Choosing Your Repair Shop

Choosing a repair shop can be difficult. Most people say word of mouth is the best advertisment, but unfortunatly that's not really the best.

When I first started driving my family used the local Exxon station. The problem there was whenever I would go there for gas, the attendants were super nasty. In New Jersey you can't pump your gas yourself. The attendant has to pump it for you, so you had to deal with them.

The mechanic there had in his contract that he gets three cents per gallon for every gallon of gas sold. He finally got angry with me because I stopped buying gas there, so he finally told me to go away.

Next we went to a tire store on the local mall property. They cheated me left and right. For one example, I brought my car there because my parking brake stopped working. I left the car and walked about a mile home. Several hours went by and I didn't hear anything. I couldn't call because at the time I had a stutter so bad that I couldn't make phone calls, so I walked the mile back there.

 I walked in and everyone was just hanging around. They told me that it was all fixed and charged me an astronomical amount for the repair. I went to my car and it was parked in the exact same way from when I left it. I started to leave but I pressed the brake down. It still didn't work. I went back in and told them, but they just laughed hysterically at my stutter. They just told me to get out. My father had to go back there to get my money back. That shop closed a couple years later. Their reputation caught up with them.

Next I went to a shop under the reccomandation of a couple of police officers I knew. They repaired my car a couple times, but one time I went to pick the car up after a repair and it kept stalling, and stalling, and stalling. I went back in and told them. They brought in back in the shop, kept me waiting a very long time, and finally came out. 

They said I needed a "major carborator overhaul" and it would be $150.00. The only problem was that they were laughing when they said that. Something told me to leave, and by the grace of God I was able to get my car started.

I needed tires anyway, so I brought it to the Goodyear store in Eatontown, N.J., the same store I spoke of in my first post. I asked the sales person that as long as I was in there can they check something? He said of course so I told him the stalling story. They came back and told me that they cut a slit in a vacuum line. They also fixed it for free. From then on I brought my car there for years.

After the fiasco I talked about in my first post, a friend reccomended another shop. They advertised themselves as a "Christian" auto repair shop. When I brought my car there, they even gave me a 10% discount for being a church member. 

I brought my car there for years as well, and they were really great. The one thing is that besides a shop rate (labor rate), they also charged a "shop fee" of 3% of your total bill. The owner told me that's to make up for the cost of grease, nuts, bolts, and that he has to pay to have his garbage & recycling removed, as well as a couple other excuses.

Like I said, I went there for years. Like I also said, greed catches up with you. Toward the end he would call me with estimates, he would also say that I needed this, and that, and this, that, this, that. At first I believed him, or at least I wanted to, but I don't know how many "leaky drum brake cylinders" I paid for. 

The last two times I went there, the final bill was over twice as much as the estimate. That was in 2005 when my wife and I moved to Arkansas. I heard that not too long afterwards that shop closed down.

Let me say something to the shop owners reading this. There is pleanty, and I mean pleanty, of work out there. Don't let your heart get filled with greed. In other words, don't get money hungry.  I promise you, like in two of my experiances you've just read, it WILL catch up with you. Concentrate on giving the best, most honest, transparent work you can possibly do. You will be rewarded for it. 

A "shop fee", a "disposable items charge", or whatever you want to call it, is just the cost of doing business. Be the go-to place for customers as well as employees, and you'll do fine.

So, how do you find a repair shop. I would try reccomendations from trusted friends and family, although as you've just read it's not foolproof. When you approach a shop, look and see if it's in a good area. Are there old tires piled up in front? Is the place a disaster area in front, or is it nice and well kept?

When you go inside, is the staff friendly, welcoming and wearing a smile?

 Are they dressed appropriatly and well groomed? 

Do they ask the right questions and treat you with respect?

Do they explain everything in a way that you can understand, without talking down to you?

Take a look in the shop. Is it clean and well organized?

Ask yourself those questions. However, there's things you need to do too.

First, never just show up out of the blue. When I worked in a shop, people just showed up without an appointment, screaming, cursing and throwing all kinds of tantrums because their car wasn't being worked on right away. After their car was brought in, they acted the same way until their car was ready.

Second, never say that you'll bring it in later today, or tomorrow, or whenever. Good shops have work scheduled days, or even weeks in advance. Ask them when you can bring it in. They may ask you when you want to bring it in, but let them ask first. Some shops offer valet service, where they will pick it up at your home or place of work, then bring it back when it's done.

Third, don't argue over diagnostic fees. When I worked in a shop, the technitian may spend a few hours finding out what was the cause of the concern, but only got paid for one hour diagnostic time. It's not fair to the technitian. Cars today are extreamly complex, and it takes time to research certain causes, and even some tear-down may be needed to find out the exact cause of the problem. Some shops charge just one flat fee for diagnostics.

Fourth, don't be someone who always shops around for the lowest price. Always be loyal to your shop, unless they give you reason not to. Besides, you get what you pay for. That's more true than you think.

Thank you for reading. I'll post the next installment in a day or two.