Similar idea, but more for the office or home environ: Annoy-a-tron and Evil-tron. They are small electronic devices with magnetic anchors. When activated, they emit various noises, creaks, etc. every 5 to 7 minutes. Check out YOUTUBE, search annoy-a-tron
I don’t know why they should need such a bigcrate full of them. When a sucker brings it back, justremove the screech module and install a clankingmodule. With a sufficiently dumb customer, this couldgo on for years.
There is one flaw – it doesn’t appear to be tiedin to the car’s electrical system – so when theinternal battery dies, the customer will just assumethat the problemwent away.
VW was (is?) the worst. They defended dealers who did this. I had a series of problems with one, constantly returning and having it quickly repaired for “only” about twenty bucks a shot. They seemed to know exactly what the problem was and went directly to it. Once while doing routine maintenance, I found a loose bolt, tightened it, and never had a problem thereafter. Another switched engines on me, making my add-on oil pressure gauge inoperable since the sensing unit was still on my original engine. Still another low-balled me ( gave a firm price for the job, but when the thing was disassembled, raised the cost three times) and the importer defended the practice. And that involved two countries! I don’t drive VWs any more.
There are some scary repair shops, but there are reputable ones too. Also, for those of you who have never fixed “whining” or “grinding” noise, especially an intermittent one, you really have no idea how difficult and hit-or-miss it can be. It’s easy to be critical. But I admit, I learned how to repair my own vehicles for fear of things like this happening (and not having to pay for labor).
When I got my first car, I knew nothing about maintenance so a coworker directed me to a little garage where the owner/mechanic loved cars so much he would give his customers heck for not doing maintenance and mistreating a good machine. I only took it once to the dealership and the guy there was either incredibly dense or deliberately misunderstanding me because he didn’t want to do any work.
lin4869: That was three bad experiences. I have also found a few who were like mrssaskfan encountered. Treasure them, they are an endangered species, but the salvation of the world. Car Talk is another of that species.
odeliasimone over 12 years ago
i don’t get it.
Robert Maxell Premium Member over 12 years ago
Similar idea, but more for the office or home environ: Annoy-a-tron and Evil-tron. They are small electronic devices with magnetic anchors. When activated, they emit various noises, creaks, etc. every 5 to 7 minutes. Check out YOUTUBE, search annoy-a-tron
coffeeturtle over 12 years ago
Every time you get your car out of the shop, there seems to be something new that goes wrong. I’m sure it’s just coincidence though. ;-)
meibwab over 12 years ago
I don’t know why they should need such a bigcrate full of them. When a sucker brings it back, justremove the screech module and install a clankingmodule. With a sufficiently dumb customer, this couldgo on for years.
meibwab over 12 years ago
There is one flaw – it doesn’t appear to be tiedin to the car’s electrical system – so when theinternal battery dies, the customer will just assumethat the problemwent away.
hippogriff over 12 years ago
VW was (is?) the worst. They defended dealers who did this. I had a series of problems with one, constantly returning and having it quickly repaired for “only” about twenty bucks a shot. They seemed to know exactly what the problem was and went directly to it. Once while doing routine maintenance, I found a loose bolt, tightened it, and never had a problem thereafter. Another switched engines on me, making my add-on oil pressure gauge inoperable since the sensing unit was still on my original engine. Still another low-balled me ( gave a firm price for the job, but when the thing was disassembled, raised the cost three times) and the importer defended the practice. And that involved two countries! I don’t drive VWs any more.
monkeybuttons over 12 years ago
There are some scary repair shops, but there are reputable ones too. Also, for those of you who have never fixed “whining” or “grinding” noise, especially an intermittent one, you really have no idea how difficult and hit-or-miss it can be. It’s easy to be critical. But I admit, I learned how to repair my own vehicles for fear of things like this happening (and not having to pay for labor).
mrssaskfan over 12 years ago
When I got my first car, I knew nothing about maintenance so a coworker directed me to a little garage where the owner/mechanic loved cars so much he would give his customers heck for not doing maintenance and mistreating a good machine. I only took it once to the dealership and the guy there was either incredibly dense or deliberately misunderstanding me because he didn’t want to do any work.
lin4869 over 12 years ago
Good for you! Well done!
lin4869 over 12 years ago
cartalk.com gives you mechanics in your area who have a good reputation.
hippogriff over 12 years ago
lin4869: That was three bad experiences. I have also found a few who were like mrssaskfan encountered. Treasure them, they are an endangered species, but the salvation of the world. Car Talk is another of that species.