Car Repair: Questions To Ask Your Mechanic

Car repair is a touchy subject with a lot of people. They take their vehicle into the shop, they mutter something about what might be wrong with it (sometimes including a brief imitation of a sound it’s been making), and then they get a ride home or they sit in the waiting room, worrying the whole time about how much this is going to cost. If you’re tired of feeling a sense of powerlessness when you go to a mechanic shop, here are some questions that will put you back in the driver’s seat and show the shop that you aren’t just another sucker.

Mechanic shops, just like any other form of retailer, are trained to up-sell their customers. While this is perfectly ethical and understandable in a typical retail environment, the practice is questionable and even somewhat predatory when it comes to car repair. Most people have no idea whether they need this or that for their vehicle. The maintenance shop can easily phrase the sales pitch in such a way that leaves an uninformed customer with little choice but to buy whatever it is that they are selling. Don’t do this. If you’ve been doing it, stop. In fact, if you habitually run into this every time you bring your vehicle in, find another place of business. Otherwise, start asking questions. If they recommend something, ask them why. Keep asking why, if you have to. Ask questions until you’re not only satisfied with the answers, but you also understand them. If you’re going to shell out a lot of money for car repair, you might as well get some education while you’re at it.

Ask your mechanic shop up front what they charge for labor. In most cases, this will be a standard rate and it will give you a better idea of what is going into your estimate and final bill. Do this before any work begins on your vehicle. Many customers don’t take advantage of the fact that the shop wants your business and should be doing everything they can to not only see to it that you feel comfortable leaving your vehicle with them, but will want to come back in the future. If you find yourself in a shop that seems too busy to answer your questions or seems put out by the fact that you even came in, leave! There’s far too much competition in the car repair business for you to put up with bad service.