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Earlier this week my daughter's Mini tripped a code, went into limp mode and was running horribly. My little Mini/BMW code reader was not telling me anything so she took it to a local European Mechanic. He said throttle body ($730/installed), valve cover gasket ($240 installed), and oil change ($180). He said it was all OEM parts and 2 year warranty.
Rock Auto had an aftermarket throttle body for $160 (dealer and mechanic wanted $550 and $630 respectively), Mahle (OEM) gasket was $35, and a top notch oil filter were ordered. We paid mechanic $135 for the diagnostic fee and brought the Mini home.
I pull the throttle body and look at it. It is literally IDENTICAL to the cheapie I just bought. Same markings, same materials, same oil globed in the throttle shaft area. Both were Continental and made in Germany. Identical in every way. My first thought was "Woo hoo! re-packaged OEM for 1/3 the price!". Then I started thinking about it and thought "why would this not have a BMW or Mini logo on it?". I called the previous owner (we bought the car from my neighbor) and he said he was fairly confident he had the throttle body replaced by the same mechanic. Now I am thinking, this dude charged my neighbor for an OEM part and put a cheap aftermarket part on it. I took the Throttle body to the Mini dealer in town and the parts guy did not come out and say "That's not an OEM part" but he did say "95% of the parts that leave this dealership either have the BMW logo or Mini wings and almost all have the factory part number on them. That does not have the factory part numbers on it."
This morning I started the valve cover gasket. Things are going fine until I lift the valve cover and there is RTV all over the place. grrr..... lazy. The valve covers on these motors are known to leak. Instead of replacing the factory gasket, the dude just gooped grey RTV all over the place. I bet (I have not verified yet) he charged my neighbor for a new gasket and just glopped RTV on this thing.
So here's my question: my neighbor spent alot of money at this place for this cars work over the last few years and now I am seeing this guy is doing shady work. I am going to post pictures of the throttle body on the Mini forums to see if it is indeed a cheapie or a repackaged OEM. Would you do anything? I mean, he did not screw me or my daughter at all, just my neighbor. For us it was an inconvenience scrubbing all the RTV out. Should I ask my neighbor to ask the mechanic for copies of the receipts then approach the mechanic with what I found (if he charged for OEM but used cheapies/charged for gasket but didn't replace it)? Should I just post a Yelp/google review of this guy? should I or my neighbor call the police and report this scammer? What would you do?
Rock Auto had an aftermarket throttle body for $160 (dealer and mechanic wanted $550 and $630 respectively), Mahle (OEM) gasket was $35, and a top notch oil filter were ordered. We paid mechanic $135 for the diagnostic fee and brought the Mini home.
I pull the throttle body and look at it. It is literally IDENTICAL to the cheapie I just bought. Same markings, same materials, same oil globed in the throttle shaft area. Both were Continental and made in Germany. Identical in every way. My first thought was "Woo hoo! re-packaged OEM for 1/3 the price!". Then I started thinking about it and thought "why would this not have a BMW or Mini logo on it?". I called the previous owner (we bought the car from my neighbor) and he said he was fairly confident he had the throttle body replaced by the same mechanic. Now I am thinking, this dude charged my neighbor for an OEM part and put a cheap aftermarket part on it. I took the Throttle body to the Mini dealer in town and the parts guy did not come out and say "That's not an OEM part" but he did say "95% of the parts that leave this dealership either have the BMW logo or Mini wings and almost all have the factory part number on them. That does not have the factory part numbers on it."
This morning I started the valve cover gasket. Things are going fine until I lift the valve cover and there is RTV all over the place. grrr..... lazy. The valve covers on these motors are known to leak. Instead of replacing the factory gasket, the dude just gooped grey RTV all over the place. I bet (I have not verified yet) he charged my neighbor for a new gasket and just glopped RTV on this thing.
So here's my question: my neighbor spent alot of money at this place for this cars work over the last few years and now I am seeing this guy is doing shady work. I am going to post pictures of the throttle body on the Mini forums to see if it is indeed a cheapie or a repackaged OEM. Would you do anything? I mean, he did not screw me or my daughter at all, just my neighbor. For us it was an inconvenience scrubbing all the RTV out. Should I ask my neighbor to ask the mechanic for copies of the receipts then approach the mechanic with what I found (if he charged for OEM but used cheapies/charged for gasket but didn't replace it)? Should I just post a Yelp/google review of this guy? should I or my neighbor call the police and report this scammer? What would you do?
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