A new car repair scam uncovered

Welcome to the incomplete job scam. You shopped around, got the lowest price for your timing belt job and your car was delivered on time. Finally a reasonable experience within the realm of the infamous car mechanic.

Now imagine two months later there is a problem with your recent timing belt job. No worries, right? The mechanic will stand behind their work. Sorry, the blame for the recent timing belt failure falls to a part that was not replaced.

Now you are in a new world of hurt because the repairer undersold the timing belt job by leaving one or more moving parts off the list of things they changed as part of the job. A complete timing belt job in most cases includes a new water pump, timing belt, oil seals, belt tensioner, and idler pulleys. If those last two items are not replaced the job can fail without liability of the repairer.

When shopping around for prices on a complex maintenance job you must know specifically what items are included in the price and make the value judgement based on a fair comparison. Do not settle for an all-in-one price, always ask for detail prices on estimates for repairs.