Mechanics as car doctors

My father-in-law (FIL) has had problems with his knee for quite some time. About a year and a half ago he got really sick and the problem was traced to a staph infection in his knee. His doctor could not be 100% sure, however, without undergoing exploratory surgery. His knee was opened up and it was determined that his knee would need to be replaced (it was in pretty bad shape already) and the infection would be cleaned out. Needless to say, he underwent several surgeries to clean out the infection, add spacers, and eventually replace the knee.

I bring this up because cars are like our bodies sometimes. My FIL’s doctor knew there was a problem, but could not see it without undergoing some preliminary work. When that exploratory surgery was done, it was discovered that the fix would involve several surgeries, a new knee, therapy, and medication. Similar situations happen with auto repair as well.

We had a 1997 Ford F-250 4×4 in recently for a routine front brake job. When the hub assembly was removed on the passenger side, however, we discovered that a retaining ring was mangled and the outer bearing was smashed on two sides. There is no way this can be seen until it is actually taken apart, and there was no indication during the test drive that these parts were damaged. Unfortunately, once it was disassembled, the broken parts could not be reinstalled. With the extra parts needed to complete the job, the invoice quickly ballooned to twice the original estimate. I hate when this happens to my clients, and I hated when it used to happen to me as a consumer. I always feel bad when this happens, even though this is nobody’s fault. My greatest concern is to retain the trust my client had when they first brought the vehicle in. I kept the parts to show them, I printed diagrams so they would know what I was talking about, and I didn’t charge any extra labor, only the cost of the parts. It is difficult to build trust with a new client when things like this happens. My hope is that they believe my sincerity and honesty and trust me with their truck just as my FIL trusted his doctor to open up his knee and look around.