What this doesn't address is the ridiculous number of bad shops in the area. I appreciate good work, and this isn't the guy I'd call a cheat. But I sure as blazes can find lots of shops, dealerships all the way down to itty bitty places, that are rip off artists...and they are far from uncommon.
Marc said about 23 hours later
My issue with mechanics (and the reason I pay the bigger price to go to a dealership) has been the quality of work. I've had several "fixes" done on a car which were bandaids at best. Going back to them to re-fix the issue is rarely a pleasurable thing. It likely boils down to GJ's comment, but it's hard to find a good and trustworthy mechanic. At least with a dealership, I can escalate issues until my problem is solved, but I think because that ability to audit them freely is always on the table, you generally get better service. It might be because they cost a little more, but when I compare the prices, I have rarely found a time where the mechanic was significantly cheaper and every time I've gone with the mechanic because they are significantly cheaper, I get the crappy quality of work I end up having to get fixed at a dealership.
GJ said 2 days later
LOL..I avoid dealerships for the same reason you avoid little shops. A good mechanic will not do shoddy work. :)
GJ said 2 days later
Oh, and good mechanics are rarely much cheaper than dealerships. I know mine isn't. But I've only had to get fixes "re-fixed" twice in four years there. Of the two dealers I used--every single damn fix had to be readdresses at least once, sometimes two or three times. I do have a third dealer who I'll be servicing my new G8 at--they're at least competent, but my independent shop gets all non-warranty work and a third shop any performance work.
Geoff said 2 days later
I run the same way. I've got a good mechanic by my house who does a good job. Dealerships are hit or miss, and even the mechanics in them. My neighbor is a mechanic at Bob Johnson Chevrolet so I could trust him to do a good job on my car...I did have a dealer service my engine and besides the fact that the mechanic couldn't figure out how to put my engine back together properly, all is well lol!
The weather today....puuurrrrfect for some heavy foot driving. Vroooooooom! GJ now knows what's up!
GJ said 2 days later
Dude, it's raining out here. You go have fun while I get to explore the finer points of driving with a light foot today.
Marc said 2 days later
You got a G8?! Nice! Anybody good at fixing window motors on a '05 Chevy Cavalier? :)
GJ said 2 days later
I would just replace it. Go get a working one from a junkyard. It's not that hard to do.
Get a Haynes manual for the car first, though--so you can figure out exactly how to do it. :)
Geoff said 3 days later
Plastic and some duct tape. Works wonders for the local gangsters. Who...by the way, asked for a burnout yesterday on my way back home from work. I'm telling you, the brotha's love the color of my car. All about the neutral gang colors, they all love orange.
