Re:Self-Crashing Cars
by LinuxBender on Monday January 29, 2018 @04:03PM
(#16260595)
This is just my own methodology, but I ask the local police / sheriff who the most reliable mechanic is. I then validate the number of tattoos on their team members. They must have a lot of tattoos and they have to be grumpy and their shop must be in a state of disarray. If they meet my criteria, then I have them do the work I can not do myself. This usually works out to be much less costly than working with a car dealership.
This is just my own unorthodox methodology. Your mileage may vary.
Re:Self-Crashing Cars
by deadmetheny on Monday January 29, 2018 @05:30PM
(#16261223)
This is a good method. My mechanic has giant WE THE PEOPLE and eagle tattoos, the shop's office is a disaster zone, and he does a hell of a great job at a reasonable price. Nice guy though, so he'd fail the grump test.
Extra credit if he has an ashtray in the waiting room that looks like a mariachi band made of taxidermied frogs.
(The best transmission shop I even saw.)
Re:Self-Crashing Cars
by stickfigure on Monday January 29, 2018 @04:05PM
(#16260608)
Woah. This comment deserves a blog post and its own thread on HN.
Re:Self-Crashing Cars
by dreamcompiler on Monday January 29, 2018 @05:04PM
(#16261036)
It's true. Same thing happened to me. Now the first question I ask a mechanic is "Do you sell data to Carfax?"
From my personal experience, the service departments will happily download data from your car and sell it to the highest bidder. My case was simple: the dealer updated the mileage record in Carfax using the odometer reading from my warranty-provided oil change. The car is leased, so I'm 99% sure I had no way to opt-out.
Sounds innocent, but my insurance company was watching. They extrapolated the mileage and decided I would cross the 7,500 mi/yr threshold - which triggered a premium hike. Funny thing - I didn't exceed 7,500 miles that year, but they already have my money now.
What else could a dealer read off your non-internet connected car when you bring it in?