Interesting article worth reading by Consumer Reports with tips on what to do when your mechanic suggests car repairs.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/can-you-trust-your-mechanic/ar-BBoOiqT?ocid=spartanntp#page=1
Definitely interesting. I found a mechanic I trusted implicitly who kept my aging Volvo limping along way past what it should’ve been able to do. (Partly because of damage done by a mechanic at the dealer, but I digress…)
When that car had finally exhausted its time, he let me know that he didn’t want to keep charging me. It was all I could do to not buy another Volvo - just because I trust him implicitly, and that’s all he does. But I needed a smaller car, and they’re not making them right now, sadly.
I most certainly can trust my spouse!
I have two mechanics and I trust them completely. One works on H’s aging Volvo (1998) and the other works on our other two vehicles–aging Honda and Toyota. They keep the cars running well and the charges are very reasonable. The Volvo mechanic has asked H to give him right of first refusal when he’s ready to buy a new car, as he knows how well H has cared for the car and he wants H’s motor.
I have a good one. Do not take your car to a dealer after your warranty is over. The car dealers #1 reason to exist is to sell more units. It cost me $59 to replace an oxygen sensor that the dealer wanted $400 to do.
Love, love, love our mechanic.
When one of the cars had a number of recalls he actually made the appt with the dealer and took the car there and brought it back. The dealer had to explain any costs or repairs to the mechanic.
Total cost.$0.
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Interesting that the mechanics that everyone trusts are Volvo mechanics. I do know a Volvo mechanic who is one of the most trustworthy people I’ve ever met but unfortunately I don’t have a Volvo and my friend the Volvo mechanic lives in another state. 
I have a mechanic I trust - he is not affiliated with any car dealer.
The story in the article reminded me of a few years ago when I took my Toyota to the dealer for a recall repair. They did their multi point inspection and highlighted a long list of things to be done - which I ignored. I had to return only a few months later for another recall repair - I had done nothing to the car since the first one. This time the multi point inspection said everything was fine. Guess the car magically repaired itself while I drove it around!
I go to a general independent shop, and I trust the guy because he goes to a lot of effort to save me money. Things like a rebuild kits for $50 instead of simply replacing a $500 part. He could easily say the part needed replacing, and I would never know the difference.
I trust my mechanic even though I never leave without having at least a $300 bill.
I am going to bookmark this link mentioned in the article where you can find online the actual cost for suggested repairs. Really handy tool. You key in your zip code, make and model of the car, and the type of service that needs to be done. If it can save you in costs that would be great.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/repair/index.htm
Yes we do. He works on a variety of makes/models (I don’t know if he works on Volvos) and we have been going to him for several years. Our last favorite mechanic moved out of our area.
We also bring him cars that we are considering buying and for a reasonable fee, he lets us know the actual condition of the car and offers his opinion on buying it. So far, he has never led us astray.
If you are in Central NJ, I’m happy to make a recommendation to his shop.
I was pretty comfortable with my mechanic but they “sealed” the deal (pun intended) when after one $1000 repair (timing belt, water pump, other stuff) there was still a small oil leak under the car. I took it back and they told me it looked like they had to replace the oil pan and it would cost an additional $300. I sighed, and said, “ok”. When it was done and I went to pick up the car they said, “no charge” because when they got into it they saw the oil leak was caused by seals they had just replaced so it was their fault and no charge.
And my Lexus dealer? (grrrrr!) Very shortly after an oil change the “check engine light” came on. Took it back and they said charcoal cannister needed replacing, $800. After I left it for repair I researched the issue and learned that there had been a huge legal settlement with Toyota over emissions issues, and part of the settlement extended the warranty on this very part to 150k miles. After much hassle the repair was done for free, but I lost all confidence in the dealer. If they didn’t actually know the repair was covered by warranty (and I think they knew) they sure as heck should have known!
Yes, our mechanic has done work on the car and no charge because he determined it was an item he had installed and should have lasted longer than it did and he will fight with whomever he bought the part from to get whatever reimbursement he is entitled to; most of the Volvo bills are several hundred $$ and sometimes run into thousands, but he does keep the aging Volvo running nicely.
A close friend is an auto insurance adjuster. We asked him who he trusted and have been very happy with his suggestions. Around here, there is too much personnel turnover at car dealer service centers to rely on them to make honest repairs.
Generally you do better with a local shop that people locally use, the best way to find a good mechanic is to talk to other people in your area. That doesn’t mean all local shops are great, there is gas station close to my house I wouldn’t take in to get a slow leak in a tire fixed.
Dealerships when out of warranty may not make sense, unless you happen to like them. For one thing, they are going to use only factory authorized parts, and they are going to charge you for them, for my honda van the factory spark plugs are 25 bucks a piece, you can get a set of top notch bosch plugs for 25 bugs for all 6 cylinders. If it is something more specialized, a dealer may be better, when it comes to the engine control systems, they may know better.
A sign of a good mechanic is when they make clear what needs to be done right away and what can wait. I had the dealership tell me i needed to change the brake fluid, to the tune of 200 bucks, the local guy said you only need to do that when you do brake changes (it is true that brake fluid is hydrophillic and that can cause brake lines and such to corrode, but that only happens if the system is compromised, and the fluid gets a cloudy color to it). Someone else was correct, dealers make a lot of money on service and parts, and they have an incentive to sell you things you don’t need…and people often believe them because they are a dealer. One way to prevent this kind of thing is to look at the recommended service interval, for example, if they tell you at 50k miles you need a new cam belt, and the owners manual says 100k, tell them to stick it. Likewise a good mechanic will not charge for things that are there fault, or for example, when they find that a problem was caused by a wire being off, don’t charge for it (standard test consumer products agencies used to use with mechanics were things like taking out the fuse for the fuel pump, or when alternators had external voltage regulators, pulling the field wire off, and seeing what the mechanic tried to sell them). Another good sign is if the mechanic has been in business for a while at that location (I mean the ownership), that usually means they have earned a lot of trust.
The worst are generally the chain auto places, Sears and the like are the worst, stay away from them, even though they have gotten hit with lawsuits, they are rip offs. The one exception to that is STS, I don’t know if it is my local place, or if it is true as a whole, but they have been really good, they haven’t tried any bs on me when I get things fixed, but the rest are dubious.
The two mechanics we use are ones we have been using now for about a decade (one three decades). They are quite frank and their own their own shops. They tell us the cheap fix, the expensive fix, and what they recommend, whether it can wait or needs to be attended to promptly. They will also evaluate a car and let us know whether we should acquire or pass on it, at no charge. They are awesome and we pay them via check so they have fewer of those pesky credit card processing fees.
I trust the mechanic as far as I can throw either of my vehicles. I avoid going as much as possible. Thankfully its not often I have to go. Try to go to specialists when I can. Oil change folks for oil changes. Tire guys for tires. Gives them less incentive to break things or finds things wrong if they couldn’t do the fix.
I definitely have 0 trust of car dealers and Sears. Every time I’d go to Sears for inexpensive oil changes or whatever, they’d give me a very long printout of expensive things that were wrong with the vehicle and urgently needed repair. I’d thank them, get the inexpensive servicing I came for and go to my personal mechanic that said all those items were bogus and the car was FINE!