Your health and life sometimes depend on a car mechanic no less than on a doctor. Finding a good, qualified and honest mechanic is no easier than finding the same doctor.
The problem is that today there are no clear and unambiguous criteria for the optimal choice of a service station, despite a considerable number of publications on this topic. (Let us note in parentheses that not everything that has been written on this subject is "equally useful": many texts are obviously commissioned. "... And if at the reception you see a pretty long-legged girl against the backdrop of an aquarium with a goldfish, then this is your service!.." In fact, this is not your service, but their business. And the girl is theirs. And the fish. However, we've gotten a little ahead of ourselves).
The second problem is that any car owner is simply doomed to choose a place for maintenance. Of course, you can pretend that such a problem does not exist and, guided by the simple idea of "closer and cheaper," or "expensive, but pretentious," go wherever you like. But the result will likely be disappointing and costly for you at best, and dramatic at worst.
It will be discovered that the quality of both the service and the repair itself is strangely not related to their cost, and the word "responsibility" is by definition absent from the lexicon of both "Uncle Vasya" from the garages and the most ironed serviceman.
It is clear that in this craft the qualifications and skill of a particular performer play a significant role. (And, by the way, it must be said that we have plenty of "do-it-yourselfers.") But at the same time, the level of complexity of a modern car is such that in addition to a head, hands and conscience, it also requires the appropriate equipment, tooling and tools. Therefore, as the first, although not absolute criterion for choosing a maintenance location, it is entirely possible to accept the completeness of the given location with everything necessary. Of course, we must understand that "necessary does not mean sufficient," but more on that below.
Another, more precise criterion is "white" document flow and, in general, the availability of all the necessary papers for a normal legitimate legal entity in the car service (see below - subsection "Advice of a lawyer"). The fact is that when conflict situations arise, it is much easier to sort things out with a "white" service than with a "gray" one.
In general, as has already been said, it is hardly possible to indicate the "exact route" to finding an adequate service, unless you rely on experience - your own or someone else's. But more about that below.
Besides, the situation in which every citizen of the Russian Federation who has a car finds himself against his will is complicated by what are called "objective macroeconomic factors". The fact is that in our country the ratio of the total number of cars to the number of car service stations is approximately an order of magnitude, that is, 10(!) times higher than, on average, in Europe or the USA. In practice, this means that where they have one person waiting in line, we have ten.
The conclusion that follows from this is not very encouraging: considerations like "if they do it poorly, they will lose the client" generally speaking turn out to be a consumer myth. Yes, they will lose. But they will immediately "find" another one of the remaining nine. And the attitude of the service people towards this next one will be exactly the same as towards you. Because there are eight more people behind him. This is no longer a fight between car services for clients, but a fight between clients and each other and with the car service.
In addition, the situation with personnel, who, as we know, "decide everything", in the auto service industry is, to put it mildly, not great. The half-collapsed system of vocational education is slowly and painstakingly producing specialists in the repair of automobiles that were taken out of production even before the graduates were born. If, however, the owner of the service station, out of necessity, hires such a worker, it is clear that this car service should only be visited with a GAZ-24, and even then a pre-restyling one.
Large dealerships are trying to solve the problem of the shortage of qualified workers independently from the state, by training themselves, or even sending those who are smarter, to the historical homelands of the cars being repaired for training "first-hand". This partly solves the problem. But only partly.
The author of these lines witnessed with his own eyes the process of diagnostics of the chassis of his own foreign car, which took place in the repair area of a dealership that positions itself as the largest in the world, or even in general.
I had to watch through the window, fortunately it was large and washed, because they don't let you into the repair area, and I didn't want to make a scene that time.
A mechanic approached the car hanging on the lift. Not right away, of course, but he came up with it. And this is despite the fact that the entire hour and a half in line, promised as 15 minutes, passed under the manager's meditation: "Sorry, we are very busy today, sorry."
The mechanic came up, stood under the car approximately in the middle and began diagnosing the suspension. To do this, he raised his head, which he lowered after half a minute. Then he lifted it again and with his left, free hand grabbed the steering rod. His other hand was in the pocket of his very nice branded overalls. Another half minute later, the mechanic released the steering rod and, having apparently finished diagnosing the front suspension, moved closer to the rear, where the same thing happened again. Three and a half minutes after the procedure began, the mechanic emerged from under the car, took his right, untouched hand out of his pocket and poked the lift button with his thumb. The car went down...
It was clear that the mechanic was young, sober, and interested in everything except what he was doing at the moment.
But the managers there were elegant and friendly, the girls at the entrance were long-legged and welcoming, and the fish in the aquarium were very golden...
Another case is in the "closer and cheaper" format. Garages are three minutes from the house. Handmade sign: "Car service. The lowest prices. Any foreign and domestic cars. VAZ, GAZ, Mercedes, Sobol, Hyundai, electrics, body. paint. in stone. Chassis. Diagnostic flush. Tire manipulation".
I'm approaching my homeland. VAZ white color. and very clean, but with hiking problems. A man in former special clothing comes out. Places hands of the third freshness on the freshly washed white roof. Breathes yesterday with an eye to today. He calls me commander, but for some reason we are on familiar terms... He does it poorly, sloppily, redoes it three times, demands more money, we have a row...
In general, this is also from the realm of consumer mythology. They say that somewhere out there, in the garages, far from the arrogant dealerships and shameless standard hours, there is this Uncle Vasya, whom we have already mentioned. He is a legendary hero and a folk craftsman who does not need any ingenious foreign gadgets, who sees through any car and, in his free time from shoeing fleas, fixes everything that goes, and so that it flies after that. And all for three kopecks. And no computers. Just put a seasoned crusty ear to the rear wheel, squint, look at you and say slyly and affectionately: "Uh-uh, my dear (my dear), what a probe you have..."
But it's not all that bad. Things may be much worse, but there is a way out. And there are auto mechanics who have everything in order with their heads, hands, and conscience. And there are quite adequate services. They just don't meet often. There's not much good stuff at all. The question is how to find it. And remembering that. that an exact answer is impossible, let's try to somehow structure the problem in order to at least increase the probability of a successful solution.
So, option one, you are the owner of a car under warranty. Obviously, in this case the choice is limited, since you cannot use the services of any other technical center except the dealership without the risk of losing the warranty. However, if there is not one, but a couple or more authorized centers within a reasonable driving time from you, then it makes sense to choose between them. Of course, the repair technologies, spare parts, and tools are practically the same, since they are determined by the manufacturer of a given brand of car. Moreover, even the notorious standard hours, that is, the time spent on this or that operation, are also the same for them and for the same reason. But the cost of one standard hour may well differ from dealer to dealer - in this sense, they are independent as business entities. And all things being equal, why not get the same service for less money...
The thing is that you can only be convinced of the "equality of others" through experience. But more about that below.
Life is easier for the owner of a post-warranty car. In the sense that the service book is no longer a Book of Life for him and he is free in his choice. Of course, to the extent of your freedom and if you have a choice. And the choice is this. The same dealers with a minus in the form of high cost and with pluses in the form of high-quality equipment, original technologies and spare parts, more or less "alignment" of personnel and less or more documentation of the entire process. The last plus can be of great help in case of legal action. We won't even talk about long-legged fish.
An alternative to dealers are so-called independent technical centers. It is obviously implied that they are independent of any particular manufacturer, and not at all from the obligation to do well for the client for his money. Independent technical centers can be specialized and vice versa. Specialized services are those that undertake repairs and maintenance of only certain brands of cars, or perform only a certain type of work (for example, bodywork or metalwork). All other things being equal, preference should be given to specialized auto repair shops; rarely does anyone succeed in doing everything with equal success, but again, as in the previous case, the key words here are "all other things being equal," verified exclusively through experience.
The range of formats and levels of independent services is quite wide, from large, reputable centers, equipped with equipment and personnel no worse than dealerships, to local garage servicemen - Uncle Vasya, Uncle Ashot, Uncle Dzhamshut.
There is plenty to choose from, there is... But how?!
And so, as they say, briefly about the main thing. About the most reliable, proven and almost 100% way to avoid making a mistake when choosing a car service. About experience. About the "son of difficult mistakes".
Of course, if you have many years of personal experience in this area, then you have simply wasted your time reading this text. If not, then we strongly recommend that you take advantage of other people's experience and other people's breast mistakes. That is, if you have a reliable friend or at least a good acquaintance who is a sane motorist and sincerely advises you to get repairs only there or exclusively from someone, feel free to go there or to that person.
Of course, here too there is a possibility that later, when you meet your friend, you will say:
"Well, I was there. Such a botched job!.. And they charge a lot of money"
And you will start looking for a car service again.
Well, that happens. He was lucky, you were not. But you did everything right, and therefore your conscience is clear.
And this is no less than keeping your car in good technical condition.
But there is another 100% way to avoid mistakes in choosing a car service. The method is simple, reliable, and everyone who has started using it now simply does not recognize other methods.
The method is as follows. You begin to use the book you hold in your hands for its intended purpose. And you do everything you can with these hands. And now you don't depend on queues, or standard hours, or a sober mechanic, or a drunk one. From nothing except your own skill, which you will not necessarily acquire with the help of our book. This will end your search once and for all.
Because you can't even imagine a more independent and reliable "car service" than yourself.