From: Dev Null (devnull2@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri Sep 23 2005 - 19:02:32 PDT
Ground truth. It is not important how your mechanic decides to charge you
and what he decides to charge you. It matters that your mechanic is
honest, trustworthy, experienced and knows his limitations. If you trust
your mechanic and he is good, you pay what he asks and you shake his hand
when the job is done.
I just took two cars to my repair shop yesterday and today. Yesterday's
car had to be towed. My mechanic's shop charged me $80. to tow a car about
five miles. I thought that was a bit high but I trusted the shop. It
turned out the towed car just had a bad battery. So after work, I went to
the shop, and replaced the battery MYSELF with one I bought from a battery
store. The car I used to bring the battery to the shop, I left to have the
headlights aligned. I took the car with the new battery home to get my
wife so we could return to the shop and pick up the other car. When I got
back to the shop the car (with the aligned headlights) was on a jack with
my mechanic underneath. He had just disassembled, lubricated and
reassembled a steering joint because it was making noise. My wife
commented that the car we just drove to the shop was making a noise
too. The mechanic discovered a loose heat shield on that car's catalytic
converter. He hauled his MIG welder over to the car, jacked up the car,
and spot welded a loose heat shield back in place.
What did all this work cost me? $80.00 for the tow, no charge for the
battery diagnosis, no charge for the headlight alignment, and no charge for
the welding. Furthermore, I changed my own battery in his shop so he made
no money on parts and labor for that job. When I offered to pay for his
work, my mechanic said (with a wink in his eye) that he would get even on
my next repair job.
Why do I tell you this - because I have been going to this shop and using
the same independent mechanic for nearly twenty years. I have paid
thousands of dollars to this shop over twenty years without a quibble
because they are honest and do good work. After fifty years of working on
cars and having mechanics fix cars, I have learned that an honest shop with
good mechanics is far more important than a few dollars. My family can
always bring a car in on a moments notice to have a squeak or rattle
checked. My mechanic will stop his work to give us five or ten minutes and
he never charges for that time. However, he knows that when a pricey
repair is needed, he will get the work and at his price. We have that
trust relationship.
I don't need a detailed estimate for automotive work. I tell my shop to
fix the car, they give me a ballpark price, but I pay what they ask
regardless of any estimate they might have given. I also know they will
call me for approval if unexpected expensive problems are discovered. I pay
less as often as I pay more. I don't know (and I don't care) if I am
charged a flat rate or an hourly rate for time worked. I am confident the
cost reasonable and my car will be fixed properly.
harry
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