Mechanics - are there any honest mechanics left? Or is it like unicorns?

[SofiaBourbon]

Today, I had to go to the mechanics. The guy barely looked at my car and said I need a new radiator. I left the car over night and bought a battery last year. The battery is not from the same maker from the one I bought. I feel like other pieces were changed but I can't prove it. Reason being that when I took the car to another mechanic before this one and he said I needed a water pump not a radiator. He was charging me too much, so I decided to take it to this one. Do you have any stories to serve others as warning? I'm thinking about writing the serial number or even marking the most expensive pieces in my car.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Good one's are out there but they can definitely be hard to find, but they are worth their weight in gold when you do.  Keep trying different mechanics till you find the one that feels honest.  They don't even have to be friendly, just honest.  Friendly is nice but I've known mechanics that I trust but that sucked with customers.

[Zamboni]

I found one but it was by pure luck. He used to work at a Toyota dealership before opening his own place, and he only works on Toyotas. He can be slow but it is worth the wait. Unfortunately he is now thinking about retiring because the insurance on his shop is costing too much.

Other than him I trust the AAA shop pretty well for routine repairs. They don't seem interested in gouging.

[Eric]

Try Yelp.  I know Yelp somewhat sucks, but if you find a place where the bad reviews are few and far between, and even those have been replied to by the mechanic with a thoughtful reply, then you probably have a good one.  Then schedule something mundane, like an oil change.  And talk to them.  The best mechanics that I have used LOVE to talk about cars.  If the place has bad communication, move on to the next one.

In general though, price is a bad way to judge.  The cheapest places do poor work, or use cheap parts, and usually end up costing you more in the long run.  Find an independent mechanic that charges an average amount.

[Eric]

Other than him I trust the AAA shop pretty well for routine repairs. They don't seem interested in gouging.

This is hit or miss.  AAA doesn't really do a good job of screening these people.  My experience at the AAA shop near me was a nightmare.  They had to replace my fuel pump 3 times in 6 days.  So either they were really really unlucky, or they were using some really crappy parts.

[Bob W]

Word of mouth my friend.   I have at least 3 I trust here.  All family owned by old guys.

[music lover]

There is an honest garage near me that I've been going to for years. If they find a problem, they always tell me the options: "it has to be replaced", or "you can leave it for a while", or "expect this to go in a few months". They always invite me in to look under the hood to explain what they are doing, and any old parts that are replaced are returned to me.

The first time I went there for the first time they quoted me the wrong amount for a job by accidentally quoting half the hours that the job was expected to take. To top it off, it took longer than expected so they lost money on the job. I was told this offhand while paying my bill...at the time, I didn't have a lot of money and really appreciated getting a "break". I've since returned the favour several times over by sending new customers their way.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I found what seems like a good one through NextDoor.

[Johnez]

Get recommendations through family/friends. It narrows the field a bit better than Yelp IMO. I actually found mine next door to where I work, got really lucky.

My problem with Yelp is that it's filled with reviews I simply can't trust. You have people who know nothing about the service either gushing over every little thing giving 5 stars, or complaining about insignificant issues who give one star. Then you have fake reviews...

[EricL]

 The Car Talk website used to have a listing by region of reliable, honest mechanics.  The list is probably still there though the show's off the air. But the website is difficult to rummage through as it was really meant for just wasting time.