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We all want to save money so when the AC when out on our Honda Odyssey I called the dealer and was told diagnosis would run $106.00. So I called a local mechanic in the neighborhood and he told me he would charge $30.00 to run a diagnostic.
Well, he had me at $30.00 so off I went. I watched him hook it up and run some tests and he seemed a bit befuddled. He asked me if I could leave it so he could run some more tests. I went by his shop in the late afternoon and he explained that I needed a couple of valves and doohicky that’s in front of the radiator and something inside under the dash. He explained to me the perils of dirty oil in the AC system, the dangers of pressure being to high, etc. He asked me to leave it overnite and told me he would give me a price for repairs in the a.m. My wife and I discussed it that evening and she questioned whether or not the guy knew what he was doing. I told her I wasn’t sure, but let’s see what he says in the morning.
So, in the morning he calls me and tells me he has ordered the parts from the dealer and they will arrive in a day or two ( and that I am looking at $1200.00 total to repair the AC!
I told him to 
right there. I asked him to just change the oil and charge me for the diagnostic on the air and I told him I would be down soon to pick up the car.
Now in case you dont know, California has a lot of laws regarding Automobile Repair Service and if you aren’t familiar with them you can visit this website for more information. Its against the law for a mechanic order parts without first having your signed or explicit verbal permission beforehand.
So I picked the car up and went to the Honda dealership. The service guy there asks me what I need and I tell him the AC went out and I need a diagnosis. He sits me down in his office and writes up a work order for $198.00 to do a diagnostic. I ask him why its $198.00 and he tells me they do this and that and replace the freon. I tell him I’m not low on freon and the freon in there is fine but I think there’s an electrical issue that needs to be addressed. He asks me how I KNOW my freon is full and I tell him I already had a diagnostic run on it, then I add that the gal I spoke to on the phone told me the diagnositic test would be $106.00 not $198.00 so he asks me who it was, gets a little huffy and tells me he needs to speak to the service manager. Finally he comes back and tells me he can do the diagnostic for $106.00
I left the vehicle and shortly thereafter he called me and told me it was a relay that needed to be replaced, they had the part, it would cost an addition $124.00 So there you have it. You really have to advocate for yourself whether you’re seeing your doctor or your mechanic. AND - you need to be careful that you’re not losing money trying to save it - i.e. going to the discount mechanic whose initial charge is substantially lower but after that you get BURNT!
Just so you know - I took my receipt from the Honda dealership and went back to the other mechanic and showed it to him. I
told him that I believed he should refund my $30.00 for his diagnosis since it was for a bunch of parts that had nothing to do with the problem and his estimate was over 5 times that of the dealership. He obliged.
Tags: fresno, honda, lazarus, mechanics, money, savings
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