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How to Find a Good Auto Mechanic

Posted by Brandes Elitch | Thu, Oct 12, 2017 @ 08:12 AM

good auto mechanicRecently I spent some time with my old auto mechanic, Paul. By that, I don’t mean he is an old man (he just turned 50, which as we all know, is the new 30). I mean that for about 10 years, I brought my cars to him for maintenance and restoration. He had a day job at a car dealer, so he worked on my cars on the weekends.

Paul was an invaluable resource, as he helped restore older cars, a segment that most dealers and shops will not touch. Probably his biggest job for me was installing a Corvette LT 1 drivetrain in an XJS Jaguar, which I’m pretty sure he’s not interested in doing again.

I asked Paul to explain what it is like being an auto mechanic these days. Part of my interest was due to the fact that I have been hearing about the shortage of car mechanics nationwide, and wondering how this will affect consumers as well as auto dealerships.

Supply and Demand of the Good Auto Mechanic

Just to put things in perspective, there are some big issues in the world of car mechanics. The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) estimates there are over 266,000 automotive technicians in the country, but a recent survey by Carlisle & Co. found that in 2016 a quarter of them left the dealership where they were working, and another quarter of them left the industry altogether.

Some analysts project a shortage of as many as 25,000 mechanics over the next five years. This is a big business: in 2016 consumers spent $18.9 billion on labor charges in a service department, and in addition to that, dealers performed $9.6 billion in warranty work for manufacturers.

Qualifications of a Good Auto Mechanic

good auto mechanicPaul has a degree from Wyoming Technical Institute (aka “Wyotech”) and he is an ASE certified Master Automobile Technician and ASC Advanced Level Specialist. His extensive training involved areas such as smog and brake inspector licenses, aftermarket certifications in advanced emissions diagnostics, electric power steering, air bag systems, advanced engine diagnostics, scan tool diagnostics, lab scopes, graphing multi-meters, current probes, etc. Today, we are driving computers, it seems.

He is qualified as a Master Technician – the highest level. He would typically supervise other mechanics and handle the most difficult and complex jobs. I asked him about the issues he has faced working for a variety of different shops.

Challenges to the Job Pool

There are a couple of issues right off the bat. It costs upwards of $30,000 to attend a trade school such as Wyotech. When you graduate, you have to buy your own tools, perhaps another $30,000 investment. Typically, you will start at the bottom of the ladder until you get more experience and certifications, making perhaps $30,000 a year (that number keeps coming up). Ideally, the mechanic will find a shop that can stay current with diagnostic technology and even provide health insurance to him and his family (or “her” family to be politically correct).

Once you start working in a dealership, you will either be paid a salary or work for what is called “flat rate.” A flat rate means that either the manufacturer or aftermarket shop manuals such as Chiltons will determine how many hours it should take to perform a specific repair. Modern cars are extremely complex and everything is crammed together in small spaces that are inaccessible to people with normal-sized hands.

For example, this week I am replacing the timing cover on my SAAB, a job that you will certainly NEVER have to do on your car. The book says it takes a technician nine hours! The mechanic will get paid for nine hours, so if he completes it in less than nine hours he comes out ahead, but if it takes him more than nine hours, he is working for free on that additional time. Further, it used to be that the dealer would split the rate with the mechanic, but today the mechanic might make 20% of that amount.

On-the-Job Challenges

good auto mechanicMeanwhile, the dealer is billing out their labor rate to the consumer at upwards of $125 an hour, unless it is a Mercedes or BMW dealer, in which case it will be more. Add to this the fact that this is a physically demanding job, contorting your body into various unnatural positions, lying on a concrete floor, burning yourself on hot parts, cutting your hands on sharp pieces, getting filthy, and, if you work in a non-air conditioned shop, being generally miserable. You have to be strong and in good physical shape to be a mechanic … and don’t get sick either.

In addition to that, you have to take your marching orders from service writers who many not always be looking out for your welfare. Probably the number one issue is the push to get work out and to rush through the diagnostic process. In a shop, there is typically one service writer for every three or four mechanics. The service writer has to write up the estimate for the consumer and explain the work to be done. Sometimes a service writer will either skip the diagnostics altogether and guess at what the problem is, or not diagnose it correctly, or pad the estimate with other work that “needs to be done now.”

The Doctor Is In

Consumers think that the advent of On Board Diagnostics (OBD) makes it easy to diagnose a problem, but diagnostic equipment is just a tool — it does not tell you what’s wrong. This takes a skilled and experienced technician, like Paul. Some shops subscribe to data bases that “suggest” what the problem is based on the history of that particular make and model, and sometimes the service writer will just take a stab at it. This can mean that the real problem is not fixed correctly, leading to “come-backs” — perhaps the biggest issue for consumers next to the high cost of repairs and “why does it take so long to fix my car?”

good auto mechanic

Mechanics are always being pushed to work faster and get more work out the door. This is stressful enough, but if you are on a flat rate there is another stressor — there might not be 40 hours of work for you this week. Since you are not getting a regular salary, this is bad news and typically means you have to look for another shop that can keep you busy. As if this was bad enough, there is another trend, called “warranty labor rate reduction,” which means that the manufacturer cuts the flat time rate or pays the shop less for a specific warranty issue. Not surprisingly, there are many instances where a specific make and model experience an abnormally high frequency of repair issues that the manufacturer will ignore or deny. Just do a search on “class action suit repairs on (the make of your car)” and you will see what I am talking about.

'Parting' Ways

Finding and charging for parts is another issue. Paul shared an example involving a Mercedes window regulator. Mercedes wanted a few hundred dollars for the part. The shop found a used one online from a trusted and reputable parts source like Copart for less than a hundred dollars, and the shop billed the client for $600! A shop can mark up parts as much as they want and there is really no way for the consumer to tell if the price they are paying is fair or not.

Sometimes the shop will tell a consumer that they need to get new tires or change fluids when in fact those are things that can wait another 5,000 miles. Some shops will routinely charge for unnecessary repairs or useless maintenance items.

Locating a Good Auto Mechanic

good auto mechanicHow do you find a shop and a good auto mechanic that you can trust? I think it all boils down to knowing the mechanic who is working on your car and being able to talk to him. You want to look him in the eye and ask specifically what needs to be done, why and how much it will cost, and what the warranty period is for this repair. If you cannot do this, then you might want to go to another shop. Ask friends and family for their recommendations. If you own a collector car, ask people in the marque club and they will certainly be able to recommend a good mechanic, and also a good place for parts.

When consumers pick up their vehicles, their biggest complaint is that the work typically costs much more than they thought it would. This is where CrossCheck comes in.

We stand in at the point of sale when the customer gets the bill. In some cases, they just won’t have enough money in their checking account or an open to buy on their credit cards that will cover the bill, particularly if it is more than a thousand dollars.

Not to worry — CrossCheck offers Multiple Check, a consumer-friendly program to get customers in their cars and the “taillights over the curb.” Even better, consumers do not have to apply for credit or pay any interest, so they are not stuck in a debt trap for the next few years like some other products out there. They just write up to four checks, date them today, and tell their “good auto mechanic” when to deposit them over the next 30 days. This makes life easier for the consumer and the shop too, because we guarantee these payments. That’s why we say, “We’re CrossCheck – we make sales happen for the merchant and make payments easy for the consumer!” Download our free Multiple Check Insider’s Guide to learn more.

 

Multiple Check Insider's Guide

Topics: Brandes Elitch, Auto Repair

Written by Brandes Elitch

Brandes Elitch is Director of Partner Acquisition for CrossCheck Inc. A certified cash manager and accredited ACH professional, he garnered a Master of Business Administration from New York University and a Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University.