April 14, 2008

FINDING a good, reliable and honest mechanic is one of life’s most challenging tasks. Garages are often intimidating, dirty places where you’re made to feel nervous, on edge and utterly vulnerable because you are relying on these people to be completely honest with you. Let’s face it, how does anybody other than a mechanic really know what’s wrong with your car?

It’s a shame that mechanics’ terrible reputation is thoroughly deserved, with garages attracting more complaints to trading standards offices than just about any other profession.

So, how do you choose a good one?

Well, recommendations from friends or colleagues are obviously valuable, but remember, they may be happy after paying 200 pounds for their car’s glitch when in fact it was really only a 100 pound job. In other words, your friend might have been duped, so treat recommendations with some caution.

So, here are some tips for finding your own honest mechanic.

Look for a neat and tidy garage. They’re never going to be the cleanest of places but if things look orderly it’s a good start. Oh, and avoid places with girly calenders or posters. It means they’re perfectly happy to offend female customers.

How busy are they? If the garage is empty and people are sitting around doing nothing, you’d have to ask yourself why. A good mechanic is always busy so an empty workplace is likely to mean he’s no good.

Look at the receipts from small garages. It should say whether he is VAT-registered. If he isn’t, then why is he charging you for VAT on parts and labour? Remember, you only have to be VAT registered when your business’s turnover is over 67,000 pounds.

Don’t be bowled over by bullshit. The mechanic might start dazzling you with terms and phrases you don’t understand.

Make sure they can explain the problem to you in a way you can get your head around. If it sounds fishy, go elsewhere.

Avoid having any 'extra' work done to your car by the garage itself.  There are countless tales of people being duped with the 'oh did you know this isn't working properly' routine.  Some mechanic use dirty tricks. A squirt of WD-40 on a shock absorber can look just like a leak, so be careful.

They’ve also been known to hold metal plates against the hub as a mechanic spins it around, creating a scraping sound that implies you need new brakes. Watch such demonstrations like a hawk. If a mysterious new problem presents itself take the car to another garage for a second opinion.

Be very sceptical about any mechanic who tries to scare you by saying that your car was about to blow up or lose control – scare tactics are the oldest trick in the book.

Check your bill for “sundries”. Some mechanics can charge 30 pounds for half an hour’s labour but they don’t do anything under half an hour.

Check that they use genuine parts. There’s a massive business in fake parts these days and Mercedes actually uses holograms on theirs to stop fakes.  This process is made more difficult by the fact that many manufacturers no longer make many of the servicable parts.  For example BMW spark plugs are supplied by NGK and Vauxhall's by Bosch, so if your mechanic pulls out these 'non standard' parts they will in fact be the same as the manufacturers branded product.  Mahle supply the filters for Mercedes and Motaquip the same for Peugeot.  Tesco sell their own brand of oil, which is a repackaged Esso lubricant.  There are lots of car parts that are now effectively outsourced, you just need to make sure that the non branded parts are the right ones.

It's worth taking the time to ask your mechanic why they are fitting non standard parts, as they may have good reason too.  If they instantly go on the defensive and can't provide you with good reason, you may have uncovered evidence that you're going to have a sub-standard repair on your hands.  Although they may well be using the right parts without the carmakers name on them.  If they know the difference, especially if they are charging you the lower price, then you're probably onto a winner.

Ask to see the old parts.  Many mechanics will be happy to show you the old parts.  They should be able to show and explain what was wrong with them and give you an idea of what to look out for in the future.

As with any industry, the world of Motor repairs and mechanics has good and bad practicioners.  There is room on the comments section of this article for you to share your good experiences and warn other members of bad ones.  If more people are able to communicate bad experiences and promote good ones then the mechanics and garages will have to up their game or risk losing business. 

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