Frustrations of working as a Motor Vehicle Technician.

[highlander]

I get what you and your ex apprentice are saying phil. i was over 30 years in social work, mostly loved it but the last 5 years even being at the top of the profession was a real drag with all the changes so when i retired in march i took a PT summer delivery driver job with a garden centre, loved it, still got to meet people........and got to see just how much people are willing to pay for some garden furniture they will use maybe 8 or 10 times a year!

 

[Felonious Crud]

In 10 years time I’m going to retrain as a gigalo which should see me out to retirement

Yes, I saw you were advertising for an apprentice fluffer.

Did you receive my application?

 

[midlifecrisis]

Yes, I saw you were advertising for an apprentice fluffer.

Did you receive my application?

The position became superfluous due to the pictures you sent...

 

[CatmanV2]

Not for nothing is it said that if you find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life. I love messing around with tech still, but I am no longer hands on at work. There have been far better hands than I for 15+ years.
The reward I get from leadership, though, is mega. Can't really see that paling any time soon. I still need to do about 15+ years (although I'd like to aim for 20) but will probably be pimping myself out as a portfolio exec by then.

C

 

[highlander]

portfolio exec???? is that tech speak for a gigalo like Matt then?

 

[CatmanV2]

portfolio exec???? is that tech speak for a gigalo like Matt then?

There are more similarities than might be immediately apparent
Basically you act on the board of several companies at the same time. Companies that are not large enough or complex enough, or rich enough to need or want to pay a full time (in my case) CIO / CISO but can still benefit from being able to call on the services of one on a regular basis

C

 

[Wack61]

At the moment, if it doesn’t throw a code, they have no idea where to start.

Its when they fire up the parts canon and start firing the bills rack up

So far I've spent about £400 on diagnostics and parts that didn't fix my abarth , it's at what point to you give up and PX it

 

[lifes2short]

problem is it's long gone the days when main stealers/independent garages would actually fault find, these days they just guess and simply start replacing parts until the problem is fixed, if at all. I had an e70 X5 with a the occasional lack of acceleration, main stealer came up with a load of poppycock saying it required decoking the inlet manifold by blasting with walnut shells and then new turbo and trying to shaft me over with a 2k quote if i remember correctly, took it to a local respected independent garage and they were equally clueless and just wanted to replace parts and another guessing game. In the end I just did a bit of googling and forum chats and found out it was just a vacuum control part, bought it from euro car parts for about £20 and did the job myself within an hour.

 

[philw696]

Had a 4 year old Cayenne 3.0 diesel - filled with adblue , didn’t register and mileage was counting down, would get to the point of non start - £3k repair at Porsche

That's what I'm beginning to think with this Mercedes and I know they won't repair only renew.

 

[Wack61]

problem is it's long gone the days when main stealers/independent garages would actually fault find, these days they just guess and simply start replacing parts until the problem is fixed, if at all. I had an e70 X5 with a the occasional lack of acceleration, main stealer came up with a load of poppycock saying it required decoking the inlet manifold by blasting with walnut shells and then new turbo and trying to shaft me over with a 2k quote if i remember correctly, took it to a local respected independent garage and they were equally clueless and just wanted to replace parts and another guessing game. In the end I just did a bit of googling and forum chats and found out it was just a vacuum control part, bought it from euro car parts for about £20 and did the job myself within an hour.

Main dealers are jokers

I had a van under warranty , red brake warning light came on , red means stop or you're going to die , doesn't it

Seemed ok , brakes worked , fluid bottle full so I gingerly drove it to the dealer

10 minutes later , it's a brake pad warning light , needs discs and pads on the back , we can do it today £700 + vat

Er ok .
Took it to my mechanic who measured the discs , well within tolerance , fitted new pads and charged me £90

 

[lifes2short]

Main dealers are jokers

I had a van under warranty , red brake warning light came on , red means stop or you're going to die , doesn't it

Seemed ok , brakes worked , fluid bottle full so I gingerly drove it to the dealer

10 minutes later , it's a brake pad warning light , needs discs and pads on the back , we can do it today £700 + vat

Er ok .
Took it to my mechanic who measured the discs , well within tolerance , fitted new pads and charged me £90

completely agree, main stealers charge an arm and 2 legs and then put their jimmies on the job, remember my bmw main stealer not even tightening the sump plug once, it was only finger tight, luckily spotted it in time before it dumped the oil out. You should google your abarth problem and check out some forums as you may find the cause of your issue, like i did with my beemer

 

[Simon1963]

That's what I'm beginning to think with this Mercedes and I know they won't repair only renew.

Reading the stuff on the Mercedes forums it seems a common issue and a new tank with inbuilt sensors is required. Are you able to map the Adblue system out on your diagnostics even just to prove a point. I know if mine goes that way that’s what will be done.

 

[Wack61]

Reading the stuff on the Mercedes forums it seems a common issue and a new tank with inbuilt sensors is required. Are you able to map the Adblue system out on your diagnostics even just to prove a point. I know if mine goes that way that’s what will be done.

A mate has a 2017 E220 ,when his eml came on I lent him my autel scanner which has never failed to bring up a code on my cars or people I've lent it to
Mercedes , nope, P00000 , take it to a dealer

 

[philw696]

Here in France and I'm sure the UK too it's illegal to delete emissions systems and most likely severe consequences if you get caught and I'm easily found through my Siret number as a Garagiste so if it has to be Mercedes Dealer Network then that's how it is.
Speaking with a MB technician now an Independent in Bristol I'm not going to get anywhere and it's all the owners own fault for ignoring the information on the dashboard until it got to this point.
Keep your Adblue topped up and use the car as intended you probably won't get an issue.
Autel and Bosch could get me no further than my Launch.
It needs MB Star and an software update minimum probably along with a complete new tank assembly is the concencus.

 

[safrane]

Would that be Parkway Mercedes Phil?

They look after Charlie's car and have been very good so far.

 

[philw696]

Would that be Parkway Mercedes Phil?

They look after Charlie's car and have been very good so far.

It is Peter and I've known the guy 30 years so I trust what he's telling me and boy I've learnt lots and another reason for my choice in driving what I now drive.

 

[Harry]

A mate has a 2017 E220 ,when his eml came on I lent him my autel scanner which has never failed to bring up a code on my cars or people I've lent it to
Mercedes , nope, P00000 , take it to a dealer

Is P00000 the official term for when a scanner doesn’t work on something?

 

[Wack61]

Is P00000 the official term for when a scanner doesn’t work on something?

maybe, it might be too new though it is 6 years old

 

[allandwf]

problem is it's long gone the days when main stealers/independent garages would actually fault find, these days they just guess and simply start replacing parts until the problem is fixed, if at all. I had an e70 X5 with a the occasional lack of acceleration, main stealer came up with a load of poppycock saying it required decoking the inlet manifold by blasting with walnut shells and then new turbo and trying to shaft me over with a 2k quote if i remember correctly, took it to a local respected independent garage and they were equally clueless and just wanted to replace parts and another guessing game. In the end I just did a bit of googling and forum chats and found out it was just a vacuum control part, bought it from euro car parts for about £20 and did the job myself within an hour.

Fault finding days are gone. It's more cost effective to replace a £100 part maybe a couple of times if guessing than fault find, and repair , at say £65/h for a day. I used to like the fault finding, but I was not really given the time in the end. A just change it mentality prevailed.

 

[mjheathcote]

Took my daughters Ford Ka for a drive yesterday to pick her up from the train station.
On the way back stopped to refuel, and I thought I'd reset the trip. No trip!
Actually it has nothing, no ac/electric windows/central locking. As basic as it can be.
Hardly anything to fault find.
Was actually quite nice, driving with the window down.
How to feel young again!