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Entry bubble Frustrated by Car Repairs?

By: Nicole | May 02, 2008 | Category: General

Car MechanicA coworker stopped me in the hall last week and said, “Girl, I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it to that conference yesterday.” Even though she’d just paid for tire rotation, tire balancing and wheel alignment at her local repair shop, her entire car began to shake violently while cruising on a major highway. She was 50 miles from home, so she used her cell phone to find the nearest dealer repair shop. There, she learned that the original tire and wheel maintenance had not been performed. $800 later the car was back on the road, but it was an unnecessary reminder that a good mechanic is hard to find.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy solution when searching for a mechanic. The FTC and the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) publish brochures with tips about finding a good repair shop. Both agree that word of mouth is still the best way to find a trustworthy mechanic, but sometimes that’s not enough.

ASE Blue SealThere are other ways to research mechanics. Look for the ASE Certified Technician seal awarded to individual technicians who pass standardized tests. You can even search online for repair shops that have earned the ASE Blue Seal, which requires that at least 75% of the repair shop’s mechanics have an ASE certification. The Motorist Assurance Program is a nonprofit that also gives its seal of approval to qualified repair shops.

In addition, there are consumer review services where you can read the real life experience of other customers. The radio program Car Talk offers this service for free. Consumers' Checkbook and Angie’s List offer ratings and consumer reviews for a fee (but the money might be well worth the peace of mind!).

Needless to say, my friend won’t be taking her car back to that local repair shop. She could file a complaint with her local consumer protection office. I’ll write more about that in a future post. For now, do you have a repair shop experience you’d like to share?

| Comments [10] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: auto  automobile  automotive  car  engine  fix  mechanic  repair  technician 

Comments:

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Here are few other tips

Ask of OEM parts. Original Equipment Manufactured Parts.

Ask for the replaced parts back.

Talk to your local new car dealerships parts professionals for possible mechanical shops if you are unable to get your car to a new car dealership for repairs.

Thomas

Posted by Thomas on May 02, 2008 at 11:21 AM EDT #

I'm surprised that the BBB (Better Business Bureau) was not listed as a FREE way to research mechanics. BBB Reliability Reports are available at bbb.org at NO COST and they provide an objective report on how businesses measure up against ethical standards and how many complaints have been logged against a particular company. Angie's list may provide valuable information but it is subjective (entered by those who pay to join.) BBB reports are impartial.

Posted by Violet on May 02, 2008 at 11:41 AM EDT #

Violet,
Thanks very much for mentioning this helpful resource. Nicole spends lots of her time working on our Consumer Action Handbook and website, and one of the sections is a consumer assistance directory which lists all the BBBs for each state, among other things (http://www.consumeraction.gov/bbb.shtml). I'm sure they just slipped her mind. I've used the online reports for brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online locations, and they're very helpful.

Posted by Gov Gab Editor on May 02, 2008 at 11:53 AM EDT #

Re:Car Repairs:

As a female, I'm just glad I'm married to a mechanic. I had a Chevy van that had to be taken in for a recall issue. When I went to the dealer I was assure that it was a quick replacement, less than half an hour. After waiting 1-1/2 hours I asked why it wasn't done yet and they sent the supervisor to speak to me. I was on my cell w/my husband & told him to hold while I got info about repair. When this man started to tell me about the problems that they had started to encounter and the "possible" costs associated with it, I just handed him my cell and said "tell him about it". After explaining it to my husband and answering a few questions, the serious & concerned look he had for me was gone and he handed my phone back. He stated he'll let me know more & disappeared. Within 30 minutes I was out of there w/NO ADDITIONAL EXPENSE! I asked him what that was all about & they made a mistake!
Lesson is: you can't really trust the dealers either. A simple recall will turn into a major repair if they can get away with it.

Posted by ARM on May 02, 2008 at 01:28 PM EDT #

I have submitted your article to http://www.autocar-live.com which is a social site where users can submit car/auto articles and vote for already submitted articles.

Posted by AutoCar-Live on May 03, 2008 at 04:07 AM EDT #

I took my car to a local dealer to have a shaking problem fixed. They told me I needed new tires, I had just replaced my tires 6 months earlier. Since it was the dealer, I trusted them. When I got my car back, it still shook, I took it to a local repair shop and their mechanic rode with me, less than a 1/4 mile later he told what was wrong. I took it back to the dealer, told them to look at what my mechanic had said (CV Joints) and sure enough, that was the original problem. The dealer mechanics, who are certified in that dealers vehicles, did not know what was wrong, that is not a good thing. I think I am going to start looking at foreign cars from now on instead of the domestic.

Posted by BroJohn2 on May 03, 2008 at 09:06 AM EDT #

I took my Volvo last summer to Portland, Oregon believing a volvo repair shop would be more qualified than what I could find locally. I took the car to Swede One Autowerks and had horrible after shocks! The main one being the drive shaft literally fell out of the car after I got home to Montana, it had not needed to be worked on to begin with but then for the "mechanics" to have NOT bolted it back in securely was a very real problem. The shop never would admit it did anything wrong, blamed me, the customer, for all problems. So anyone with a Volvo and looking for a qualified Volvo repair shop, DO NOT use or go to Swede One in Portland (even tho the shop came highly recommended (I thought at the time anyway) by IPD which seems to have a good reputation in and of itself as being the best Volvo place, dedicated mechanics, etc.

Posted by a BAD repair shop - in Portland, Oregon on May 04, 2008 at 11:04 AM EDT #

Mechanics are next to politicians in the publics mind as far as honesty goes, but since I starting leasing my cars I haven't had to worry. My car is always new and under warranty.

Posted by Citizen Jmaximus on May 04, 2008 at 02:26 PM EDT #

A recent co-worker of mine spent more money on car repairs than I spent a year on bikes. This kind of blew my mind. I guess cars (for those who can afford them) are expensive. I don't know. I quit driving after I discovered they were charging more for insurance for a car for a year than I paid for a car. People told me that I was actually insuring other cars on the road including Limos and the like. This is stupid:

1. Everyone drives armored cars where I live so their cars should be fine in an accident.

2. I guess the people choosing to buy a limo would get a discount as they are insuring _my_ car which was worth more for scrap than I paid for it.

Posted by Leeroy Glinchy on May 05, 2008 at 10:14 PM EDT #

I DUMPED MY CAR WHEN I WAS TOLD IT WOULD TAKE $900 TO FIX I BOUGHT THE THING FOR $750 AND MY MUSTANG THAT WAS A $10,000 CAR GOT HIT AND I DIDN'T REPAIR IT HAD JUST LET MY INSURANCE LAPS HAD TO QUIT MY JOB THAT REQUIRED A CAR FOR OUTSIDE RETAIL REPRESENTATIVE SALES. SO I'VE BEEN GOING A FEW YEARS WITHOUT A CAR AND RATHER ENJOY NOT HAVING THE HASSEL.

Posted by NO CAR NO CAR FIXIN FRUSTRATION on May 09, 2008 at 12:45 PM EDT #

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