Nightmare in the Auto Shop: Dealing With the Intermittent Auto Problem

by Dave Tenenbaum

	Introduction
	Paying for nothing?
	Can you hear me now?
	Sidebar: A sound glossary
	Sidebar: Taking in the sites
	Sidebar: Related Home & Family Finance Resource Center article

Clunk. Clunk, clunk. You hear a nasty noise in the front of your Buick and make an appointment with the car-fix. When you get there, naturally, you find the noise has skedaddled faster than Huck Finn on the first day of school.

As you try to describe the phantom noise, the truth dawns: You are bringing the worst kind of problem to a repair shop. The intermittent problem can be a car owner's nemesis and a mechanic's menace.

Worse, in other words, than a raft-eye view of a steamboat barreling toward you on the Mississippi River in the dead of night.

Whether it's a weird noise in the front or a hesitation in the gas pedal, the good news is that there are established techniques for dealing with them. The bad news is that these techniques don't always work.

"Intermittent problems probably are less than 15% of walk-ins," says Vicki Moeser, owner of Crestwood Auto Clinic in Madison, Wis. "But when they are there, they are very annoying, not only to the customer, but to us if we can't duplicate them."

Nevertheless, as you deliver your clunk-mobile to the shop with that intermittent problem, you play a critical role in the unfolding detective story. Just like Tom Sawyer and Huck scrounging around the graveyard on a dark and stormy night, you must deliver the clues.

Think about it: Intermittent problems start for a reason, and they stop for a reason, and those reasons are clues to the nature of the problem that can give mechanics a head start. Which description is more helpful? "It's on the left, but it only happens when I have a car full of kids and I'm halfway through my afternoon carpool," or, "It has this weird noise. I heard it just last week. You guys are experts: Why do you think I brought this rolling junkyard to you?"

Other details include whether the problem arises:

• Right away or after half an hour of driving?
• In the city or on the highway?
• At a certain time of day, or in certain weather?
• Only when you turn right?
• Only when you are accelerating?

Paying for nothing?

If your heap of scrap iron fails to act up during the test-drive or diagnosis period, who pays for the detective work? The manufacturer, if you're lucky enough to have a warranty. Unfortunately some shops resist major sleuthing on a warranted car, fearing that if they don't find the problem they won't be able to bill the manufacturer--see "Could Not, Would Not Duplicate the Problem" in the sidebar "Taking in the sites." Under these circumstances, find a better shop.

For nonwarranted cars, the shop is likely to charge you for the time mechanics spend investigating, on the premise that you own the car. "If the technician spends two hours working on your car, the technician should get paid for two hours, even if he doesn't find anything," says Sunderlage.

He advises that, before you set mechanics loose on your square-tired sedan, set a reasonable limit on diagnosis time--based on the apparent severity of the problem and how much the problem is annoying you. The shop must be able to reach you for approval before exceeding the limit--so don't drop off the car the day you're scheduled for open-heart surgery.

Can you hear me now?

Some car systems are unusually prone to intermittent problems. Wear in suspension systems can produce a variety of clunks, grunts, and groans under specific circumstances. Engines can develop occasional problems due to dirty fuel or clogged filters. But in an era when cars essentially are rolling computers, electronics are notorious for intermittent problems.

Things as simple as changing temperatures can cause electronic misery, Sunderlage says. "I had one in today. The customer reported that the cruise control would sometimes go faster and faster. We've driven it two or three times, and it seems to be working just fine." But because the cruise-control electronics are near the engine, they may warm up slowly, and only then go bad. It's a good theory, but before he replaces expensive parts, Sunderlage will ask the ultimate expert--the customer--for more information.

As this story indicates, intermittent problems can be thorny. "Patience is the big thing. If the customer realizes you are doing the best you can, that's good," says Sunderlage.

Customers, he says, can get annoyed when mechanics fail to identify the problems. "If they don't feel you are giving it your best effort, that's when frustration sets in. They say �I've had to bring it back four times, and you still haven't solved the problem!' but they don't always realize we dislike this just as much as they do."

Eventually, intermittent problems either 1) go away or (we put our money on No. 2) 2) get so bad that even Aunt Polly could diagnose them. Here are a few more things to remember about intermittent problems:

• If all essential systems check out, it may be safe to wait until the problem gets worse.
• Some noises are a lot of sound and fury, signifying, well, nothing. "Older cars are particularly susceptible to phantom problems," Sunderlage says. "Every car has a personality, and as it gets older, more parts are going to fail."
• While you may think paying for a negative diagnosis is paying for nothing, you actually are buying assurance that the obvious things are OK--if you trust the repair shop.
• Some noises never reveal themselves. "I have dealt with people who have traded in the car, because it got to point that they could not deal with it," says Sunderlage.
• Get documentation of your complaint in case the warranty expires before the problem surfaces.