it's mounting hardware.Until someone takes the trim panel off to see what happened there is no way to know for certain.It may be a $200 fix or just a simple reattachment.

Answer 5

The "track" is actually called a window regulator and on this year, make and model the motor and the regular can be replaced separately. My GM parts matrix lists the parts separately with the regulator listing for $168.79. There are no new aftermarket replacements for the regulator that I am aware of. A $50 one is probably a used or a remanufactured one. Either way, no thanks. I suspect you are getting what you pay for at that price, maybe less.

ASE Certified Automotive Service Advisor

Answer 6

How would we know? We don't know the mechanic. That's like if I ask you if I should trust my doctor. You don't know him. How would you be able to say one way or the other? Did you even think about that? Edit: It's funny that people are giving me thumbs down, when I have a completely legitimate point. We can't say one way or another if you should trust someone we don't know. How could we?

Answer 7

Apparently it does look like the motor and track are sold separately. I don't know why they wouldn't be. It doesn't make sense to lock the track and the motor together as a unit.

I'd go to a body shop and see what they would charge. I think your mechanic is trying to rip you off.

Answer 8

It looks like he didn't want to do the job if he didn't take the door panel off and find out what went wrong as well as shopping around for parts.

Answer 9

I wouldn't take a problem like that to a mechanic. I'd take it to a body shop and if the dealer will sell you a new one for less that a used one, take it to the Dealer body shop and get an estimate.