Finding Your Mechanic Stories Thread

[Santofu]

Hi guys, I'm just curious how did you find your mechanic?

I'm looking for one at this moment but I wanna hear you guys' stories such as how did you find him, what made you trust him, and so on....

You also can tell bad stories about shops you didn't like there... I just want to hear your stories so I can learn a few tips!

[falcon]

I went to Canadian Tire and bought some tools. That's how I found mine.

[sonick]

Craigslist ad in the m4m section (the second M stands for mechanic, right?).

[kwy]

I had an E34 535i way back. Imported from Japan and RHD. Noticed that a neighbor down the street had a pretty clean E34 wagon. Drove down to take a look at it. Owner came outside and chit chatted, turns out he's a mechanic in his free time. I no longer own a BMW but I still take my cars down to him for any kind of work 4-5 years later.

For more serious work or a DSM specialist, I take it to a mechanic at Arvid's in Abbotsford. He really knows the cars and has owned a bunch of them himself. Great, honest guy. Rare in this line of work.

Own enough temperamental cars and you'll come across some good mechanics.

[Glove]

I became my own backyard mechanic,

I find the mechanic industry is probably the most crooked, and unregulated.

There are no regulations or rules or laws on anything for what they can or cant do.

They can charge you how ever many hours they want,

they can tell you all the parts you need eventhough you dont,

they can charge you what ever markup on parts they want,

and they can charge you what ever rate they want.

and you are forced to pay what ever bill they give you or else you dont get your car back.

doesnt that sound fuckin insane when you put it on paper?

as soon as you talk to a mechanic, and they detect you dont know what your talking about, prepare to be bent over.

[Culverin]

I just got my first car and this is something that's been on my mind.
I'm sure that most are honest with a few bad apples thrown in the mix.
But aside from learning lots so i don't get burned, the next logical step would be to ask here.

I guess on top of all that, finding a specialist for my scoobie would be ideal, otherwise I'm going to get quotes from a mechanic who might not understand how things ought to be or the complexity of certain systems.

Short of taking my Subaru to a dealer, i am left scratching my head on how to screen for my future mechanic shop.

[lowda9]

I don't really have a go to guy but If i do I know who it'd be. My neighbor is retired mechanic and hes outside wrenching on side jobs and always offers help when I'm wrenching on mine. I've recently started getting him to do oil changes now as I've been getting lazy.

[EvoFire]

My mechanic is my dad's co-worker from Hong Kong, and he's been our mechanic since our family's first car when I was 5.

I take my cars to him still and he charges me $20 for oil changes, other minor stuff he doesn't charge me and tells me to bring him coffee.

[TOPEC]

Originally Posted by Culverin

I just got my first car and this is something that's been on my mind.
I'm sure that most are honest with a few bad apples thrown in the mix.
But aside from learning lots so i don't get burned, the next logical step would be to ask here.

I guess on top of all that, finding a specialist for my scoobie would be ideal, otherwise I'm going to get quotes from a mechanic who might not understand how things ought to be or the complexity of certain systems.

Short of taking my Subaru to a dealer, i am left scratching my head on how to screen for my future mechanic shop.

search on nasioc vancouver section, theres basically 2 mechs thats recommended.

[K-bad]

I honestly think the best mechanic is yourself, because glove is right on how they have your balls the moment you hand over the keys.

But I do have some friends who are mechanics and I only let them touch my car when i'm lazy or need help but even then I want to be there and watch him do the work.

[bloodmack]

Originally Posted by Glove

I became my own backyard mechanic,

I find the mechanic industry is probably the most crooked, and unregulated.

There are no regulations or rules or laws on anything for what they can or cant do.

They can charge you how ever many hours they want,

they can tell you all the parts you need eventhough you dont,

they can charge you what ever markup on parts they want,

and they can charge you what ever rate they want.

and you are forced to pay what ever bill they give you or else you dont get your car back.

doesnt that sound fuckin insane when you put it on paper?

as soon as you talk to a mechanic, and they detect you dont know what your talking about, prepare to be bent over.

Thats why people should learn the basics of cars. And there's a lot of industries that choose what ever mark ups they want.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by bloodmack

Thats why people should learn the basics of cars. And there's a lot of industries that choose what ever mark ups they want.

Tire rotations at tire shops for 40 bucks before tax

[satek]

Originally Posted by Glove

I became my own backyard mechanic,

I find the mechanic industry is probably the most crooked, and unregulated.

There are no regulations or rules or laws on anything for what they can or cant do.

They can charge you how ever many hours they want,

they can tell you all the parts you need eventhough you dont,

they can charge you what ever markup on parts they want,

and they can charge you what ever rate they want.

and you are forced to pay what ever bill they give you or else you dont get your car back.

doesnt that sound fuckin insane when you put it on paper?

as soon as you talk to a mechanic, and they detect you dont know what your talking about, prepare to be bent over.

this... or if you happen to have a relative that's mechanic, but even if you do they could butt fuck you as well.

[1990TSI]

learn to do it yourself sure, but what happens when a rear wheel bearing goes on your subaru? or the 2nd gear synchro blocking ring wears out and it pops out of gear on any car, or your check engine light comes on for an 02 sensor and after replacing all 4 sensors the light won't go out because you need a cat.

timing belt anyone?

or say your car won't start, you've banged on the tank and the starter and it still won't go


I'm in 4th year right auto mechanics right now, so I don't have to find a good shop, but myself and many many others have invested a lot in tools and school to learn how to trace down a problem, fix it with the right tools quickly and effectively.

It's true there are bad shops out there who will over charge and good shops with rediculous rates (bmw...) and while I'm all for DIYing, modern cars do require special tools and knowledge to work on, otherwise you're going to throw parts at it until it's fixed in many cases.

so ask around, and depending on what kind of car you have, you may want to find a specialist. You didn't mention what kind of car you have or anything, you will get different replies if you have a 1990 stock civic auto, a modified EVO9 or a 2009 IS350. Are you looking for basic oil changes and maintenence for a new car or do you own a 91 240sx with 339k kms on it?

all these things should go through your head when choosing a shop, and if you still can't figure it out, ask a tow truck driver where he takes most cars.

[narfy]

find a mechanic that you, or your friends/family know PERSONALLY... see where they work (day job) and how good their reputation is... if they bounce from shop to shop a lot, then i wouldn't go to them unless they were highly recommended by my friends/family...

[!Aznboi128]

Here's one,

I was looking for a mechanic for my accord, at that time I was new to the car scene and didn't know what to look for so like a lot of us we googled searched and asked friends.

No matter who I talked to seems to have 1 name in mind, it was The Speed Syndicate. Both Curtis and Alex has been working on cars forever and they opened a new shop, I said to myself give it a shot. These guys take care of their customer like no other shop that I've been before, friendly and it felt like family. They would test cars to see whats wrong and diagnose the problem faster then any other.

These guys really know their stuff, I mean yes I can work on my own car now. I got some tools and little bit of knowledge, but these guys will always be the one to go to when the problem gets tuff.

Just to add, these are the ONLY shop that I went to that cared about my 99 accord as much as I did, they made sure nothing scraped, and no damage was done to it even when it was millimeters off the ground at times

[skyxx]

One day I decided to buy a fixie and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to repair the chain and the pedals. So I got a referral from a friend who lived in Mt. Pleasant. He came over to my house and fixed the issue on the spot. While he was repairing my fixie, I was just shooting the shit with him about eating properly and all that good stuff. Turns out he's in to all that Organic goodness and automotive stuff too. So later that day we went to the foundation in our fixies and started a good relationship from there. He's on this forum too. BCRDUKES anyone?

[fliptuner]

I think I was around 6 or 7 when I crashed my bike, jumping off a curb. I hit the back of my neighbor's car and my handle bars shifted forward. I remember seeing my brother's use my dad's tools to fix their bikes and build ramps and stuff so I figured I should probably do the same. Once I got everything sorted out with my brothers help, I went inside to rinse off my bloody knuckles. When I saw my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I found my first mechanic.

[BrRsn]

Was helping a friend fix their car, dealership wanted $1200 for just parts. I found the parts online and my friends cousin recommended a guy to put them in. He did the work for cheap and asked me to look up the torque spec for the suspension bolts -- first mechanic to ever use a torque wrench/own a torque wrench that i dealt with ... so ever since then he's my go to guy Currently stock piling a ton of parts for a suspension overhaul, I don't mind paying this guy a couple hundred for labour because I know he does a good job.

[falcon]

Originally Posted by 1990TSI

learn to do it yourself sure, but what happens when a rear wheel bearing goes on your subaru? or the 2nd gear synchro blocking ring wears out and it pops out of gear on any car, or your check engine light comes on for an 02 sensor and after replacing all 4 sensors the light won't go out because you need a cat.

timing belt anyone?

or say your car won't start, you've banged on the tank and the starter and it still won't go

What about it? I can do all these things quite easily and am self taught. It's amazing what lack of funds will require you to learn with a set of hand tools and the web.

[1990TSI]

Originally Posted by falcon

What about it? I can do all these things quite easily and am self taught. It's amazing what lack of funds will require you to learn with a set of hand tools and the web.

true enough, but the average person doesn't have access to a press, and those rear subaru wheel bearings go all the time
Just 1 example

hand tools will only get you so far before you start throwing parts at a car.

I just don't see the average person ripping a transmission apart or doing an alignment, mounting tires or trying to diagnose a misfire with basic hand tools and youtube.

but good for you

[!Tigger]

just like your genesis exhaust rattle that you had

[1990TSI]

Originally Posted by !Tigger

just like your genesis exhaust rattle that you had

how is that the same at all?

[FN-2199]

I joined RS, and they told me to go to a sponsor.

[mqin]

mine is a childhood friend ever since elementary school... + his dad and his brother are both certified mechanics currently all working together at the same kal tire right now soooo one point stop for all of my car needs!