To try to summarise a long and fiddly-to-explain-the-details story I will try to get to the point:
I have had a Jaguar S-type for about 3 years.
For most of that time it has had some fault or other. (I can probably guess some of you are thinking “It’s a Jag S-type. That’s the problem”. Well at least hear me out)
In that time I have used two repair companies to solve the various problems. I have developed suspicious feelings towards both of them. Some of the problems don’t actually get solved. And other problems seem to develop not long after receiving the car back from the garages.
In follow-up posts I may go into more detail (if I am prepared to be depressed by the reminder of the overall problem that discussing it will be)
I have felt reluctant to try a third garage on the basis that for all I know ALL of them are the same in nature (give customers the run-around for maximum profit)
So, experienced car dopers, how do you go about trusting a repair garage? Or finding one you can trust? Or spotting the signs of a trustworthy or untrustworthy garage?
As somebody who has worked in the industry all my life, I know this statement to be complete rubbish.
However, if I have learned only one thing from the SDMB, its that most of the posters here think garages and dealerships are uniformly evil, and exist only to steal money from dopers.
Its all bullshit of course. Yes, garages are businesses. And without exception, every garage I have worked for has had a business model of generating profits by fostering customer relations. We want customers to buy their next car of us, and to buy their sons car from us, and to tell their friends to buy cars from us. To this end, rule number one in any garage I have ever worked is to keep the customer happy. So this doper meme of shyster garages just trying to rip off wholesome Joe public is a load of bollocks.
Whats wrong with your car? You havent described the situation so I cant say. But I have had literally thousands of repair jobs pass through my hands, and in my opinion, the idea that people cant trust garages finds its roots in pure ignorance. Ignorance of technicalities involved, and ignorance of expectations involved.
The problem with mechanics and garages is that most people don’t know enough about their car to judge when they’re being ripped off and so they feel like they are every time something doesn’t go perfectly. Add in a product with thousand of moving (breaking) pieces and you’ve got a recipe for mistrust.
Find someone who has had car trouble and who is happy with their results. Their garage is likely no better than the ones you’ve been using but having a successful result will incline you to believe in them and have a little faith.
A very good friend of my fathers runs a garage in my home town. He’s almost gone bankrupt a couple of times, not because he’s not very very good, but because he’s very very nice. He cuts his prices to the bone and doesn’t hesitate to give people a break if he feels they need it. He finally raised his rates after the second close call and a long talk with my dad where the message finally got through. People would far rather have Steve the great mechanic with good prices than “Hey remember Steve the great mechanic with amazing prices. I wonder what happened”
How old is the Jag, from what I understand before Ford took over the engineering, the older jags were simply character building devices, with maitenance schedules that would resemble one of the RAF’s Jaguars.
bucketybuck. I’m not talking about garages that sell cars. I’m talking about ones that repair them. You mention repeat business. The only way that’s going to happen for a repair garage is if the car keeps breaking.
Less rubbish than you believe. I don’t know how many times over the years I have seen investigations like this from CBS News:
*By the end of the trip, only three of the 13 shops Koeppen’s team visited gave a quote for just replacing the brake pads at a price at or below the industry average.
Evangelist said, “There are some really good mechanics out there, unfortunately what we found is that they happen to be in the minority.” *
I get mine through the RACV (the V is for Victoria ;)) approved list. Haven’t had a dud that way. Does the UK RAC have a similar thing?
My first ever repair - I was in an unfamiliar part of the city, and my car (old beater which I’d only just bought) started making the most horrible CHUG-A-CHUG-A-CHUGGing noise. I carefully, tentatively nursed it into the nearest Approved Repairer, thinking the whole car was about to fall apart and they’re like “oh yeah, cracked muffler, thirty bucks.”
It is not all bullshit. I have seen crooks in this business, just like there are crooks in any other business you can name.
also the more complex the average car becomes, the harder it is to diagnose.
But you are correct that any shop that wants to stay in business has customer satisfaction as priory #1.
I became one, same solution.
Trueism in the auto repair business. Every car we see is broken, every customer we talk to is pissed off that their car is broken. Quite often they blame us for their car breaking, which through the lens of time can be funny.
Case #1 “I have complained about this problem every single time I have brought this car in since it was brand new”
Me: “Let’s look at the file”
::: Examine 12 repair orders with the customer between when the car was brand new and went out of warranty, no mention of said problem:::
Me: Ah sir it does not appear that you complained about this under warranty
Cust: “Your service adviser didn’t write it down”
Me: :dubious: :rolleyes:
Or, customer comes in for a oil change. We change the oil, set the tire pressures, check the car over and send it out.
the next day, customer gets a flat tire, drives on it flat which destroys it, and then wants me to buy her a new one because it is obvious that my guy put the nail in her tire.
:dubious::rolleyes:
I could fill a thread with these.
The way an independent (non dealer) stays in business is not to break your car but to fix it. fix it right the first time for a fair price and make you feel like a valued customer. Breaking your car will encourage you to go to a different shop. Which is exactly what you are doing right now. Pissing off your customers is not a good long term business plan.
Now how do you find a good shop?
Word of mouth is one excellent way. Know someone with another Jag? Where do they get their car fixed? Are they happy with the service?
What about the people you work with, do they have a good shop?
Shopping for a good shop when you car is dead is the wrong time. You should take your car to a new shop for an oil change and audition them. Did they hold to the price they quoted? Is their shop neat? Do they have any industry awards /affiliations on display? Do they sound like they know what they are talking about? Were they able to answer your questions clearly in a language you speak? Is your car clean when you got it back? (Not necessarily washed, but finger prints, greasy footprints etc)
Does the automobile club have certified repair centers over there? Here in the US the auto club will certify auto repair centers that meet minimum standards.
If you would care to post more about what exactly the issues with you car are, I would be happy to give you my opinion of what is going on.
These guys aren’t math majors are they? If every shop had only suggested new pads, I guessing the headline would have read 50% of the shops we visited charged more than the industry average for brake pads:rolleyes:
I’m not the cheapest guy in town for brakes or several other items, but I use only the highest quality parts, and won’t install junk parts from China or India. As a result the brakes I install don’t squeal, or vibrate, and they tend to last.
sometimes you do get what you pay for.
I have a garage I adore that I found through the suggested word of mouth … and we have now been going to them for the entire 19+ years we have lived in CT …
Some marques of cars just plain have issues. My general rule of thumb is brit cars have issues and owning them is a labor of love. Not to mention a fair amount of money:smack: unless you learn to do a lot of the routine maintenance yourself.
Finding a garage you can trust is very difficult, especially since the majority of people firmly believe that mechanics invent problems with the sole intention of fleecing the innocent customer.
I used to go by word of mouth as far as local garages were concerned, but recently I’ve given up and started going to the dealership from which I bought my last car. It means I am most likely paying more than I need to for parts and labour but I do feel that since they’re the manufacturer’s garage, I have some comeback if things aren’t done to my satisfaction.
My car has been serviced there every year and I have to say that I’ve had no complaints at all. They have done the work promptly and, I believe, to a high standard so in a way I’m happy to pay for that in the knowledge that the car’s been worked on by a qualified mechanic using decent parts etc. Since I know absolutely nothing about that area, I have to trust someone to do it for me!
As your OP stands one can’t go into useful detail. However your two key complaints are, I think:
and
As to the first issue, garages are not usually in my experience good enough to resolve all problems first time or even at all. Some problems are very hard to solve. Many mechanics are not very good. Between these two points, you don’t need to assume ill-will to determine the probable cause of the situation.
As to the second issue, you bought a Jag S type. Nothing more needs to be said. It will never be long between problems. This has nothing to do with having recently received the car back from a garage.
I go to a small independent garage in a backstreet, run by clients of my dad.
They’re good, charge less than the market average for a service, never do work without calling you to check first (and offer you a choice of salvaged parts or new) and are very clear about what they can and can’t do and where to go if the problem needs someone else’s expertise.
Every year they tell us to dump my husband’s car, yet every year they fix it up so it passes the MOT. Recently the battery went and we got a new one, plus a full service with change of oil and brake fluid for £120.
Customers can be perfectly happy while you rip them off. All you have to do is throw some tech talk at 'em, , a minor threat about potential dangers if they dont fix it, add a little sweet talk about how you care about their safety first, etc… and many customers will be happy to pay that nice guy at the garage who did such good work. Even if it was TOTALLY unnecessary.
my bolding…because those two words don’t match the next 4.
a typical story:
My wife left the car at a dealer . They call her to tell her that in addition to the intended repair, they had found another problem: a serious water leak which means replacing several parts, because they could see the water dripping from 2 places. I suppose you’d call that good customer relations, right? And she would too, so she says, ‘okay, if it’s serious, you’d better fix it.’
But I then grab the cell phone and tell 'em, "gee that’s weird: you see…she rarely drives that car, but I use it every day, and I check the water level almost every day (it’s a 14 year old car). And it never needs additional water.