path: root/wheels/2019-07-04-yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md

---
permalink: "/posts/{{categories}}/{{slug}}"
title: YABS - Yet Another Bad Shop
categories:
  - automotive
tags:
  - yabs
  - sucky
  - auto
  - repair
  - shops
published_date: "2019-07-04 22:12:46 +0000"
layout: post.liquid
is_draft: false
excerpt_separator: "\n\n\n"
---

Today I received a text message from a local mechanic/auto shop asking me to
leave them a Google review. It was an automated message from a shop that I know
well and have used many times in the past. Unfortunately, I have had several
poor experiences (at the time they seemed horrific) with them in the past year
and I can honestly say they'll never receive my business again.  Now I could
have used this as an opportunity to leave them an anonymous nasty-gram but
instead I'm going to do the opposite. I'm going to write about everything I
don't like about them without telling you who they are or hiding who I am. Why
would I do that? Well for one, they were an excellent shop for many years. I
believe a recent change in management is to blame and I'm not going to ruin
their chances of making a comeback (because frankly I would like for them to
rebound). And secondly, I don't believe in hiding. This page and its author are
public knowledge. Now, in no particular order: a sample of awful work from yet
another bad shop.

# Mom's Truck -- Balls Out

Mom's truck is a 2007 Chrysler Aspen that she loves very much. Dad does a whole
lot of work on it himself (the both of us do pretty much everything we can
in-house so long as we have the right equipment). We've been taking her truck
into this shop for years because we've found them to be reliable, efficient,
and economical. As I said before, at some point in their recent history they
changed hands -- either ownership or management, I can't remember which. It was
around this time that Dad decided to overhaul Mom's front suspension. He
replaced the ball joints, tie rod ends, and a few other worn out parts. He then
did his own best-guess front-end alignment, but left everything loose so that
YABS could finish up the alignment and tighten everything. Now read that again
because it's important. Dad did his own alignment in our driveway (as a
cost-saving measure), got it decently close, but then instructed this shop to
finish the job and tighten everything up.

Now here's where things fall apart. This shop full of professional mechanics
took one look at the alignment Dad did and decided it was good enough. Hooray
for Dad and supernatural mechanical skills, but the shop didn't even touch the
car. They called Dad back to come pick up the car, telling him it was already
good to go. They never tightened a thing, even after Dad explicitly told them
everything was loose and needed to be tightened but they didn't to touch a
thing. So what happened? Dad picked up the car assuming everything was A-OK and
Mom drove the car for about a week before the two front tires wore down so
badly they had to be replaced immediately. Everything fell out of alignment as
things loosened further and further and the tires wore unevenly until they
ripped themselves to shreds. The worst part? These weren't tires with 6+ years
on them. These were brand new tires. So YABS got to install two more front
tires and then tighten everything. They did not cover the costs, presumably
because it was Dad who had done the alignment. Strike one.

# Friend's Minivan -- Crude Necessities

A good friend of ours drives a 2005-2006 Chrysler Town and Country. It was
actually Mom's car before upgrading to the Aspen (the minivan was perfect in
every way but it couldn't tow). Our friend has been using YABS for just a long
as we have. Once again, things started getting kinda strange after several
years of good service. She started getting charged extra for simple repairs she
had them doing very consistently. They also started tacking on extra items for
routine jobs. She would go in for an inspection and they would claim she needed
a new Part X. Now this in and of itself isn't an uncommon or even strange
request to make. As cars age they need things and sometimes you don't know what
they need until you visit a professional mechanic. They remember the things you
forget about.

One day they did all the forgetting, and they forgot a pretty important, nay,
crucial engine component: motor oil. Our friend took her minivan into YABS for
a routine oil change. Good diligence on her part. And she's not the type to do
that change on her own. She's too old to get under a car anyway (no offense!).
So she took the van to YABS and they did a job they've done thousands of times:
drain oil, replaced the filter, and gave her back the car. Easy peasy right?
Now I know I'm not a professional but I'm thinking someone might have wanted to
double-check that several quarts of synthetic had left the shop shelf and gone
into the car they just backed out of the bay door. Now this part of the story
I'm a little fuzzy on so take it with a large, heaping grain of salt, but I can
say for a fact that they failed to *completely* refill the engine oil before
returning her car. Supposedly there was enough in there such that the minivan
survived long enough for them to realize it before she drove off. 

# Monty, My 2013 Ford Focus -- Nut Allergy

I decided to give YABS another try after a long leave of absence. I needed new
tires all around for my daily driver. I also needed an inspection and an
alignment. A simple set of tasks for any shop (you see where this is going). I
initially tried to go to another local shop but they were all out of the tires
I was looking to get so I caved and went to YABS. About halfway through the job
they gave me a call and told me they had some bad news. They said that there
were some issues getting the lug nuts off my wheels and that they had all been
stripped, warped, or otherwise destroyed in the process. They told me the only
fix was to get new ones from a supplier in town for about $160. Keep in mind
the entire job (inspection, tires, etc.) was going to cost $650. Furthermore,
dad and I had no problem getting those lug nuts off and back on again just a few
weeks prior when we changed the transmission fluid.

They didn't have an explanation that I could reconcile with. Joe Schmo over
the phone told me this is typical of Fords and Chryslers these days and that
they'd like to keep my lug nuts for a class action lawsuit they're participating
in. Now why on Earth would any sane mechanic, with full knowledge they are
dealing with a defective set of lug nuts, take a high power impact wrench to
those wheels without speaking with the owner about it first? Smelled fishy to
me honestly. But what was I gonna do? Dad went out and grabbed twenty new
lug nuts for cheaper than they wanted to sell them for. 

Oh the tires were Cooper GTs by the way and they're amazing. They're smooth
and quiet and came with a very nice warranty. They're also made in the USA,
which is very important to me. 10/10 would recommend.

# Ole Blue -- Tunnel Vision

This was the real kicker. And this one doesn't really have any trailing
narrative. I got four new tires on Ole Blue, my 1953 Hudson Hornet. They were
delivered to our house: four brand new Diamond Back wide white wall radials.
Super nice tires, with a super nice road hazard warranty (as a side note I
totally recommend you [check out Diamond Back's website]() if you're looking
for white wall radials). So we brought the car to YABS with the new tires and
asked them to mount them on the car. 

When we went to pick up the car everything looked great and I drove off. I made
it all the way to the Monitor Merrimack Memorial Bridge Tunnel before I heard a
loud rattling and a bang. I looked in the rear-view mirror and swore I could
see my precious hubcap rolling off to eternity. When they replaced the hubcaps
they didn't fully press one of them on. And it's not that difficult. These hub
caps are very secure when pressed on the rim, we've never had problems with
them. Oh and we're talking about Hudson hubcaps that came with the car, and
aren't super easy to find. And I couldn't stop to get out and grab it because I
was right at the mouth of the tunnel. We went back later to try and see it but
we couldn't. And it was probably destroyed getting thrown from the car anyways. 

The worst part is, the hubcap took a chunk out of my white wall on its way out
from under the wheel skirt. So the day I got the tires I had to take a picture
and redeem my road hazard warranty. Luckily, Diamond Back were true to their
word and sent me a new one no questions asked. The beat up tire is now my
spare.

# Not All Bad

Like I said before, YABS used to be a very nice shop with friendly people that
did good work. And they didn't charge exorbitant prices for their work. Times
have changed, and I believe management has as well. I've stopped visiting their
shop completely. I found a new one that I trust and will be taking all of my
cars to. They've already done a safety inspection on Ole Blue and didn't put up
a fuss. They're clean and friendly and don't seem to be out to screw me. But as
with everything else, your mileage may vary.