Things You Should NEVER Say To Your Car Mechanic And Things You Should!

As a master tech and an ethical mechanic, I appreciate this video.

As a Toyota owner, I trust you more than my dealership. Great video as usual!

I regularly go to a local mechanic and trust him. But early in our dealings (about 10 years ago), he put in an aftermarket strut that fell apart after 3,000 miles. To his credit he apologized and fixed it for nothing. I still had to push him on OEM parts, and he was resistant for a while ("I buy a lot of these and they are fine"). Now he knows me, and when I make an appointment he always laughs and says "I'll order the original Toyota part". I do trust that he actually does.

I hate the pieces of crap of who give us a bad name. I treat every car that comes in my bay like it's my mother's. We have so many folks that come in every week that are told lie after lie by unethical mechanics. It's infuriating how many hard working folks have their lives turned upside down by a piece of crap shop who tell em they need $4000 in repairs when it's a simple $50 fix. Thanks for this video, brother. I hope it keeps a lot of folks from getting screwed over.

As a retired automotive teacher, this is wonderful advice.

That is why I'm gonna switch doing my maintenance to your shop and stop taking my car to the dealership! I feel your honesty and integrity! Salute!

Besides tires, wheel alignments, and state inspections I haven't used a shop for work in over 10 years. The only other exception is when a new car is under warranty. I consider myself a high-level DIY home mechanic. I don't usually tell shops this when I drop a car off for an inspection, etc. What has happened more times than I can remember is that I'll get a call from the shop suggesting that I should get their brake flush, trans flush, cabin filter, or some other filters or maintenance item. That's when I tell them that I already did these things myself. There is nothing more annoying than being told you need a new "whatever" when you just replaced or recently serviced that system. Sadly, most dealers and mechanics aren't as honest as you are.

As a service plumber, I love the, "my husband would do it but doesn't have the time." ...and I can tell he tried but gave up 😂

Honest communication is the best thing between the car owner and the mechanic. Thanks for the videos!

What a fabulous video for repair facility and car owner alike! Should be required viewing as it educates and gives real world scenarios of what can and does happen every day. As a former Lexus dealership service manager I enjoy all of your videos. They are factual, informative and always spot on. Thank you for all you do to show that there ARE honest, smart automobile professionals out there that don’t just want to empty the customers wallet, but want to help them and keep them safe.

Folks always say “find an honest, experienced and reputable mechanic.” Ok…exactly HOW do you do that? Word of mouth doesn’t work when your friends/family shrug their shoulders and reply with…”Let me know when you find one.”

As A doctor I can say that I will give the same advice when visiting a doctor.

The problem is that, while you say that it's a small number of shops that are shady, my experience has been otherwise. I am not a vehicle mechanic, but I am an airplane mechanic and I am fully capable of working on my own vehicle and have the tools to do so. If I take my vehicle to a shop, it's usually a lack of time issue, and it's easier to just allow someone else to take care of it for me. I had the A/C compressor on my 14 Sienna go out recently and I had to replace it. When I went to the Most "reputable" shop in my area, I was quoted 3000 dollars. I understand parts markups and labor and all that but I ended up doing it myself for less than half of what I was quoted. I am not saying that they're aren't reputable shops, but at some point, the amount that you pay for maintenance is unfortunately a result of either lack of knowledge, or failure to do research. The sad part is that there are really good mechanics out there, but the guys that are robbing and cheating customers are making it hard for the customer to be able to trust anyone. Love the content.

Another thing you should never say to your mechanic: "I'm in no hurry"

I never question my mechanic - because the CCN IS my mechanic for my 2015 Highlander. Takes all the stress out of car maintenance.

Well young man and I can say that because I am very old man and you are considerably younger than me that is absolutely one of the best videos that you have put up. I mean absolutely one of the best videos that I’ve seen you put up. keep up the good work. I wished more mechanics in the world would like you

Had a 3rd Prius that had the rough idle/misfire at start up problem a few months ago. He had the intake manifold, the EGR and the fuel injectors already replaced by an independent shop. He never told us about it but I could see the new parts under the hood. And we had to tell him he had wasted all that money, probably over 2 grand, for nothing because it was a head-gasket problem which would be another 4 grand.

“Tune up” Takes me back to the days of owning and working on Volkswagen Beetles. Plugs, points, condenser, rotor, distributor cap, spark plugs, carburetor adjustment, and valve adjustment, every 10,000 miles. Bugs were great little cars in that era but I wouldn’t call having to do all that stuff so often the “good old days”.

You look and remind me a lot of my old mechanic. Loved that guy. He treated me like his daughter. Never scammed me. He actually helped me not get scammed. I was always loyal to him because he was honest and kept the prices fair. He ended up selling his shop and it’s been so hard to find trustworthy mechanics.

Good advice! Here's a classic example of someone not telling their mechanic enough information. Back in the 1970s I owned a foreign car repair shop specializing in MG, Austin Healey, and Triumph repair. I had a customer come in with an MGB that he said was "running rough." This being back in the days when spark plugs, points, etc did need to be replaced and SU carburetors did need to be adjusted I gave the guy a quote for a normal tuneup. Alas when I began working on the car it quickly became apparent that there were far more serious problems! Long story short by the time the dust settled I had determined that a major engine overhaul was required. When I informed the customer of this he said, "That can't be I just had a lot of work done on the car a month ago." Since he hadn't mentioned that previously I asked him what he meant by "a lot of work" at which point he presented me with a repair bill receipt listing more than $800 worth of parts and labor for what amounted to a total rebuild of the engine! Trouble was none of the work had actually been done! My inspection had revealed that about the only thing that had been done was the spark plugs had been replaced. Obviously the customer didn't want to spend an additional $800 so he asked me to repair just the most essential items…the bill came to around $400 and a warning that it was just a matter to time before additional repairs would be necessary!