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How to Find an Honest and Reliable Mechanic
art of manliness ^ | January 6, 2016 | Jeremy Anderberg

Posted on 01/07/2016 9:09:03 AM PST by virgil283

When looking for recommendations for a good mechanic, first ask your immediate local network. Ask your Facebook friends, ask the guy next door, heck, even ask your mailman if you want. Reviews from real people who you trust will always be more useful and beneficial.. Another route is the Napa estimator. This tool uses make, model, year, and zip code to account for geographic and regional differences.

(Excerpt) Read more at artofmanliness.com ...


TOPICS: Education; Reference
KEYWORDS: mechanic; reliable
The NAPA estimator is easy to use and helpful to check what you should be spending.
1 posted on 01/07/2016 9:09:03 AM PST by virgil283
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To: virgil283

In the book Blue Highways, the author shared his advice. The dirtiest, greasiest shop with 4 year old calendars on the wall were usually the best mechanics.


2 posted on 01/07/2016 9:16:10 AM PST by cyclotic (Liberalism is what smart looks like to stupid people.)
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To: cyclotic

4 year old calendars on the wall
= = =

Probably a ‘good year’


3 posted on 01/07/2016 9:18:00 AM PST by Scrambler Bob (Using 4th keyboard due to wearing out the "/" and "s" on the previous 3)
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To: virgil283

You should always ask you mechanically minded friends to work on your car for free even though you can easily afford going to the dealer. We enjoy hearing from people we haven’t heard from in six months ask if we can change their clutch.


4 posted on 01/07/2016 9:18:40 AM PST by Lx (Do you like it? Do you like it, Scott? I call it, "Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman Chili.")
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To: Scrambler Bob
"4 year old calendars on the wall"

May I ask: JUST WHAT KIND OF PICTURE {subject matter} IS ON SAID CALENDAR.

My guess, would be some very good looking babe's, get's my vote.

5 posted on 01/07/2016 9:24:48 AM PST by Stanwood_Dave ("Testilying." Cop's don't lie, they just Testily{ing} as taught in their respected Police Academy.)
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To: Lx
You should always ask you mechanically minded friends to work on your car for free even though you can easily afford going to the dealer. We enjoy hearing from people we haven’t heard from in six months ask if we can change their clutch

No one except Trump can "easily afford to go to their dealer." Wake up.

6 posted on 01/07/2016 9:38:36 AM PST by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: cyclotic

A friend of my dad had a shop like that and he was a brilliant mechanic and one of the nicest people you could meet.

He took a job as an advisor for some construction equipment builder. He is called on when the builders and engineers can’t figure out the problems of the equipment they created.


7 posted on 01/07/2016 9:39:26 AM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: cyclotic

A friend of my dad had a shop like that and he was a brilliant mechanic and one of the nicest people you could meet.

He took a job as an advisor for some construction equipment builder. He is called on when the builders and engineers can’t figure out the problems of the equipment they created.


8 posted on 01/07/2016 9:39:31 AM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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I agree about asking friends and neighbors (or these days, yelp recommendations). We’ve got a great mechanic. When we moved to this town about 15 years ago, we went to a mechanic’s shop simply because we had received a coupon in the mail. They seemed fine. A couple of months later, when I was back and sitting in the waiting room, the mechanic came in and told another customer that she didn’t need new brakes, that her brakes had just gotten muddy, that he had cleaned them off and there was no charge. We’ve been going there ever since. Recently our air conditioner went out and we took the car in. We said something in the air conditioner had failed about a year ago (it was a $1000 job - about half part, half labor). The mechanic checked and the part was still under warranty. We figured we’d get the part replaced but would be paying the labor. He charged us no labor. (The following week we took two vehicles in for tune ups so he’d make some money off of us.)


9 posted on 01/07/2016 9:59:39 AM PST by Kipp
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To: Lx
You should always ask you mechanically minded friends to work on your car for free even though you can easily afford going to the dealer. We enjoy hearing from people we haven't heard from in six months ask if we can change their clutch.

Hah. Yeah, been there before. I don't mind the work, as long as it's not excessive. My rules, you pay for parts and any labor that is not my own (machine work, etc...), I'll do the labor for pizza and beer (my choosing). I may pay for special tools if I think they are 1) cool, or 2) necessary, and I may use them sometime over the next 40 years, otherwise, if we rent tools, you pay. I'm cheap, I'm easy, but you get what you pay for. I'll probably leave a grease stain on your seat somewhere...

10 posted on 01/07/2016 10:06:05 AM PST by IYAS9YAS (I got nothin'.)
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To: virgil283

Befriend one. I developed a friendship over fifteen years with someone who was first a neighbor (his garage across from my apartment). Later I would take my car to him sometimes, then over the years I bought a house and moved away, but he was still my mechanic and friend. Our friendship grew, and I always try to bring my business and others to him and he has treated me like family.


11 posted on 01/07/2016 10:07:20 AM PST by LambSlave
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Would it not be even MORE manly if I were to fix my own car?


12 posted on 01/07/2016 10:28:24 AM PST by Rio (Proud resident of the State of Jefferson)
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To: virgil283

Never hire a mechanic. Just trade-in and buy a new vehicle.


13 posted on 01/07/2016 10:52:17 AM PST by Phlap (REDNECK@LIBARTS.EDU)
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To: virgil283

Stealership mechanics are trustworthy because they won’t try to sell you parts and service you don’t need.

They’re also ASE certified.

Good mechanics are paid to do the work and dishonest mechanics are paid to work for the lowest possible price.

If a shop doesn’t have respect for its mechanics skill and talent, it won’t have respect for its customers.


14 posted on 01/07/2016 11:03:13 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: Lx
You should always ask you mechanically minded friends to work on your car for free even though you can easily afford going to the dealer.

Ah, yes, I own a desktop computer, and work in a (proprietary) software support position, which means I get asked to work on the computers for everyone at church. Even the ones that otherwise ignore me.

15 posted on 01/07/2016 11:18:51 AM PST by T. P. Pole
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To: goldstategop
Stealership mechanics are trustworthy because they won’t try to sell you parts and service you don’t need.

It isn't the mechanics you have to worry about there, it's the service advisers. Many don't know what they're doing and many more try to upsell those hugely expensive services. Unless it's warrant work, I never go to the dealer.

16 posted on 01/07/2016 11:31:56 AM PST by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: Lx
I fix things for my friends. And they all pay for the parts and a little something for my time at least. Even the females, and the classy ones wouldn't think of not paying. [Hey, if they're broke, I'll still help.] I sure wasn't born with all this technical knowledge, I earned it at the school of hard knocks.

But I'm not totally heartless, the gals I bed get a nice evening out and dinner. Some of them have gained weight hanging around me too much. I have the cure for that, too...

17 posted on 01/07/2016 11:52:19 AM PST by W. (Make that rubble BOUNCE!)
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To: virgil283

If you find a good mechanic it doesn’t hurt to show your appreciation. I’m loyal to my chainsaw mechanic. When he turned around a job in four days, after saying the shop was booked out for three weeks, I brought fresh donuts from krispy Krems for the whole service department. Ten bucks with a coupon and I get exceptional service every time I come in.


18 posted on 01/07/2016 12:11:52 PM PST by Teotwawki (For a person to get a thing without paying for it, another must pay for it without getting it.)
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