AIBU to not trust a single mechanic

[Hyggemama]

Prepared to be flamed for generalising a whole profession. I’m sure there are excellent mechanics out there of course, but I still haven’t found a single one. I have had cars damaged by mechanics, paid hundreds for replacement parts and fittings that then fail within a few months.
A mechanic did unauthorised work on one vehicle and then claimed I had to pay him otherwise I was “stealing” - I’d specifically told him I’d need to have an estimate first.
I had a car get 7 advisories on one MOT, then 1 advisory the following year - without any work having been done. Most recently a mechanic took my vehicle for MOT then has added £72 onto the fee (again unagreed) for taking a look at it after it failed, then telling me there was nothing he could do to fix it.
I keep trying different garages because I don’t trust them and they all seem as bad as each other. Surely an industry that are relying that much on blind faith should be regulated in some way? The costs are so high, not to mention that a mistake could be fatal on the road. I’ve tried word of mouth and that hasn’t helped either. I live in a rural area and a lot of people I speak to have some sort of family link to their mechanic, so I wonder if that’s why they don’t seem to struggle with them. Any advice on how to find one I can trust?

I'm very lucky and found a small, independent garage where the mechanics seem to relish the challenge of keeping elderly cars running well. They're absolutely not in the business of ripping people off by doing unnecessary work. They were recommended by a friend when my previous garage closed because their premises were sold for redevelopment.

I've always used small garages, and found them better than big places with loads of overheads.

I know it's damn hard though. My worst experience was at a Kwik Fit that I called into when the back bit of my exhaust fell down and was dragging on the ground. They told me I needed a new exhaust and it would be £200+, I insisted on taking a look and just hooked an s-hook back into the rubber mounting it had become detached from. Job done.

I agree with you, its shit trying to find somewhere. My parents moved from Manchester to a rural location in SW 15 years ago and my mum took her 4 x 4 for MOT, the guy insisted all tyres needed changing. She realised after when someone told her that they didn't and the guy sold them as they still had a lot of use in them.

Luckily they found somewhere else and when my car needed work I paid extra to have it towed there as I didn't want the hassle of finding somewhere local to me.

Yes, I dread anything going wrong with my car. I do now take it to the council MOT centre so I know I am not getting ripped off. Highlights of my car ownership include being told I need a new camshaft when I needed a £15 sensor. Being told I need a new exhaust when the air filter needed replacing. Not being believed when I said the accelerator was sticking and having the terrifying experience of approaching a roundabout and taking my foot off the accelerator and nothing happening. Ditto the reverse when I was told there was nothing wrong with my car when it kept cutting out and it cutting out in the fast lane of a motorway .... I could go on, I am running out of garages that have not tried to rip me off or are useless. I have found a local mechanic who has set up a mobile service who seems OK atm but I am so envious of people who have a local garage who get things fixed and they trust.

I used to drive a Motability car for a family member. We had to nominate a garage for repairs - and they had to get authorisation from Motability before doing any work. I lost count of the number of times a dealership told me a tyre needed replacing (Kwik fit had the tyre contract so nothing in it for the dealership). I'd then trot off to Kwik Fit to be told they couldn't replace the tyre yet as it was still fine (and they had to keep tyres they took off Motability vehicles for a certain amount of time as they could get a random inspection by them). But if this is what dealerships do when there's no advantage to them then I can imagine what they try with the unsuspecting public.

We live in a town where everyone knows everyone's business - it has its downsides but it really helps when it comes to stuff like this. If a business repeatedly ripped people off, they just wouldn't last because, well, people talk.

Our local garage is excellent. They've helped me multiple times in emergencies, don't charge the earth, provide free courtesy cars if needed and will always call you if they need to do work or to ask what you want them to do about x or y.

I suspect a lot of it is luck but long-standing family businesses have more to lose than a generic chain.

I generally go for one of the big brands, Halfords, Kwik Fit, the main dealership. Not saying they’re any better but at least there’s a head office to moan to if I’m unhappy (which I never have been).

I’ve even had a main dealership snap parts of the centre console and just use black glue to put it back together. At the same time they also left a void where the tyre pressure button was supposed to be rather than reattaching it. They sent the car back to me without mentioning anything 🤦‍♀️ Tbf they did fix it in the end but it was still an ordeal getting it back to them and sorted. I’ve tried small, family run, tried big corps, none seem trustworthy. I’ve even tried having nothing to do with them and only my male partner being involved incase it’s just sexism but they seem just as happy to screw him over too 😅

Where I am the garages are quite good. One of them I found through the AA, so maybe check the AA website. However, if I need a builder or anything done in my house, I'm scaling the walls with anxiety. I had one builder and tried to detract from his own incompetence by blaming it on the electrics - I felt really ripped off. Nowadays I only let people into my house who are from registered companies.

I've mostly been lucky, but when my wife had a Volvo 480 the Volvo dealers were terrible. I currently use a local garage that everyone in the village knows for my Ford and an independent specialist in town for my wife's Peugeot. The specialist I found on Google and the Google reviews were really good. They solved a timing issue that the local garage couldn't deal with and the service matched up with the reviews, so they get repeat business from me.

As a woman I hate garages and car dealerships. I've never met one who didn't try to speak over me to DH.

I think you need to teach yourself the basics of how to check over your car and find issues that need doing before it's dire, and to fix the simpler ones yourself.
You can generally find videos on YouTube of how to check your car over and even specifics for your make and sometimes even model of car.
Simple things like check the oil level, water and windscreen wash, do your own tyre pressures, check and change windscreen wipers, check your tyres for wear, check your lights and brakes and how to change any failed bulbs.
For any MOT /service it is polite to thoroughly wash your car inside and out and use a hose to wash off underneath as best you can. A clean car shows a sign of a cared for car, and your mechanic will appreciate it - we had a bulb blow between leaving our yard and the MOT station and rather than fail or charge extra the guy threw a free bulb in because it was the last of 3 immaculately presented vehicles for MOT = clean underneath and inside and easy to check everything.
Then I'd ask locally on Facebook for recommendations for a mechanic - they tend to be quite precious/competitive about reputation locally to me.

There’s a lot you can do yourself. I do all my own spannering and I’m a mother of three who works for the NHS. Currently restoring a 1948 Rolls Royce.

I think you've been very unlucky. I've been with the same place (main dealership) for years and they have been excellent. A few years ago I had a problem with my brakes, it turned out that they hadn't spotted the discs needed replacing. And because they had not spotted it, they replaced them for free.

Yes I used a garage near me they kept the car the whole day even though the work was only an hour it was £90 for labour!! They rang and said the part would be £25 so I agreed to fitting. Turned out it was 2parts they were £35 each plus vat. Entire bill was nearly £200 !!!

But you pay main dealer prices at £175 an hour plus VAT and spares are marketed up too. OK I guess if you can afford it.

You have to look for them but they do exist. I tend to stay away from main dealerships and there are a lot of dodgy garages out there. Try and use one from the good garage scheme www.goodgaragescheme.com or ask for recommendations.

A clean car will get a better service than a dirty one.

I know what you mean. I also feel that being a woman is an invitation to be ripped off by some garages.

Luckily I found a reliable one through personal recommendations and they've been excellent.

I know exactly what you mean! It takes me ages to find one that I'm able to trust. After I moved to where I am now, I used to travel 90 miles back to my home town for anything car related as I trusted them not to rip me off.

When I first moved to the previous town I knew exactly what was wrong with my car and thought I'd test out all the local garages by not letting on I knew which part needed replacing. It was a £25 part and quick labour (less than an hour). I got told anything between £800-£250!! One garage even said I needed the full suspension all round replacing! Then I went to the now trusted one and they were totally honest, offered me a couple of price range options with no pressure.

We've had some dodgy dealings with garages- the most memorable 20+ years ago when kwikfit refused to release my car to me saying it would cost ££££ which I didn't have available. I was a teenage girl and they were disgraceful.
After fil spoke to them by phone, I was able to drive the car "home", went round the corner to Halfords and they fixed it for a couple of hundred pounds. They were also amazingly reassuring and supportive.

We now use 2 garages, one we started using as we have a friend who manages it and we trust him, but they only do routine repairs, for anything more in depth they send us to a garage that they trust and I couldn't be more relieved that we found them. They are amazing.

Ask people you know for recommendations.

Related to my mechanic so no probs trusting him (at DVA right now waiting on MOT!)

But yes, if I had to take it elsewhere I’d be worried.

Nephew has taken me through some troubleshooting so I can have a better idea and diy but it’s great to have a reliable & trustworthy mechanic when needed.

Our car was in a hit and run two years ago. Ever since then, when we drive straight, the wheel goes slightly to the left. We’ve taken it back to the same garage three times but they insist that there’s ‘nothing wrong’ 🙄 🙄 Funny how it was fine before some cow bag drove into us…

Always go through the Good Garages Scheme website, always always always.
Don't use the same mechanic over and over for services and MOTs

I'll be using the same mechanic over and over as I trust this lot not to rip me off. What odd advice.

I used to feel like this for year until I found my current mechanic. Small independent place, they are great. They do lovely small things too like replacing fob battery and not charging for it. Last MOT he told me the tyres were on the way out but because of my low milage to wait till the next MOT to change them.

Ask on your local FB pages.

Good for you, you have one you trust, great.

But, if your mechanic missed something, you've no second or third pair of eyes that may see what your single mechanic missed.

The amount of times someone has work done for an MOT for it to fail after a few months and they return it to the place that did the repair.
Take it elsewhere and they'll spot what the repairers missed.