ALT-10 Is there such a Thing as a Trustworthy Mechanic
The question of is there such a thing as a trustworthy mechanic is more true than anyone knows. The answer is yes with a capital "BUT". The term ASE certified now more often than not means license to steal than it is a promise of quality service. I am a mechanic of some 30+ years experience and up until I heard the term "I finally got my license to steal", from 9 out of 10 new auto technicians that became ASE certified, I had been looking at the ASE as a necessary evil to maintain at least some level of competence in the mechanics working on vehicles out there. However after hearing that term license to steal from so many new techs I started to talk to the instructors that were training them only to find out that it was being taught as a means to charge the customer for more profitable repairs over and above what is needed to repair the car.Now I have been repairing cars since the stone age both private and professional certified master in the mid seventies was trained initially by my a mechanic that said if ever he heard of one of his former students ripping off a customer he would personally come and apply a very large open end wrench to the side of their head. Trust me we all believed the man would do exactly what he said because he would return a penny if he knew who lost it. That is the honesty that you need to find. Unfortunately like me that honesty has long since retired or been murdered.Factory service shops are probably the safest places to go to prevent being ripped off but the large service chains use a method of rotating honest mechanics to the shops that become known for poor service or unneeded repairs keeping them at those shops long enough to build the customer trust back up. As soon as the customer base is built up and the complaints are dropped to what they consider an acceptable level they will rotate the man or woman to another shop in trouble. Even some of the smaller or startup service shops will hire a honest and qualified mechanic to get the business going and gain the trust of the public and then replace him or her with lesser qualified new techs that are cheaper and more than willing to boost profits by over selling repairs.Now the major chains can get away with this but I have yet to see any of the smaller shops survive this practice. Why they try I can not even imagine but I have personal experience of one shop and have heard from fellow mechanics of several others.I left the field to be honest because I felt that there was no way that I could change the mentality that permeates the auto service industry. To me personally it was common sense. Honesty builds business and profits over time, ripping off the customer with unneeded repairs generates a very high profit until the customers realize they are being robbed then the business collapses totally. Who wants a temporary income?Anyway long story short look to the dealers and by that I mean factory dealers not independent buy here pay here lots for service on your new cars. Look for a local shop that is busy but not just a parking lot. Also if you see a shop that has cars sitting in the lot for sale just walk away because that is another tactic that is used on people. The repair quote is more than the car is worth and the mechanic offers to buy the car for little or nothing. He or she is stealing the car with the owners permission. I can tell you right now that no mechanic will buy a car that is going to lose him or her money when they go to sell it. Now they may well buy a car and repair it for their own usage or for parts even but not to resell so it you see a shop that looks like a car dealership from all the cars for sale DON'T PULL INTO THE DRIVEWAY!The main reason that I say dealers instead of service chains by the way is that the techs that work there are more often than not factory trained instead of ASE certified. They may be both but the service shop is run as a means of keeping customers coming back to the dealership instead of a means to make the most profit in the major dealerships so the likelihood of being sold something you don't need is at least a little less. That and believe it or not the prices are not that much higher if they are higher at all than the chain service shops. Take away the maximizing the per car sales practices of those major shops and the dealership becomes a down right bargain.Good luck to all who read this and before you get any repair get a second opinion it can literally save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
