A customer's 6.7 Powerstroke taught me to check the simple stuff first

Last Tuesday, a guy brought his truck in saying it had no power and was blowing black smoke. He was sure it needed a new turbo. I spent two hours pulling the intake apart before I found a mouse nest packed into the air filter box. The filter itself looked fine from the top. It was just a $40 filter and ten minutes of cleaning. I felt pretty dumb for not looking there first. How often do you guys get fooled by a customer's diagnosis?

3 comments

3 Comments

piper1752mo ago

Charging full price for a ten minute fix feels wrong to me. I'd rather be fair and build trust with the customer.

ben4363mo ago

Our shop charges a full diagnostic fee even for simple fixes.

nelson.finley3mo ago

Talked them into a half fee for the easy stuff, @ben436, after showing them the fix took ten minutes.