Your Mechanic: Just As Lousy As You Thought
November 7th, 2007 by max linsky in Best of the Suncoast, News
This is going to come as a complete shocker, so make sure you’re sitting down: Mechanics take advantage of uninformed customers.
A guy in Connecticut went to 40 garages with simple problems — a loose battery cord and low coolant — and a quarter suggested high-priced repairs. Just over half mentioned the loose cord, and only 11 told him about the coolant. His findings — which got him a professor job at Cornell — match those by a consumer-advocate group in Canada.
The article ends with the theory that the experiment holds some truth for other expert/novice relationships, particularly healthcare, which feels like a bit of a stretch. But this much is certainly true: That nauseous feeling you get when you pull into a garage is totally warranted.
Unless, of course, you’re going to double Best of the Suncoast-winner Reese’s Chevron. Everybody loves those guys.
November 10th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
The one and only time I took a vehicle to Reese’s:
A. They couldn’t find a slow leak in a tire.
B. My brakes were deemed “fine.” A week later, the brakes were grinding metal to metal.
The national chain two doors down found the leak in less than a minute. Had to go to the dealer to fix the brakes because we were out of town, and spend more money than I would have because the problem went on too long.
Not everyone loves those guys.