What I find frustrating is that my daughter's car has been in the shop many times in the past 12 months. The computer only reads a generic error code so the mechanic was systematically changing everything in the car (points, plugs, stuff) over and over again. 10 months and 3k into her dad figured out she lost a piston (greek to me) and brought it over to the mechanic and TOLD him what the issue was.

BUT once this was repaired, three days later her cruise is still dropping out, her service light is back on and still just the generic error code. Now we've used this mechanic for years, for both our warranty work and vehicles not under warranty, and we always thought he was honest and fair. But I'm now in the market for a new mechanic. We bring this car in every month and the bill starts at $250 because this is the fee for putting it on the computer. Whatever happened to the philosophy that you don't pay for a service unless they actually FIX the problem?