Mechanical Engineering:Choosing a Trustworthy Car Repair Mechanic

Everyone needs a good car mechanic from time to time. The question is where do you find a dependable one?

There are so many stories of car repair rip offs by car mechanics that many people have trouble deciding where to take their vehicles for repairs. Here is the story about a rip off that occurred in Flagstaff, Arizona several years ago. The victims in this case were from out of town. The radiator on their Chevrolet Suburban sprung a leak outside of Flagstaff, and the owners had to have the car towed into town for repairs.

The Suburban owner dealt with a mechanic at an Exxon station in Flagstaff a few months earlier, and was treated fairly. The owner tried to call the same Exxon car mechanic to order a tow truck, but he read the wrong line in the telephone book while searching for Exxon's telephone number. When the tow truck arrived, it was from a different mechanic shop. Since the tow truck was there, the Suburban owner agreed to let the tow driver take the car to his shop.

The car mechanic told the Suburban owner that the car needed a radiator recore, which was once a common procedure. The bill came to nearly $600. The owner balked, but the mechanic assured him that was a standard price. When the Suburban owner returned home, every mechanic he called said the procedure should have been done for less than $200. Some shops would have done it for $100.

The victim of the rip off called the Arizona Attorney General's office to complain, but he was told that there was insufficient money loss for the Attorney General to become involved. The victim gave up on the complaint, and figured he was just going to have to live with the $400 rip off. A couple of weeks later, the radiator sprung another leak. This time the victim took his car to a trusted car mechanic who said that there had been no radiator recore installed. The only repair that the Flagstaff mechanic had performed was a spot weld at the leak, a procedure that should not have cost more than $20 or $30.

A happy sidebar to this is that the complaint to the Arizona Attorney General helped trigger an investigation of the offending car mechanic in Flagstaff. The Attorney General sent a car with 100% working parts to the mechanic shop. The mechanic told the undercover investigator that several parts needed to be replaced. The shop was fined $10,000 for trying to rip off the Attorney General's office. Unfortunately, the State of Arizona kept the fine money. The victim of the Suburban rip off received no recompense.

Here are a few tips to help keep you from becoming an auto repair rip off victim and help you choose the right car mechanic for your vehicle:

- Get an estimate in writing with details of all repairs to be done
- Be specific about what you want the mechanic to do and what you don't want the mechanic to do
- Use a mechanic you know and trust whenever possible
- If you are new to town, ask a few of the locals to recommend a good car mechanic
- Check to see if the shop is AAA approved
- Get a written guarantee
- Follow the manufacturer's recommended scheduled maintenance, and don't let a car mechanic vary widely from that schedule
- Call for estimates from various shops before having any repairs done
- Read the bill carefully and ask about any questionable charges

Following these simple tips above will help you avoid many of the problems auto owners face when trying to choose a car repair shop to do business with.

Stewart Baker writes for NARPRO. NARPRO takes the guesswork out of finding a Scottsdale auto mechanic. By screening each metro Phoenix car repair shop, they ensure that their listed shops treat customers with respect and honesty. Find a reliable Phoenix auto repair shop with NARPRO.