How to Find an Auto Tech You Can Trust

When you are spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars on a car, it’s important that you have an auto mechanic that you can trust. It’s clear that every mechanic out there is trying to earn their living with their work. Because of this, you are going to pay for parts and labor as well. The thing that sets trustworthy mechanics apart from the rest are the ones that give you a quote at a reasonable and fair price as well as work on your vehicle in a fair and ethical manner. This means that they will repair what actually needs to be repaired. They will also take preventative measures to ensure that you don’t have additional issues down the line.

So how do you find a mechanic like that, especially if you are new to the area? It’s not always an easy task and it can be one that you sweat over before finding one that you trust. Here are some methods that can be used to find a good mechanic in your area:

Tips For Finding A Trustworthy Auto Mechanic

1. Check Social Networks
This is one place where you have many resources. You can reach out to as many people as you want in your area to ask for recommendations-both negative and positive.

You should look for positive recommendations and no negatives. When you see that, you can be somewhat confident that the place has received a positive reputation over time-which means that their quality of work has some kind of merit.

2. What Criteria is Important to you? Use a Checklist
Not everybody is going to have the same needs in an auto repair shop in Ottawa. Let’s say you have a very flexible schedule and the shop hours aren’t a huge deal. If you are familiar with the workings of a car, but just don’t have the tools or time to replace, for example, a flywheel, then you aren’t going to need a mechanic that can effectively explain the needed repairs.

Here are some things that you should consider when looking for a car repair shop. If some of these aren’t important to you, then feel free to exclude them from the criteria

+Hours of Operation

Is the shop open when you need to pick up your car? Does it open early enough and close late enough or have weekend hours?

+AAA Accreditation
This can be very useful if you are an AAA member.

+ASE Certification
The ASE certification pretty much guarantees that the mechanics in the shop have been exposed to ASE training. However, it’s never a guarantee that the mechanic is a good one, although most of them worth their salt tend to have the certification because it’s easy for a good mechanic to know their stuff, such as passing a test that they have been studying for a while already.

+Good Online Reports (Angie’s List, etc.)
Do you see largely positive online reports about the shop? Ignore one or two negatives, there are a lot of people who will report a negative report in order to discredit the competition because they have their own personal axe to grind.

+Clean BBB Bill of Health
The BBB is a mixed bag in itself. However, if there are a lot of claims against a business, then that’s usually a sign that something is wrong. Give your local branch a jingle before jumping in.

3. Get Estimates for Minor Repairs
Once you have eliminates most of the also-rans, get down to the real business of finding a great mechanic. The best time to do this is when you have an upcoming job that you need done-one where you can still drive your vehicle safely but the issue is bad enough that you need to get work done. You have time to get several estimates, but the job itself is an important one.

Don’t ever settle for the first estimate you get. You should always get at least three of them in as much detail as possible, preferably from the top three places from your previous search for a good mechanic. You should ask any questions you may have about the estimates and the actual service you would receive.