http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/

and I’ve also used Yelp
http://www.yelp.com/

Several very good ideas here to find a good mechanic at home. Another is to call the fleet shop of your local municipality, be it city or county and ask them if they have someone they would be willing to recommend. These men and women are used to trying to hold things together with bubble gum and bailing wire and they can often tell you the most cost effective shops in the area or that they themselves would be willing to moonlight to do the work. Ask them where they would take their wife’s car. In fact, that one question is a good litmus test for any shop…if you ask a mechanic if he would let his shop work on his wife’s (or Mom’s) car, and he says no, you should RUN out the door!

Once you do find a good one, keep them. Follow them to another shop if needed; they are like hairdressers and love to take clientele with them. When you do have to have repairs done, pay attention and ask questions. Have them show you the broken parts and always get a written estimate before repairs ( some states have laws requiring it!). Be able to relate any symptoms ( sounds, sights and smells) to them so that they can quickly and correctly diagnose the problem. And perhaps the biggest thing I know to keep your vehicle healthy, have them do your routine maintenance. Just like the human body, you auto has lots of moving parts that need regular attention…this will undoubtedly keep your car running smoothly for hundreds of thousands of miles!

On of the best reasons I know to be fairly well versed in your auto is that you will break down far from home sometime in your life. You may have the most awesome mechanic in the world AT HOME but you need someone close to where you are. Look at Trent’s recent vaca experience…miles from home, family on board and without a running vehicle. You will need to find a shop to help you get back on the road. Here is where experience and knowledge will help you immensely. You may have to go to the only shop in a podunk town but if you are versed in your auto, they will not be able to take advantage of you. I broke down once in a little tiny town in Nebraska…middle of a cold November night, three girls in the car, no working headlights. Local mechanic wanted to re-wire my whole auto, costing me hundreds and using my entire Thanksgiving weekend, and by the way, not fixing the issue. Instead, I got .50 worth of wire from him and basically hot wired my headlights directly to the battery, which got me the 70 miles or so to my destination. ( Needed about a $3 ceramic module for my car’s electrical system, ordered 2 and kept a spare!)

Short story long… find a good reliable car, find a great mechanic and invest in the quarterly maintenance. Ask lots of questions and don’t walk into a strange place with “sucker” tattoed on your forehead! Hope everyones gears mesh! Time’

Definitely make sure to discuss the most important elements on your list.

I worked at a Ford dealership where one of the lube techs didn’t tighten an oil drain plug correctly. The customer made it about 10 miles before all the oil drained out and the engine seized. It was a $6k mistake (and we got off cheap). While a multi-million dollar dealership backed by a major manufacturer is more than capable of fixing their mistake (we got it done ASAP with a huge apology to the owner), I’m not certain an independent would have been able to pay for the repair. What small business person has $6k laying around for screw-ups? Also, what would stop a smaller repair facility from denying responsibility? Auto dealers are regulated by the state and their franchise, but independents (like guys working out of their garage) are poorly regulated at best.

I’m not saying that independents are bad (I know of quite a few good ones), but it must be said that there are more risks working with some small-time home-based business than there are working with an established business.

Dealerships are more expensive for a reason. The technicians are trained professionals, the facility is usually top-notch, and they can be held accountable for their actions. When it comes to repairs to your ultra-complicated and expensive car, why take a risk?

Anyway, I know my car and I know the procedures in the book for the car. The day came when the front brakes simply weren’t working right. I could see from the manual what needed to be done, but since I didn’t have a sand-blaster I couldn’t do the caliper overhaul. I called a few mechanics and explained the problem that I was having. They offered solutions, but the guy who impressed me the most pretty much gave me the service procedure straight out of the manual.

A few months later, and our other car (a Kia Rio) is scrubbing it’s front tyres bad. I talked the mechanic again about a wheel alignment, and he said no. He then proceeded to ask several questions about what the car was actually doing, and eventually asked me if it had been in an accident on the front right-hand (driver’s) side. Long story short; he got the job, re-aligned the steering geometry, replaced two tyres (which I hadn’t budgeted for; thankfully our general car service account and our 2 month old emergency fund had sufficient funds to cover this) and all was well. Since I obsessively keep track of km’s and litres of fuel, I was able to determine (within two weeks) that the Kia had gone from 15.8 l/100km to 10.7 l/100km in city cycle, a dramatic saving. Because of my spreadsheet, we were actually able to see the result of his work.

Anyway, moral of the story: you need to know your car so you can select a decent mechanic, so you can believe what he says and so you can see if there has been a change.