Brake Shoes Offer Clues for This Gumshoe

Ignorance is rarely blissful when it’s time to fix the family car. In an automotive world where on-board computers, intercooled turbochargers and anti-lock brakes are the norm, the average car owner can easily fall victim to crooked mechanics.

Enter Feliciano Sanchez, an 11-year veteran of the war on shady garages.

A field operations supervisor for the state Bureau of Automotive Repair, Sanchez and a crew of about 20 investigators around the San Fernando Valley are on a crusade to keep mechanics honest.

Each year they field about 40,000 complaints from consumers and, through negotiations and undercover stings, force dishonest garages to offer $4 million in refunds, restitution and repair work.

“We never cease to be amazed at what goes on,” said Sanchez, who works out of the bureau’s Pacoima office, one of two in the Valley.

While the bureau has nabbed slippery mechanics at high-profile repair bays operated by Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Winston Tire, some of the most egregious violations take place at tiny shops that try to fly under the bureau’s radar.

“Once a senior citizen paid for transmission work and, instead, the shop repaired something minor,” recalled Sanchez of a fraudulent repair job done at an independent shop. “The car was old and grimy. And to try to make the repair seem credible, they sprayed silver paint right over the grease and grime.

“They get a little sloppy, some of these fellows,” said Sanchez.

Other schemes include: installing used parts instead of new ones, accepting bribes to issue false smog check certificates, and offering coupons for discounted repairs and then fast-talking customers into services they don’t want.

In many cases, however, fraud is difficult to prove.

For example, in 1992, the bureau believed Sears was routinely selling customers unnecessary shocks, brake calipers and master cylinders. Sanchez and other auto-savvy investigators were sent in under cover.

“When we do operations . . . it looks like John Q. Public in there to shop the repair shops,” said Sanchez. “We use a range from teen-agers to senior citizens and our cars are of all vintages and models so that it’s not something that can be easily picked out.”

Sears’ salesmen quickly took the bait, suggesting that investigators purchase unnecessary parts, sometimes trying to scare them by asking them to “think about the safety of your wife and kids.”

The Department of Consumer Affairs, which overseas the bureau, filed suit. Sears agreed to pay $8 million to settle the case.

Because of such sting operations, Sanchez refuses to be photographed, fearing that he will be spotted on one of his missions to ferret out corruption in the Valley’s automotive bays.

Shops caught by the bureau face loss of their operating licenses, fines, probation or being required to donate money and equipment to local trade schools.

Consumers can avoid bogus repairs by following simple steps, Sanchez said.

“Always get a second opinion, much like one might go and select a doctor for a serious procedure,” he said.

Also, be sure to get a written estimate and ask the mechanic questions about why the work needs to be done. This avoids the “5 o’clock surprise,” in which car owners arrive to pick up their car find it “being held hostage in the shop” because they can’t afford a repair that costs hundreds more than they expected.

Reliable mechanics can be located by asking family and friends for recommendations, Sanchez said. Drivers can also request from the bureau written listings of complaints filed against repair shops.

“The consumer has to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to repairs,” said Sanchez, who noted that most complaints are the result of misunderstanding, not fraud.

When all else fails, the bureau is ready to back up the wronged driver with a call to the repair shop in question. Consumers come out on top 95% of the time.

“If the garage decides to make something up, we let them give their side of the story,” said Sanchez. “Sometimes we do hear some tall tales.”

The Bureau of Automotive Repair can be reached at (800) 952-5210.