10 Things Your Mechanic Won’t Tell You
Many businesses make money off of the “knowledge gap” that exists between themselves and their customers. From law to medicine to real estate, we consumers often pay more than necessary for various services because we don’t know when and how to push back. Car maintenance is no different.
SmartMoney.com’s research on auto mechanics reveals ten things about which mechanics would prefer to keep you in the dark in order to make a few extra bucks. We think the list is informative and worth a look before the next time you take your car in for repairs or a tune-up.
One tip that jumped out at us that we found at the end of the article explains how to handle issues with a mechanic that has a AAA seal of approval:
If your auto-repair garage is endorsed by the AAA, contact the organization. If your complaint is egregious enough, or joined by others, the outfit may lose the AAA’s seal of approval. “This is an exceedingly rare event,” says Sinclair. “Shops work hard to obtain and retain their AAA certification and would bend over backwards to correct any problems that may lead to a loss of AAA’s ‘seal of approval’.”
We’ve provided the headlines for each of the 10 things your mechanic won’t tell you below, but be sure to click through the link at the bottom of this post to read more about each.
- “You might be in the wrong garage.”
- “My fancy certificates might not mean very much.”
- “I make unnecessary repairs.”
- “You might be charged for work that hasn’t been done.”
- “You should get a second opinion.”
- “Rebuilt parts can be as good as new — and less expensive.”
- “Your car is too high-tech for me.”
- “I may send your car somewhere else for repairs — which will cost you.”
- “The less you know about your warranty, the happier I am.”
- “You have more power here than you think.”
