Mechanic Review

[TPain]

The story

I had some issues with my front axle in my 85 GL-10 turbo wagon. The car also had bad CV joints as well. I took the car to Jeff Mackin of At Your Service Autocare in Snohomish (I heard he did great work at a great price, I was sorely mistaken). FYI, Jeff is an very high-strung stressed out individual and as I found out, he makes his problems, your problems; this only complicated things further as time went on.

 

I dropped my car at Jeffs. Several days later, he told me that in addition to the axle and CV issues, there were some other issues that needed fixing, valve cover seal, rear brakes, leaking muffler, and a few other things. These were minor repairs and I had him repair a few of them.

 

Approx. 2 WEEKS later, yes, 2 WEEKS, he said the car was done. I went to pick the car up and after about 20 min on the way home, the car began shaking again. I couldn't believe it.

 

I called Jeff and told him he didn't fix the axle, he gave numerous reasons (excuses) of what he thought happened. He ended up telling me that he confused my car with someone else's on the car lift. What?

 

I then drove the car to my house where it sat for a few more days, I was coordinating with Jeff to have him come pick the car up. During that time, the dome light was left on which killed the battery. Anyhow, I went to jump the car and then blew a fusible link. I still don't know how it happened, I did not cross the wires when I jumped the car.

 

Jeff came to pick up the car and he brought a fusible link, we replaced it, still nothing. We determined the fuel pump was not working properly. He then insisted to have it towed down to his house. I agreed.

 

Things went from bad to worse

The problem was simple, the fuel pump wasn't working. Although power was getting to the pump, the ground signal was not; the ground signal is given by the ECM, the pump is not grounded at the source.

 

I contacted General Disorder and got his opinion on my situation, he was very skeptical. He said my ECU was probably fine and that my mechanic was the problem.

 

Finally, Jeff called me and said we should order another ECM, it took almost a week and a half to get the part, the snow delayed things a few days but still, way too long. He got the used part only to realize that it didn't work. He then had to order another ECM.

 

Finally, he got the ECM, but guess what? The ECM wasn't the problem, my ECM was fine.

 

Then, yesterday, Jeff called me and said he didn't know what was wrong with the car. Even more bizarre still, he said he didn't have the proper Subaru manuals he needed to fix the car. He said he couldn't locate the grounding points in his Chilton and Haynes manuals. He also said he's only worked on a few models similar to mine in the last 30 years of service. Huh?

 

Totally frustrated, I got a hold of General Disorder again, thank God for him. I spoke with him at length and he essentially diagnosed and fixed my car on the phone. Solution? Put a ground wire at the fuel pump and call it good for now. The axles he said, needed new grease and new boots at the DOJ (inner joint), not replacing.

 

So, here I wait, my car still at Jeff's house and he won't return my calls. My plan: get the car out of his garage as fast as possible and take it to someone who actually knows what they're doing, or fix it my self.

 

That's my experience, I thought I might be useful for some of you.

Edited February 2, 2012 by TPain

[MilesFox]

Fixing it yourself is a viable option. all you need is a drift punch, a 36mm socket, and the USMB. Labor is free if you are doing it yourself.

 

I always stand by and advocate that a subaru is a good car to learn about auto repair, since it is pretty straight forward with these compared to other makes.

 

You should go deebo back your car if you can do it in a manner that you are not 'trespassing'. Dude should have to release your car if he knows you are there to retrieve it. He shouldn't be allowed to hold it for payment if the repairs were not made and there was no contract for the work.

 

It is for this reason that i am hesitant to take down payments if someone brings me their car, and i will be straight forward if it is work that i do not have the time or tools for.

 

This is why i work on cars as a hobby, not a profession. Most of the time i take on this kind of work is because i am the only one who knows how to do it, but there have been times i have been compounded by sitting on a car that i cannot get to. But now i own that car. I can see both sides of the fence. This jeff guy should have known better about taking on your car if he was not confident in doing so.

Edited January 30, 2012 by MilesFox

[TPain]

Thanks Miles.

 

Good advice. I've already paid him for some of the repairs. He said he would repair the axle for free since he didn't fix it originally (which he should at the very least). The the wiring issue he's clueless on. He wanted to dump more hours diagnosing it and I told him "No" yesterday. The simple fix is to ground the pump directly at the source.

 

Basically, this guy talks a pretty good game but isn't nearly as knowledgeable as he says, and like you said, he should have known better. It's very frustrating, I pride myself in making good decisions .

 

I'm a pretty mechanically inclined person so I could definitely fix it myself. The reason I didn't fix it my self is for lack of time.

 

We'll see what happens. Thanks!

[Turbone]

Hopefully it wasnt someone from here that recommended him :-\

And I wouldnt let him touch your car again, he might make things worse.

[TPain]

Yes it was unfortunately. I posted a thread on good mechanics in my area a while back.

[Turbone]

I went back and read the thread.

I'm really surprised because the person that recommended him would never steer someone in the wrong direction. I myself would never hesitate going somewhere he mentioned. Very perplexing and I will have a talk with him about it. Sorry you had such a bad experience with the shop/mechanic.

[TPain]

No no, there's no need for that. It's not anyone's fault. I don't blame anyone, except the mechanic .

 

I (and General Disorder) just though sharing my experience would be helpful for others.

 

Hopefully, I can spare someone else the frustration. In hindsight, I would have taken it to a dealer or attempted the repair (with the boards help) myself; would have had my car weeks and weeks ago.

 

The warning signs were all there, it's just been so long since I've had a car worked on that my mechanic instincts were dull.

 

Live and learn. But thanks for all your guys' help. I really appreciate it. General Disorder rocks!

[GeneralDisorder]

Communication is key and I think the most troubling part of the story is that Jeff (the mechanic) is unable or unwilling to communicate with his customer or the resources (such as this board) necessary to solve the problem. Not returning phone calls is extremely troubling. Not being able to immediately solve the problem can happen to anyone but the key to excellent customer service is in being truthful, honest, and in the end making it right - if that means returning the customer's vehicle and money with an appology that you can't find the problem then so be it. But a better solution would be to ASK FOR HELP or find the resources - like factory service manuals - needed to do the job. The FSM's are still availible to order from Subaru. It's not the customer's job to supply them, or research the problem through internet forums. That's what the mechanic is being paid to do so the customer doesn't have to.

 

Also - *guessing* at what the problem might be ("Darn those pesky new-fangled computers! Must be the computer!") and throwing expensive parts at the problem when the proper diagnostics have not been performed to determine if that's the right action or not.... is very unprofessional.

 

GD

Edited January 30, 2012 by GeneralDisorder

[TPain]

The situation continues to get worse. I'm now considering getting my car the hell away from Jeff and having it towed back to my house or a dealership; at least I know they won't jerk me around and they'll fix the problem.

 

Jeff will not answer phone calls or return emails any longer. I had to call him under a "private" number to get him to answer his phone.

 

He said he spent 5 hours of his own time diagnosing the ECM issue and still can't fix it; he says he needs the correct manual. I told him to ground the pump to the body, he won't do it. He says it will damage the car. I call BS.

 

As far as the axle, I asked him to repack the inner joints and put on new boots and not install a new axle. Guess what? He won't get those parts until Thursday and then take who knows how long to install them. He said he won't use any non OEM boots. He also said he won't leave his house and go drive to a dealership to pick up the parts. Are you kidding?

 

WHAT DO I DO? I've had it with Jeff, I'm extremely pissed. This guy is a joke, a laughing stock of a mechanic, totally incompetent and useless. I have no idea how he has any business. He is unprofessional, doesn't communicate, and has excuses for everything.

 

What do you guys think?

[GeneralDisorder]

He said he spent 5 hours of his own time diagnosing the ECM issue and still can't fix it; he says he needs the correct manual. I told him to ground the pump to the body, he won't do it. He says it will damage the car. I call BS.

 

Ground is ground. The whole chassis is ground. Grounding the pump locally, while not what the engineer's intended, is not going to damage anything that hasn't already been damaged and if it gets the car running so you can drive it till he finds the resources to track down the true issue then it's a perfectly safe option. All the EJ powered Subaru's ground their fuel pumps through the chassis not through the ECU. This is proof positive that it's safe and works. The '85 turbo ECU might not be happy about it but as I said - that can be sorted out later. The ground runs directly to pin 50 on the ECU and if all else fails a new wire can be run there. But I doubt that would prove necessary.

 

It should take about 5 minutes to determine if a new wire needs to be run to the ECU or if the ECU needs a new ground source.... Not 5 hours.

 

As far as the axle, I asked him to repack the inner joints and put on new boots and not install a new axle. Guess what? He won't get those parts until Thursday and then take who knows how long to install them. He said he won't use any non OEM boots. He also said he won't leave his house and go drive to a dealership to pick up the parts. Are you kidding?

 

If he wants to use dealer parts that's fine. But then not aquireing those parts for the customer is unreasonable. What he should say (in the interest of customer service) is "I will install those parts if you supply them but I will not warrantee the parts or the labor because I did not source them". That, IMO, is a fine policy. Though I do not agree with him that *only* OEM boots are acceptable. There are RACING boots made of silicone or urethane availible from the likes of Rockford CV, etc that will far outperform the factory one's. It's all a matter of what you want. And if the customer wants what I feel is inferior I will note my objection and the lack of warantee - if they still want it done then who am I to stop them?

 

WHAT DO I DO? I've had it with Jeff, I'm extremely pissed. This guy is a joke, a laughing stock of a mechanic, totally incompetent and useless. I have no idea how he has any business. He is unprofessional, doesn't communicate, and has excuses for everything.

 

What do you guys think?

 

Bring the police. Take your car elsewhere.

 

GD

Edited January 30, 2012 by GeneralDisorder

[skishop69]

+1 At this point he's jerking you around. Call him and tell him (directly or voice mail) that you will be at his house in one hour with the police to retrieve your car. Call him the day you are going to do it. No advanced notice for him to move it. Call the police and tell them the situation. He has your vehicle at a private residence and has taken money to fix a problem he has not and now will not take your calls or release the vehicle. I believe they call this a domestic standby. They are there to make sure he releases it. If he doesn't show, I believe they contact him directly. I have only held a customers vehicle once, and that was because they wanted to take it elsewhere to get the work done and didn't want to pay for what had been done to that point.

[TPain]

It's not so much that he's taking my money and not doing the work, it's that he says he can fix something but can't and takes forever to do it. He sucks you in and then your at his mercy.

 

The jumping issue was my fault, I jumped it. Jeff insisted on having car towed to his house so he could look at it. That's where I made my mistake.

 

He does everything on his own terms, he isn't flexible. He won't drive to get parts, he won't do anything he does not think shouldn't be done (grounding the fuel pump directly at the source), and yes, in a way, he's holding my car hostage. I'm kinda stuck.

 

He says my axles are non-OEM and there is "play" in both of them. I was going to just reboot and regrease buy why not just install new axles? They're only $50 each.

 

While I'd love to have someone else do the repair (I'd do it if I had the time), the car is at his house already. Skagit Subaru quoted me $575 to install and regrease the boots! I can't imagine what they'd charges for an axle job.

 

See my dilemma? I'm probably going to sell the car anyway (too small for the fam) and I don't want to dump a bunch of money into it. I'm leaning towards having him install the axles then my going down and grounding the pump and fixing the wiring issue myself.

[TPain]

Got my car back today. Finally!

 

I had to ground the fuel pump at the source, a temporary fix but the car runs fine and there doesn't appear to be any faults on the ECM.

 

Moral of the story, I'll never do business with Jeff Mackin again. I strongly caution anyone about to do business with him to reconsider and find another qualified mechanic.

[GeneralDisorder]

Got my car back today. Finally!

 

I had to ground the fuel pump at the source, a temporary fix but the car runs fine and there doesn't appear to be any faults on the ECM.

 

Glad you got your car back. I doubt the ECU will complain about it. They were so very primitive back in those days that it's very unlikely. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box!

 

GD

[Qman]

The ECU ground fault is for "safety". Just that pesky little thing that when you get in an accident the fuel shuts off. Nothing to be concerned about. :cool:

 

And Rick, do you really need to bad mouth other people to get business? All your little jabs at people are getting old.

 

One persons opinion does not a fact make. I know a few people who have used Jeff in the past. They have had great results and excellent work. I would guess, as I am not personally involved, the communication on all sides is poor. Just calling a spade a spade!

[GeneralDisorder]

The ECU ground fault is for "safety". Just that pesky little thing that when you get in an accident the fuel shuts off. Nothing to be concerned about. :cool:

 

It isn't needed. The power side of the fuel pump circuit is relay driven by the ECU. In an accident the ECU will cut the ground to the relay when it doesn't see a tach signal. All subsequent generations of Subaru ECU's are wired this way.

 

And Rick, do you really need to bad mouth other people to get business? All your little jabs at people are getting old.

 

This poster came to me for help. We talked at length over the phone regarding this issue. I posted here on the thread after being involved in that respect and discussing it at length.

 

One persons opinion does not a fact make. I know a few people who have used Jeff in the past. They have had great results and excellent work. I would guess, as I am not personally involved, the communication on all sides is poor. Just calling a spade a spade!

 

The original poster in this thread is VERY adept at communication. I had no problem discussing the problem at length. He is a former member of law enforcement as well as a fellow business owner and gave Jeff every opportunity to make the situation right. I was told by him that Jeff would not answer calls after having his car for weeks, and would not release his car to him without involving the authorities.

 

I have never met Jeff nor do I care to. I only know what I was told by the owner of the car and he had nothing good to say.

 

GD

[Qman]

It isn't needed. The power side of the fuel pump circuit is relay driven by the ECU. In an accident the ECU will cut the ground to the relay when it doesn't see a tach signal. All subsequent generations of Subaru ECU's are wired this way.

 

I am not going to debate safety issues with you.

 

 

 

This poster came to me for help. We talked at length over the phone regarding this issue. I posted here on the thread after being involved in that respect and discussing it at length.

 

Then you should have quoted those conversations and not included an opinion of the mechanic that you admitted you have never even met. Be a professional.

 

 

 

The original poster in this thread is VERY adept at communication. I had no problem discussing the problem at length. He is a former member of law enforcement as well as a fellow business owner and gave Jeff every opportunity to make the situation right. I was told by him that Jeff would not answer calls after having his car for weeks, and would not release his car to him without involving the authorities.

 

I have never met Jeff nor do I care to. I only know what I was told by the owner of the car and he had nothing good to say.

 

GD

 

As I stated, I have not met him either. My comments reflected what others have said about him. I sympothize with the OP as being without a car is a large inconvenience. But, there is a fine line between complaining and slander. Even on the internet. I hope all things can be resolved in a professional manner.

[GeneralDisorder]

I gave my opinion of Jeff's business practices as they were described to me. I made no comments about him personally.

 

Fact is - he had an angry customer that had to involve the authorities to reclaim his car.

 

Why is this back on top after 5 months? This whole mess is old and dead. The OP sold that car.

 

GD

[Qman]

Just reviewing things.

[mikaleda]

i don't trust anyone with my car that is why i do the work myself

[ivans imports]

97 % of my work is fixing the jobs that were just done gessing is not a solution and diagnosing by changing parts is a absolut last resort knowing what to look for and how to properly diagnose problems is key mind you as a customer you have to ask the right questions have you worked on subarus before ? do you have the right manuals and tools and diagnostics. I get alot of shops call me ( in over there head ) dayly and many subarus come to me in a box from other shops and i sell many parts to shops that are not the problem and i know they are just gessing at whats wrong i whould put my faith in somone who deals with only subaru like GD or shawn but genaric shops are just that generic shops mabee good for gms but not subarus

[kyle234]

i know jeff personally and this does not seem like him. i dont wish to take sides on the matter cause i have not heard both sides and i am not well enough informed of the situation. but i am confident in saying jeff is a knowledgeable and honest guy. he has over 20 years experience at carter subaru and is still on good terms with them. Jeff is the only guy i would trust to work on my car. i worked with jeff for a couple years when i lived in washington and never saw him half rump roast a job, or fabricate problems to get more money from a customer.

[Turbone]

As a former business owner that dealt with a global community, I know that you cant please everyone all the time. I know a lot of shop owners and there are some customers that are never happy with any results.

Unfortunately the other half of this equation chooses not to say anything in his behalf but some have spoken well of him here, more than those against. I've seen people complain about shops/vendors on Nasioc and you know what? The vendor gets to speak his piece and give his side of the story and 9 out 10 times it was a misunderstanding of things that were needing to be done. NOT miscommunication. Get your work to be done in a written estimate with a completion date.

So, please know all sides of a story before jumping on a band wagon and grabbing the pitchforks.

[kyle234]

So, please know all sides of a story before jumping on a band wagon and grabbing the pitchforks.

 

wether this was targeted at me or others, im not grabbing a pitchfork i just dont want to see jeffs mostly good name get tarnished. ive said want i wanted so im putting out my torch leaving the pitchfork in the barn and going back to my cottage.

[Turbone]

wether this was targeted at me or others, im not grabbing a pitchfork i just dont want to see jeffs mostly good name get tarnished. ive said want i wanted so im putting out my torch leaving the pitchfork in the barn and going back to my cottage.

 

Definitely not directed at you, just a comment in general.