Are you OVER Paying Your Auto Mechanic?
Reader Question: I am on a tight budget, should I tell my
mechanic how much I can afford to spend?
Do you like to take your car in for repairs? Do you ever feel
like you were cheated or taken advantage of by the shop or their
mechanics? Do you know it could be what you are saying to the
repair shop that could be costing you more? Most auto repair
shops are run by honest hard-working people but in some
circumstances you may bring out the dark side at some shops.
For instance, never tell the shop how much you are willing to
spend without first getting an explanation of what you are going
to have done. When you give the shop a "spending limit" they may
have a tendency to do as little as possible but will manage to
spend up to your limit. For example, a woman came into my shop
and told me she had $500 to spend. She did not start off her
conversation with "hello", or "can you fix my car", all she said
was how much money she wanted to give me.
Now granted, it is nice to have people come into the shop and
actually like to pay their bills, but this lady gave me a
spending limit before she told me what she wanted to have fixed.
She thought she had transmission trouble and assumed that it
would cost her a fortune to repair. While on a test drive with
her I concluded that the problem was not transmission-related,
but that the car probably needed a tune up or something along
those lines.
But wait, this person wanted to give me $500! If I was not an
honest shop owner, I would have remained quiet on the test drive
and taken the money that she was willing to pay. Let's say that
I told this customer that I could fix her car because I am a
nice guy and since she only had $500 to spend I would try to
help her out as much as I could. In reality, the actual repairs
needed would have only cost $200.
Because this customer thought she had expensive transmission
trouble, she would probably be happy with a bill for $350 and
she will also think the shop did her a favor. Her first mistake
was to diagnose the problem herself. I wonder if she goes to her
dentist and tells her which tooth to pull or if she thinks it is
time for another root canal? You take your car to the repair
shop to have someone else diagnose and repair your car; so let
them do their job. Her second mistake was to tell the shop how
much she was willing to spend.
Most of the mechanics and service writers that I know of work on
commission, and in the example above, an additional $150 would
sure be a nice tip. I see this happen all the time and it is so
easy to prevent. Sometimes it is better to simply describe the
symptoms to the service writer, remain quiet about your budget
dollars and let the shop diagnose the problem with your car and
how much it will cost to repair.
If the problem you are having with your car will require a test
drive for the mechanic or service writer to hear make sure you
ride in the car with them at the time you drop off your car for
repairs. If they can't hear it or feel it they can't fix it, and
you will probably just get frustrated and discouraged by them
not being able to repair the problem you want them to fix. Have
you been over-paying your mechanic?
Sincerely,
Austin C Davis
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