Classic awful mechanic making it hard for the good ones

[RMP&O]

Beardon Automotive in Austin, TX. I'd strongly suggest avoiding them.

I bought my Cruiser from someone in Austin knowing the Birfs needed to be done. I arranged to have the full service done at Beardon, flew out, picked up the Cruiser and dropped it off with them. They told me 2 days. After two days came and went, they told me 5 days. Not being in a position take anymore time off, I bought a next day plane ticket back to Los Angeles, arranged to pay my friend to drive it out and bought him and his wife return plane tickets.

Well, it turns out that they charged me well over $1,100, but never did anything other than replacing the cheap wiper seals at the back of the knuckles. Now, since I have been driving it for so long with no grease in the knuckles, everything is destroyed and needs to be replaced. Knuckles, bearings, seals, ... everything.

Another $2,000+ bucks down the drain on a non-profit salary right before Christmas. Adding insult to injury, this is the money I had set aside to move to Oregon in the next few months to get a better job.

Awesome.

At least I live near TLC and know it will get done right this time.

moral of the story....you don't always get what you pay for. I have had a good number of bad experiences with a number of Toyota dealerships. Add to that bad experiences with numerous other auto repair shops from the common ones to the oh so rare specialty shop. In the automotive industry this kind of things is common place. Acceptable, no but common yes.

Rebuilding the knuckles and replacing birfields is a really easy job actually. Messy but easy. $2,000? How much of that is parts and how much is labor?

And I grew up in Oregon....odd people moving there these days for a better job. I left there because the economy was so bad and the job market was worse. I guess things change....

 

[Ruffin' It]

It is going to cost more now because the truck has been run for thousands of miles without any grease in the front at all. Everything is in need of replacement now. If I had just had TLC do it in the first place, it would have been a lot less, but cleaning up after Bearden's mess is proving costly.

I used to be in the environmental field and Oregon is actually a great place to be for that. LA has jobs too, but I'm ready for a change - hopefully.

moral of the story....you don't always get what you pay for. I have had a good number of bad experiences with a number of Toyota dealerships. Add to that bad experiences with numerous other auto repair shops from the common ones to the oh so rare specialty shop. In the automotive industry this kind of things is common place. Acceptable, no but common yes.

Rebuilding the knuckles and replacing birfields is a really easy job actually. Messy but easy. $2,000? How much of that is parts and how much is labor?

And I grew up in Oregon....odd people moving there these days for a better job. I left there because the economy was so bad and the job market was worse. I guess things change....

 

[Ruffin' It]

update

So Bearden ended up substituting so many parts with random stuff that the guys at TLC are actually ordering parts they have never ordered before. The rear brakes are also shot despite the inspection I paid Bearden for saying they were at 80%.

 

[Ruffin' It]

Big thank you to TLC!!!!!

How do you know when you have found a great mechanic? You pay them $3,000 and are thankful. I KNOW TLC did more than $3,000 worth of work on my Cruiser, but they took pity on my and really bent over backwards to help me out - including documenting everything for my up coming court case against Bearden. I can't say Thank You enough.

Essentially, they had to replace everything. Due to the last axle service being horribly botched, everything in the axle except the axles themselves and the diff was destroyed. Seals, Spindles, bearings, caliper hardware ... everything. They also caught a lot of other things that I didn't even ask them to look at (rear brakes that supposedly passed with 80% left when inspected in Texas, wrong steering stablizer kit was previously installed, loose pinion seal, loose/missing bolts and studs all over the front end, etc) and took care of them for next to nothing. I know there are other good mechanics out there, but these guys have my business for life!

I know there are cheaper places to go, but I don't think I've ever found such good value and I've learned first hand cheap isn't the same as inexpensive.

Moby drives like he's brand new now and, I maybe totally broke, but I still feel much better!

Thanks TLC

 

[cruiseroutfit]

So your currently $5k into axle work?

Would love to see some pics of the damaged goods.

 

[Ruffin' It]

Well, about $4,400 if you don't include the extra $1,500 I had to spend making arrangments to make-up for Bearden taking 5 days longer to do the work than they said they would.

I'll post pics as soon as I have them. It seems Bearden put the inner axle seals in with a hammer and screwdriver!!

So your currently $5k into axle work?

Would love to see some pics of the damaged goods.

 

[Hltoppr]

The nice thing about most Land Cruisers is that they are very friendly to learning how to do the work yourself. I've had too many experiences like yours to leave the rig to chance with someone I don't know wrenching on it.

-H-

 

[Ruffin' It]

Yeah, that is something that is really driving me nuts. I could do the work, but I just don't have a place to do it.

The nice thing about most Land Cruisers is that they are very friendly to learning how to do the work yourself. I've had too many experiences like yours to leave the rig to chance with someone I don't know wrenching on it.

-H-

 

[Fergie]

Tyler,

You need to get on MUD and start talking with the local chapter folks in SoCal and Los Angeles.

I know there is someone on there that would lend you a hand wrenching, and give you a driveway to do it in for a few beers and some friendship.

That is the only way I made it through my time in L.A.; I found a guy on the boards(Jeep at the time) and he lent me some space to help a dude out, and we're thick as thieves now.

 

[Ruffin' It]

I went back and forth about this. A couple of really nice people from Mud offered, but I was nervous about getting into the project and having it be more than I was prepared for (lack of parts, repairs requiring more time than I alotted, etc). The last thing I wanted was to tie up someones driveway/garage for a couple weeks for reasons out of my control - which turned out would have been the case.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to having a driveway of my own.

Tyler,

You need to get on MUD and start talking with the local chapter folks in SoCal and Los Angeles.

I know there is someone on there that would lend you a hand wrenching, and give you a driveway to do it in for a few beers and some friendship.

That is the only way I made it through my time in L.A.; I found a guy on the boards(Jeep at the time) and he lent me some space to help a dude out, and we're thick as thieves now.

 

[Fergie]

I went back and forth about this. A couple of really nice people from Mud offered, but I was nervous about getting into the project and having it be more than I was prepared for (lack of parts, repairs requiring more time than I alotted, etc). The last thing I wanted was to tie up someones driveway/garage for a couple weeks for reasons out of my control - which turned out would have been the case.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to having a driveway of my own.

Don't get me wrong, I think that for the situation you are dealing with, you are playing it exactly right. A reputable shop holds up in court(not small claims anymore) better than us shadetrees; I just meant for the future projects.

 

[MoGas]

Don't get me wrong, I think that for the situation you are dealing with, you are playing it exactly right. A reputable shop holds up in court(not small claims anymore) better than us shadetrees; I just meant for the future projects.

I have been asked to be an expert witness before, even though the cases didn't make it to trial. With a proper voir dire, there isn't any difference between a shop and any other mechanic.
Dave

 

[Fergie]

I have been asked to be an expert witness before, even though the cases didn't make it to trial. With a proper voir dire, there isn't any difference between a shop and any other mechanic.
Dave

Yes, but you are a professional. It'd be the difference between you testifying that his cruiser is effed, versus me making the same statement. You're the qualified one.

BTW, you got some junk at my place to check out.

 

[Ruffin' It]

oh no, I totally understand where you are coming from and completely agree. As much as I would have liked to have done the work myself, I'm thankful I have reputable pros backing me up for my fight.

Don't get me wrong, I think that for the situation you are dealing with, you are playing it exactly right. A reputable shop holds up in court(not small claims anymore) better than us shadetrees; I just meant for the future projects.

 

[TRACTION]

By chance did you pay for the services with a credit card? If so you can contest the charge with the credit card company and they'll handle the refund typically as long as you have good documentation.