A Sense of Hopelessness

[hmsports]

I've been blessed that I know a super honest, thoughtful and excellent mechanic near St. Louis. He is one of those guys that was tired of working for someone else who was a sheister so he started his own shop. When my wife's Exploder (oh, sorry, Explorer) needed A/C work, the Ford dealer told me $2,300 to replace everything because something blew up and ruined the whole system. He was able to get me going again, and convert things to the new ozone-safe coolant for under $400!

I've also heard him on the phone with customers and he is always straight with them and is more concerned with getting things done right, the first time, than getting them done fast - at a fair price too - he doesn't price gouge.

I drive an hour to bring things to him.

[Daniel]

The last paragraph of your post says it all.Learn to fix it yourself.Read a book,take a class,If you're young enough get a summer job at a garage.The education will save you a lifetime of grief.Not to mention if you can work with your hands you can always find work.Knowledge is freedom.

[EScanlon]

Part of the problem with finding good mechanics is that they are as scarce as Hen's Teeth and as expensive as Leprechaun's gold.

Ask around other Z owners. Someone will point you in the right direction.

But be aware that even though their hourly fee may be more than the hillbillies down the street, in the long run the Good mechanic's bill will be LESS!

How, you ask? Simple, while the trained monkeys down the road are busy replacing part after part for several hours before something starts going right and they can proclaim "Fixed!", the Mechanic goes in, checks and verifies his "diagnosis" and repairs or replaces if need be the bad part. By the time the other guys have 6 hours of labor into your car, he has 2 but he's fixed it while the other guys still have to clean up.

That's why he charges 3 times what the other guys do.

But the biggest problem is that the average motorist, looks at his fees and presumes that the other guys, whose fees are lower must be "just as good". They then take their business over to the bad guys leaving the good mechanic without work.

So support the good mechanics. Yes it may "seem" more expensive at first. Until you are STILL running without problems and the guy next to you at the show, who insists on using the Minimum Wage Parts Replacer Of The Week at the local grease hole has had to overhaul his engine a couple of times.

Also, which would you rather do, spend a couple of weekends trying to figure something out that the mechanic can fix in a day? Granted, you pay the mechanic, but isn't your time worth something?

The mechanic I patronize tells me that he's had customers come in, get an estimate, then not come back for a few weeks. Then they come back and the job is worse to do, and sometimes takes him twice the amount of time and effort. It turns out the customer will have taken his car to a "cheaper" mechanic and gotten the job all fouled up. Now the customer is back to get the job done right. But then the car is fixed properly and that customer never goes elsewhere. So that customer ended up paying 3 times to get the work done. Once -poorly, and the next two were to get it undone and then to get it done right.

I have no complaInts.

[Alfadog]

I would love to take a class and learn all about mechanics, but it's just not an option at the moment. I am doing two bachelors in 8 semesters over 2 and 2/3 years. My uni does 3 semesters a year where others do 2. That is why I get hardly any holidays... also why I finish in half the time of anywhere else.

Maybe afterwards... afterall who is going to employ a 20 year old even with 2 degrees? (that's that age thing again)

About asking other Z owners... do you know how many Z's there are on the coast?! I know one owner, I might ring him...

[dohc]

I sympathise with you Alpha, I've run with Gemini's before the Zed and every mechanic treats an 18 year old with a common car pretty badly.

Now that I'm older and have the Zed everyone is interested and I'm usually allowed out the back. It's a bit strange as teh Zed is in under coat and my old Gemini was in mint condition and EFI?

Oh well, as the others have said: Knowledge is Freedom

Hey Z Kid, where did you take you Zed? I'll probably need somewhere to help me eventually :classic:

Cheers,

R.

[Rob]

Quote from Daniel:

The last paragraph of your post says it all.Learn to fix it yourself.Read a book,take a class,If you're young enough get a summer job at a garage.The education will save you a lifetime of grief.Not to mention if you can work with your hands you can always find work.Knowledge is freedom.

Couldn't agree more. $$$ spent on tools, books and the occasional broken part (when you stuff up) will save you heaps in the long run, not to mention the satisfaction and practicalities of being able to fix things yourself.

The only way to learn how to fix things is to get in there and do it yourself (apply a bit of common sense when it comes to fixing safety items).

One more thing - find a good Auto parts shop. One that employs people that know about cars (If more than one wall of the shop is dedicated to crappy sound systems, that's a giveaway that you will get a blank look if you ask how to change brake pads). A good shop will usually be happy to help with a bit of advice if you ask them nicely enough, especially if you are buying enough stuff.

[bonniec75209]

You want to know what really sets me off!?!? When you are trying to find a shop to take your car too, you talk to the mechanic and ask him if he has any experience working on these cars. To which he replies something like "we work on cars, you got a car you want worked on, we will fix it for you." ALL CARS ARE NOT THE SAME!!!!!!!!!!!! This really burns me up!!!!!!!!!!! I don't mind driving a long distance if I know the mechanic is honest, knowledgeable, and last but not least loves these cars as much as I do.