Idiot lights, wallet flushes and other tricks of dealerships and car fixers trade

What do you know about the Idiot Light? Gravy Work? The Complete Brake Job? The Wallet Flush? The three Fs? Well given the amount of emails that come in here about problems with getting your car fixed and feeling ripped off on car service, the answer is clearly not much.

Today we are going to give you some basic rules on how to avoid the tricks dealerships and auto shops use to take you for a ride.

First up, it's important to understand that the majority of mechanics are very honest. You only have to look at Adelaide's only renaissance person. Yes the Sultan of Stepney, the King of the Kensi, the Official Nude portrait painter to the royal family (except for two) and the proud owner of Michael McMichael Motors, Michael McMichael has as his motto: "We value the amiable and trusting relationships we have developed with our clientele over the years, particularly at the corner bar of the Kensi."

Marty Guerrero is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who has worked in Los Angeles TV news for 16 years. A few years ago she took her Mustang into one of LA's best-respected auto shops. She had trouble getting the car to start. They charged her $1000 and the car still had the same problem. The next mechanic put in a new battery. Problem solved. Cost $100. "Mechanics cheat you because it's built into the industry," Marty says.

**Idiot lights** are the warning lights that come on when you start up the car. The most profitable is the engine warning light. The check engine light can come on because a sensor's unplugged (about a 15-minute fix at the most) but it can be made into a $3k drama.

**Gravy Work**: a 15-minute fix that I can bill you three hours for.

**The Complete Brake Job**: the oldest scam in the book. "Unethical mechanics will prey on your fear of safety to get you to pay for a complete brake overhaul." The line usually is: "I would feel guilty if I let this car back on the road like this. You have young kids, don't you?"

**The Wallet Flush** is where you're told the car needs a transmission flush, and engine cooling flush, a power steering flush, a brake fluid flush, a fuel-injection flush and a rear differential flush. Fact is you don't usually need to flush.

**The three Fs**: feel, felt, found is a tried and true sales approach, particularly used on female customers when they are worrying about costs. "I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I had to replace my brakes. But then I found the best way to keep my family safe is by having good brakes."