How to Find an Honest Auto Mechanic

From 3arf

It is extremely difficult to find an auto mechanic that you can trust. As an automotive service writer, I daily come across people who have been taken advantage of by a dishonest auto shop. Often, these shops will sell work that their customers don't need while ignoring work that the vehicle could actually use. I recently had a customer come in who had been to a local chain shop (No names, but it rhymes with "Firestone"). This shop had sold my customer a coolant flush, transmission flush, oil change, and power steering flush. I like to call this "the royal flush." As it happens, my customer only needed an oil change: his transmission fluid had been flushed by us a year ago and his coolant was an extended life coolant that was nowhere near the end of its life. A power steering flush is generally a complete load of hogwash. The crazy thing way, this car had a loose tie-rod end, which is far more important than the royal flush. They could have made just as much money selling the work that was needed. I find it particularly mind boggling that a shop would choose to be dishonest when honesty could earn them just as much money and repeat business to boot.That being said, there are a few honest shops out there. They may be hard to find, but you can make your search a little easier if you do a little research ahead of time and don't make price your number one priority.The research is actually quite easy. Word of mouth is probably the best available method of finding a good auto shop. If your friends and coworkers had a good experience (or a bad one) with a particular shop, they will be more than happy to tell you about it. The shop where I work, in Illinois, relies entirely on word of mouth. We have never spent a penny on advertising. We are currently booked up for two weeks in advance. Customers come to us, and we treat them fairly, so they refer us to their friends.I have serious doubts about the integrity of an auto shop that feels the need to advertise, and so should you. Is their return business so poor that they have to go out and stump for more? Even as I was working on this essay, I got a flyer in the mail from a local chain shop that offers all kinds of discounts and special pricing. Why are they so desperate to attract new customers? It may be because they have trouble holding on to the ones they already have.An honest shop that is capable of generating a healthy return business is not going to offer you any discounts or deals. You stand a pretty good chance of avoiding dishonest shops if you simply make it a rule to stay away from repair places that advertise specials or send out coupons. If you combine this rule with a little "word-on-the-street" research, you are likely to find at least one shop in your area that, may not be the cheapest, but will offer you quality work at a fair price.

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