by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 06/08/2017 at 10:21
by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 06/08/2017 at 10:21
Tags: Cars fixed good and propa
STARS: 14
For the fast few years, whenever there’s a job I either don’t have the time or skills (or desire) to attend to myself, I’ve been using a local independent mechanic. The guy was separately recommended by two people who don’t know each other. Actually their recommendations came a couple years apart from each other.
For the past couple months, my truck occasionally has been kicking on the ABS at very low speeds in dry conditions. It’s a common GMT-800 problem, and it was fixed once before under warranty. Eight years and 70k miles or so later, it started happening again. I was also intermittently hearing a slight grinding noise from my left front (I thought maybe the bearing, in its sealed hub, was going bad). I knew from experience and research that I might need one or both new ABS sensors, possibly one or both new front hubs ... or maybe just the mating surface between the sensor and the hub needed to have the rust cleaned off. If that surfaces gets rusty, it lifts the sensor far enough away from the reluctor wheel that it won’t read properly at low speeds.
Now, I know the fixes and it’s all stuff I can do. What I don’t have are the skills to diagnose exactly what the problem(s) is/are, or the scan tool to do that. I didn’t want to just start throwing parts at it either, like your average GART (Google Auto Repair Technician). Also, since I no longer have a backup vehicle, I don’t have time to have my truck torn apart for days while I work on it in my minuscule spare time. So, off to Rich it went.
I dropped it off Tuesday afternoon, told Rich the symptoms and to call me when it was done. Then I tossed the girls in the double stroller with snacks and water, and we walked the bit over a mile home. Side note: my two year old was completely fascinated by the car lift. You could just see in her eyes, “Why is that car in the AIR?”
Shortly after lunch, I got a call that the truck was done. Now, if Rich had told me the truck needed two new front hubs, and oh by the way your brake pads are nearly done and the rotors are too thin to cut, so maybe we should replace those while it’s apart (the front brakes were last done 5-6 years and over 50k miles ago), I would’ve said yes and never thought twice about it.
Instead, when I asked what I owed, “Uhh, $70 bucks,” was the reply. I put the girls back in the stroller with snacks and waters, and headed to the shop. Rich used his scan tool to figure out that the left front ABS sensor wasn’t reading, cleaned the rust out on the mating surface so it could read again, and cleaned and greased the caliper slides (the noise was my caliper just barely sticking). Then he greased my front end (I suspected my grease gun wasn’t working ... I was right), and rotated my tires because the inside shoulders of my fronts are wearing thin (a trip to the alignment shop is planned for the next week or two, as I had noticed that) ... all for $70.
So, how do you know if a mechanic is honest? Well, word of mouth is a big one. I also say watch their parking lot. If there are never any cars there, then people must not be happy with them and never go back. If there are tons of cars there, but they’re the same cars that just sit endlessly, that’s probably not a good sign either. But if the lot is full of a constantly rotating cast of vehicles, that’s a shop with plenty of business and no need to gouge. I also think if every time you take a vehicle to the shop, it’s the worst case scenario that shop is possibly pumping you for work ... or maybe you just drive an old German car. To me, there should be a balance. Sometimes things will be worse than you imagined, but sometimes they’ll be better.
Anybody in the western suburbs of Chicago, I highly recommend Patterson’s Pitstop in Villa Park. It’s a three bay shop with two lifts and one employee plus the owner, it’s always busy on word of mouth business. Rich fixes what needs fixing and nothing else, and charges a very fair price. If you call, chances are it’ll go to voicemail, and the message tells you to call Rich’s cellphone and gives the number. Rich wears a bluetooth earpiece so he can answer calls while he works on cars. His business hours are until at least six, or whenever he’s done for the day. I once dropped my truck off at 8:30 at night, and he was still there.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
06/08/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 2
I always test them by taking a car with an issue I know it has with a fix I know and have them fix it. if its on point good, if they get shady, PREPARE TO FEEL THE WRATH!!!!!
ps: I love my current mechanic.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
06/08/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 2
I knew my mechanic was legit when I he quoted me way less then the previous place. I had slid into a curb in the snow and brought to a place that told me I needed a new strut, control arm, tire, wheel and alignment. The strut looked fine to me so I wanted a second opinion. He told me I needed a wheel, tire and alignment and when I told him what the other guys said he just kinda shrugged and said the strut and control arm looked fine to him.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/08/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 4
Shout out for any Torontoppos, If you’ve got tranny issues a good shop is Rexdale Transmission. Little hole in the wall shop. When I f’d up my servo I took it to him to sort out, he told me straight up of all the things that could have been bjorked by my incompetence, and how long it would take to get to my truck. If he’d come to me then and said my trans was stuffed I’d have believed him. Instead I got a call a day earlier than expected saying it was ready to pick up. He’d managed to un-jam my servo, replaced the seals, cleaned the bore, topped up the fluid and tested it. 100 Canuckistan pesos.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
06/08/2017 at 10:49, STARS: 0
You sold the park ave??? Dag nabbit.
"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn)
06/08/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 2
His business hours are until at least six, or whenever he’s done for the day. I once dropped my truck off at 8:30 at night, and he was still there.
So much this. The local shop I use is crazy busy all the time. Talking to the owner once and he nailed it. “Usually there is a day sometime in the summer that we leave around 6:00.” As an added bonus he drives around in a ratty looking Galaxy during the summer.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
06/08/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 2
I do a lot of my own wrenching, but yeah I try to keep a good sense of my limits before I get in over my head. I summoned up enough courage to rebuild by Thunderbird’s automatic transmission myself, but when the car started to shudder just a few months later, with no check engine light to help narrow things down, I decided to take it to a shop.
I still wanted to fix it myself, but I wanted them to diagnose it and point me in the right direction. After nearly an hour in the waiting room, they let me know that it was fixed.
Turns out, it was a loose spark plug. No wonder I was stumped! I would have thought that a misfire that was bad enough to cause the shudder, would also trip the CEL. But I digress... Anyway, all it cost me was one hour of labor at whatever their rate was, and the problem was not only identified, but fixed.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 10:54, STARS: 2
Awesome! I also have a great little trans shop in town. A One Transmission, alsoin Vills Park. When I took the Caddy I inherited from Grandma in because I thought it wasn’t going into overdrive, he found instead it was the torque converter not locking up at cruising speeds.
He tried to fix it with fresh fluid and filter, but that didn’t work. He recommended I not fix it. “It’s not gonna leave you stranded, and you can buy a lot of extra gas for the three grand I’d have to charge you to replace the torque converter.” He then refused to charge me for the work he did do, saying, “Eh, I’ll get you on the next one.” I had him rebuild the Turbo 350 in my old ‘74 Buick Apollo, he only charged me $600, including taking the trans in and out.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 10:57, STARS: 0
Roadmaster, but yeah. A big rust hole popped at the base of the B-pillar on the driver’s side. I didn’t feel good putting my kids in it. I miss it badly.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
06/08/2017 at 10:59, STARS: 1
I think roadmaster is a variety of park ave.
There is the plain old park ave, supercharged park ave, Park Ave Ultra and the roadmaster.
Not relevant tho. I miss my 1992 park ave terribly as well. If you were closer, i’d buy you a beer and we’d have a long chat about how wonderful those cars are.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 10:59, STARS: 1
Your limits are definitely higher than mine. I’m slowly pushing mine farther. Well, I was when I had the extra vehicle.
Cars are weird sometimes. It’s nice when the fix is easy :)
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 11:02, STARS: 4
No, the Roadmaster is on an entirely different platform. It’s a rear wheel drive B-body vehicle, that platform dates back to the late 70's. The Park Ave was on the B-Body platform until ‘85, when it was switched to a downsized front wheel drive platform. My grandparents had both an ‘85 and ‘91 Park Avenues. Nice freaking cars, I loved them.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
06/08/2017 at 11:03, STARS: 4
When I needed a presale inspection on a jag last month, I called this indie shop that two people recommended (one was here on Oppo, and the other was another shop that does inspections). The guy went and got the car from the dealer, put it on his lift, and returned it, and only charged me the $62.50 for a half hour labor, even though I offered more for his trouble.
I wish we had a repository for mechanic recommendations here on Oppo. That would be useful, just like my HOA website has a place where we can leave recommendations and warnings about local businesses. Kind of our own community Yelp.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
06/08/2017 at 11:04, STARS: 1
Ah. The more you know...
Either way, it’s like riding on a cloud.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
06/08/2017 at 11:10, STARS: 2
Yeah, Roadmaster is a B-body like the Impala and Caprice.
Park ave was an option package until the 90's or so when it became it’s own model, and went C->G->Zeta if I recall. Kind of bounced around.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 2
That would be a good thing to have!
When I sold my Apollo, I met a potential buyer at another indie shop for an inspection. They took about half hour or so, and didn’t even charge him. I’ve recommended it a couple times, it’s a bit far for me, especially since I have a good guy in walking distance.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
06/08/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 1
I’m kind of annoyed that I had to surrender to a shop over something as simple as a spark plug. I can turn a wrench, but that whole encounter sure didn’t reflect well on my diagnostic skills. Apparently their scan tool can pick up on misfires that OBDII won’t report to the dashboard.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 11:15, STARS: 1
Most definitely!
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 1
Eh, wouldn’t feel bad about that one. File that to: shit happens and shops have equipment DIYers can’t afford.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
06/08/2017 at 11:17, STARS: 1
Eh? That Roadmaster is a ‘91-’96 model which was a RWD platform with an available V8 on the B platform. The contemporary Park Avenue, previously a trim level on the Electra, was also ‘91'96 and was a FWD V6 car on the C platform shared with: LeSabre, DeVille, SeVille, Fleetwood, Bonneville, 88, and 98. There was the base model and the supercharged Ultra mode. Second generation was ‘97-’05 and the second-gen Ultra remains one of my favorite factory sleeper cars EVER.
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
06/08/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 0
Yeah. I was corrected on the roadmaster. Regardless tho, best cars on planet. We will never ever see anything like those cars in future.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
06/08/2017 at 11:27, STARS: 5
I’ve got a tire shop near me that is run by solid people. Most recently I took a car there to have a tire leak fixed. They put the car in the air, pulled the wheel, tanked it, and showed me the crack in the aluminum(!). Offered to find a reasonably priced replacement wheel, did not charge me a dime for anything and let me walk out.
I figure they assumed I’d come back because I liked the service, and they were right. When I brought the car back and was waiting for them to finish working on it another customer came in who was driving from NYC to Philly when her alternator went. It was 4:15, they close at 5. Counterman said “ehhhhhhhhhhhhh FUCK IT” and jumped in his car, drove to NAPA, bought an alternator and installed it in their car. Had her back on the road before closing time and charged regular labor + NAPA receipt cost (no parts markup).
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
Nice! That’s a good shop for sure.
"Tristan" (casselts)
06/08/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 3
Global Transmission in Fort Walton Beach, FL once spent 4 hours trying to diagnose a vibration on an ‘03 Mustang convertible. They even sent one of their techs home to get his mustang so he could swap wheels with me for a test. They listened to my suggestions and asked me lots of questions about the work I had already done rather than ignoring and condescending me like most shops do. They found nothing, just like I did, and refused payment of any kind.
When the AX-15 in my Cherokee needed a rebuild, guess who got the business?
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 12:19, STARS: 0
Nice!
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/08/2017 at 12:41, STARS: 0
Now this is a great thread. As an added bonus, my Pathfinder has 2 issues that I just don’t have the time nor inclination to mess with. I may have to give this guy a shout soon —
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/08/2017 at 12:45, STARS: 0
Filed to: DIY-er anxiety.
Any noise after a DIY fix or mod is immediately related to something you did. In some cases, even if the noise was there before.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
06/08/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 0
Roadmaster Estates used to be everywhere but they seem to have practically vanished since Cash for Clunkers
"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012)
06/08/2017 at 13:03, STARS: 0
People like shop-teacher loved his buick enough to not give it up to the gov’t.
I loved my buick until its last breath.
Only people that didn’t care too much for their buicks gave them up for a new shiny kia forte which promptly broke down and got junked.
"fryguy" (jbird94)
06/08/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 1
Ever since your recommendation a few years ago, all our vehicle go to him.....
"Toby F., Manager" (itsmefromhr)
06/08/2017 at 14:31, STARS: 0
You just described the characteristics of my life-long mechanic my family and I have been using longer than I’ve been alive. He’a a great guy, a Navy friend of an uncle, a former boxer, and a kick-ass guy full of stories and inspiration.
Sadly I need to find a new mechanic; as he’s now much older in age and has been cutting back on working on cars after an accident that almost took his life.
It would be greatly appreciated if anyone can provide recommendations for a mechanic in San Diego.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 14:40, STARS: 1
I can’t recommend him enough. Let me know if you do, maybe we can meet up?
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/08/2017 at 15:55, STARS: 1
Will do!! It may be a while- that truck isn’t a DD any more, and it’s still driveable, just annoying. Will keep you posted—
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/08/2017 at 17:28, STARS: 0
Cool!