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Mechanic!

Your car brakes down and you call the mechanic, are you really calling a psycho maniac? What are your experiences and have you actually had a good experience?

Mechanic

Most mechanics think because I am a woman that I don't know what they're talking about when I take my car to be serviced.  But growing up around my dad while he was working on cars and him showing me stuff about how to fix simple things.  I don't need a mechanic except for the internal stuff.  But the Ford service department always smiles when I bring it in for something to be repaired, cuz I tell them what is wrong and what I want them to do to fix it.

*Thinking deeply of maybe becoming a mechanic when I grow up*  ;)

Mechanic! Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

My dad was a mechanic so I know a bit about cars, but it took a bad experience to realize that there are plenty of shady mechanics who will take advantage. I learned a hard lesson about getting everything in writing when on taking my New Yorker in for a new exhaust. The mechanic seemed very nice as he looked my car over. He put it up on the hoist and explained exactly what I would need and what it would cost. It all seemed perfectly easy, so I happily signed the work order. When I came to collect my car there was nearly a $100 increase in the cost. I asked why, and he said he hadn't realized just how big the car was. I asked why he hadn't called me and was told that I had signed the order so they didn't feel the need to call me. Angrily I paid the bill and never went back there. Lesson learned, I now always get it in writing and make sure that should anything crop up that they know to call me or I'll refuse to pay for work done. I have been lucky since my bad experience to find a mechanic I can trust.

Mechanic

I had a great mechanic once called, 'Michael'. What made him great? Well, he was the kind of guy that would not only fix the problem, but he would also show you how to fix it so that if it happened again you don't have to go back to him! Of course that is a guy thing. He was very honest.

Mechanic

I am lucky that I know a mechanic who works for the local Honda dealership, and if I ever needed something fixed or looked at I could trust him not only to get the job done right, but to give me a good deal as well.

Mechanic!

hi how can i tell if the mechanic is honest,very good at fixing vehicles and etc

Mechanic

Try asking around. It might be better to just look for a good mechanic than to find one at random and then try to find out if he is good.

Mechanic Culture Family Travel & Consumer Reviews

I've had the same experiences where the men who run the shop think I know nothing and am therefore ripe for scamming. It's true, I don't know a lot about car repair, which is why I go to a mechanic in the first place, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid.

I'm just taking in my car for an oil change, and they then proceed to run a "free systems check" on my car -- and then tell me that I have over $1,000 worth of repairs that need to be done! In the past (in my naive youth) I've actually paid for it, and then found out later that either they didn't do the work at all, or the work never needed to be done in the first place.

I now tell them, don't run the systems check. You do not have my permission to do so, nor will I pay for anything you say I need to have done at this shop.

Another thing I've done is to have them explain to me and show me exactly what the problems are that they are trying to get me to pay for, and then pick the ONE thing that they think really needs doing. Then I have them take it down from the hoist and I go somewhere else to get it fixed.

A couple of years ago, I started doing the books for a little shop on the east end of town -- that one has been a lifesaver for me on more than one occasion with brakes and steering problems.

My sister says "Always take good care of your good mechanic." She takes them homebaked bread and fresh eggs.

Roz