just wondering, while i do as much work as possible on my truck myself, i know there are things i just cant do, so as a 20yr old with his first fully owned vehicle, what do ya'll look for to tell you that your mechanic isnt a complete ***? before you trust your vehicle to them. i know the only real way is to let them do some work on it for you. call me pathetic call me what you will...

 

Same boat. I am 20 and I have had my own vehicle for almost a year now (Oct 9). I have weeded a few mechanics out, I will quiz them, to see if they know what they are really talk about, I judge them by their honesty, if they do exactly what I want, and how accurate their bid is. I have had good work done on my truck, and I have had 1 little hose clamp that wasn't tightened and lost all my oil going down the highway.

Finding a GOOD, EXPERIENCED, NO BS mechanic, is like finding an honest politician or car salesman.

 

Hey, I resent that. I am a mechanic that has been turning wrenches for 25 years. I take great pride in what I do and that I am completely honest about it.How do you know i f someone is BSing you if you don't know anything about what they do or what it takes?You judge them by their honesty but also by "if they do exactly what I want"? What is that? I have people come to me and ask me to do something that I feel may be either unsafe or will cost them more in the long run. I will not do things that I am not comfortable about. Does this make me a bad mechanic because I won't do what you want? If you come to me and tell me " I want you to change this" does that fix your problem when I do? I don't know, you didn't tell me what the problem was. Will I guarantee it? H@%^L no. If you were to come to me and tell me, " my truck is doing this, what would you recommend?" and be willing to answer a few questions you would be a lot happier. You would probably even get a guarantee. There are a lot of good AND bad mechanics out there. Please don't put us in the same class as polititions and salesmen. I almost forgot, this was supposed to be about how to find a good one, huh? Well, look at their training. Are they certified? They don't have to be certified in every aspect of auto repairs. We are getting as bad as doctors ( there I go comparing myself ) with vehicles getting more and more complicated it's hard to know eveything. (you know that old saying about knowing a little bit about a lot of things ) It's better to find someone who knows a lot about a couple of things. (as long as they know about what it is you came for.) Ask for references. If they are doing quality work, they will be happy to give you a few. I better quit, my brain is turning off. Been up too long. Can think of more later or can answer any questions you may have.

 

didnt tighten a hose clamp and you lost all your oil ? umm what hose clamp do you have handling your oil supply ? just wondering is all. As for mechanics - i love those guys, they work hard for you and really try and help you out, i know a guy here in my town named spencer , he has his own shop and he does excellent work and will work with you on any problem. I have run into a few that want mostly money and dont care about the job, but word of mouth gets around and we all know that is the best or worst advertising one could ever get. Ask your friends ask your parents friends, you will find a guy or gal that you can trust to do a good job.. And also tell them what you did or were doing when the problem started, not telling them that you were doing cookies or burnouts will make them work harder to find the problem and in the end it will cost you more.

 

stepman -

I hope you got some sleep last night...

I guess I wasn't clear enough...

So let me be more specific here...

The hose clamp that was not tightened went from the engine adapter to the remote oil filter kit, then on to the oil cooler, and back to the engine. I had my rear seal and gaskets replaced on my oil pan, and they needed to be disconnected for the work to be done. I wrote down exactly how they should do it, which they did, they just didn't tighten down that one line.

I judge mechanics based on what they know. Some around here are BS'ers, just like the dealers they work for. Some are kids who don't know that much. You have to be very careful. Around here, they will charge an arm and a leg for minor repairs if you don't watch it.

You completely took me out of context. Mechanics around here will do work that you do not authorize, sometimes the owners know more than the mechanics. I type out a print-out of exactly what they are to fix (I make sure what the problem is first) and to call me with an estimate. If the final bill is fairly close to the estimate, I am fine with that. If they find more problems and fix them without telling me, then I might get a little mad.

By a return answer - I mean I judge them based on how experienced and knowledgeable they are about the vehicle they will be working on. I don't want a flunkee that tells me my throttle body needs replacing when I have a carburetor.

I like older mechanics. They are honest - most of the kids in the shops today are my age, and I know them, and I don't trust them very much. They haven't been in the game too long and there is just too much room for error.

A few years ago, we took one of our cars in for an oil change. They put in the wrong oil, so we took it back and said change it again. They just put the new oil in without changing it and blew all the gaskets. After that, I don't trust the larger auto places, I am leary about even the dealers too.

You have to notice - I say MECHANICS AROUND HERE. This is a different market. Our car dealerships are owned by 1 man. He is a crook. He was fined by Ford 1 million dollars for being dishonest. Thats what I'm dealing with - same place that did the work on my truck when I lost the oil. This used to be a small town, but it just keeps getting bigger, and you can't even trust your neighbors anymore.

My mechanic is in his early 60's, he's the only mechanic I trust. Since he has arthritis, he only does the work he absolutely needs to do. He is the best guy around for engine building and that sort of stuff, he's always busy.

I hope you take notice of some of this stuff, I think it is cool that you are a long time mechanic. I wish we had more of them around here...

 

Sorry, I wasn't trying to upset anyone. You do have some bad ones there.I hate crooks like that. The ones that work on a commission are the worse. The more they find wrong the more they think they can make. If I'm working on someones vehcle and I notice someting not right I'll go ahead and fix it (as long as it don't cost me parts)and I won't charge them for it. If its something that may need a part I make them aware of it but I don't force them to have it done. Seems I've been doing this wrong all these years.

 

Get the manuals and learn all you can about your truck. I have been my own mechanic for upteen years.

 

I am 60 years old and have never hired anyone except for a front end alignment to do anything on my cars or trucks. Learning how to do things yourself saves tons of money. I have made mistakes and they did cost me but, in the long run, I am far ahead. There are many books available to give you instructions on how to do almost anything and this website is also very helpful.

 

Yes, it is. That is the way to go if you can do it yourself. I try to talk most people into that. I'm not in this to make any money, well, maybe a little extra spending money to put into my truck. I have a regular day job, I just do this on the side to help people out. I know how expensive it can get out there. The only thing I send out is alignments myself.

 

From personally experience, I found if the shop is always busy, they usually do good work and/or they keep the customers happy. If they tend to be slow all the time, there is probably a reason for it.

 

quick question-

what is the measurement for upteen years ?
i finally figured out just how far it was when my ol man said

" just over the next hill "

" around the bend "

" in a little while "

still havent figured out his calculations that lead him to believe he is taking a short cut. Never seemed shorter to me.

 

we always went to and fro and here an yonder

 

I'm lucky in that I have a good friend who is a mechanic. The only problem is that he lives 45 minutes away, and we both have small kids running around....Anyway, my buddy is always willing to help out with stuff that needs fixing, and he knows my abilities pretty well. If something is over my head, he just says bring it on over. If I can do it, he will walk me through the instructions, and then the problem that I run into 1/2 way through.

 

I have an attitude here, that is in some ways unrealistic or totally inapplicable to most consumers.

I AM my mechanic

I put myself in that position years ago, because I could not afford to pay for anyone elses mistakes, or support their learning experiences.

I also realised that the labor alone on repairs are the most expensive part of it all.

When do I have a shop work on my wheels? When it's over my head, I don't have the tools, or it just isn't something I want to do.

Oil changes, for one. Windows for another...

There are practiced people who can do that with a lot less hassle than I can. TIME IS MONEY! Is it worth it to me to pay someone for what I want done? YES - sometimes.

But the bottom line here is, "Will I check their work?"

- And you're damn right I will!!!

Otherwise I will have stepped right out of the process, and it's my own obligation to ensure my wheels are 'streetable'. AIRLINE PILOTS don't fix their own planes, but only an ignoramus skips a pre-flight check, isn't that true?

Your life depends on what was done to your truck.
"CHECK IT".

~Wolfuss out...

 

Wow! I forgot what we were talking about there for a minute.That is about the only time people take something down the road is when it is over their head or they don't have the proper tools.(which is getting more common)
I think the best way to find a good tech is to ask around.You are sure to find someone you know that has been there.When you have something done and you don't like the results, go back and see if he/she will make it right. If not, you know not to go back there.That IS how we learn, right?
If I had done some work on a vehicle and the person wasn't happy with it,I would hope that they would bring it back. ( but that's just me)