ACtion Magazine - January/February 2012 - (Page 10)

Technically RELAY-ted Before and After Today L Paul DeGuiseppi The following week, an NBC-hired car drove my wife and me to 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The producer conducted a quick orientation, I met another person who was participating, Phil Reed from Edmunds.com, and the on-camera reporter Jeff Rossen. Into the studio we went. After micing us up and taking a few test shots, they started playing the video for Phil and me, recording our comments along the way. I could probably fill half this magazine with everything I could say about what I saw. Since I can’t do that, I’ll provide a précis. All five dealers correctly diagnosed the faulty relay. One left it at that. The other four said the vehicle needed other items or services, some having nothing at all to do with air conditioning. One dealer actually said the compressor exploded. The quotes to have these other services performed spanned a large range, and reached as high as $2000. Remember that this vehicle had just been gone over by an ASE Master Technician, and nothing was wrong with anything. Not only that, none of the other services the dealers wanted to perform were listed as necessary in either the Jeep’s owner’s manual, or the Chrysler-issued service manual that NBC obtained. Three of the chain stores correctly diagnosed the faulty relay and left it at that. One of the others also diagnosed the faulty relay, but said other items were necessary (which of course, were not). The other chain store did not find the bad relay, and provided a completely bogus diagnosis with an accompanying list of “repairs” that would correct the problem. With cameras rolling, I called spades spades. I strongly criticized the shops that provided misdiagnoses and tried to sell unnecessary work, and heaped praise upon the ones that performed with honest competency. I’ve received mixed reviews on my performance. Many have been supportive, agreed with how I conducted myself, and given me kudos for pulling no punches. Others said I threw our industry under the bus. I’ll address this latter group with the rest of my words here. I hope everyone understands that TV spots are edited. It’s unfortunate that the only people who got to view all the hidden camera video were NBC personnel, Phil Reed, my wife, and me—things were actually worse than they appeared in the reports that made broadcast. It’s more unfortunate that not all of my reactions to the hidden camera video were seen by Today Show viewers. Of course, it cannot happen, but I challenge anyone with my level of automotive repair knowledge and ethics to react any differently than I did after seeing what I saw. As far as throwing our industry under the bus – I’m sorry, but it’s a fact that there are many among us who are unethical or incompetent. And throughout my tenure in this business, I have embraced opportunities to point that out so this was nothing new. A re-reading of some of my past ACTION columns will certainly show this. I take the view that exposing the bad guys makes the good guys look even better. I’ll never stop doing it, and I can’t understand how anyone could be against calling out the crooks and imposters. The first step is admitting you have a problem. Lastly, some critics said that simply replacing the relay and letting the car go was not good enough – that further items such as compressor clutch current draw or other checks should have been performed. To them I say proper or improper, that is real world, and I’m all about that (as those who know me can attest). With the A/C blowing cold and everything sounding and appearing OK, the vast majority of shops would indeed go no further. And in the vast majority of cases, they’d be justified doing so. Whoever wants can disagree – but I know that’s the way it is. If you want to judge it all for yourself, here are the links to the reports. Part 1: http://on.msnbc.com/pCKLgq Part 2: http://on.today.com/qL51kw. ❆ ast October, I appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show.” In August, we had received a call from one of their producers asking if we could provide assistance with a feature they were working on. The basis of the story was a sting involving a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee. They took a clean, 39,xxx-mile vehicle to an AAA-approved shop where one of the ASE-certified Master Technicians gave it a stem to stern inspection. NBC wanted to make sure that all of the Cherokee’s systems were in perfect operating order. If something was amiss, they wanted to have it corrected, so the vehicle would be in tip-top condition. Afterwards, they asked the tech if there was something he could do to make the A/C system malfunction, so it would blow warm air. He did what many of us might do – installed a defective compressor clutch relay. This tried and true bug is also often employed in technician competitions. NBC then equipped the vehicle with incabin and underhood hidden cameras with audio recording, and took it to 10 different shops – five Jeep dealers and five national chains – to have the A/C system problem diagnosed. The producers also wore hidden cameras while they were talking to shop personnel. I’ll tell you about the visual and aural evidence the devices captured after a little more background. The producer asked me a number of pointed and reasonably technical questions about things shown on the video, as well as things he and the vehicle owner were told by shop personnel. He wanted to make sure that in their end story, events would be portrayed accurately, so they wouldn’t end up condemning someone who didn’t deserve it. He also wanted to make sure they would accurately expose the bad actors. Over the next couple of days, we had a few similar phone calls, and things culminated with him inviting me to visit a Today Show production studio to view the video and provide commentary on it. 10 ACTION • January / February 2012 http://www.Edmunds.com http://on.msnbc.com/pCKLgq http://on.today.com/qL51kw

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - January/February 2012

ACtion Magazine - January/February 2012
Table of Contents
Outlook
Expansion Valve
Technically RELAY-ted
Under The Southern Cross
Leonard’s Law
Cooling Corner
Virtual View
News & Updates
Heating Up a Cooling Aftermarket
Refrigerant Oil: What You Can’t See Can Warm You
2011 Pioneer Award Honorees
Membershop Profile
Association News
Obituary
Quick Check
New Products & Services
Last Watch

ACtion Magazine - January/February 2012