What your mechanic may not tell you.

[S204STi]

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.?

[S204STi]

Some good info for everyone in there.  As much as I hate to admit it, this industry is full of snakes and hacks.  And sometimes mistakes just happen.  It's not fair to you to have to pay for them, yet shops usually find some sneaky way to make it happen.

[Secret Chimp]

This is especially true for people who go to chain shops... NTB recommended that I change out my front "struts" based off of my odo alone, despite obviously having aftermarkets. Average folks probably don't understand that some recommendations are made completely free of any actual diagnosis specific to their car.

[S204STi]

The latest scam that my own shop was guilty of recently was overselling brake fluid flushes.  Devoid of any actual info from the manufacturer in regard to any recommended change or replacement intervals, guys just started making up numbers and using them as standards.  It turns out that GM doesn't have a change interval, Honda's is pretty vague and amounts to no more than once every 3 years apparently (I'm still not that sure), and yet guys still want a mileage or something.  I even went through the effort of acquiring testing strips to make sure the fluid actually needed replacement but I don't think anybody outside of Quick Lube uses them.  Personally, after a bit of reading I decided not to do it unless I was doing a brake job and the rotors were heavily warped and overheated or the fluid looked like Hershey's syrup.  Basically at that point the car is probably 10yrs old anyway.

My personal motto is that if the owner's manual or service manual don't specify a replacement interval, I can't in good conscious sell a fluid replacement to the customer. 

As far as the section under, "I make unnecessary repairs," it is sometimes the case that mistakes happen or the diagnosis is extremely difficult, and sometimes the wrong part is installed.  I make it a point if that occurs to own up to the fact that I blew it and repair it further on the shop's dime, and I give my time free of charge.

[AutobahnSHO]

As far as the section under, "I make unnecessary repairs," it is sometimes the case that mistakes happen or the diagnosis is extremely difficult, and sometimes the wrong part is installed.  I make it a point if that occurs to own up to the fact that I blew it and repair it further on the shop's dime, and I give my time free of charge.

You Sir, are a rarity.

I've had the best repairwork and pricing from tiny shops. Seems they're run by dealer-trained mechanics who get tired of it and go independent.

One offered to fix my old beatup Honda with junkyard parts, they even obtained them. Another shop did the repairs I asked (blown radiator hoses) plus carb-work on my old junky Subaru for just the price they quoted for the hoses. More recently, I took my current Subie in to get some exhaust rattle looked at- turns out it's not the supposed heatshields, but inside the cat-converter. They charged $20 have looked at it, and recommended some cheaper places since they could do it for aobut $550..

Moving around alot it's just hard to find shops like that.

[Onslaught]

2. ?My fancy certificates might not mean very much.?

That ones true. I don't have a one myself. Some of my managers wanted me to go do all the test and I never did. Why? Well no customer in 16+ years has ever asked for them and I'd have to do the test on my own time. And I'd not make one dollar more with them so what's in it for me?

[sportyaccordy]

I'm the worst customer for a mechanic....

The last time I went to a non-friend mechanic was in January. My crank pulley split in two with the big outer ring separating from the inner one. I bought a non-OEM part on Ebay, and pit two mechanics against each other price wise... I wound up getting the work done for $90. Whenever I go to a mechanic, I tell them everything that is wrong with the car, and then I tell them EXACTLY what I want fixed. When I can, I hang out and watch them do the job. I should become a consultant for people to make sure they don't get ripped off. Some of the things I've seen still make me shudder.

[Onslaught]

One thing about my car I like is it has a warranty. One bad thing about that is unless I want to pay for the stuff to fix it then I've got to take it in. When I got my car I knew of a problem with the 09 8's and sure enough my car had it. I went to my local dealership because the one we have is in another town. Told them what it was, what part was needed and how to fix it. They wouldn't listen to me at all and wanted to take the car in and look into the dash. I could understand if I was just some kid who said he saw it on the internet. But I had on a Mazda dealer work shirt. I wasn't some dumb ass.

Well I wasn't about to let someone start messing around with my new car so I got the $4.00 part and did it myself in 20 minutes.

[S204STi]

Yeah that sort of procedural crap they pull at the front desk is pure bullcrap.

[FoMoJo]

My personal motto is that if the owner's manual or service manual don't specify a replacement interval, I can't in good conscious sell a fluid replacement to the customer.  

As far as the section under, "I make unnecessary repairs," it is sometimes the case that mistakes happen or the diagnosis is extremely difficult, and sometimes the wrong part is installed.  I make it a point if that occurs to own up to the fact that I blew it and repair it further on the shop's dime, and I give my time free of charge.

You should open up your own shop, if the opportunity arises.  You'd likely, eventually, get a lot of work by word-of-mouth.  Lots of people are always looking for a good/honest mechanic.  They're usually hard to find.

[S204STi]

Meh.  Every time I think about I end up questioning myself.