Mechanic tossed the K&N!!

[FitzMatt]

Ok so we take the Explorer to this autoshop (actually it was just a guy) that my mom's friend goes to, it needed a tune-up. Well when I got there it turned out to be a foreign auto place with only 2 bays for cars to be worked on, a dirty place. Well this guy was recommended, so we went ahead with the tune-up.

When I went to pick it up today, I tried to communicate with the non-English speaker mechanic to see what he found. He tells me he changed the spark plugs and the oil, oh and also the air filter! I was like....ummmmm, that's a $50 K&N filter, you aren't supposed to replace those, they have a 1,000,000 mile warrantee, they last forever!!! This guy had absolutely no idea what I was talking about! How can you be an auto mechanic and never have heard of a K&N filter?? Plus the darn thing is red, as opposed to the white OEM ones.

But anyway I asked him where my filter was!! He tossed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was sifting through trash cans all over the dirty place, he couldn't find it! Then he goes out back and gets it out of the dumpster!!!!!! Excuse me?? Hello!!!! Duhhhhh.

Then I just bite the bullet, try to forget about it, sign the bill and get out of there. I can just put it back in when I get home. Well as I'm looking at the very unprofessional, hand-written receipt/bill, I see that he charged me for an air filter!! NO WAY JOSE!!! I told him there was no way I was gonna pay for the installation and parts fee for a new air filter! Especially when I have to go home and take apart the intake again, along with trying to salvage my dumpster-tossed K&N filter!! He reluctantly proceeded to take $10 off the bill. Goodness gracious!!

Well I had to vent, thanks for hearing the story.

P.S. How can an auto mechanic not know what an aftermarket air filter is???

Matt

 

[Robert]

Do you have the big "STOP" sticker on your air-box warning that it is not a disposable filter? Of course if he could hardly speak English, I doubt if he could read English. The big red "STOP" sign should be a clue to ask questions if you don't know what it is there for. I don't have that problem, the standard rectangular filter won't come anywhere close to fitting on my FIPK

 

[jimbo74]

matt....that sucks!!!! where is this place? i need to stay away from it... post the address and info. so others can avoid it too....

robert...about the fipk that is funny.....

 

[espnfreak]

ya all my buddies threw out their stop sticker, i put it on mine because i knew something like that would eventually happen, at least you got the filter back. how damaged was it?

 

[Alec]

Whenever I go to get an oil change, I always have an attendant write "DO NOT change air filter" on the write-up slip. Besides, the places I go to ask before they do anything besides what was agreed upon when I took it in. Next time you get a bad feeling about a place, stop and think. It's better to not use a "recommended" place than to have problems with your truck. Your friend will get over it.

BTW, when I take it in for an oil change I don't tell them what the air filter is attached to. So far I've seen the jaws of 5 service station attendants hit the floor

 

[ok89]

I have the stop sticker on mine because i knew something like that would eventually happen. I feel your pain though. I know here they can't do any work without permission from the owner. Did you know that this "tune-up" included a replacement air filter?

 

[CBoug76]

Easy way to prevent this, Do your own Work!
The only thing I would ever let a mechanic do would be to overhaul the tranny! otherwise I do ALL my own work.