Mechanic error left me without brakes (1 Viewer)

[Nick Vermeil]

On Saturday I took my wife's van in to the dealership for normal service and state inspection. As you would expect, they call me an hour later and tell me that the brake pads are worn and the rotors need cleaning. They suggest fixing both of those things and draining and replacing all brake fluid. I agree and pick it up a few hours later.

Then yesterday I'm driving my whole family to the grocery store and the brakes fail, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the van barely slows. They traction control light and the emergency brake light come on. Luckily we where in a 25 MPH zone and I was able to get off the road without hitting anyone. After horrible customer service, they finally have the van towed and give us a loaner.

So today the service staff is back in and they take look at it to see what happened. The mechanic left the wench on the release nut of the fluid system and normal driving loosened the bolt so there was no pressure in the lines to stop the van. (!) What if we had been on the freeway?

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

 

[arrow1]

On Saturday I took my wife's van in to the dealership for normal service and state inspection. As you would expect, they call me an hour later and tell me that the brake pads are worn and the rotors need cleaning. They suggest fixing both of those things and draining and replacing all brake fluid. I agree and pick it up a few hours later.

Then yesterday I'm driving my whole family to the grocery store and the brakes fail, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the van barely slows. They traction control light and the emergency brake light come on. Luckily we where in a 25 MPH zone and I was able to get off the road without hitting anyone. After horrible customer service, they finally have the van towed and give us a loaner.

So today the service staff is back in and they take look at it to see what happened. The mechanic left the wench on the release nut of the fluid system and normal driving loosened the bolt so there was no pressure in the lines to stop the van. (!) What if we had been on the freeway?

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

You all go together?

 

[krista4]

No suggestions, but just wanted to say I'm glad you're all OK. That's an amazing story.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

On Saturday I took my wife's van in to the dealership for normal service and state inspection. As you would expect, they call me an hour later and tell me that the brake pads are worn and the rotors need cleaning. They suggest fixing both of those things and draining and replacing all brake fluid. I agree and pick it up a few hours later.

Then yesterday I'm driving my whole family to the grocery store and the brakes fail, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the van barely slows. They traction control light and the emergency brake light come on. Luckily we where in a 25 MPH zone and I was able to get off the road without hitting anyone. After horrible customer service, they finally have the van towed and give us a loaner.

So today the service staff is back in and they take look at it to see what happened. The mechanic left the wench on the release nut of the fluid system and normal driving loosened the bolt so there was no pressure in the lines to stop the van. (!) What if we had been on the freeway?

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

You all go together?

Almost never. It’s painful when we do.

 

[Gally]

Is there anybody that wants you dead? This sounds like a story for Columbo to figure out.......


(glad nothing bad happened)

 

[top dog]

Yikes. I can't believe that wrench didn't fall off the bleeder just hitting some normal bumps in the road!

If it makes you feel better I have a buddy who lost the lower half of his leg just below the knee to diabetes. His right foot / lower leg. He refuses to get hand controls for his car. One day he's driving and as he's transferring his foot from the gas to the brake his shoe and prosthetic get caught under the brake pad. He panics and can't stop. Luckily it was a weekend morning, not too many people around... He manages to veer off the road through a grass shoulder and into a pretty much vacant parking lot where he was able to finally get his foot free and stop. I asked him why the hell he didn't just pull the emergency brake or use his left foot to hit the brakes. He said "I panicked".

So the moral of the story is to always make sure the mechanic has all their tools when they fix your stuff and to not ignore the warning signs of diabetes.

 

[jobarules]

Jeez, glad you are ok. Since nothing ended up happening is there really anything you can sue them for? It was negligence and the mechanic should be fired.

 

[Dezbelief]

How many miles on the vehicle? Was there any metal to metal sound, grinding or screeching when braking prior to getting the inspection? Did the car pull to one side or did the steering wheel wobble when braking prior to getting the inspection?
If none of those things were present the rotors were probably fine, but on a high mileage vehicle might have been wearing thin.

If you feel the repairs were unnecessary I would ask for a refund on the brake repairs at a minimum. If they balk slip a hundred or two to an attorney you are familiar with and ask them to write a letter to the dealership.

Has the dealership offered anything? Have you spoken with a manager?

 

[Nick Vermeil]

How many miles on the vehicle? Was there any metal to metal sound, grinding or screeching when braking prior to getting the inspection? Did the car pull to one side or did the steering wheel wobble when braking prior to getting the inspection?
If none of those things were present the rotors were probably fine, but on a high mileage vehicle might have been wearing thin.

If you feel the repairs were unnecessary I would ask for a refund on the brake repairs at a minimum. If they balk slip a hundred or two to an attorney you are familiar with and ask them to write a letter to the dealership.

Has the dealership offered anything? Have you spoken with a manager?

There were no issues before taking it in for service. I expect them to try and fast track repairs that may not quite be necessary. And when they say they recommend brake work I want to err on the safe side.

And I haven’t spoken to a manager yet. I’ll be picking up the van in a few hours and will have it out then.

 

[Chris B.]

This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

You should, this would a service to the community. Can't let this slide (no pun intended).

 

[ChiefD]

I think my reaction would be based on how the dealership handles this when I go to pick up the car. If they are apologizing profusely and offering to pay for the repairs and such I would accept that and just say something like "please don't let this happen to anyone else. we were lucky we were not on a highway or something like that or we would probably not be here today,"

If they non-chalant this thing I am raising hell loud and clear in that dealership.

 

[belljr]

I think my reaction would be based on how the dealership handles this when I go to pick up the car. If they are apologizing profusely and offering to pay for the repairs and such I would accept that and just say something like "please don't let this happen to anyone else. we were lucky we were not on a highway or something like that or we would probably not be here today,"

If they non-chalant this thing I am raising hell loud and clear in that dealership.

Definitely bring extra pennies

 

[Dr. Octopus]

On Saturday I took my wife's van in to the dealership for normal service and state inspection. As you would expect, they call me an hour later and tell me that the brake pads are worn and the rotors need cleaning. They suggest fixing both of those things and draining and replacing all brake fluid. I agree and pick it up a few hours later.

Then yesterday I'm driving my whole family to the grocery store and the brakes fail, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the van barely slows. They traction control light and the emergency brake light come on. Luckily we where in a 25 MPH zone and I was able to get off the road without hitting anyone. After horrible customer service, they finally have the van towed and give us a loaner.

So today the service staff is back in and they take look at it to see what happened. The mechanic left the wench on the release nut of the fluid system and normal driving loosened the bolt so there was no pressure in the lines to stop the van. (!) What if we had been on the freeway?

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

I’m not sure you can sue them for anything other than fixing their mistake - what are your damages? Fortunately for you you didn’t suffer any.

 

[Scoresman]

Is the mechanic married?

 

[El Floppo]

Glad you're ok, gb. Scary stuff.

 

[TLEF316]

On Saturday I took my wife's van in to the dealership for normal service and state inspection. As you would expect, they call me an hour later and tell me that the brake pads are worn and the rotors need cleaning. They suggest fixing both of those things and draining and replacing all brake fluid. I agree and pick it up a few hours later.

Then yesterday I'm driving my whole family to the grocery store and the brakes fail, the pedal goes all the way to the floor and the van barely slows. They traction control light and the emergency brake light come on. Luckily we where in a 25 MPH zone and I was able to get off the road without hitting anyone. After horrible customer service, they finally have the van towed and give us a loaner.

So today the service staff is back in and they take look at it to see what happened. The mechanic left the wench on the release nut of the fluid system and normal driving loosened the bolt so there was no pressure in the lines to stop the van. (!) What if we had been on the freeway?

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

You all go together?

Yeah, this is what I took from this too. As a single guy whose goal is to get in and out of the store in less than 11 minutes, nothing annoys me more than the folks who treat it like a trip to Disney (Free samples, spending 50 seconds in front of the cookie shelf deciding what to get, etc).

That being said....glad the family is ok GB

 

[Leroy Hoard]

This is worse than a surgeon sewing you up with a Junior Mint still in you.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Tell them you want to see a corrective action plan. Then set up weekly meetings with them

 

[mr. furley]

me, i'd go scorched earth and raise a tremendous ruckus. could have easily cost your life. call a lawyer.

 

[Gr00vus]

Glad you're all o.k.

If it's a dealership, you should probably start a line of discussion with the vehicle manufacturing company as well (or threaten to do so with the dealership). I can't imagine the manufacturer will be thrilled at the kind of publicity that dealership could have associated with their brand.

 

[The Big Guy]

Wow that is scary. Glad it ended well.

 

[top dog]

I really don't have much to do at work right now. It is either plan for the next project or think about this post. Obviously I've chosen to think about random stuff I've read on the internet and thought of another anecdotal story that really has nothing to do with the OP...

My daughter was a horrible driver. And when I say horrible, I mean friggin horrible. She ran into everything. Including the telephone pole next to our driveway. Because she was always bouncing her car off other objects, she had a POS Buick. It was about as old as she was at the time. She was going to the local college at the time and called me to tell me that when she was going into the parking lot to park she could no longer turn. The steering wheel just spun. Luckily she was going really slow at the time turning into a parking spot and just stopped there. I had her car towed to a local mechanic I knew who called me down to show me something on the car. We were standing there probably about 30-40 feet behind her car where I met Brian. He pointed at her car and said, "See that underneath?" I kind of squatted down and could see a large object hanging down too far. It was HER ENGINE. the frame rotted out enough that the motor mounts broke and the engine dropped down breaking the steering wheel shaft off at the gear box or whatever. SHE WAS DAMN LUCKY IT HAPPENED IN A PARKING LOT WHEN SHE WAS GOING LIKE 3 MILES AN HOUR RATHER THAN ON THE HIGHWAY SHE WAS ON 10 MINUTES EARLIER. Needless to say the next tow was to the salvage yard.

That being said, I also agree with @ChiefD and would gauge my reaction to the OP based on the dealership on how they react when you go in. If they are very apologetic and try to make things right I'd probably let it go. Accidents happen and thank God you were ok. If they are jerks about it, I'm letting that whole place know who I am and how much they screwed up.

 

[belljr]

sounds like they were trying to drum up business

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Headed there now. Will update.

 

[gianmarco]

Headed there now. Will update.

Best Monday thread ever.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Headed there now. Will update.

Best Monday thread ever.

I hope everyone is able to stop in here.

 

[Osaurus]

Has your wife been mad at you lately? Just sayin.

 

[NutterButter]

Is replacing brake fluid normal? I've only personally topped it off after having to bleed the brakes when I replaced my calipers bc the pistons were seized.

 

[belljr]

Is replacing brake fluid normal? I've only personally topped it off after having to bleed the brakes when I replaced my calipers bc the pistons were seized.

Yes you should replace brake fluid based on manufacturer specs. Usually somewhere around 50k/4 years

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

Not knowing the full details, my gut reaction is get your money back and get reimbursed for towing costs to a different mechanic you trust, and never step foot in that place again. You should obviously not pay anything for their work and should not be out of pocket, but I would not want them "fixing" their mistake at any cost or no cost.

 

[Oracle]

Glad you are OK!

Supposedly the emergency brake is supposed to work. When we were stationed in Okinawa, my son was tagging along with his friend/friend’s parents on a hiking trip. The brakes went out and they were able to get over(3 lanes) and use the emergency brake and intersection divider to stop. SCARY!!!

 

[Sand]

It was HER ENGINE. the frame rotted out enough that the motor mounts broke and the engine dropped down breaking the steering wheel shaft off at the gear box or whatever. SHE WAS DAMN LUCKY IT HAPPENED IN A PARKING LOT WHEN SHE WAS GOING LIKE 3 MILES AN HOUR RATHER THAN ON THE HIGHWAY SHE WAS ON 10 MINUTES EARLIER.

When I was 10 we had an old truck. Going about 40 on a 4 lane street - big clang; we left the drive shaft on the road. It also rotted out, and luckily my mother was able to coast to a stop.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

Not knowing the full details, my gut reaction is get your money back and get reimbursed for towing costs to a different mechanic you trust, and never step foot in that place again. You should obviously not pay anything for their work and should not be out of pocket, but I would not want them "fixing" their mistake at any cost or no cost.

This is essentially how it is playing out. I have a lot of thoughts on what went down at the dealership and things I learned about how they do business but I’m too tired to write about it tonight. I’ll expand tomorrow. The quick update is they refunded the entire bill and the service manager described in detail how the mechanic cried in his office. A first apparently.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Glad you are OK!

Supposedly the emergency brake is supposed to work. When we were stationed in Okinawa, my son was tagging along with his friend/friend’s parents on a hiking trip. The brakes went out and they were able to get over(3 lanes) and use the emergency brake and intersection divider to stop. SCARY!!!

This is actually possible but no one I’ve dealt with at the dealership has brought up the fact which is another sign of their ineptitude. I was able to eventually stop the van and the brake light was on. It almost felt like a total car power failure. So I suspect the emergency brake helped slow us down.

 

[culdeus]

Glad you are OK!

Supposedly the emergency brake is supposed to work. When we were stationed in Okinawa, my son was tagging along with his friend/friend’s parents on a hiking trip. The brakes went out and they were able to get over(3 lanes) and use the emergency brake and intersection divider to stop. SCARY!!!

This is actually possible but no one I’ve dealt with at the dealership has brought up the fact which is another sign of their ineptitude. I was able to eventually stop the van and the brake light was on. It almost felt like a total car power failure. So I suspect the emergency brake helped slow us down.

Emergency brakes are a little different now. It's not as strong as the ones from the 90s

 

[culdeus]

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

Not knowing the full details, my gut reaction is get your money back and get reimbursed for towing costs to a different mechanic you trust, and never step foot in that place again. You should obviously not pay anything for their work and should not be out of pocket, but I would not want them "fixing" their mistake at any cost or no cost.

This is essentially how it is playing out. I have a lot of thoughts on what went down at the dealership and things I learned about how they do business but I’m too tired to write about it tonight. I’ll expand tomorrow. The quick update is they refunded the entire bill and the service manager described in detail how the mechanic cried in his office. A first apparently.

Whoa

 

[offdee]

If they are jerks about it, I'm letting that whole place know who I am and how much they screwed up.

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!!! TOP DOG FROM THE INTERNET, THAT'S WHO!

 

[Genxersrule]

I'm beyond furious. We are just lucky it happened when it did or it could have been catastrophic. So what is the play here? This level of negligence blows my mind and I'm tempted to sue them out of business.

Not knowing the full details, my gut reaction is get your money back and get reimbursed for towing costs to a different mechanic you trust, and never step foot in that place again. You should obviously not pay anything for their work and should not be out of pocket, but I would not want them "fixing" their mistake at any cost or no cost.

This is essentially how it is playing out. I have a lot of thoughts on what went down at the dealership and things I learned about how they do business but I’m too tired to write about it tonight. I’ll expand tomorrow. The quick update is they refunded the entire bill and the service manager described in detail how the mechanic cried in his office. A first apparently.

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much, why common sense has to be labeled on packages, why physicians need hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance, why medicine commercials have to list out every possible warning, etc.. Rather than just using the legal system to get rid of the true incompetent or dangerous people, many folks will sue at the first sign of an issue. Not saying this is you, but by the reaction of your garage, I'd be satisfied with the response and leave it there. We are humans, we make mistakes and if we all got sued for every big mistake we made, well it would not be fun.

Occasionally life throws something potentially bad in your way, I'm glad you and your family are ok and I'll be the garage will use this as a learning moment and tighten up their safety procedures.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much,

No, it's not.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much, why common sense has to be labeled on packages, why physicians need hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance, why medicine commercials have to list out every possible warning, etc.. Rather than just using the legal system to get rid of the true incompetent or dangerous people, many folks will sue at the first sign of an issue.

This notion is 90% myth imo - one that is heavily backed by well-funded industries (insurance, health care) and trade groups (AMA).

 

[Nick Vermeil]

So to follow up: when I picked up the van the Service Manager told me that this is the first error this mechanic has made in 16 years. He is now on probabtion and has to have each job approved by the shop foreman. The probation willd drop off his record in a year or so if he doesn't make another error. Other than that, there was no clear action that the dealership said they were prepared to take to prevent this from happening again.

When I suggested to the service manager (who claims he has been doing this for 30 years) that they come up with a procdure to account for all tools at the end of a repair, he was like "Oh, yeah. Good idea. We should do that." Some other things I learned:

1) They do not keep a list of tools and confirm they have them all at the end of the job, and it will be difficult to implement because...
2) The dealership does not provide the tools. Each mechanic supplies their own tools so there is no standard set and no oversite that guarntees the tools are correct for the job and in good working shape. The dealship just provides the bay, computers and software.
3) The wrench the mechanic used was "more tool than necessary" to complete the job. He used a longer tool than most mechanics so he could reach over the tire to bleed the line. Apparently, that procedure is supposed to be done with the tires removed. Had he used the normal wrench, it would have been too short to come into contact with the frame but clearly still dangerous.

If I believe the manager, the mechanic was clearly rattled by the error. As he should be. I'm still pretty hot about the whole thing to be honest.

 

[ChiefD]

My father-in-law was a mechanic at a dealership for his whole career. And believe me, NOBODY is rattled more by that incident than that service technician. That is the biggest fear for those guys - that one mistake can be costly that it leads to loss of life. He is gonna replay that mistake in his mind the rest of his life.

 

[wazoo11]

Did the mechanic offer a high five or eat a twix?

 

[belljr]

When my dad was a mechanic in 70s and 80s he had to provide his own tools. I'm pretty sure it's like that at most places still.

I'm sure there are exceptions

 

[Nick Vermeil]

When my dad was a mechanic in 70s and 80s he had to provide his own tools. I'm pretty sure it's like that at most places still.

I'm sure there are exceptions

I don't know why this surprised, but it did. I guess if the dealership provides a required tool list it wouldn't really matter. But trying to standardize procedures when all of your mechanics have a differnt kit seems near impossible.

 

[Genxersrule]

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much, why common sense has to be labeled on packages, why physicians need hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance, why medicine commercials have to list out every possible warning, etc.. Rather than just using the legal system to get rid of the true incompetent or dangerous people, many folks will sue at the first sign of an issue.

This notion is 90% myth imo - one that is heavily backed by well-funded industries (insurance, health care) and trade groups (AMA).

So why do we have to write on plastic bags not to put it on our heads? Why is every drug commercial 25% of the maybe just a little tiny bit maybe side effects you can have? To say that our litigatous society hasn’t impacted consumer cost is not correct. We can certainly argue about the degree of that cost.

 

[Chris B.]

Has your wife been mad at you lately? Just sayin.

So mad that she'd want to die in a car crash as well?

 

[culdeus]

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much, why common sense has to be labeled on packages, why physicians need hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance, why medicine commercials have to list out every possible warning, etc.. Rather than just using the legal system to get rid of the true incompetent or dangerous people, many folks will sue at the first sign of an issue.

This notion is 90% myth imo - one that is heavily backed by well-funded industries (insurance, health care) and trade groups (AMA).

So why do we have to write on plastic bags not to put it on our heads? Why is every drug commercial 25% of the maybe just a little tiny bit maybe side effects you can have? To say that our litigatous society hasn’t impacted consumer cost is not correct. We can certainly argue about the degree of that cost.

There is some benefit. The most classic example is the Mcdonald case. The case was used by everybody as frivolous, but a decade later it's obvious that anti tort reform lobbyists pr the crap out of that. End result was a lot of good regulations and safety.

Freakonomics did a good podcast or two on this and would suggest tort law reduces costs.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

People suing at the drop of a hat are a big reason why things cost so much, why common sense has to be labeled on packages, why physicians need hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance, why medicine commercials have to list out every possible warning, etc.. Rather than just using the legal system to get rid of the true incompetent or dangerous people, many folks will sue at the first sign of an issue.

This notion is 90% myth imo - one that is heavily backed by well-funded industries (insurance, health care) and trade groups (AMA).

So why do we have to write on plastic bags not to put it on our heads? Why is every drug commercial 25% of the maybe just a little tiny bit maybe side effects you can have? To say that our litigatous society hasn’t impacted consumer cost is not correct. We can certainly argue about the degree of that cost.

You made the statement so offer proof. The burden is on you to back up you (incorrect) assertions.

 

[SWC]

My father-in-law was a mechanic at a dealership for his whole career. And believe me, NOBODY is rattled more by that incident than that service technician. That is the biggest fear for those guys - that one mistake can be costly that it leads to loss of life. He is gonna replay that mistake in his mind the rest of his life.

i knew a service tech whose biggest fears was spiders take that to the bank brohans