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Date: Thu, 11 Jul 91 12:16:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: Henry Christopher Frey <hf09+@andrew.cmu.edu>
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To: CMU-Market <cmu-market+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Ted McWilliams
Cc: 
In-Reply-To: <9107111442.AA15931@ts4a.sei.cmu.edu>
References: <9107111442.AA15931@ts4a.sei.cmu.edu>

>I took my car to Ted McWilliams once and they told me I needed a new
clutch.
>So I took it to Bruno's with the instructions: replace clutch. I
figured I'd
>save some money since he's pretty cheap. About an hour later, Bruno
calls me:
>"Who told you this car needed a new clutch?" "Ted McWilliams." "No,
this just
>needs to be adjusted."

>Charge to me: $5. The car went another two years before I had to
replace the
>clutch. This has always impressed me--my neck was on the chopping
block, and
>the guy let me get up. Truly a rarity in the world of auto repair.  

I took my car to Ted McWilliams once because I had hard steering.  I was
told that I needed a new rack and pinion for $180.  I then went to
Tony's garage.  When I returned to pick up the car, he told me the
problem was the u-joint in the steering column, which he took apart and
lubricated.  It was only $30 for an hour's labor.  That was two years
ago and no problem since.

Moral of the story--stay the heck away from Ted McWilliams, except
*maybe* for tuneups.  They will always charge maximum prices for parts
and labor, and they will always make the most conservative (i.e.
expensive) diagnosis of any problem you may (or may not) have.  I
complained about them to AAA, but the AAA representative said they do
not take complaints based on monetary rip-off, only based on poor
repairs without regard to cost.  I though a complete misdiagnosis was
sufficient basis, but the AAA guy didn't.  He said that was a judgment
call based on the experience of the dealer.  Sure.

Chris Frey