Thread: Mechanics - A Rant

My mechanic drives a new Porsche, lives in a million pound house with no mortgage & works 60 hours a week for it.
He's become a mate over the years. Has never carried out any work without my ok first & gives honest advice. He gives me great rates & always get's our cars in at short notice.
Before i used him it was a bloody nightmare. There's a lot of idiots out there, many who can only fix what the diagnostics tell them to.
Find a better one!

Things like this make me happy that I drive a company car. I let the lease company fight it out with the mechanics. All i do it drop the thing off for an inspection every now and then, pick up the loaner, and pick up my own car after a day or two.

It's a known problem though when mechanics turn into salesmen.

They need to stick to their jobs and only fix things that need fixing and not tell lies about stuff, that's what salesmen are for.....and politicians.....and lawyers.

Far too many fitters and not enough mechanics these days. Keep changing bits until the problem stops. Costly!

I am very lucky in having a good, honest garage just around the corner. Having had some nasty experiences with main dealers and their apprentices in the past I would never take my car to a main dealer unless it was under warranty. Not a problem as none of my cars have ever been that new!

The final straw was several years ago when the main dealer had fitted new brake pads to my car as part of a standard service. Three months later the car went in for it's annual MoT test. For non Brits, that's a compulsory road worthiness test we have in Britain.

Anyway, the car failed because the brakes were uneven and were pulling to the left.

Took it to a friendly mechanic for a quick look and he discovered THREE different makes of second hand pads fitted to the front brakes! Only two of the four were of the same make and they were on different wheels!

Bear in mind I'd been charged new prices for these pads. The main dealer insisted someone else had messed about since they'd done the job. I knew different but they wouldn't budge. Last time I went to a main dealer!

Gareth

I would love to have an old car that I could tinker with and a new car serviced by a mechanic that I know will always go. If I start tinkering there is always a chance of ending up with spare screws and bolts that don't seem to have any place to go.
But living in Bangkok I don't really need a car. The busses and taxis suffice for now. I know I don't sound very mannly at the moment.

there are honest mechanics and crooked mechanics just like every other profession. if you go to a crooked mechanic, and know less about cars than he does, you'll get fleeced. the key to defeating crooked mechanics is education.

make your wife maintain her own car for a year, she'll wise up.

Originally Posted by jockeys

to defeating crooked mechanics is education.

I find it much less stressful to work on vehicles for people with good mechanical/electrical knowledge. I can explain the problem, the proposed fix and the cost implication. Ultimately I want a customer who will recommend me and keep using my garage. The communication problems often arise when dealing with people that think they have a lot of knowledge but in actual fact do not. Or the knowledge they do have is based on vehicle technology that pertained ten, twenty or even thirty years ago.

I am lucky in that my 2003 is right on the cusp of all that electronic doo dad stuff. It is still a normal car with some high end crap thrown in. So I can still work on it with an electrical engineers degree.

I only get my stuff tested at places that have no vested interest in my buying stuff. In the states we can go to Autozone or Napa or other autoparts places and they test stuff for free. They know that if they screw you that you will go to corporate and nail them for it. I use these guys because they only sell me what I need and give me advice on what I might need and let me make the decision.

Mechanics are for using the lift. If I need the lift I go to him and bite the bullet, if not then I do it myself. I really loath the day when I have to buy a modern car. I will have to get a system reader for codes, and not be very happy with all the modern "conveniences".

I have had relativly good luck with with mechanics when I've needed them in the past. Back when I lived in southern CA, I had a guy around around the corner from me who would fix things for free if it was something trivial. I brought my old Honda in with a variety of things going wrong electricaly and had no clue what the trouble was. I figured something was wrong with the AC and expected to have to pay a few hundred for the repair. He called me about 45 minutes later and said "Come pick it up" I went over there and he said "loose wire and a fuse". I said "How much?" and he said "Don't worry about it. It took me two minutes to fix. I'll give you the fuse for free.. I don't feel like writing a receipt for that"

It was a good business decision on his part, because I used him every time I needed something done, and recomended him to everyone in the neighborhood. I think he doubled his business from that simple fix. He was a very honest and hardworking guy too.

I moved a few years later, and I brought my car to him still and he asked "Why are you still coming here? You have a good mechanic where you live now" Apparantly, he knew the guy who owned the shop down the block from my new house by reputation, and had no qualms about recomending him to me. I have to say, He was right about that guy as well. Both great mechanics, and both trustworthy.

The difference between an honest mechanic and a crooked one is that the honest mechanic knows that his reputation for honesty and fairness is far more valuable than the quick buck he's going to make from selling you parts and labor that you don't need.

I hae a couple of honest mechanics, and they're gold man. there are lots of things I'll do at home, and on the 51' everything is possible. on my newer cars, 2003 and 2006, I don't bother. I'll do the brakes, fuel filter, stuff like that, but not oil changes or anything major.

my wife does appreciate it though. dealer wanted 500 to do the brakes on her car, I did it for about 170 maybe, new pads and all rotors turned, and was a damn sight easier than on the older cars. these new "floating rotors" are slick as greased owl poop.

Plumbing, I do all my own now unless it involves a snake. fortunately I have a friend that is a plumber, before that I paid a HUGE sum to have a faucet installed ONCE, that was the end of me calling plumbers for anything short of blockages.

on the other hand, considering what they work with, they deserve what they charge. you couldn't pay me enough!

Red