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What isn't he telling you?
- Everybody needs a trustworthy auto mechanic with all the required professional certifications to keep a car in tip-top shape.
- But there are some things mechanics avoid telling customers.
- It never hurts to be educated when dealing with car mechanics.
Unless your car is brand new and under warranty, it's likely to need some maintenance during a given year. This could range from minor stuff, such as a routine oil change, to deeper dish repairs.
Most car mechanics - independent or employed by a dealer or repair chain - are ethical people who won't steer you toward needless work. But they might also insist that you hire them to perform maintenance that isn't entirely necessary.
Their arguments are sound: Why wait until a small problem becomes a big one?
But it's also your money, and you should know about the things your mechanic will never tell you.
For the record, I had a mechanic in Los Angeles for years who was a model of being up front about what absolutely needed to be fixed on my cars - and what could wait, or even be ignored. But such a mechanic is quite rare. So the best thing you can do is educate yourself.
Here are ten tips about what even the best mechanic might not tell you: