My mechanic recently insisted that my truck had to have a new radiator, even though it has never overheated. They showed me some part on it that was failing and could only be fixed by replacing the whole radiator.

I have trusted these guys in the past, mostly on the basis of my trailer repair guy's recommendation--and I really trust him.

Today was the first day since the radiator was replaced that we used the truck to go any great distance--we had to take Deva to Great Falls to see an equine vet.

On the way up we noticed the transmission cooler gauge was running a bit warmer than normal. When we arrived at the vet hospital we noticed a lot of fluid spraying under the hood. We checked the transmission fluid stick and it didn't show any!

Mr Pique put in a quart of transmission fluid while I was in with the vet and it showed being at the correct level for a cool engine, so we headed home. Not far out of Great Falls the gauge started creeping up again and the transmission started slipping, so we stopped at the little town of Ulm at a gas station to check the fluid again. It was empty again! And the gas station didn't have transmission fluid in stock.

We asked a guy who was walking by if he had any, and he proceeded to look under our hood and determined that the transmission lines were leaking. He said they were probably not put back together properly when the radiator was installed. He didn't have tranny fluid either and also said since it was spraying all over the ground we should not try to drive it like this. He wasn't a mechanic, but rather a local rancher.

He offered to put our horse up in his daughter's yard across the street (not feasible) then kept trying to get us to leave the horse in Ulm while we had the truck towed home by AAA. I wanted to ask the tow truck driver, when he arrived, if he would take the horse back home with us, but this guy kept coming up with reasons why we shouldn't wait around to ask the tow truck driver. (This is an entirely different part of the story but I'm mentioning it because I'm still upset about it). We were 90 miles from home.

(I had called AAA and asked for a tow all the way home with both truck and trailer, but didn't mention the horse to AAA because they won't tow horses. But I had a hunch that the local service operator wouldn't mind.)

Anyway, very luckily for me, after having been railroaded by this guy into unloading Deva and putting her in a horrible mucky pen where she was being attacked by horses across the fence line, the tow truck driver did show up, having been redirected by Mr. Pique, and said, sure, I'll take the horse too. (And all in the midst of a torrential thunderstorm that drenched us to the skin, Deva and I both covered in mud, with lightning crashing around everywhere). And this asshole rancher jumped in and tried to tell the tow truck driver he wasn't allowed to take my horse!!! Whereupon I told him to get the hell out of the way and stop interfering.

Well, that indignity aside, which to me felt like a prelude to horse thievery, the tow truck driver, who everyone called "Hippie" (everyone at the ranch where we'd been redirected knew him) but whose real name was Shawn, did work for a mechanic and knows quite a bit and has towed a lot of people whose mechanics have screwed up their cars. And he took a look and said the tranny fluid leak was coming from the radiator. Ergo, my mechanic screwed up.

It cost us $255 to have the trailer and horse towed back home (the truck was covered by AAA) plus the $50 tip we gave Shawn. Shawn advised me to go back to my mechanic with my towing receipt and ask them what they plan to do about this, and hope they make me whole, or take them to court.

It's past midnight now. The truck and trailer and horse are all safely back where they belong, thanks to Shawn, who was an awesome driver and very good company and cheered us up a lot.

This was all on top of a very expensive vet bill for today, and some not so good news about Deva. But that is for another post.

So now to my question: how do I handle this with the mechanic so that I get what I want? The truck will have to be towed to their shop for them to even look at it. They may deny it had anything to do with them. I would like them to make the truck right and reimburse me for the towing. I am really concerned that their carelessness may cost me a new transmission. I took it to them to have them go over it with a fine tooth comb just to make sure I would not get stranded with my horse. I don't think I should have to be out any more money to have this repaired. But I've already seen indications that this shop thinks its mechanics can do no wrong. They have been a bit arrogant with me, have overcharged me for things, and I was not planning to ever go back to them.

No advice, but I am so sorry this all happened! It sounds like an awful day! I hope you get reimbursed by the mechanic!

quote:

Originally posted by dolmansaxlil:
No advice, but I am so sorry this all happened! It sounds like an awful day! I hope you get reimbursed by the mechanic!

+1

What a horrible thing to go through. Definitely lay the guilt trip on the mechanic and demand reimbursement, + his shop rate for every hour you were inconvenienced, and proper repairs for no additional charge. Then take it to another mechanic (trusted if you can find one) and have it checked out.

Sue the bastards and let the world know about the lawsuit.

Thanks, everyone.

I have to give the mechanic some credit (though how much remains to be seen). I left a message on their voice mail at 7:45 this morning. At 8 am on the nose, when the shop opens, the owner called me and when I mentioned being stranded with my horse he cut me off and said, "where is the truck? what is the address? how do I get there?" And an hour later he was here, loaded up the truck, and told me I wouldn't have to pay for towing if it was their responsibility and he would look at it and give me a call.

I didn't mention anything about the towing bill from last night, and am waiting to see if they accept responsibility before bringing that up.

oh, and the radiator antifreeze was overflowing also, though the only thermostat that was showing overheating was the tranny cooler, not the regular radiator dial.

I like the idea of being reimbursed for our time at their shop rate. Their shop rate is pretty insane, and they used it to grease my trailer's wheel bearings just last week and charged me $400 for that! Pretty outrageous, I have never paid more than $100 to have wheel bearings greased.

But I don't know how well that will fly.

Again, we are grateful for good neighbors. We had expected to only be away from home for about 5 hours and it turned into 11 hours. The dogs were crated in our den, and I was able to call the neighbor who looks after our horses and she let the dogs out for water and to relieve themselves and put them back in, about seven hours into our ordeal. She also checked on our mini and threw him some hay. And gave me the name of her mechanic, who takes at least two weeks to get into his shop, but maybe would take a quick look. We'll see.

Deva is okay this morning, if still muddy, and I am exhausted and a bit scared that two hours in the cab of the tow truck with Shawn may have infected us with Covid, since nobody around here wears masks and ours were in the glove box of our truck and not reachable. I was soaked to the skin so didnt want to freeze to death with the window open.

My throat doesnt feel right but then I am exhausted to the bone and a hypochondriac.

After missing my MIL's funeral to avoid Covid, if we got it because of the truck breaking down I will be a bit upset.

Deva was given about two riding seasons left of easy, level trails before complete retirement. She just turned 13. Hock injections can maintain her for a while yet, and I can still ride her for dressage but no more mountain excursions on horseback. She has arthritis and sidebone. Good thing I got my knee replaced so I can hike on my own two feet, and maybe just bring her along to carry my gear only.

Very sad, but not entirely unexpected.

OMG, so sorry this happened, Piqué. Hope you get full satisfaction from the repair guy, and no covid, and at least you have good neighbors.

They owned it was their responsibility. Claim it was a defective part. They are leaving a check for $300 on the seat of the truck to cover the towing. Say the truck is ready whenever I want to come get it, theyll leave the keys in it. I am too exhausted to drive but will rouse myself soon.

I give them a B-minus. What more would I have liked? First, for the owner to listen to what happened as a result of their repair failure instead of cutting me off. Second, For them to have either brought me the truck or at least come to get me--they are ten miles away. And some kind of compensation for our time, pain, and suffering or at least acknowledgement would have been nice..

And I would have liked to have heard an apology.

He was very careful to not accept or acknowledge any kind of blame. I was too relieved to not have to fight about getting reimbursed to call him on it.

Between this interaction and the one with the too-involved rancher who compromised my horse, it feels like I'm in the middle of a sexism rampage.

Sign of the times?

Glad you are ok the truck is resolved.

But that rancher... Was he trying to steal your horse???

A bad radiator is more likely than a botched installation so I’m inclined to believe the guy.

Glad he made it right.

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
Glad you are ok the truck is resolved.

But that rancher... Was he trying to steal your horse???

It felt that way. He did ask if she was bred, right off the bat, which I thought was really weird. Who asks that? In the context in which he asked it--having her stay at his place--it means that he has stallions. Though she is now to be more lightly ridden, she is a purebred, registerable Rocky Mountain Horse, a rare, gaited breed, and quite valuable as a brood mare. He may have gone and taken a look at her through the slats in the trailer when I wasn't looking.

I felt like I was being railroaded and it did really shake me up.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
A bad radiator is more likely than a botched installation so I’m inclined to believe the guy.

Glad he made it right.

you mean that it was a defective coupler? Or connection? (I can't remember the word he used).

I’ve seen brand new, good quality radiators come with cracks in the casting. I’ve also seen couplers fail - even new ones. They look fine when you test them but the crack opens up after driving a while.

Maybe that’s what happened, maybe not, but I give the guy credit for stepping up.

I'm with Steve. I think you are about as whole as you are likely to be, and you have found a mechanic who stands behind his work.

I worked in auto parts throughout college and there are indeed enough defective parts that come out of manufacturing.

You might be able to push for more and get it, but you'd lose what seems to me an honest mechanic.

I hate when stuff like this happens.

I'll defer to Steve and Mik on the likelihood that this was due to a defective part and not incompetence on the mechanic's part. I'm out of pay grade on that side of things.

The mechanic may just not be one of those guys who feels comfortable admitting out loud that he work he did ended up going south in some way and inconveniencing you. He just fixed the screw up and doesn't want to grovel.

Have had the experience with customer service calls with some companies with the rep repeating "so sorry for your inconvenience", but never addressing the core issue.

Personally, I'll take your mechanic over someone who fawns all over you but ultimately doesn't resolve the problem.