In a message dated 7/24/2005 12:26:33 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Most of the time you are better off avoiding dealers and going to an independent mechanic who often has to survive off of his reputation, dealers charge top price for parts and service and are often not honest. This is off-topic, but I cannot let this issue go un addressed. I must reluctantly disagree with my good friend, Mr. Medved, on this question. I spent (wasted?) 16 years of my life working in factory-authorized car dealerships as a parts salesman, and I do not think his comments about independent mechanics being more honest than dealership-based ones are fair. I dealt extensively with "side-shop," or "shade-tree," mechanics, as well as dealership prima donnas who, in some cases, had 6-figure incomes, and all of the latest, special factory tools, and up-to-date service bulletins. From my years of dealing with auto mechanics of all kinds, on a day-to-day basis, I can state with certainty that the majority of them are not very good, wherever they are found, and almost all of them will "take you for a ride," if they get the chance. Also, as cars become ever more sophisticated, the ability of independent shops to work on them is hard to maintain. Nowadays, many dealership mechanics merely plug a car's main brain box into a factory-supplied computer, which spits out a "fault code," that tells the "technician" what the problem is. It is hard for independent shops to compete with that kind of technology. For years after I left the car business, people who found out I had been in it would ask me where to take their cars to be serviced. I told them I honestly didn't know. I didn't know where to take my own car, much less theirs. I now live in a rural area, and drive cars we bought from a small, local dealership that could not survive if they treated people the way big-city dealerships do. The people there have been good to me so far, and I plan to stick with them. If you find an "honest mechanic," if that is not an oxymoron, make sure he goes for regular physicals. Randy
