Home : Blogs : Jay McGillicuddy~Real Estate Broker : New Hampshire Real Estate with Jay McGillicuddy

Get a second opinion ...

Saab 2001 I have a 2001 Saab 9-5 Wagon with a little over 100,000 miles. Seems to run just fine as I change the oil regularly at 3-5,000 miles faithfully. My wife Monika took the car to Concord, NH a couple of months ago to a REALTOR meeting and when she just about got there she could here some scraping noise and when she got out of the car she could see there was a problem. She asked for some help and a few guys said that there was metal hanging from under the car near the muffler.

So, when Monika was leaving the meeting in Concord she stopped off at a garage and they told her she needed a new muffler and that the heat shields were rusted. They told her the muffler was so loose that it was ready to fall off at any moment. When Monika got home I noticed it was loose but it wasn't all that bad. I called my mechanic and he said a new muffler would cost around $850.00 to install and he would order one and call me when it came in. I still have not heard from him.

Of course I procrastinated getting this done and although I knew the muffler was loose it hadn't fallen off.

We are headed to Washington D.C. for our annual REALTOR conference the second week of May. So, after much prodding and insisting I finally took Monika's advice to get a second opinion and get the muffler checked out. I called Meineke Car Care Center in Plaistow, NH. I had them change the oil and I asked them to give me a price for a new muffler. They took me in at 10:00 this morning and by 10:40 I was on my way home.

Ernie checked me in and as he returned from the shop and mentioned I didn't need a muffler as it was just fine and not leaking and it only needed to be anchored as it was a little loose. It is stainless steel and does not rust. The heat shield's were rusted but not falling off. He welded the piece that was loose to the frame and changed the oil and I was all set to go. It cost me $20.00 to get the welding done.

It pays to listen to your wife and get a second opinion. I am pissed at the garage in Concord as they were definitely trying to take advantage of a women woman.

Posted by Jay McGillicuddy~Real Estate Broker on 05/02/2008 05:35 PM

Comments (25)

meineke car care center plaistow nh, realtor, concord nh

Post is included in group: Live Free or Die

25 Comments on Get a second opinion ...

MAY

2008

Small garages are the worst when it comes to exhaust systems.... I still recall one time when we were first married and driving a '70 Nova when the exhaust system was replaced at an outrageous fee.... These days I always use Meineke for brakes and exhaust.

Wow - good thing you got the second opinion! Who knew they would try to rip her off like that!!

I feel like a fool! I really believed them and the thought of $800 + for a new muffler at this time made me very unhappy. I am glad Jay finally got off his hind side and had it looked at. Every time I drove the car I got stressed out thinking it would fall off at any minute.

It seems so unfair that people would try and rip people off like that....I wonder how many other people they've ripped off.

Jay, it is a sad world we live in especially when service people try to take advantage of women. Been there.. except in my case it was with replacing a water heater. I called Lowes and I was told it would be $1700 to replace.. this was 8 years ago. There is (as we all know) no way it costs that much. They see women and think we are stupid.

If this happens to your wife again where she is quoted something for a repair, tell her to let the gargage know that she will have it done there once she gets a second opinion. Tell them that if they are lying or trying to have her spend money she does need to.. write a letter to the editor naming the company.. worked for me. It was amazing how many other women they tried this on.

Gee..that was an $800+ savings...guess we know who to listen to in your household...LOL

Go Celts!;)

You tell him BLR Guy...he always seems to forget that very important fact!

Of course it wasn't until I had friends reinforce my strong suggestion of a second opinion...that he finally decided it might really be wise.

Oooh, how I hate hearing things like this! Nothing makes me madder than to find out a place like that tried to take advantage of me. And it seems to be a frequent thing with cars. When Bear takes my car somewhere, he gets a whole different explanation and a different price than I was told. Why on earth does that seem to be an automatic thing sometimes????

Good for you Monika for insisting on that 2nd opinion.
Ann

I agree on the woman thing, we know we don't know anything about cars. Good job, listening to the "boss".

Yeah....people keep wanting to rip us off for car stuff.

Jay - it happens all the time. Even when we go look at cars to buy the sales people always defer to Mike. I guess I'm invisible. Good for you getting a second opinion. Aren't you glad that other muffler didn't come in??? Is that new green grass I see in your picture??

You have a smart wife - so listen to her (Monika did not pay me to say this!)

For those that know me they always know I listen to Monika. I was hesitant about taking it in originally because it didn't seen to be that severe. She kept hounding me to get it looked at but I can be a little stubborn at times or I just procrastinate.

One thing I learned early in my real estate life was to treat both spouses the same as you never know who is the actual decision maker. I have come across husbands that have no clue and their spouses knows a lot more and they ask a lot more questions too.

Linda, we finally are having some rain so green is sprouting all over.

Jay.. Sadly this happens to women a lot.. I always try to say something to make the mechanic think I know a whole lot more then I do..sometimes it even works

Hi Jay,

I'm so glad you listened to Monika, with all that you saved you should take her shopping! :)

Jay you got lucky my friend. I am always a little wary of some of these places. Sometimes they just try to manufacture ways to create repairs.

Suzanne, be nice.

George, I often wonder the same thing. It's a nice feeling to have a dependable mechanic.

MAY

2008

Is it any wonder why nobody trusts car repairmen or car dealerships. They think we're all a mark and their next windfall.

Based on a recent health issue of mine, I am all about second opinions in all kinds of areas!

My wife had had similar car issues as well - I tend to take care of that when I can now just for the money saving sake. And you are right about what you said in your comment relating to real estate - you have to treat both spouses the same as if you don't it will come back to bite you. Like it did for the first muffler guy.

Moni - This does not surprise me in the least. No matter how progressive we think mankind is - many men will still take advantage of women in whatever way they can especially when it comes to making money. Since your muffler is stainless steel and won't rust they may even have planned to take it off and re-sell it to the next sucker girl. We need to advocate for ourselves out there no matter if it makes men call us bwitches.

You should call that original shop and report this to the owner. Yes, throw the guy under the bus.

Jay - You can call our house anytime and pick Derek's brain about car repairs.

Judy... I think the guy was the manager/owner. I'm not sure but that was my impression.

Amie...Does Derek work on European cars?

I do like Suzanne's suggestion of shopping. LOL...I like that idea very much.

Mufflers, breaks and altinators are some of the biggest money makers for small garages. Espcially for foreign cars. Replacing an entire muffeer system is much easier than just certain parts, it really only takes about 30 minutes. , I've heard the same stories from supposedly reputable shops too. You need to find one garage that you can trust and always use them.

Jay this kind of stuff happens all the time. Getting a 2nd opinion is great advice. Having someone you can trust in the car business is very important.