never trust a mechanic

[00Beast]

Leon, I understand your situation. This was an independent mechanic who obviously had his head up his ass. She found a friend's son to do them a day later for $550 or so, out the door.

[1tinindian]

If they wanted us to REALLY give a *dang* about a customers car, and sweat the little details, then they would be paying us by the hour.

Leon

So that is to say you have no pride/ethical responsibility in your workmanship? Making a living = screwing the guy who can't do what you can do half-assed? The disappointing truth...

If you did give a *dang* about the customers car, they would come back, ensuring future job stability/income. Unless people really are dumber than I try to give them credit for...

Why take that tone with me?
Do you know me, or the work I perform?
Your statements toward me are totally unfair.
There is nothing "half-assed" about beating "established Book times".
This is how the business was set up long before I started at it, and is the name of the game in earning a living.

Let me try to explain it this way...if book time for a given task, job, (whatever you want to call it) pays .5 hours and I spend 45 minutes on the job, have I made money, or lost money? I would have lost.
On the other hand, if the job only took .3 to complete and I still got paid .5, I would have made money.

For the most part, customers want two things, to have the problem fixed as fast as possible (so they can be on their way) and as cheap as possible. You can't have one, without the other.
We try to "up sell" needed repairs during our inspections, but most, if not all (some weeks) customers decline, based on the fact that they came in to get one thing fixed and one thing only, as they are convinced that there isn't anything else wrong with their car. (Yet, I was just under their car and saw the rusted out brake line, loose ball joint and leaking axle seal that they CAN'T see!)

I feel if you have never worked in this sort of an environment, then your opinion doesn't count.
And if you are a mechanic, you must be paid hourly.

Leon

[gweg_b]

I can understand both sides as well. I understand the need to make money to live (I do it myself), but there are also some people in the profession that probably should have a different job because maybe fixing cars is not their forte.

Here's my experience:

My brother has been working as a mechanic for almost 9 years. He's done both dealership and local shops. He's been screwed over many times (mainly by the dealership), but he's also had great success. He's also good at what he does. He's now in a groove where he finishes almost all his jobs under the allotted time, so he's making money. At the same time however, he cares about what he does. In his 8 years, he's never had a customer bring a vehicle back to him for something he didn't do right. He's actually the guy that fixes his coworker's mistakes or unfinished jobs (he's actually taken over a lot of the jobs because others just couldn't figure out to finish). He's well known in town, and has a lot of customers, on a repeat basis, request him personally.

He's also been recognized by both GM and Chrysler for his speedy, yet quality work, and problem solving skills. An example would be that we have a lot of oil and gas guys in town right now. A few weeks ago, one of those guys had his truck in 6 different dealerships, and not one of them could fix the issue. He then took it to where my brother works (on a recommendation), and not only did he figure the problem out, he fixed it. The guy was so happy that not only did he personally thank my brother and his bosses, but he sent the word to both the company he works for, and GM.

Yes, my brother is a rare exception. But, ask him if he likes working on other people's cars, and he'll tell you he hates it. But he also says that isn't a reason to do crap work either. And unfortunately, there are too many in the town I live in that either have no pride in their work, or just plain don't know how to do it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand it can be a demanding job, and working on someone's car that has been completely neglected/abused could be very daunting. But I also understand that I don't want to be in a steel cage that is rolling down the road at 70+mph and I suddenly lose control because someone that had worked on my car neglected to properly install/check a part.

On the other side of it, I have come across other mechanics in town that just do superb work, and because it's getting harder for me to get underneath my car (arthritis), I keep taking my car back to them, and have been happy each time. So, I wouldn't say not to trust any mechanic, as there are good ones out there. This is a case where a few bad apples ruin the whole batch.

[Jfridge92]

I agree. It's impossible to judge all mechanics based on one. There's only one mechanic in town that I'll let touch my Buick if it's something I can't or don't have the time to fix.

On the other hand, when I was looking for a shop to weld in the CAT on Ashlee's car, I took it to a legitimate muffler shop. The guy that I talked to literally said "You're not supposed to weld cats in, just clamp them and hope it doesn't leak." Needless to say I left that shop.

But it's just like Greg said. There's always going to be that one mechanic that's a complete idiot, and definitely shouldn't be touching cars. But there are also plenty of hardworking honest mechanics that aren't trying to screw you over, it's just like Leon said, unless you understand the business from the inside, you're going to misjudge things. The mechanics don't always charge you for parts, that's on the service writer in most cases, but there are always the exceptions with things, and any job.

I hate my job, but that doesn't mean I'm going to neglect my work and make my customers suffer.

[1tinindian]

[quote="Jfridge92"] But there are also plenty of hardworking honest mechanics that aren't trying to screw you over, it's just like Leon said, unless you understand the business from the inside, you're going to misjudge things.[quote]

Thank you, that was my point, exactly.

Leon

[CMNTMXR57]

If they wanted us to REALLY give a *dang* about a customers car, and sweat the little details, then they would be paying us by the hour.

Leon

So that is to say you have no pride/ethical responsibility in your workmanship? Making a living = screwing the guy who can't do what you can do half-assed? The disappointing truth...

If you did give a *dang* about the customers car, they would come back, ensuring future job stability/income. Unless people really are dumber than I try to give them credit for...

Yes, I do, but there is a difference with being absurdly meticulous (which I typically am), and keeping the line moving. There is balance. AS Leon said, we got paid "book time". If I didn't complete said task in the quoted time given I LOSE OUT! Then it's compounded because if I'm taking extra time in Vehicle #1, vehicle #2 goes to someone else...

[vogie01]

First off you should not take offense to what has been said. Generalizations happen every day and only the most strict-minded person can keep from using stereo-types and generalizations. If you do quality work and are confident in the work you do then continue to hold your head high and proud. There are a few bad people that ruin it for all of the others.

I am a paralegal do the work of lawyers, compete with them for work and hope to get my law degree and law license very soon. I have heard every lame lawyer joke and I don't let it bother me. Hell, my Dad has no respect for lawyers and I still don't care and love my work.

[00Beast]

Gawd, if there's 1 lawyer joke there's a thousand...

[MattStrike]

The way he made it sound, that he didn't give a hoot as long as it worked, is not much different than the attitude it takes to *shoot* in a box and mark it guaranteed: and comes as a sour note to the comment about 'internet mechanics' who do care about these cars and are willing to take time to help somebody figure out what is wrong if only to better inform them when they do have to take it to a mechanic so they aren't blindsided by a $1800 engine replacement for what really is a MAF sensor failure; and I bet the mechanic would appreciate the insight of a community of enthusiasts who can tell him the most likely places to check for the failure so he doesn't have to waste his time guessing either.

[vogie01]

The way he made it sound, that he didn't give a hoot as long as it worked, is not much different than the attitude it takes to *shoot* in a box and mark it guaranteed: and comes as a sour note to the comment about 'internet mechanics' who do care about these cars and are willing to take time to help somebody figure out what is wrong if only to better inform them when they do have to take it to a mechanic so they aren't blindsided by a $1800 engine replacement for what really is a MAF sensor failure; and I bet the mechanic would appreciate the insight of a community of enthusiasts who can tell him the most likely places to check for the failure so he doesn't have to waste his time guessing either.

Love the Tommy Boy reference!!!