Tom E.

Many years ago, I took my '79 Malibu Station Wagon (which was a major POS) to a K-Mart Auto Center to get the oil changed & a MO State Safety Inspection sticker (I believe I went there because I had a discount coupon for the oil change).

Well anyway, after about 20 minutes in the waiting room, the service manager came in and took me aside and told me that they had done the "courtesy inspection". And if I wanted to "protect my family" (since it was a station wagon, plus, he must have seen the kiddy car seat in the back), that the brakes were completely worn out ("metal to metal") and had warped rotors that must be replaced. They had to either be turned or replaced immediately, or it would not pass inspection and I was endangering my family! And even luckier for me, their brake guy (who obviously was in cahoots) just happened to be there and he could do it while I waited, all for only $350! (A huge amount of money to me back then!)

My brakes had been fine and checked OK previously, and it was a low mileage car (I had bought it new); but, he showed me a worn out brake pad which supposedly came off my wheel-NOT!!! (He said OSHA rules prevented him from letting me go out to the shop to actually see the wheels). But because I had taken time off from work to get this service work done & I did not want to go from shop to shop to get this F!@#$%^NG inspection sticker to get my license plates renewed, I said OK.

Although I am not 100% certain it was a scam; none the less, I have never spent another dime at a K-Mart since that day!

P.S. I wonder how many millions of dollars (and people) have been ripped off for bogus repairs just so they could get their "State Safety Inspections" done, so they could get their license plates renewed!

C64BOB

In the 70's a buddy and I are taking a trip east (from Norcal) on highway 80in his 65 roadster. We stop in Elko Nevada for gas, beer etc. We walk across the street while the attendant is checking the oil and cleaning the windshield. We get back into the car it cranks but doesn't
start. We're scratching our heads and the gas station guy comes back and says it must have skipped the timing chain as we shut down the motor. He doesn't realize he's BSing the wrong guys. We check under the hood and he's cut the distributor ground wire....

Tom E.

Don't leave us hanging. So did you guys then cut his ground wire?

kbuhagiar

Yeah, did that attendant live to tell about it?

scotty t

my brother had a 96 supercharged riviera. he took it to a local shop to have the spark plugs changed, it was running a little rough, they said new plugs couldn't make a car run better. they said it probably needed new POINTS

vettefred

Hey, anybody need an NOS waterpump for a Corvair? A lot of them were sold back in the day.



Regards,

Fred

Richbopp....that was a good one, my aunt lived in Somerville and got ripped by a Firestone store on shocks and brakes on her 8,000 mile 64 Chevy Nova.

67L36Driver

So is he buried somewhere in the desert around Elko?

SMI-FST

On the other side of the coin, several years ago my father was returning from visiting a friend at the hospital. His Dodge starts bucking and is barely running, he pulls into the lot of a small garage to have a look ( my dad was a very good shade tre mech.). The shop owner comes out and they determine that the elec. fuel pump has gone south, can't get one till the next day. My dad goes in to call me to come and get him (he is about 50 miles from home), the owner tells him to take his car home and come back the next day to pick up his car. Proceeds to hand him the keys to his new Buick Park Ave. with less than 500 miles on it. He had never laid eyes on my dad before. Next day the car is done price is Very fair and no charge for car rental!