Question: By looking and observing the interior of a repair shop, can one get a general idea as to the quality of the work being done? The reason I ask is that the shop I have used for close to 20 years underwent an ownership change and all but one tech left. The single biggest thing I have noticed is that the shop that used to be well organized and well kept is now dirty with old parts laying around and just general disorganization. It seems that their quality of work has gone down as well. I have had to return my cars for them to "get it right" twice in the last few months and that has never happened before.
Can you Tell The Quality of the Shop By It's Appearance
- Thread starter Stumpy
- Start date
Find another shop.
Find a different shop not because of clutter/appearance but because of quality of work. My bay at work is completely piled with stuff and I'm the highest performing tech in the shop. Don't judge a book by it's cover but by the work.
Agree with creekside. Judge by results not appearance. My neighbors have the most organized tool benches but they all come to me for advice....my garage looks like a bomb exploded in their 20 years ago and no one has bothered to clean it since. I can still find what I need..most of the time
The best machine shop here is an absolute catastrophe on the inside and the owner has an eye patch and trench coat.
no you can't
Sounds kind of like where I work, minus the owner having a trench coat and eye patch… but yeah, material, parts, and tools everywhere, we have no supervision at all on 3rd shift, and it’s all loosely controlled chaos. I love it.
Spent 10 years in a climate controlled, pristine, so clean I have literally eaten beef stew off the floors shop… you couldn’t pay me to go back.
The biggest red flag is that all but one tech jumped ship. This means that either they knew the owners that took over aren't good to work for as they own other shops or the techs found out quickly that it's going downhill. A dirty disorganized repair shop isn't a good sign.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
As long as you know where everything is - and moochers don’t !!!
A bit of clutter consistent with being busy, I can live with. Dirty, not so much. If a tech can't keep their bench reasonably clean, I don't know how I'm supposed to trust that they take pride in the work they're doing on my vehicle.
The other extreme makes me even more nervous - this mostly applies to dealerships. If the shop looks like a whole lot of overhead, I know who they expect to pay for that...
The other extreme makes me even more nervous - this mostly applies to dealerships. If the shop looks like a whole lot of overhead, I know who they expect to pay for that...
Full stop. You don't need to go past that.
Find a new place.
The rest of your questions and complaints are irrelevant. Auto repair is pretty much 100% about the guy holding the wrench.
Frequently used tools tend to lay around on my bench forever. Less used tools hang on the wall until needed. I'd worry more about deep piles of saturated oil dry that no one seems motivated to clean up.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
No peg leg?
My father was a mechanic and had his own 4-bay shop he opened in the 1980's. He (and the rest of the guys) did top notch work and he kept the place looking pristine. As he got older and slower he got less motivated to keep the cosmetics up. A bit cluttered and messy....but not grimey.
I'd think twice about a place that looks like like an oil barge, that's just laziness and a bit of a safety hazard....but mess and clutter is part of the job.
Judge the work, not the cleanliness. And keep an eye out for red flags....like all the tech's leaving.
Jiffy Lube's are clean and tidy but I wouldn't want them doing any more than a simple oil change.
I'd think twice about a place that looks like like an oil barge, that's just laziness and a bit of a safety hazard....but mess and clutter is part of the job.
Judge the work, not the cleanliness. And keep an eye out for red flags....like all the tech's leaving.
Jiffy Lube's are clean and tidy but I wouldn't want them doing any more than a simple oil change.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Clutter from being busy is one thing. Looking like a bomb went off in a dumpster, old parts lying around, dirty floors, pile of tools on the bench I'm going somewhere else. At the other extreme there are some indie repair shops here with multiple bays, a dedicated service writer and an owner in his office. Clean operations with good reviews but as already stated I don't want to pay their overhead. Thinking back I've found my indie mechs by trusted word of mouth and became a customer after what I guess would be considered an interview at their shop. If I'm treated like I know nothing I'm gone.
This.
Personally I'm very organized and my toolbox is clean and drawers labeled. I have a friend whose dad restores antique cars for a living, and is one of the best mechanics I know. The quality of work is top notch, and he has literally turned rusty junk sitting in a fence row into a trailer queen. His shop has stuff everywhere, but his quality of work is amazing.
No. You can by the people that work there though.
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
Last STF LTI we had was a guy walking on one of the rubber walkways and it grabbed his boot and down he went.
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