10 Things Your Mechanic Won't Tell You

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10 Things Your Mechanic Won't Tell You

Posted by cindy on March 12, 2010 at 10:08 AM

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1315/10-things-your-mechanic-wont-tell-you/

1. “You might be in the wrong garage.”

2. “My fancy certificates might not mean very much.”

3. “I make unnecessary repairs.”

4. “You might be charged for work that hasn’t been done.”

5. “You should get a second opinion.”

6. “Rebuilt parts can be as good as new — and less expensive.”

7. “Your car is too high-tech for me.

8. “I may send your car somewhere else for repairs — which will cost you.”

9. “The less you know about your warranty, the happier I am.”

10. “You have more power here than you think.”

In some states, you have even more recourse; in California, BAR willattempt to resolve each complaint it receives. To check if your state has a similar agency, contact your state highway department. Finally,if your auto-repair garage is endorsed by the AAA, contact the organization. If your complaint is egregious enough, or joined byothers, the outfit may lose the AAA’s seal of approval. “This is an exceedingly rare event,” says Sinclair. “Shops work hard to obtain and retain their AAA certification and would bend over back wards to correct any problems that may lead to a loss of AAA’s ‘seal of approval’.”

Categories: Cindy

5 Comments

Reply cindy

08:45 AM on March 14, 2010

Good post Wood!

Reply skip

01:15 PM on March 13, 2010

Rita says...
I am disappointed that cars today are not as easy to fix as those in decades past. The best way to be independant is to do as much as you can for yourself. The current state of affairs in the automobile area is not very conducive to self repair. I have also wondered why the trend toward computers as an integral part of cars. I have enough trouble with my computer in the controlled environment of my home, but now they are putting computers into cars which sit outside in the heat and cold, produce alot of heat on their own when used and have petroleum products spewing everywhere. Isn't that just a set-up for disaster? I want our simpler cars back.

I agree. I have always worked on my own vehicles until about 10 years ago, when I finally had to give in, and buy a computerized car. In fact, I fixed other people's cars for many years. I have done everything from changing starters to rebuilding motors. Now, because of health problems and these blankety-blank computerized cars, about the only thing I do is change plugs.

Reply Rita

01:03 PM on March 13, 2010

I am disappointed that cars today are not as easy to fix as those in decades past. The best way to be independant is to do as much as you can for yourself. The current state of affairs in the automobile area is not very conducive to self repair. I have also wondered why the trend toward computers as an integral part of cars. I have enough trouble with my computer in the controlled environment of my home, but now they are putting computers into cars which sit outside in the heat and cold, produce alot of heat on their own when used and have petroleum products spewing everywhere. Isn't that just a set-up for disaster? I want our simpler cars back.

Reply Wood

01:36 AM on March 13, 2010

My son, daughter and I own a vehicle repair facility- and we like to say that half of the repair shops are liars and cheats and the other half of us are just dishonest!!! Seriously- it seems so easy to define an entire industry by one these articles written by some reporter that probably has a weekly manicure and everything he/she knows about cars came from some internet blog or website.

How about something like this for once- " 8 Things the Customer Forgets"
1. You car is a high speed, extremely complex machine- if it was so easy to fix you wouldn't be coming to my shop.
2. Most good shops will have thousands of dollars in diagnositic equipment (we have nearly $20,000) to determine what is really wrong- the techs ain't just "adjusting the carb under the shade tree" anymore.
3. Certification for mechanics is just as valuable as that diploma behind your office desk- it does take some real effort to stay up to date with all the electronics and systems in todays vehicles.
4. This is a filty, greasy job that means smashed fingers, cuts and burns from engines and transmissions stuffed into economy sized cars built not to be easy to repair- but built to save gas- engineers are the ones who drive labor rates up by designs that as we say" fit an elephant into a shoe box". Seriously look at your mechanics hands some time- they aren't very pretty.
5. Your local restaurant or McDonalds makes 200-300% profits off your meal-your favorite beer, 500%, your cough syrup, 700%- most shops will make a 100-150% profit and that's before costs of running his business, paying salaries and all the overhead- liability insurance alone will cost a shop $4,0000 year
6. The customer today price shops every repair- and thats great, they have family budgets,-but imagine if your boss went around to each of you and your co-workers and said that he would pay only one of you to do the job and that would be the one that promised to do it the cheapest. We have no guarantees that we will even get your repair job- there is no guaranteed income / salary here. Each day we have to hope to earn our daily bread.
7. As a small business owner- we are the backbone of the American Economy- if we can't earn enough there is no "stimulus" payments or goverment bailouts to help us survive- if we fail, your son. brother, husband loses his job with us and also his ability to take care of his family.
8. It's easy to demonize someone who takes $100, 200, or even $2,000 dollars from your wallet-and YES, there is way too much abuse and dishonesty in our industry (tell me one industry that doesn't have it) but when something breaks down and your car won't work properly, stop and think about what you get from mechanics- repairing the vehicle that provides a safe, efficent, super quick way to cover hundreds of miles a week- while sitting on your butt!