Find Trusted Mechanic

Finding and obtaining a qualified automotive technician you can trust for their honest and excellent diagnostic expertise, is like finding a doctor or surgeon you can trust. There are too many technicians and auto service facilities that will take advantage of their customers. Some will take advantage of them by selling unnecessary service or parts, by not repairing the problem accurately and completely or by inflating the cost of repairs.

A skilled and intelligent technician who has excellent values and who will not take unfair advantage of customers is an ideal technician. A good automotive technician will not withhold information, will not discount the customer’s intelligence or information, will be willing to show you what part or parts created the problem--and the technician will fully explain why the part or parts were recommended.

All customers should be able to see all of the information all of the time. Without it, they cannot draw accurate conclusions about the problems with their vehicle or know the best course of action to solve them. They need to be able to trust their technician to give them the best and most accurate information. Such trust is merited when the technician is able to speak knowledgeably and confidently and is forthcoming with good repair options for a customer’s vehicle.

There is a lot that a customer can learn about the technician and the condition of their vehicle by viewing the defective parts and being aware of the specifications. Parts can fail for one of two reasons—either the part could be worn, cracked and possibly loose, or the part may not meet specifications. Often times you can determine if indeed the part is faulty just by observing the part’s condition. However, it may not be possible to tell if a part, such as a sensor, is defective by a visual inspection, but understanding your vehicle’s systems will at least tell you if the part is a good candidate to be the likely cause of a problem. If the part does not show any signs of wear, then the specifications run into play as a tool for determining how and why the part is no longer any good.

A professional automotive technician will want to show the customer the problem before any repairs are done. An explanation of that what the problem actually is lets the customer understand the logic behind it. This approach by a technician works well because it helps the customer gain confidence in the technician. Being a part of the technician’s findings is also a valuable way to increase your knowledge and this can help you the next time you have your vehicle serviced. You will understand what to look for and what to ask for, and this will help you get the best service for your money.

Safety is a major concern when repairs are performed on a vehicle. Improperly repaired brakes or incorrectly torqued lug nuts could put your life at risk. You are putting your personal safety in the hands of the technician, so you need to be able to trust the quality of his work. By the same token, you do not want to be pressured into unneeded repairs by being told there is a safety issue when, in fact, there is none.

Being somewhat knowledgeable yourself can help you to determine when you are being given straight information, or if a service manager is attempting to sell you a bill of goods. Even if you choose not to do repairs on your own vehicle, our website will help you to understand your vehicle’s systems and that knowledge will go a long way in helping you judge the competence and honesty of a shop.

There are many different vehicle specifications—to name a few important ones—wheel lug nut specifications, brake specifications, and alignment specifications.

Wheel lug nut torque is the most frequently ignored specification by technicians in the automotive industry. There are many cases where technicians fail to properly torque the wheel’s lug nuts. In many cases technicians will over torque the lug nuts—putting more strain on the wheel studs. This extra torque will weaken the studs and could even cause a wheel to come off in a driving situation.

Here are some things you can watch for to determine if a shop is following the proper procedure for putting on tires:

• Are they tightening lug nuts with an air wrench, possibly relying on a torque stick to get the proper torque on them? Air guns and torque sticks are not reliable.
• Do you see them using a hand held torque wrench? That is the gold standard. This is the sign of an excellent shop that doesn’t take shortcuts with your safety.
• Is the vehicle lowered all the way to the floor with no support from the hoist or floor jack, when the lug nuts are torqued? If it is, the vehicle’s weight will get included in the torque measurement–resulting in incorrect torque.
• Is the star pattern repeated when lug nuts are tightened? Torque may change after the other nuts have been tightened, so this step is critical.

You can tell a lot about the quality of a shop’s work standards, just by observing how they deal with tires. If you see a shop taking shortcuts, it would be a good idea to take a shortcut around them, the next time you need your vehicle serviced.

Brake specifications are beneficial to understand, because some technicians may recommend brakes long before pad replacement should even be considered. In fact, there are many shops who require their technicians to recommend brakes when they are only fifty percent worn—brakes that still have thousands of miles of good useful life left in them.

Having a broad understanding of alignment angles and how alignment specifications should be read and interpreted will help you know if, in fact, your vehicle was aligned properly—not just hacked. Just because the alignment specification printout shows that all of the angles are in the green range, does not necessarily mean that the alignment is good. One of the alignment angles on one side of the vehicle may read on the left edge of the bar graph, and that same angle on the other side may also be on the left edge of the bar graph. This may leave you with a problem, like a vehicle pull or a possible crooked steering wheel. The alignment section of our web site will give you some tips on understanding an alignment printout.

With so many unethical automotive repairs, missed diagnostics, and auto technicians not following vehicle manufacturer specifications—more customer awareness is the answer for finding a valued automotive technician.