[AUTOMOBILES] Tales Of A Car Technician - The Inside Story
Three important lessons are learned by the time we reach the legal driving age. They are: Number 1: Wear your seat belt. Number 2: Don't speed. Number 3: Never ever trust your auto mechanic. These gospels are passed on to you by your older generation.
I met up with an auto mechanic and requested him to give me the inside story of the car repair industry. I agreed to keep his name out of it so let us call him Max. Max has been around a long time, getting his hands greased for no less than 30 years.
According to Max, as the car repair industry is attempting to make itself dirt free, some auto mechanics are reluctant to respond. Unlawful attempts are still being made in the industry, for example: employing second-hand parts in the cars and promoting them as new.
I would say years ago, it was more pars for the course. I would say it happened about 40 percent of the time, he said. Today, I would say it probably happens a whole heck of a lot less. You're probably looking at about 10 to 7 percent margin, but it does still happen.
Shady Auto Mechanics and their activities
Max pointed out three things to remember when looking for a good car repair shop. The first is the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification from places like AC Delco, Ford Motor Company or Bendix. While ASE certification does not indicate that they're really good, it does indicate that the technicians go on their own time, or the business has given them the incentive to study, to take the course and go and show their skills are worthy of certification. (Ed. Note: ASE is a non-profit, independent organization founded in 1972.
Max also requests to notice that a car repair shop holds correct equipment (Such as a proper tire mounting machine with rubber mounts that hardly scratch your wheels or an alliance rack with laser capacity) for better performance. "I want to make sure they have the proper diagnostic equipment. A shop that has invested in the proper equipment to service today's automobiles is usually a shop that you can trust, because they are not going to buy that expensive equipment and then have people who are not qualified to use it."
According to Max cleanliness of the car repair shop is equally important. Max says, "I'm looking for a clean shop. I don't want to see Jake the Junkyard Dog chained in the office. I don't want to see a lot of dirt around the place. It shouldn't look like it's going to be condemned by the health department."
Max believes that the pricing of the car repairs should be very clear and should be posted for everyone to see. The best thing to do would be to hand over the car repair estimate to the customer before beginning the work on the car. Positive feedback from the earlier customers would be an added advantage. It should not be about how nice they are or how well they treat you but should be about their track record of providing good quality repair.
Max asks the Little Old Ladies to be careful
Max, with his three decades of experience behind him, had some interesting stories to tell about the tactics the sales personnel use to get people to do repairs on their car. One such incident happened between a co-worker and an elderly woman. Using scare tactics the poor old woman was tricked into getting her car repaired. The following waiting room conversation between Mrs. M and the auto mechanic exactly as Max relayed it:
Mechanic: Mrs. G., what street do you live on?
Elderly Woman: I live on First Street.
Mechanic: I live on that street as well. What time do you come home at the end of the day?
Elderly Woman: Oh, about 4 o'clock.
Mechanic: Good. Then I'll know what time to tell my kids to get off the street because I shudder to think of you driving down the street in this car with my children playing in the street because you're driving a death trap and it could kill them.
The poor little old lady had heard enough to get into a panic mode and started crying. She said just do it, fix it, do whatever you have to do! This is how the guy got her to get her car repaired. Max said that nowadays these unscrupulous tactics are a rarity.
Window shopping
Max possesses an experience of more than 30 years and has encountered many frustrations that gets his oil pressure going up. I asked him what types of things customers do that really annoy him and with no hesitation he says, "People who are shopping auto repair prices."
Max informed me about people calling up to get the cost for a tune-up, but hardly have any clue about the problem with their car. The indications they provide, normally need a different course of action. Max generally does not receive a constructive reply when he talks about the dreaded diagnostic analysis that public hate paying for. He recommends that its time and money will be rewarded. "You're paying for a skilled technician to take an hour's worth of labor to diagnose your vehicle with the proper computer scan tools to determine where your drivability problem is."
Can you make me a deal?
The further categories of customers that Max is not pleased with are who come in and say, 'Can you make me a deal?'" Max says that he tries hard to watch out for natives who really do call for help and aren't simply seeking a discount.
For example, he would go out of his way to help out a pregnant woman with two kids and car trouble and not enough money to fix it. Max told me, I'm going to the ends of the Earth, to the gates of hell for that woman to get that car running as reasonably as I possibly can and still maintain a profit for my business." He reiterates the fact that his business is not a charitable organization even while lending a helping hand to people who are in dire need of fixing their cars but are unable to shell out the required amount. "I don't wear a white collar and consequently, I can't stay in business if I give away everything I do."
Keep faith to win Points
Max appreciates the customers who rely on him. He had a client couple of years ago who would just deliver his car and ask Max to take care of the repair. He barely cared about the cost and never made any telephone call. He purely believed Max as his auto mechanic to find his car running again. "And I never breached that trust," Max said.
Max, in return for the trust placed in him, tries his level best to adjust his booked schedule to squeeze in these customers and let them out the same day. "I took care of him. Did I give him a discount? No ... did I do everything I could to get him back on the road as quickly as possible? You're damn right I did. And I did it over, say the guy who came in an hour before and said, 'Can you make me a deal? - 25129
I met up with an auto mechanic and requested him to give me the inside story of the car repair industry. I agreed to keep his name out of it so let us call him Max. Max has been around a long time, getting his hands greased for no less than 30 years.
According to Max, as the car repair industry is attempting to make itself dirt free, some auto mechanics are reluctant to respond. Unlawful attempts are still being made in the industry, for example: employing second-hand parts in the cars and promoting them as new.
I would say years ago, it was more pars for the course. I would say it happened about 40 percent of the time, he said. Today, I would say it probably happens a whole heck of a lot less. You're probably looking at about 10 to 7 percent margin, but it does still happen.
Shady Auto Mechanics and their activities
Max pointed out three things to remember when looking for a good car repair shop. The first is the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification from places like AC Delco, Ford Motor Company or Bendix. While ASE certification does not indicate that they're really good, it does indicate that the technicians go on their own time, or the business has given them the incentive to study, to take the course and go and show their skills are worthy of certification. (Ed. Note: ASE is a non-profit, independent organization founded in 1972.
Max also requests to notice that a car repair shop holds correct equipment (Such as a proper tire mounting machine with rubber mounts that hardly scratch your wheels or an alliance rack with laser capacity) for better performance. "I want to make sure they have the proper diagnostic equipment. A shop that has invested in the proper equipment to service today's automobiles is usually a shop that you can trust, because they are not going to buy that expensive equipment and then have people who are not qualified to use it."
According to Max cleanliness of the car repair shop is equally important. Max says, "I'm looking for a clean shop. I don't want to see Jake the Junkyard Dog chained in the office. I don't want to see a lot of dirt around the place. It shouldn't look like it's going to be condemned by the health department."
Max believes that the pricing of the car repairs should be very clear and should be posted for everyone to see. The best thing to do would be to hand over the car repair estimate to the customer before beginning the work on the car. Positive feedback from the earlier customers would be an added advantage. It should not be about how nice they are or how well they treat you but should be about their track record of providing good quality repair.
Max asks the Little Old Ladies to be careful
Max, with his three decades of experience behind him, had some interesting stories to tell about the tactics the sales personnel use to get people to do repairs on their car. One such incident happened between a co-worker and an elderly woman. Using scare tactics the poor old woman was tricked into getting her car repaired. The following waiting room conversation between Mrs. M and the auto mechanic exactly as Max relayed it:
Mechanic: Mrs. G., what street do you live on?
Elderly Woman: I live on First Street.
Mechanic: I live on that street as well. What time do you come home at the end of the day?
Elderly Woman: Oh, about 4 o'clock.
Mechanic: Good. Then I'll know what time to tell my kids to get off the street because I shudder to think of you driving down the street in this car with my children playing in the street because you're driving a death trap and it could kill them.
The poor little old lady had heard enough to get into a panic mode and started crying. She said just do it, fix it, do whatever you have to do! This is how the guy got her to get her car repaired. Max said that nowadays these unscrupulous tactics are a rarity.
Window shopping
Max possesses an experience of more than 30 years and has encountered many frustrations that gets his oil pressure going up. I asked him what types of things customers do that really annoy him and with no hesitation he says, "People who are shopping auto repair prices."
Max informed me about people calling up to get the cost for a tune-up, but hardly have any clue about the problem with their car. The indications they provide, normally need a different course of action. Max generally does not receive a constructive reply when he talks about the dreaded diagnostic analysis that public hate paying for. He recommends that its time and money will be rewarded. "You're paying for a skilled technician to take an hour's worth of labor to diagnose your vehicle with the proper computer scan tools to determine where your drivability problem is."
Can you make me a deal?
The further categories of customers that Max is not pleased with are who come in and say, 'Can you make me a deal?'" Max says that he tries hard to watch out for natives who really do call for help and aren't simply seeking a discount.
For example, he would go out of his way to help out a pregnant woman with two kids and car trouble and not enough money to fix it. Max told me, I'm going to the ends of the Earth, to the gates of hell for that woman to get that car running as reasonably as I possibly can and still maintain a profit for my business." He reiterates the fact that his business is not a charitable organization even while lending a helping hand to people who are in dire need of fixing their cars but are unable to shell out the required amount. "I don't wear a white collar and consequently, I can't stay in business if I give away everything I do."
Keep faith to win Points
Max appreciates the customers who rely on him. He had a client couple of years ago who would just deliver his car and ask Max to take care of the repair. He barely cared about the cost and never made any telephone call. He purely believed Max as his auto mechanic to find his car running again. "And I never breached that trust," Max said.
Max, in return for the trust placed in him, tries his level best to adjust his booked schedule to squeeze in these customers and let them out the same day. "I took care of him. Did I give him a discount? No ... did I do everything I could to get him back on the road as quickly as possible? You're damn right I did. And I did it over, say the guy who came in an hour before and said, 'Can you make me a deal? - 25129
About the Author:
Rand Stuck is a BMW master technician with over 12 years of experience. He currently manages the online parts department of a BMW parts retailer. You can find more information on auto repair and BMW Parts at AutoWerks.
