I enjoy reading the tips and suggestions on finding an honest or good mechanic. These can be found on various government and consumer websites. I think the same guy wrote all the suggestions for all 50 states.
You’ll be advised to check around by word of mouth (WOM), and make sure that you see ASE or AAA posted somewhere. Check out the facility—makes sure it’s clean. Check with the BBB. You’ll be acronymed and common sense suggested to death. None of it will really help.
When speaking to your mechanic or service representative, there are many things one should never say. Sad as this is, certain questions and requests can trigger multiple price-gouging tactics from your service center. Following is a list of ten statements in random order. The term “mechanic” may be exchanged for “technician,” “service representative,” “service advisor,” “owner,” “service manager,” or anyone that you deal with when having your vehicle serviced.
1) Do I need a tune-up?
Many wonder whether or not there vehicle will make the trip. Provided you follow factory routine auto maintenance schedules, Pre Road Trip Car Maintenance is simple. Here are some Pre Road Trip Car Maintenance tips and suggestions.
Here’s what to do:
According the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it is estimated that automotive service consumers are scammed tens of billions of dollars every year. Repair shops—dealerships, local shops, and franchises—are repeatedly at the top of consumer complaint lists every year. Multiple undercover investigations have caught repair centers red-handed ripping people off. Government agencies across the nation warn against service center repair scams. Consumer advocate groups constantly provide tips and suggestions to avoid getting ripped-off. Service industry insiders continually step forward to expose service industry abuses. Study after study reveals that service centers are manipulating industry guidelines. There’s a real problem! Yet, there are still skeptics.
The above comments are sweeping strikes against an industry so vital to the community. Yet even these known facts don’t take into account the unknown. Ripping people off in the automotive service industry is so ingrained in the business design and culture it’s considered normal. In other words, before one even begins to uncover excessive charges, this self-regulating industry hasn’t just stacked the deck, it has built and entire house of cards.
We all avoid maintenance on one pretext or the other but forget its core advantages, like low recurring expenses and optimum product utilization, especially in the case of Car Maintenance. By doing regular maintenance on our car, not only we can save money on car repair, but also enjoy more pleasant drives.
Car Maintenance is not a big technical job, and a novice with minimal car-related knowledge can also do it easily. You can initially start with tires. Tires are among the most expensive, regularly replaceable and neglected items on the car.
Most know the most glaring auto repair pricing abuses: Service centers overcharging $100’s even $1000’s for repairs, or charging for service that was never done at all. To be sure, this still happens every day. However, there are many other techniques which involve flying just low enough to avoid detection. The savvy service centers increase the price so as not to set off any alarms. It’s become so common that it’s not just an accepted industry practice, but even service customers have accepted paying higher prices.
Knowing how ingrained price-gouging is within the automotive service industry, it’s shocking (although understandable) that even service customers have succumbed to excessive car repair prices. I frequently hear service customers’ state: “Yeah, I know I was ripped off, but my car’s fixed now.” Or, “I know they charge too much, but they’re convenient.”
Preventative car maintenance in summer months is not much different from what it takes to maintain cars in winter. In summer, you have to regularly check and maintain the mechanical components of the car to tackle the rigors of the hot summer conditions. The following tips on preventative car maintenance in summer assures you trouble less rides:
The very first thing you need to take care is the cooling system. During the hotter months, the cooling system works more intensely to prevent overheating of the engine. For the mechanism to work effectively, the coolant and water mixture for a vehicle’s radiator should measure to 50:50.
A primary reason why it’s difficult to get a car fixed right the first time is the lack of qualifications of the technician who’s actually fixing your car. Local studies and decades of research reveals that 70% of automotive technicians are not qualified to work on most car systems. This includes technicians from dealerships, local shops, and franchises.
Over a decade ago, automotive manufacturers were predicting widespread shortages in “qualified” technicians. Now, given that 80% of the functions of the average car are controlled by electronics, qualified technicians are in even greater demand. This is evident by the numerous advertisements for master technicians which often include $5000 sign-on bonuses.
By properly maintaining your tires, you could potentially be avoiding uneven wear, poor performance and possibly even a blowout. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, tire failures or blowouts are believed to contribute to over 400 deaths and 10,000 injuries in the United States every year. Even with those figures being made public, the surprising factor is that statistics have shown some drivers still fail to follow the basic tire maintenance guidelines that could help to prevent such occurrences.
In addition to overloading, under-inflation is one of the leading causes of tire failure. Simply put, this means putting too much air or not enough into the tires. Either of these can cause stress and excessive heat, which can lead to tire problems and may even result in a blowout or a car crash.
The phenomenon of price-gouging has a fascinating history. In the 1970’s most service customers had at least a rudimentary understanding of automobile repairs, and thus there wasn’t as much for a service center to hide behind.
In the 80’s, with the increase of advanced emission controls and enhanced electronics, confusion set in. The rapid pace of technology kept everyone—technicians and customers alike, bewildered and guessing.
Here are some tips for extending the life of your car and for keeping that new-car-look.
[1] Never wipe a dry windshield or car paint. Quartz grains in the dirt can scratch the glass or paint. Use a wetted cloth or better yet, a chamois.
The year was 1976, the place was Milton, Florida, a small, semi-rural community in the Florida panhandle, not far from Pensacola, where I had grown up. I had recently returned to northwest Florida, after working as an accountant for the Florida State Department of Education in Tallahassee and Sarasota, to take the position of Business Manager for the Santa Rosa County Mental Health Clinic.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was standing outside Red’s service station on one of Milton’s street corners (You remember service stations, right?) while a set of tires was being put on my car. I had a lot of my automobile maintenance done at Red’s, and frequently bought gas and had oil changes done there. He was a nice guy, his prices were reasonable, and the service was great.
There are a few advantages to buying a used car. The biggest benefit is in the cost of the vehicle. Cars depreciate about 40% in the first three years of ownership. You can save a significant amount of money if you purchase an automobile that is about three or four years old, rather than a new one. Of course, you want to make sure the vehicle is in good condition. If it isn’t, the money you put out for repairs can eat up your savings.
Questions to Ask:
With all of today’s traction control and stability control systems, and front-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive vehicles, it can be a bit confusing when trying to decide the value and importance of snow tires. Following is an easy-to-read break down of 10 rules.
Rule 1: regardless of traction electronics a vehicle has, in the snow, it boils down to rubber-meets-the-road-traction
The advice is all the same for auto repair scam prevention. You’ll be told to find an ASE certified shop. Ask around. Check out several different repair facilities first. Are they clean and neat? Do they provide written estimates? Check with the BBB. Is it AAA certified? Some will even advise to “ask for the parts back.”
Traditional tips and suggestions merely put a band-aid over an infected, gaping sore. Strong antibiotics are required to address the root source of the problems in the repair industry. To provide repair customers with the above advice is like sending a soldier into combat dressed in a pink tutu. We have to stop scratching at the surface.
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