Do you trust mechanics? Why or why not?

Answer 1

I would trust any mechanic I work with, I know the quality of thier work and I know they do not BS people. I am an automotive apprentice and I know I do good work for my abilities, I will not take a job I am not sure on. Same goes for the mechanics at my shop. If one is unsure of something, then they will call over another technician and have them take a look and get thier input/opinions. No car leaves our shop if the mechanic(s) working on it feel unsatisified. Customer safty is number one, and we would rather see a safe car then one that was repaired cheaply.

The reason why Technicians have such a bad reputation is because if one person feels that they were ripped off, then automatically, every technician is bad and evil and is only out for your money. This is not ture. Very few technicians are only in it for getting every pennie they can out of you. The same goes for every industry out there. There will always be the people at the top of industry that everyone looks to, and then the people who are the bottom feeders and give the entire industry a bad name. I know for a fact. the shop I'm at is not a bad shop, and in my area, we have been voted one of the best shops. We still get BBB complaints from people thinking we ripped them off becasue this should would do the job for $100 less, or what not. The biggest thing the general public doesn't realize that every shop does not use the same company for parts, different companies, different costs, different labour rates. Same goes with location, different locations will have different pricing on labour and parts.

And every car not is not built the same. As cars get newer, parts get more expencive, more tools are needed to fix it, and more trainign is needed by the technician. Cars now are many times harder to work on then cars of 20 years ago. As the econmy grows labour and cost prices grow too. Remember when a can of coke was $0.10, now thier, what, $1.50, why don't people complain about that? As the econmy gains and increases, so will the costs involved in the automotive industry, jsut because there is a part that you don't think could cause a problem, doesn't mean its not true. eg, a poor running can cause brake problems. If an engine does not create a good enough vacuum it can cause the vacuum booster to not opperate to the best of its abilities, and casue braking problems. Or changing the water pump you need to drop the oil pan and remove timing belt parts on some vehicle. Theres hundreds if not thousands of things to go wrong with vehicles now, a mechanic needs to know more then a doctor, they can't know it all about every vehicle on the road. Sometimes they get things wrong, you will only hear about the horror stories about things, but very rarly the good things.

EDIT - Another thing that was brought up was buying your own parts and having the "mechanic" install them. Most shops do not like doing this becasue of conflicts with warranty and liability issues. If the part is bad, should the shop have to come clean for the labour? Shops make up parts because of warranties and liabilities.

To find a good Technician
1- shop around, not for pricing, but for a technician. The technician is an employee, YOU are the boss, what you say goes, you have the ability to fire an employee. If you wouldn't hire him/her for a job you have, why would you let them work on your car. Find someone you can trust.
2- once you have found someone/ a shop you can trust, take your car to him/her/ the shop, and only him/her/ the shop. by taking it elsewhere ever time its a 'diss' to the technician that they wern't worthy of working on your vehicle.
3- once you have taken your vehicle to the same place and the same technician a few tiems, they will get to know you and treat you better and better. I have customers at my shop which know way more about cars then i do, but I do a job that they like and they want to support me throughout my schooling and apprenticship, and becasue they've been coming to the shop for so long its moreso a social visit for them.
4- if there is a service clerk there, ask to speak to the technician working on your car if needed.

Once you start going to a garage for so long, they get to know you and what they can do to the car that is needed without asking. At my shop we always ask before installing parts, or doing anything taht requires extra labour. There are a few customers that we know very well, where if they need new wiper blades, or a light bulb changed, we do it out of curticy so they don't have to, or so they don't have to deal with it later. At my shop the customers that continue to come back to us, we don't charge labour on small things. we will charge for the part and thats it. is how we show the customer that has been good to us, that we can be good to them.

Answer 2

yes, i trust my mechanic, because ive used him for 9 years.
I do the majority of my own repairs, but there are times when i dont have the proper equipment to do something (and i no longer have a garage, so replacing wheelbearings when its -15 f out kinda sucks).
When searching for a mechanic, there are some basics everyone needs to know:
#1. the best way to have a relationship with your mechanic, is get to know your car.If you have a check engine light on, do not take it directly to the mechanic and ask him whats wrong. Take your car to autozone and have them pull the diagnostic codes for free. Once you determine what the problem is and what needs to be repaired, if you cannot do the work yourself, then you take it in.
You tell him what is wrong, and give him the parts, to replace. This goes into the next rule.
#2. Do not use a mechanic that supplies the parts. Man has created the internet, and connected 3 billion people, and you can find parts EVERYWHERE if you take the time to look. There are hundreds of part locators sites, where they will look at the inventory of thousands of junkyards. (these parts usually cost more, but they are much more likely to find that part for you).
Now being said, this isnt always feasible. If you have an extremely rare car, and youve looked for parts and cant find any, and there just happens to be a mechanic that specializes on that car, he will have a better chance in coming up with the parts.
#3. Do not leave decisions up to the mechanic. When you take your car in, tell him that if he runs across anything in the repair, to call you before touching anything else. The parts you give him, should be the only parts he touches. If you bring him a coil pack that needs to be replaced, and he says that your thermostat is faulty, take your car back immediatly, he is working on something that you never asked him to do, and hes looking for a sucker.
#4. Always tell him to give you the replaced parts, in the new parts box.
Those are the guidelines that you need to know when finding a meachanic.
Now those guidelines dont apply to vehicles under warranty. if you have a warranty, let the dealer replace anything they want.

Answer 3

If I don't trust them, I don't take my car to them. I usually know what is wrong with my auto before the service is rendered, and I always ask for a not to exceed price on the work (I don't like and will not accept surprises). After a few times dealing with a certain mechanic, I usually relax my hard nosed approach, but I do not allow them to have the upper hand at any time.

Answer 4

I'm well aware that most people don't trust the automotive industry in general, at any level--from dealership owners down to the Kaady Car Wash valets.

As an apprentice technician AND service writer, it saddens me to see even customers at my shop who believe we're not trustworthy. It might be past experience or general disbelief, but even though we charge fairly, have an excellent reputation with the car clubs AND dealerships and have never received any complaints through the BBB, there are inevitably people who think we're trying to cheat them.

It's my opinion that the "bad apples" in the industry give the rest a poor name, but I will admit that in some areas the bad shops outnumber the good, and good shops are hard to find. So much depends on the dynamics between all levels of the shop--from "clean up crews" to technicians to managers--it's difficult to strike the balance that means a pleasant and entirely honest working environment. You can bet I know all the European shops in my city that have succeeded.

So for the average unversed car owner, finding a good shop--and being able to detect the difference between "good" and "bad"--can take many years of experience and quite a few tries. I can't blame them for bad experiences and wanting to find the best deal.

Answer 5

Generally I don't trust mechanics.

here are my reasons.

1) You hardly ever see/talk to the mechanic, normally you talk to someone else at the front counter.
2) A lot of them get paid by the job and not by the hour, so it's in their benefit to keep you coming back.
3) Horror stories involving mechanics are a dime a dozen.
4) Their working conditions aren't the best and that could put them off.

That being said there are reputable mechanics. I believe it is a few that give the bunch a bad name.

Answer 6

Personally I think most mechanics start sizing you up the moment you walk through the door. If you talk like you know something about cars then they realize they can't pick your pocket but if you just toss them the keys and say fix it.... well good luck. My situation is sort of unique. There were only about 45000 of my cars made and that was 20 years ago so most people don't have a clue how to fix it. That is why I do most of my own work until I run into something I cannot handle and this hasn't happened yet. Then again there are good ones out there. I don't know what it takes to find them but they are out there. One place I would definitely avoid is dealerships! My mom took her car there with a tranny problem they wanted $1200 bucks to fix it. She ended up taking it to another guy a friend told her about and he fixed it for $300!!

Answer 7

I am lucky because I do have a mechanic that I trust. Parents tell us not to judge a book by its cover, but that is hard not to do. I think that people have a problem when they come in that the place doesn't look clean. I don't care what the place looks like as long as he seems honest.

Answer 8

Most mechanics remind me of my brother who is a mechanic-I would not trust him to wreck my car much less work on it. Shop around! I had a tranny problem with my '99 GMC S15 and was looking at a $2400 rebuild. I found a local shop that insisted they first look at it and decide if I needed it rebuild it. End result, $208 and the tranny is running great. When you find your mechanic, stay loyal to him. (I like this guy's integrity so much that I took my mom's Lexus to him for A/C work!)

Answer 9

I must admit that, in my earlier years I did NOT trust mechanics, and, as I look back, I think it was because I was too young and too new in the business world and the automotive world to really know what I was doing and how to operate well in those worlds. As I grew older, and looked back over my years of car ownership, which included automotive repair, I had to honestly say that I got good work at fair prices many more times than bad work and unfair prices. And, I found that the times I got "bad" work and truly unfair prices was not due to the mechanic but to the people or businesses they worked for, such as the dealerships and chain repair shops. And, in particular, two mechanics I used in over longer periods of time, and who were "on their own", opening their own shops, were the most honest in their work and their prices. One of those mechanics I still use, and, ironically, I first "discovered" him at an automobile dealership when I was needing to get my car fixed. I found, after talking with him individually, that he did work "on the side" at his house, and since I liked his work, and he promised good prices, I gave him a try. That began around 25 years ago, and he has proven so good that I told him that if I ever took my car to anyone else for repair, he could charge me an additional $100.00 the very next time I brought my car to him, just to cover my stupidity for not bringing my car to him. I must admit also, that, our culture "picks on" certain careers, like lawyers, politicians, used car dealers, doctors, etc., and it's easy for us to fall for our cultural stupidity. It just takes time for us to grow beyond our cultural ignorances and realize the truth about things. God Bless you.

Answer 10

Not generally. They have a captive audience that is typically ignorant of the subject. It is too tempting to try to make an easy buck every once in a while (or more often).