Here's What Readers Think Are The Signs Of A Good Mechanic

My neighbor takes his all-original 1953 Porsche 356 that he’s owned since 1953 to this one guy who has a shop in my town and recommended him to me. That’s all I need to know.

Submitted by: Echo5Niner

I tell my friends that every shop will bring them recommendations. A good mechanic will be able to prioritize the list when asked, explain why the service is recommended at a level the listener can understand, and won’t take offence when something is declined.

Submitted by: Kamen Burton via Facebook

After I lifted my Jeep I took it to a local place for an alignment. I didn’t put in the spacers to drop the transfer case, and kind of mentioned it in passing when I dropped it off, not expecting anything. When I picked it up, the first thing I noticed was the spacers were installed. My first thought was “oh great, that’s gonna cost me.” Went to pay, and all they charged me for was the alignment. I asked the guy helping me, he said “no charge, I want you to come back.” Well, guess who gets all my tire/ alignment business as well as everyone who asks if I know anybody.

Submitted by: ImInTheJeep

I have better luck looking at speciality shops. I go to a Toyota/ Honda specialist that has been doing nothing but Toyotas and Hondas for 30+ years. Great reputation, high reviews. They are a bit more expensive than other shops, but they don’t fix things that don’t need fixing and their fixes work and last. It’s worth the extra 10% or so to have someone that REALLY knows your vehicle and sees 5-6 just like it a week instead of one every couple months.

For example, the back bank of the Toyota 3.5L engine has a cam shaft position sensor. Every time I had someone other than the Toyota specialist do anything on the rear plugs, they broke that wire and it started throwing codes. The Toyota specialist repaired the wire and hasn’t broken it since. He knows about it and how easy it is to break and doesn’t break it or half-ass the repair if it is broken.

Submitted by: hoser68

You know their wife socially, and she is always complain that their husband is always at least a month behind on billing people and would forget to take payment at all if left to his own devices. She says that all he wants to do is play around with bloody car engines all day long.

I’m thinking of a very specific mechanic here, though. He’s brilliant though, and his wife deserves a medal for putting up with him all these years. They are very happily married, despite everything.

Submitted by: plant_daily

My mechanic is honest - Frank at SupremeOne in Friendswood, Texas. Here’s the true sign: After bringing in my wife’s Honda Pilot for an alternator replacement, he called me to tell me that he was inspecting while he had the serpentine off. He was checking each pulley for play or grinding, and found that my A/C compressor was not turning easily and was grinding, indicating the clutch was very worn.

When he called, did he say, “Hey, while we were working I found that the AC is in bad shape. Has it been blowing warm?” and then proceeding to sell me on a complete AC rebuild. (it had been, but would blow cool after a minute or two of blowing warm) No, he said, “Hey, I noticed the AC compressor is grinding. It’s on it’s way out - it may last a week, 2 weeks, or 2 months, but it’s going to go out. If you’ve been thinking about maybe trading this in, now would be the time.”

He had my best interest first and foremost, not the best interest of his pocketbook. It truly is a weighing the pros and cons decision on repairing a vehicle at times, and he respected that. No drama, no upselling - if anything, he discouraged me from repairing it.

Submitted by: linewarbr

I’ve used the same shop for 15 years because they’re quick, way cheaper than a dealer or chain, and only charge me if they actually do something to the vehicle.

Good example, I brought in my 2004 Yukon a couple years ago because some just wasn’t right. I’m not a car guy so I couldn’t be real specific with them besides over the weekend it was “sluggish and the RPMs seem down”. They hooked it up to the computer, looked at it, and drove it around for a half hour (streets and highway), but didn’t find anything and told me to bring it back if it happens again. They didn’t charge me anything because they said they’d rather keep me as a long-term customer than nickel and dime me. So I gave them $20 to get a six pack since it was end of the day.

Submitted by: Ours Blanc

Biggest sign of a good one?

You can sometimes tell without even meeting them, and I think this gets overlooked a lot.

The lot is always full, always looks well organized, but always with different cars week by week. Nothing sitting outside with windows down or hoods left half opened for weeks. A good week’s wait to get in, and a lot of 5 star reviews online. An active and responsive facebook page. Peek into the bay. How clean do they keep the floors? Are there fender protectors thrown over the fenders on cars? Little stuff like that can tip you off before you ever meet a Tech.

Doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a big shop or one dude with a 2 car bay and an ashtray in the waiting room.

If it stays busy all the time, and it looks like they take care of your property, and they care about their own shop, that’s a sign of a place that gives a shit.

Submitted by: H4llelujah

A good mechanic isn’t afraid to utter the phrases “I don’t know” or “I can’t”, even if it means money walking out the door. (I guess this is more of the honesty thing.)

Bad mechanics are so desperate to convince you they aren’t that they will never admit to not knowing something. They’ll make up some bs to avoid having to say it. And any failures will always be someone else’s fault.

A good mechanic will let you know up front if they’re not up to a job. They’ll tell you if it’s too complicated and it’s out of their league, or they’ll admit that they’re willing to take a shot at it but they’re just as likely to screw it up as not, and they’ll tell you about the one time they did screw it up in a big way. If saying these things means they don’t get the job, they’ll just shrug and say, “I don’t blame you.” They know their limitations and they’d rather loose the business than screw over their customer and themselves by running up against them.

Be suspicious of someone who knows everything about everything and never does anything wrong. There are a few of those guys out there, but not as many as you’d hope, so be wary.

Submitted by: Harmon20

I absolutely lucked out with the mechanic that I’m working with on all the upgrades to the Charger. (Ever watch a car restoration show where the owner brings in the car, swears there is only one issue, the shop examines the ride and finds one problem after another, after another, after another—it’s been exactly like that with the Charger.) He’s kept me informed at every stage of the game and laid out our options. When it came time to pop for parts, his discount with businesses in the city has made my wallet suffer less pain. The amount of labor hours he’s charging me hasn’t been 1-to-1 with the hours worked on the car—the Charger’s cachet and how much he wants to see the car back on the road means he’s been cutting me big slack on the total hours charged—also making the upgrades that much easier on my wallet.

And a related quality is right up there also: he’s conscientious. When he discovered how short the rear wheels’ lugs were, work on the Charger halted until the proper length lugs were pressed into the wheel hubs. Given how outrageous the horsepower and torque are becoming thanks to turning the 440 V8 into a roller-stroker 512, he wasn’t about to let me drive a car where the wheels could literally fly off.

Compared to the number of jerkoff mechanics I’ve suffered with over the years—especially when it has to do with the Charger instead of my everyday car—Mechanic Guy is pure gold. So yes Virginia, excellent mechanics are out there, but you’ve gotta network to find them.

Submitted by: the1969DodgeChargerFan

My mechanic doesn’t sweat the small stuff and won’t charge me for every little thing. For example, I needed to replace my license plates with a newer version issued by my state, but the bolts had rusted and stripped to the point where no ordinary idiot like myself could get them off. I got two quotes for removing the old bolts and replacing them with new ones:

Toyota dealer: $275 parts and labor

My mechanic: Just bring it by sometime and I’ll take care of it, no charge.

Submitted by: paradsecar

I was having overheating problems in my Previa that evaded diagnosis in the shop. After discussing the situation, we arranged for me to call when leaving work an hour away. The had the bay and lift open and ready and I drove straight from work onto the lift. Turned out to be the distributor was doing something weird that only appeared when really hot. That is a sign of a good shop. They shut down work early on Fridays so the crew can clean the shop.

Submitted by: knowoneelse