This is a long story so please bear with me.
tl;dr - Mechanic misdiagnosed my car, took my money and ghosted me.
My car suddenly stopped starting after doing some much needed maintenance on it. Worried that I had accidentally damaged something, I called D&K Auto to do a diagnostic check. We both agreed on price beforehand. When he arrived, I explained the situation and showed him the car.
He cranked the car once and immediately said it was a camshaft position sensor, which was preventing spark. He recommended I replace the sensor or the distributor entirely. This was strange because I never touched that part while working on my car. Keep in mind, this car had no issues starting before. Spark plugs were cleaned and inspected less than a month ago, but he was extremely confident about this.
I asked how he could tell and he said he knew by "the sound of the engine cranking".
I asked him again if he was absolutely sure, he said he was "100% certain".
He did not offer to do any diagnostic testing and I had to ask him to check the fuel pressure for peace of mind. He stated that he didnt have the right adapter (I later bought a cheap, garage tester and even that had an adapter for this car).
Even just writing this down makes me feel bad about how I missed these red flags, but I am only somewhat mechanically inclined, and because he seemed so confident I wrote it off as me just not being experienced enough to understand.
I bought a brand new distributor and installed it on my car, but it still wouldnt start. I immediately texted him to explain whats going on. I tried calling him multiple times but it went straight to voicemail.
Ended up having the car towed to another mechanic (one that I actually took time to research). It took them one afternoon to find that the timing belt was slipping, causing the car to lose compression.
I ended having to spend a lot of time and money to replace something I didn't need to in addition to not having a car. It's a shame because he seemed like a very friendly guy.
Please dont make the same mistake that I did. Find a trusted, well-reviewed mechanic and trust your gut if something doesn't seem right. read more