Re: Here's what's going on w/my Scout/Help in the Bay Area?

["Tom Harais" <tjhemh@domain.elided>]

Michael:

The "other guys" were dishonest in one respect: if they didn't fix it, they
should not be charging you! At least not for thier labor.

I wasn't there, but I can tell you the made the most common mistake of
"professional" mechanics and that mistake gripes me to no end. They just
"fixed" things until they thought they had it right. Of course, you're
paying for this the whole time. They aren't dianosing the problem. They
didn't track it down. They just fixed based on symptoms, until they thought
they had eliminated all the probablities. This is an efficient way for a
pro mechanic to work. You pay for the parts, and he is keeping his
investment of time down too. But, he/she isn't doing you any favors in my
opinion.

The local mechanic I sometimes go to. He charges $73/hour for his time,
starting with the diagnosis. I am free to take the car after his diagnosis
and estimate of the costs of repair if I want to go somewhere else or
tackle the job myself. But, I OWE HIM for his diagnosis time, at the rate
of $73/hour. It is well worth it. And, I usually just have him do the job.
He puts the diagnosis time on my bill, if it was a half hour or more. If it
is less, he recoups on the repair labor.

Tom H.