The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "car repair shop" ...
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Taken for a Ride
When your car breaks down, how do you know whom to trust? How can you tell if a mechanic is being honest? The news team went to 50 auto repair shops across the Valley in Phoenix to find honest mechanics and the ones who want to take you for a ride. This turned out to be the largest consumer investigation in the market. They used a 2002 Toyota Corolla as a test car and went to all the shops to have it checked to make sure it did not need any repairs. The car had three cameras hidden under the hood and beneath the car to show the engine and other areas that would be inspected. The researcher wore a hidden camera and as she visited big name chains and small independent shops. Shops recommended unnecessary repairs ranging from $30 to $800. After the three-month investigation, some shops corrected their mistakes when confronted, other just would not offer explanations and some did not correct their mistakes.
Tags: TAPE; car; car repair; car repair shop; mechanic; certified mechanic; dishonest mechanic; auto repair shop; vehicle inspection; scam; hidden camera; undercover; auto repair industry; consumer; consumer investigation; auto dealer.
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Ten Things Your Auto Insurer Won't Tell You
SmartMoney magazine reports on the most common ways in which auto insurance companies can and do hurt their customers. Some of these are: inflating the cost of the insurance policy; determining premiums on the basis of credit rating; pocketing customers' deductibles; policy cancellation or nonrenewal without any explanation; sending customers to faulty direct-repair shops; not informing customers about their right to diminished-value claims; delaying claims payments.
Tags: insurance; cars; automobiles; driving record; credit history; credit score; premiums; marital status; deductible; body shops; GM; Geico; Allstate
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Gimme a Brake!
"A Dateline hidden camera consumer alert revealed that low priced brake jobs may often be bait and switch. Dateline took vehicles to 'Just Brakes,' a fast growing national chain of brake shops that advertise a $99 brake job. Our story found that four out of five times they told us the $99 job would squeak, and three out of five times they recommended more work than was needed. When we went ahead and let them do the work, four out of four times they didn't do the work we paid for."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; automobiles; car repair shops; brakes
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Pain in the Ass
Patterson investigates a claim that the American Service Station, a chain of automobile repair shops, is ripping people off by lying about parts needed and overcharging them for service.
Tags: cars; business; auto repair shops
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More N. Va. cars fail inspection; rejection rates vary widely across state, within regions
According to computer records, vehicle owners in Northern Virginia are much more likely to flunk state safety inspections than are other car owners in other parts of the state. Inconsistencies between regions and between stations suggest some repair shops may be failing cars to charge for unnecessary repairs, while others are rolling cars out just to collect the $10 fee.
Tags: None
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No title (id: 12824)
The Plain Dealer reports that the FAA publicly denies there is a safety problem with growing use of potentially unsafe airplane parts. But documents, public hearing accidents, indictments, convictions, inspectors and the FAA's own data tell a different story: The parts are coming from junkyards, plane crashes, unregulated suppliers, FAA-licensed repair shops, third-world countries and the military.
Tags: Marchak CAR FAA: Safety comes second Airline safety FOIA
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No title (id: 8284)
Detroit News finds that the General Motors Corp. secretly helped finance and run a Michigan Attorney General sting investigation of car-repair shops that compete with the automaker, Oct. 20 - 23, 1991.
Tags: None