How to choose a good mechanic
Joe Baber (Col ’09) is the owner of Peacock Auto Service in Charlottesville and has been a professional mechanic for 10 years.
Take a look around
Spend a moment to visually inspect the prospective shop. Note the cars located in the parking area. Are they similar in value to yours, or does the parking lot look like a junk yard? Next, peek into the shop area. Is it clean and organized? A lot of information can be garnered by the condition of a work area. Chances are that if the technicians take pride in their work area, they’ll take the same pride in the repair of your vehicle.
Beware of “oil change specials”
Any shop that runs specials or gimmicks does so for a reason—to lure in potential victims. There’s not much of a profit margin on an oil change, so shops offering such specials do so only to get you in the door. Once they have your car on the lift, shops of ill repute will attempt to sell you a bevy of “necessary” repairs and services.
Call ahead to check availability
Good shops are busy shops, and they might not be able to accommodate you right away. If a shop is reputable, honest and does good work, chances are that many others know about it as well. But don’t be deterred if you are in a crunch—good shops also have a way of fitting you in if time is truly an issue.
Find a pressure-free zone
A good shop will take the time to get to know you and your vehicle. The mechanics will suggest appropriate services that will best meet your needs, not just throw a large estimate at you in the hopes that some of it will stick. Don’t let a shop bully you into excessive amounts of preventive maintenance or coerce you with an enormous estimate the first time you walk in the door. Contrary to what they might say, your car will not implode if you don’t purchase the most expensive maintenance package.
Feel free to ask questions
If you don’t understand what is wrong with your car and what needs to be serviced or repaired, don’t be afraid to ask for a comprehensive explanation. Good shops have nothing to hide and won’t mind taking the extra time to make sure you understand exactly what needs to be done to get you back on the road.
Comments
I would like to discuss the assertion made above, specifically that substantive review is a prerequisite to successful preparation for standardized exams. In my estimation, and I should say in large part due to my personal history in preparing for an exam that is highly substantive in nature (the GMAT exam, which is required for admission to business school), I did not feel that I need a great deal of substantive review. On the contrary, I found that I needed to focus almost entirely on the strategic aspects of the exam. For example, in the data sufficiency section, which is without question the most challenging portion of the GMAT exam, strategies are far more important than substantive knowledge.
As a UVA grad myself, I get this magazine in the mail. I was studying for the GMAT exam and saw the ad and contacted Jefferson Prep. To be honest, they have by far the worst customer service I've ever received. Richard, their "president/owner" or whatever title he likes to attach to his name is simply rude. He does not understand what it means to provide someone with a remote sense of customer service. But besides Richard himself, here are my comments after I actually signed up and paid for the course. Its a scam. They have nice people picking up the phone and luring you into signing up, but the tutors are simply "study-buddies". The tutor was a great person, but simply not a great tutor by any standard of imagination. The tutor was not familiar with the updated versions of the exam and they try to teach you things that are outdated. It got to the point where my time was better spent studying by myself rather than wasting with the tutor, and that gets pricey. On top of that, their "corporate office", if you can call the three guys that work in their office that answer the phones, are complete jerks. When they want your money, they are great. As soon as they get the money, and you need some sort of assistance, they refuse to speak with you, and ask you to email them all the complaints, and hang up the phone. I have contacted Better Business Bureau to suspend this company, along with contacting UVA and asking them to never advertise this company. Please save your money. Spend it for great tutors, and there are great tutors out there, but they simply dont work for this company.
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