dSpaceman

iTrader: (2)

So I know there are a lot of threads that ask, "Anyone know a good mechanic in (insert city)?" What I wanna know is, how do you guys gauge a mechanic's, I guess, professionalism? I think most of us can agree that a responsible and honest mechanic is generally who we look for to take care of our S.O. (the Z, I mean), knowing that they'll be tender with both our cars and our wallets.

I ask because I haven't had much luck with finding one I could trust. Just last Saturday I took my Z to a mechanic that I had already visited a couple times and thought perhaps was "the one", so to speak. It was for a follow up alignment from the springs I installed the week before. I realized afterwards that I didn't ask for the alignment spec sheet and so I texted one of the guys. They called me today and said to me, and I quote, "We didn't actually do the alignment yet." What? So for some reason in the hour that I left my car with them, they didn't even touch it. What's even more puzzling is that I spent a good hour talking to them when I picked up my car and it never occurred to them to tell me. Booked another appointment for tomorrow, but safe to say that I'll probably be looking in another direction if I need my car serviced.

So anyways, back to the question. What makes a mechanic "the mechanic" for you guys? Are there any general indications of a good mechanic that people should look out for?

Could it be:

• Reputation - how well known this shop is around your area
• Recommendation - a lot of people seem to be referring you to this same shop
• Presentation - how tidy and/or clean this shop is
• Transparency - if they show you exactly what you're being charged for (i.e. shows you how much each part costs plus labour)
• Cautiousness - not finding brand new nicks on your wheels after a visit to the shop
• Punctuality - if an appointment was made for 1pm, they start on your car at 1pm (waiting for an hour despite having an appointment is one of my biggest pet peeves. Seriously, what's the point then? )
• Communication - if they sound well educated or if it's f*k this f*k that
• Capacity - how big this shop is and how many people are working at any given time
• Agility - how long they take to finish (this is a case where time literally equals to money)

Share your wisdom

Justin100

personally for me,

you should do your own research on the entire procedure from start to finish and ask yourself.


1. can i order the parts and do it myself? yes or no. if no,

2. can i hire a mechanic and have him come over and take care of it? yes or no.

if the top 2 is no, because it requires air tools to break loose bolts that breaker bars wont work, or it requires special tools that mobile mechanics and yourself dont have than inevitably take it to a shop.

3. call around the town and ask how much, and how long.....you'll get varying opinions.

its very hard to "trust" a shop. i know some shops in california that specialize in the Z. wanted to charge me 7k labor to install a turbo kit. When you can hire a 20 year mechanic to come over your house to do it for 1k cash.

the best thing to do it be very familiar with the car and always buy the part yourself and call around and ask for labor prices. make sure they have all the right tools to fix your car....

for me it all depends on the task, and if i am too lazy to do it myself.

if its replacing the radiator i know all you do is bleed the coolant out and remove some bolts, it doesn't take a shop to do that, i can hire a mechanic to come over and do it for 40 bucks labor versus a shop that would charge 100 bucks labor.

PP08HR

iTrader: (2)

Great question.

I've worked with hundreds of mechanics and very few would I consider "good".

There are many people who can swap out parts quickly but mechanics are almost gone to be honest.

If you absolutely don't know anyone you can ask I would suggest talking to them. You can tell in their demeanor if they're professional or detail oriented. Look how clean they are. Personally someone who keeps themselves up generally cares about his work as well. etc etc... But that's just generalizing plenty hairy greasy dudes are great techs as well.

Talk to them about car stuff and see how confident and knowledgeable they are. You may also pick different guys for different jobs. Suspension guys, exhaust guys, engine guys etc.

Good luck

trop7blue

Not sure anyone cares for a female perspective but I want to find someone I can trust as mechanics (not all) will take advantage of anyone who doesn't know what's going on so I agree that research is good. Read reviews.

Reputation - Yes
Recommendation - Yes
Presentation - Irrelevant - a good mechanic can be hidden in a dive
Transparency - Yes they will want to share info with you
Cautiousness - They should treat your car like their own
Punctuality - Depends on how well staffed and busy they are
Communication - Cussing also irrelevant but wanting to provide info on your car is key
Capacity - The shop I go to is small but they specialize in Z's
Agility - So long as they can provide a timeline and I trust them, you have to let them do their thing
If you were in the Midwest, I'd send you to Project X Customs http://projectxcustoms.com
https://m.facebook.com/ProjectXCusto...ms.com%2F&_rdr

At Project X, we know exactly what your car means to you. We feel exactly the same way about ours. As simple as it sounds, we run our business using one simple formula: treat our customers and their cars exactly the way we want our cars and ourselves to be treated. This permeates every aspect of our business. We don’t take shortcuts and always do our best on every project that comes in, because we would do no less to our own cars. Our quality of work speaks for itself, with a stable of highly recognized and award-winning builds, and an extremely loyal customer base.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

great topic btw ...

not just mechanics but other professions I try to look for someone that is willing to teach me or at least give me a lesson on what they do and why they do it.

I always start small - I give them a nibble of the pie before I give them a full piece, I give them a full piece before I give them the entire pie. If I cant trust you with the small things I can't trust you with the big things.

JCat

iTrader: (4)

Look Like ?
If looks mattered . . . .
.

venture210

Or just never trust any one to touch your car in the first place... Best decision I ever made.

Pengu

iTrader: (9)

There are some things mechanics can do much quicker than I can, or have the certain tools to make the job much easier. Tools which are too expensive or ones I'd never use again. Sometimes I prefer to take it to a professional to make sure everything is done correctly. Not sure about your area but, near me are multiple mechanics which I can trust.

Now with that said, I do most of the work on my car myself as I prefer it. Just sometimes it's easier to pay a professional.

Frank_White

i agree with Justin, i would rather bring a mobile mechanic to my garage and just watch him do everything.

dboyzalter

iTrader: (3)

I have a hard time trusting its done correctly if I dont **** anny that **** myself. But your right somethings just dont work at home. Like mounting and balancing wheels. I have access to machines to do it but the fact of the matter is I would probably ruin 2 tires before I managed to mount the set. And the wheels would be cosmetically destroyed in the process.

As for the op topic that's a hard one I deal with many many repair shops and I would probably recommend only a handful of them. I would rather buy tools and take all day then bring it somewhere and worry about what they did or did not do.

That being said ive been looking at my rusty stock exhaust for months now thinking about what a ***** its going to be getting the bolts out. And can honesty say the z has been a rather ***** to work on and everything seems to take way longer then ive expected.

Pengu

iTrader: (9)

My least favorite part of working on the Z has always been and will forever be removing the bolts out of the OEM catalytic converters. What a pain in the *** on jack stands when you have a bunch of rusty old seized bolts. I eventually knocked all the studs out and replaced it with bolts.

Justin100

yeah the other day, i was recommended to go to a wheel alignment shop and the sign says $40 bucks wheel alignment for cars.

i drive in and they say its going to cost you $80 bucks because your car is lowered.

and hearing their salesman talk, oh that is probably the best price you'll find for your car.

whenever a mechanic says this to you just leave, they are trying to basically trap you into thinking you have no other options.

and as i was leaving hes says if you come back the price will go up.

what a scumbag.

Highway Riding

iTrader: (6)

If your adding performance mods then you have to go by reputation. If just basic maintenance then it's just about finding the right shop. Learning how to do things yourself is the most rewarding and can help with diagnosing issues down the line. I literally go to various shops for my different cars.

trop7blue

I always like the upsell at an oil change place - "would you like your tires rotated" and I reply "you do know the tires don't need to be rotated on this car because they're staggered?" Nice try. I've actually had a tire store put my tires on wrong, 225 left, 235 right and my car let me know when I hit the highway. I thought there's no way a tire place would get that wrong but they did. Now I have to check.

Toneloc

A good mechanic will tell you that ngk spark plugs are best for diesels

WSchli1672

A good mechanic will back his work 100%. Make good on what he says as to appointment dates, times, have a good reputation, and state total costs up front: parts, labor etc. I have two one in San Jose = "Santa Clara" that meets all those and has a very high reputation for his work from basic to building engines with 1,100 hp. (Rob of ZCargarage.com) and another one in Salinas. They back their work 100%. Check out Rob's website sometime. (California)

venture210

Agreed. I trust another person to mount tires, balance wheels, even machine my block. But when you live in San Antonio TX, the majority of shops will fix it as quickly and cheaply as possible. Even a reputable shop gave me a headache once. My car came back with way more miles on it than there should have been, a cocked steering wheel, and an used engine that supposedly "checked out" by their standards. We later figured out that this engine had a bent rod and completely destroyed itself after a few weeks. Being only 20 at the time, I learned pretty quick that there's only a handful of people on this Earth that I trust to touch my car. Most of those people are me, myself and I.

Pengu

iTrader: (9)

That's fair after something like that. Situations like that suck. I always write down my mileage when I park the car in the parking lot at the shop and take note of anything that's wrong beforehand.

rearranged

Around here, the few good mechanics are booked up all the time. It usually takes a couple weeks to get in.

Justin100

This is what a good mechanic looks like