Types of Auto Repair Customers

[The Critic]

Saw this on the page of a long-time auto shop owner who coaches as a side gig.

So, long-term clients to a small business are generally suckers?

It goes to show the importance of trust, but verify. Some small business owners are counting on the blind trust of less sophisticated buyers for gravy revenue.

 

[LDM]

The customer is almost never right. The majority of time the customer is an idiot who has no clue what he/she is talking about. Especially in retail, service, and the IT world.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I am probably a client but I also will do trust but verify. I don't consider myself a sucker. The shop owner I use proved himself the first two times I use him. I accept the fact that he may be a little higher than other choices. Until I moved to Lawrence, he was convenient and fixed all repairs the first time, no returns needed. I know that I need to leave the vehicle to get things done as he has a customer workload that is fairly high.

 

[The Critic]

I am probably a client but I also will do trust but verify. I don't consider myself a sucker. The shop owner I use proved himself the first two times I use him. I accept the fact that he may be a little higher than other choices. Until I moved to Lawrence, he was convenient and fixed all repairs the first time, no returns needed. I know that I need to leave the vehicle to get things done as he has a customer workload that is fairly high.

As the average consumer, how are you keeping the shop honest?

Are you checking them on price? Are you asking the correct questions to ensure that OE service procedures are followed? Do you know if he/she is equipped with the proper diagnostic equipment (not just an Autel) and service information for your application?

 

[JeffKeryk]

My brother used to tell me there were 2 kinds of customers, car owners with money and car owners without money. He could spot them a mile away, but more so by the car they brought in.

 

[doitmyself]

It goes to show the importance of trust, but verify. Some small business owners are counting on the blind trust of less sophisticated buyers for gravy revenue.

It's no different than pursuing health care concerns. For best results, a person has to self-advocate. That involves some effort to educate oneself just enough to engage in proper communication between the customer and shop.

 

[goblin]

The definition of Client in the first post can only trully apply to the adult industry and interaction with the specific providers thereof .

For every other business, it's meme-level BS. Like hell will I pay any price asked of me and not question my mechanic if I disagree with her. No matter how much I love her (I do, she's a Rosie the Rivetter type and runs the shop with her mom after her dad passed).

Then again, she'd never put such crap on her wall. As she knows that trust is a two-way street, whereas the wisdom above couldn't be more one-way as written.

 

[Owen Lucas]

The customer is almost never right. The majority of time the customer is an idiot who has no clue what he/she is talking about. Especially in retail, service, and the IT world.

This goes for the majority of the genral public.

I am sure some of us, me included, may fall into the idiot category within certain fields.

I've learned not to speak my mind as it may always not be right, I might be presuming how something works when in fact, IDK.

I fixed this mostly by doing research before most major financial expenses and the school of hard knocks.

At some point in life you need to profit from your knowledge by saving time, stress, and money.

Fortunately I'm in the automotive field but stuff still catches me off guard. I usually know what I'm facing when I go to the Honda dealer and just ai anything I don't know about.

 

[Owen Lucas]

In the body shop field you have these customers as well. Had someone with a 25 year old Mazda that needed a bumper job go to a top of the line MB, Ferrari, Audi certified shop. I was surprised they took them but they sure did regret it.

I had to go into a meeting with the customer at the shop to mediate the "poor quality" repair. It was perfect, their car was a piece of junk with multiple rear end collisions which is why the bumper did not fit correctly.

Like OP's post implies, it's the Pareto 80/20 rule. 20% of you customers can be responsible for 80% of the problems.

 

[Brian123]

What about the type of Mechanic, I had a mechanic at a car dealership tell me I needed a new transmission by just looking underneath my car. I got a 2nd opinion. The transmission would rev up to 3500 rpm's and then shift, so I did the manual thing with 1st, 2nd and then drive and everything was ok. Now this was a Turbo 350, seems there was something that came unplugged from the trans. The 2nd guy I went for the opinion took care of the issue on the spot with no charge. I ended up going back to him for other work instead of the dealer.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

As the average consumer, how are you keeping the shop honest?

Are you checking them on price? Are you asking the correct questions to ensure that OE service procedures are followed? Do you know if he/she is equipped with the proper diagnostic equipment (not just an Autel) and service information for your application?

Shop owner is second generation shop owner. Gets good reviews on the internet. He reviews OE mileage recommendations for service with me based on his software. His diagnosis is 100% correct on other repairs. He will do some little things he notices without expecting or charging extra. I have been using him for over 10 years and may continue to use him even though I am now 30 miles away. He calls back if he finds more than what I signed up for. Almost always cheaper than a dealer 30 miles away. I trust his recommendations 100%. He doesn't argue when I tell him I will do some of the work at home. That is good enough for me.

 

[goblin]

Yeah, I'd love to be the CLIENT type as described above, with my Hyundai dealer:

- Long crank (anything from 5 to 20 seconds) before start after engine replacement: "It's your starter, $1700 pretty please".
Thanks but no thanks. If it was a starter issue, how can it crank like a champ? And also, I OFFERED to pay you for a new starter preventatively, when you had the engne out, just because the car is getting old and the engine is out anyway, and you refused?

- Clicks when engaging the steerting wheel left or right, while stopped: "CV axle. $1500 pretty please".
You don't say! A CV that clicks on a stopped car? I'm amazed. Could it be the steering column that you disturbed when you-errr-replaced the engine?
- "Ah, indeed. It's the steering column. $700 pretty please. Ah, wait. You won't pay for it because it was a part that was disturbed during the engine replacement? Blast, I guess we'll have to".

 

[Hall]

As the average consumer, how are you keeping the shop honest?

Are you checking them on price?

With the shop I use primarily, I have never been shocked at the repair price they've quoted me. Or on a few jobs, I have been shocked ... at how low the cost was. I replaced a caliper once and we couldn't get it bled whether using gravity, 2-person-pump-the-pedal, or using my Mityvac tool. They bled them and charged me $40 (30 minutes labor). Most shops would charge a minimum of 1-hour labor, if not more. More recently, they diagnosed and replaced one of the VVT solenoids on my Infiniti for $275. I was going out of the country (2) days before this failed and the fault codes were pointing at camshaft sensors, so if I had DIY'd it myself after getting back, I'd have replaced the wrong part.

I don't check them on price because what they've charged so far is what I consider extremely fair.

 

[goblin]

My Rosie type gives me the hourly labor rate and the time it will take. She does reduced labor when applicable (say replace front pads when working on the front for something else), and will be very clear for potential caveats - say "we might have to spend extra time on your suspension if we have to chase seized bolts"

I don't disagree with the concepts. What I disagree with is with the way it is formulated on that screenshot above. It's extremely one-sided. It only works if we have established that the mechanic is perfect to begin with.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I would suggest the best shops attract the best customers. If the shop is arguing with there customers all the time then it takes 2.

I know a lot about cars, even worked in a shop as a kid. Never had an issue with any shop I actually got to do work for me outside of dealer warranty I was forced into a single supplier. I asked some questions, they were happy I was knowledgeable, we agreed on next steps and everyone ended up happy. Nothing to debate. I have walked away from shops that didn't want to have this discussion or there service person was unable to do so.

 

[Geekhead]

The customer is almost never right. The majority of time the customer is an idiot who has no clue what he/she is talking about. Especially in retail, service, and the IT world.

I many years ago used this guide, "The customer may be right", anything else leaves you open to abuse. Stand your ground if need be and fire them if necessary.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

There are good/bad shops and good/bad customers. In every industry. My grandfather opened up a full-service Shell station in the 1950's, then sold that and opened up a huge Mobil service station in the 60's. My old man opened up his own shop in the 1980's and recently retired. I grew up in those shops working there after school and on the weekends. Learned a lot about people (customers) and how good (and bad) shops operate.

One of my favorite stories was a big Meineke run by knuckleheads down the road. One of my dad's customers had to come to the rescue of his 20-something kid about 15 years ago. 20-something kid's battery is going dead overnight and doesn't have enough juice to start it in the AM. Meineke puts a new battery in there and the 20-something is happy for few days, then the symptoms return.

This time they put an alternator on it. Works good for few days, then suddenly the engine wont start at all. Just a click from the starter solenoid and that's it. Has it towed back to Meineke and they put a new starter in it. Still wont start. Someone starts to think the engine might be seized. They go to try and spin the engine manually...they can't. Locked up solid. 20-something now gets a quote for an engine replacement and instantly begins to panic.

20-something's dad intervenes and has the car towed to my old man's shop. The alternator they put in seized a bearing and locked up. The Meineke person put a socket on the alternator to try and turn the engine because the crank bolt was not easily accessible. They thought they cracked the case..."belt doesn't spin, requires $12k engine replacement".

I have a zillion stories like this. My dad fired a number of customers over the years.

 

[demarpaint]

I many years ago used this guide, "The customer may be right", anything else leaves you open to abuse. Stand your ground if need be and fire them if necessary.

I used to say the customer is always right until they're wrong. I would always politely stand my ground and explain my reasoning if I knew my customer was wrong. I got a lot of business that way. As a consumer I stand my ground and often walk away if someone thinks they're going to get one over on me. There are good and bad shops, knowing how to choose one is beneficial.

 

[Chris142]

I'm pretty sure that we mostly get the ones that bought more car than they could afford. Our service guys spend their days arguing over prices.

If they do get it fixed they go with snap finance with their $300% interest rate.

Also we Lien sale many Abandoned cars.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

@Chris142 I've seen so many instances of people buying way more then they could even hope to afford, essentially an impulse or vanity purchase that is going to be repossessed in short order.

For my wifes 2018 Equinox we got last year I was mildly annoyed with the ~7.5% interest rate on the loan but I understood that was the going rate and knew I wasn't being taken advantage of and I intended to pay off the balance in a few months anyway.

The finance guy at the dealership said the person before me just financed a 10 year old BMW with close to 200k on the odometer. Interest rate close to 25% on a 6 year term. The buyer just wanted that specific car to satisfy his personal image.

Finance guy said he does a handful of those every single day and said that 50% of those are repo'd in a couple of months and probably 75% get repo'd in a year.

The ones that pay their bill will be back in a year to get something else, and they'll trade in last purchase at a loss and keep the cycle going....