Car Parts Plus

Getting To Know Your Local Mechanic

For most people I know, a trip to the mechanic is an inconvenience to suffer through and then forget as quickly as possible. If you were to ask someone you know to tell you the name of their auto technician, they’d likely give you a blank stare. The fact is, most drivers don’t want to know their mechanic; they just want their cars to run properly. Get in, get out, pay the tab. Well, I’m here to tell you that you should invest the time to learn your mechanic’s name and start building a professional relationship with him. In this article, I’ll explain the benefits of getting to know the guy who’s working on your vehicle.

Bigger Is Not Better

First, if you’ve been taking your car to a local garage, you probably realize something that a lot of drivers miss. Here it is: the quality of the work they do is just as good, if not better, than what you’d expect from a large chain of repair shops. Whether you’re having the brake pads replaced, a diagnostic performed on the engine, or having the fuel injection system cleaned, small garages usually do high-quality work.

Here’s another poorly-kept secret: those large shops have a lot of overhead. Support staff, larger facilities, and nationwide advertising require money. You’re paying for those things (or, at least, their customers are). So, when a small garage is embattled, trying to survive as a large chain comes into town, remember that your experience will usually be better with your local mechanic.

When you have a relationship with your auto technician, you’ll be able to bring your vehicle back to his repair shop if any of the work he performed fails. Keep in mind, even new parts can be faulty, so repair work that fails may not be his fault. The bottom line is that it needs to be fixed. If you’ve gotten to know him personally, he won’t need to see your warranty. He’ll remember the job and fix the problem.

By contrast, imagine this scenario: you take your vehicle to a nationwide repair garage to have the brakes fixed. You don’t know the mechanics. They do the job and send you on your way. Unfortunately, they install pads that fail a year later. After hearing a piercing squeal coming from your brakes, you take your car back and are greeted by a guy you’ve never seen before. He doesn’t know you and doesn’t care about your problem. He only wants to see your warranty for the original brake job. If you don’t have it, you’re out of luck (and a lot of money).

Get to know your local mechanic. Learn his name and build a relationship. When things go wrong with your vehicle (and they will), you’ll have someone that you can rely upon. The value of establishing that bond is hard to overemphasize.

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