Do you need to bring your car to a mechanic to have a repair made to it? Before you trust anyone to work on your vehicle, it’s important for you to make sure they’re honest and a good mechanic.
This is often easier said than done. According to one survey conducted a few years ago, about two-thirds of Americans say that they don’t trust auto repair shops and the mechanics that work at them.
Some people report not trusting their mechanics because they feel as though they recommend repairs and services that aren’t necessary. Others feel as though their mechanics charge them too much for the repairs and services that they perform.
If you want to make sure that you’re able to steer clear of working with these kinds of mechanics, you should learn how to find a good mechanic and entrust them to work on your car from now on. It’ll guarantee you enjoy a great experience every single time your honest mechanic provides you with repairs and services.
Here is how to tell that you have an honest and good mechanic on your side.
They Work in an Established Auto Repair Shop
When you’re looking for a good mechanic in your area to work on your car, it’s pretty easy to find some options. Just Google “mechanic near me” and you should see a long list of local mechanics pop up.
You should take this list of mechanics and go through it with a fine-tooth comb to see what each one is about. And one of the first things you should check up on is what auto repair shop they work for.
You should not, under any circumstances, trust a mechanic that doesn’t work out of a shop. There are some mechanics that try to work on cars out of their homes or even offer to come to the homes of car owners to work on their cars there.
Unless you have absolutely no other choices, you should bypass these mechanics and look for ones that operate out of auto repair shops with good reputations. This will ensure that your mechanic is fully insured and trained to work on cars.
They Have the Right Credentials
A person doesn’t have to attend college to become a mechanic. But they do have to work their way through a series of steps to obtain the right credentials to work as a mechanic.
To start working as a mechanic, a person has to:
- Get a high school diploma or GED
- Take courses at a vocational school
- Obtain certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE)
- Work under a more experienced mechanic at an auto repair shop
- Continue to take courses and exams to obtain more advanced ASE certifications
Prior to allowing a mechanic to work on your car, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask them to show you their ASE certifications. This will provide you with some much-needed peace of mind while they’re checking under your hood and wheeling themselves underneath your car.
They Have a Wealth of Experience Under Their Belt
If you’re having a very basic service, like an oil change, done on your car, you don’t necessarily need a mechanic with 25 years of experience on the job. But if you’re having an even slightly more complicated job done, you should try to find a good and honest mechanic with lots of experience to carry it out.
A young mechanic can spend all the time they want learning about cars in textbooks. But until they get some experience and perform a large number of repairs and services, they’re not going to be cut out to do a lot of the more advanced car repairs and services.
When you ask a mechanic to show you their credentials, talk to them about how long they’ve been a mechanic, too. It’ll shed some light on how much experience they’ve been able to rack up.
They Know How to Listen to the Problems People Are Having
When you bring your car to a mechanic, they’re going to ask you to explain what’s wrong with it to them. You’ll need to break down whatever issues you’ve been having with your car so that they understand what they’re going to have to do to it.
A good mechanic will spend time talking to you about your car problem and asking you questions that help them comprehend what might be going on with it. The very best mechanics can identify issues with a car simply by speaking with a vehicle owner about a specific sound it’s been making in recent weeks.
Some mechanics aren’t great listeners and struggle to figure out what’s wrong with cars because of it. These mechanics could really benefit by learning how to listen to their customers better when they’re explaining their car issues to them.
They Understand How to Diagnose Issues With a Car Quickly
In some cases, a mechanic will be able to listen to the problems that a person is having with their car and diagnose the issue with it on the spot. But in other instances, they’ll need to do some digging around to diagnose the issues that a person is experiencing.
An honest mechanic won’t just spend five minutes tinkering around with a car and then guess what they think might be wrong with it. They’ll spend as long as they have to poking around under the hood of a car to identify what’s happening with it.
At the same time, they’ll also work quickly so that they’re able to diagnose the issue with a car and start working on it so that the owner of it can get it back as soon as possible. Good mechanics are able to strike this delicate balance for the good of their customers.
They Have No Problem Communicating the Car Issues They Find Clearly
One survey after another has suggested that the average American doesn’t know all that much about cars. It’s a big part of the reason why so many people don’t trust mechanics.
Many people find that their mechanics intentionally make it difficult for them to understand what’s going on with their cars when they’re in need of repair. It’s how some mechanics are then able to convince people to have repairs and services performed when they’re not necessary.
A good mechanic will never take this approach to talking to a customer about an auto repair that needs to be done. Rather than making it confusing, they’ll speak with the customer in layman’s terms so that they understand what needs to be done to their car and why it’s important.
If you find that your mechanic always sounds like they’re trying to scare you when speaking with you about your car, that’s a problem. An honest mechanic will give it to you straight when discussing car repairs with you while also emphasizing why certain repairs must be made.
They Use the Right Tools and High-Quality Parts to Perform Car Repairs and Services
One thing that people don’t always realize is that it can cost a lot of money for a person to become a mechanic. They have to invest quite a bit of money at the start to pay for all the tools they’ll need to do their jobs.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for a mechanic to spend about $30,000 on tools over the course of their career. They’re constantly updating their tool collections and adding the latest tools to it.
There are, however, some mechanics that try to get away with performing auto repair jobs without the best tools in the business. These are obviously not mechanics that you want to work on your car.
You want mechanics that have made solid investments into their tool collections working on your car. Additionally, you want mechanics that only use high-quality parts when making car repairs.
You should talk to a mechanic about what kinds of parts they use when performing repairs and services. They should be more than happy to show you the parts that they’ll use and to talk about how long they’ll last you.
If you sense that a mechanic doesn’t have easy access to the right tools and parts to fix your car, you should take your business elsewhere. Otherwise, you might be tossing the keys to your car to someone who isn’t going to do good work on it.
They Stand Behind the Work They Do on Cars
No matter how good a mechanic might be, there are going to be times when they make a mistake while working on a car. This comes with the territory when you spend all day long fixing cars.
There are also going to be times when a mechanic tells a customer that they need to do something to a car to fix it, only to realize that the repair they recommended didn’t produce the intended results. This, too, comes with being a mechanic.
If either of these things happens when a mechanic works on your vehicle, they should stand behind their work. They should take your car back and fix whatever problems still exist before giving your car back to you.
They Offer Competitive Prices on Car Repairs and Services
According to AAA, the average car owner spends about $1,200 each year doing car maintenance and making car repairs. That’s a nice chunk of change when you sit back and think about it.
With this in mind, you should always strive to work with a mechanic who is going to give you the best prices on car repairs and services. They should go out of their way to set you up with competitive prices that are better than the prices offered by other mechanics in your area.
They should also provide you with accurate estimates before working on your car. There are few things worse than expecting to pay one price for a car repair and then being forced to pay another.
A good mechanic can give you an accurate estimate and then make sure they work to keep your car repair costs down. They can also communicate with you if they come across any issues that might drive the price of your car repair up higher than anticipated.
They Rack up Tons of Positive Reviews From Car Owners Over Time
At the end of the day, there are a lot of people who don’t have hours and hours to spend on researching mechanics in their area. As a result, many pick out a mechanic blindly after searching “honest mechanic near me.”
If you don’t do anything else while trying to track down a good mechanic, make it your mission to use online reviews for mechanics to your advantage. Most mechanics have tons of reviews that their customers have left for them over the years.
Read through the reviews for various mechanics in your area and try to find ones that have almost nothing but positive reviews. These reviews will let you know which mechanics the people in your community trust the most.
You can also learn about the prices that mechanics charge and the customer service that they provide through online reviews. You should turn to these reviews early and often for help when you’re on the hunt for a good mechanic to work on your car.
Start Looking for an Honest and Good Mechanic to Work on Your Car Today
The mere thought of paying a visit to an auto repair shop makes most people cringe. They can’t stand the idea of spending a small fortune to have a dishonest mechanic fix their car.
You can make the entire experience better for yourself by finding an honest and good mechanic to provide you with car repairs and services. Look around for one that checks all the boxes listed here, and you should be in good hands.
Interested in learning even more about car repairs and mechanics? Browse through the informative articles that we have on our blog to get additional information.
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