Masterwerks :: Manage Your Mechanic

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MECHANIC

– Choose one wisely and do your part –

The day of the backyard mechanic is dying, declares Richard Zbilski, proprietor of Doctor Lube - Southwest Auto Care in downtown Houston.

The autos rolling out of Detroit and off foreign assembly lines these days are getting so complicated even professional mechanics – now known as “technicians” – are having trouble keeping up with them.

With computers controlling everything from fuel mix to turn signals, Zbilski explains, even a die-hard grease monkey will have trouble tinkering without a sophisticated computer analyzer costing upward of $25,000. Then he’s got to go to school to learn how to use the new tool. And the new car parts today’s mechanics replace are getting more expensive as they get more complicated.

So not only will you become more dependent on your mechanic in the years ahead, you’ll also be paying more for visits that for many, hold all the joy of a trip to the dentist.

What’s the driver to do to ease the pain? “Maintenance,” advised several Houston mechanics. “Choose your mechanic carefully,” added consumer advocates.

Maintenance
There remain a number of basic car-care chores that you can undertake to avoid unnecessary encounters with auto mechanics. Need we enumerate them? Absolutely, according to Jackie McGough, a Southwest Auto Care mechanic Zbilski dubs one of his best. “A lot of people don’t even know how to open their hood,” she said.

Read your owner’s manual. It’ll tell you how to open the hood, what’s underneath it, and how to keep it running. It’ll also give you some safety and driving tips and tell you what kind of performance to expect from your new car. “The most important thing that the owner has is the owner’s manual….and probably 95 percent of people don’t read them,” said Ellen Smith, who teaches independent mechanics how to fix widely used AC-Delco car parts at the General Motors training center near the Galleria.
If you’re still confused or fearful of the machine, take one of the many free car-care clinics periodically offered by local gas stations, repair shops, and auto parts houses. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. recently offered a series of free car-care clinics specifically for women, for example.
Check engine fluids – oil, transmission, brake, windshield wiper, water, and coolant – and keep them at the levels recommended in your owner’s manual. Now that you know how to open the hood, make it a habit when you stop for gas, local mechanics suggest.

And watch for suspicious drips on your garage floor. “Things shouldn’t leak,” McGough said.

While you’re under the hood with the engine turned off, check belts and hoses. Cracked belts and cracked or bloated hoses should be replaced.
Change your oil regularly. Kerry Dunn, co-owner with his father, Abe, of AutoWorld Galleria on the West Loop, suggests you change the oil every 3,000-5,000 miles the car is driven. “Some manufacturers recommend oil changes after 7,500 miles, but remember, they’re in the business of selling cars. I’d say do the maintenance before they say to,” Dunn said.

An oil change is a dirty job, but it’s nothing most men, women and wimps can’t accomplish, McGough says. On some cars, however, the oil filter may be so difficult to get at that professional assistance is necessary.

Check tire pressure and tread wear regularly. Also, rotate your tires, left front to left rear and likewise on the right side of the car, with every oil change, McGough suggests. Uneven tire wear may indicate mis-alignment and a trip to the garage.

Choosing a mechanic

It’s something like picking a doctor – most folks don’t look for a mechanic until their car is sick. But it’s wiser to shop the auto fix-it market before it’s necessary, say local mechanics and consumer advocates.

Shopping for auto repair services can be particularly important to those of you just discovering how to open the hood. Your selection could prevent that sinking sensation that you’ll be taken the next time you pull into a garage.

“We don’t have any hard number as far as complaints, but automotive-related problems are No. 1 at this office,” said Dan Parsons, vice president of operations for the Houston Better Business Bureau.

It seems like some shops just can’t resist taking advantage of an ignorant motorist by charging for parts that weren’t really replaced, or doing work that didn’t need to be done in the first place.

“The mechanic certainly has the upper hand when you bring your car in and say, ‘I really don’t know what’s wrong with it.’ ” said Dann Fisher, senior investigator specializing in transportation for the consumer fraud division of Harris County district attorney’s office. “I think the consumer needs to put himself in the position that he can at least recognize some of the basic problems he can have with his vehicle, because if you do end up in an unscrupulous shop, you can have some real problems.

There are plenty of knowledgeable and honest mechanics out there, and “most of them want to fix your car right,” said Smith, a former fleet mechanic now teaching her colleagues.

How to pick a good mechanic? Look for training certificates, Smith suggests.

Indications that the mechanic is studying to keep up with changing automotive technology are more important than the “certified mechanic” designation you sometimes see on repair shop signs, mechanics McGough and Dunn agree. “All that certification tells you is how well someone can take a test,” Dunn said. “There are some very good mechanics that can’t pass it because it’s all written,” while their work is all with their hands, McGough added.

By the way, “We don’t call them mechanics anymore. We call them technicians,” Smith said.

Check with the Better Business Bureau for any unresolved complaints against the shop.

“Ask for our reliability report on the company. If we start talking about complaints, start looking for somebody else,” said Parsons of the BBB. Understand that the bureau starts a file only when they receive a complaint against a business, Parsons added.

Shops who join the BBB are checked for financial accountability. But membership, alone, is not necessarily an indicator of good business practices. “There are a few people who leave or plaque up after ownership changes,” Parsons noted.

The better indicator of customer service is whether the shop has joined the bureau ’s customer care program. Under the program, businesses pledge to submit disputes with customers or suppliers to binding arbitration, Parsons said.

Ask questions

Has the mechanic worked on cars like yours before? Is he familiar with your problem? Can he get the parts he may need? Bone up on some technical aspect of your car and ask about that. If the mechanic can’t answer correctly, be wary.

Answer questions

A good mechanic won’t let you get away with, “It needs a tuneup. I’ll be back this afternoon.” “If you say you need a tuneup, I want to know why,” Zbilski said. Is the engine hard to start? Only when cold or all the time? Does it stall at stoplights? Any other funny noises or odors?

“We need to know the symptoms, all the symptoms,” to properly diagnose and treat a problem, McGough said. Faulty customer diagnoses are a major cause of repeat complaints, Zbilski adds.

Ask for a work order and estimate of repair costs.

A good mechanic will be happy to wait until you authorize repairs to proceed with them. It means no ugly scenes in which customers are surprised with big bills. “Before any work is done with the car, the customer should know what’s wrong and exactly how much it will cost,” Dunn said.

Estimating labor costs is a science, not an art, added Fisher of the district of attorney’s consumer fraud office. Nearly every mechanic in town refers to an encyclopedic labor guide to find out how long it should take to tuneup a Toyota or change the oil filter on a Chevy. The time estimates are referenced to specific auto brands and models. Look for a labor guide in the shop’s office as a sign that the mechanics manage their time effectively. The guide also may provide a way to measure skill. A mechanic who needs two hours to do a task the guide estimates should take 15 minutes probably doesn’t know what he’s doing. But allow your mechanic some slack to handle the unexpected, McGough suggests. Once bolts are loosened, “there’s almost always something that’s going to put you over time,” she said.

If the car still doesn’t run right, take it back.

“You can’t fix things 100 percent right every time,” Dunn said. The test of a good mechanic is how they handle your second visit for the same thing, he and Zbilski suggest. In most cases, it should end with no additional charges.

Before you submit your car to the mechanic’s wrench, learn how to describe car trouble in the grease-monkey’s language. You’ll save the time and expense of a misdiagnosis and a second or third trip back.

Ask yourself these questions:

What’s the car doing funny? Is it a noise? Odor? Performance or handling problem?
Where does the problem come from? Inside the car? Outside the car? Be more specific. Is the funny noise/odor coming from the instrument panel? The seat? Door? Window? Roof? Floor? Trunk? Rear fender? From under the car? The hood? Which side?
When does it happen? During braking? Accelerating? Turning? When shifting gears? Only at a certain speed? At any speed? When you’re using the heater or air conditioning? When the engine is hot? Cold? Warming up?
Does the problem vary with car speed? With engine speed? With the amount of weight in the trunk?

And learn a few common terms of the repair trade:

Busyness: Repeated shifting back and forth between one gear and another on an automatic transmission. Usually felt at steady speeds.
Chuggle: Rapid jerk or change in car speed, like the rapid tap of the accelerator.
Cuts out: Temporary complete loss of power. Usually worse under heavy acceleration.
Detonation: Engine makes sharp, metallic knocks. Also called “spark knock” or “ping.” Usually worse under acceleration.
Dieseling: Engine runs on after ignition is turned off.
Hesitate: Momentary lack of response as accelerator is pressed. Usually most severe when starting from a complete stop. Can cause engine to stall.
Miss: Pulsation or jerking that changes with engine speed. Exhaust has a steady splitting sound at idle or low speed.
Rough idle: Engine runs unevenly at idle. Can occur with hot or cold engine.
Sluggish: Engine delivers limited power under load or at high speed. Won’t accelerate as quickly as normal. Loses too much speed going up hills.
Spongy: Less than anticipated response to increased accelerator pressure. Not a crisp acceleration.

- Kathleen Myler, Houston Chronicle