scheduled maintenance on vehicles

[Baja28 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Dixie

Common ground. Scary.

Cheseldine is awesome. I started going there when I heard an odd noise now and then that I thought was my muffler (I know zilch about cars). It ended up being my catalytic converter and it was a big ticket item as far as I was concerned. I didn't even think to check the warranty. They did though - they even called up the ford dealer for me to double check and did something with the parts that they had ordered and received to get it transferred to aldridge who did not have the parts in stock. They could have fixed the whole damn thing without telling me and gotten the $2,000 it would have cost but they didn't.

I've had similiar experiences with them for other things also - brakes that I thought needed replacing - only to be told you still have like 70 percent in the front - bring it back in another month or so - or that they blew the dust out and they stopped squealing. They're really good - Gary won't steer you wrong and the young guy that worked the counter - not sure he's there anymore - but if you don't understand what they're trying to do - he'll draw you a picture until you do - he loves cars.

I grew up with Johnny & Gary. They're honest and will treat you right.

Now PM me your name, make, model & color of your car so I can tell them to put GOP stickers all over your bumpers.

[aps45819]

Originally Posted by winniesmom

Can anyone recommend a reputable auto service shop in St.Mary's co that you can trust that they will be honest and do the right thing like changing oil etc on my car.

ANYBODY can change your oil
Had a friend that put himself through college by doing Home oil changes.
Set of ramps and a case of oil and he's do it in your driveway.

[Bann (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Baja28

Now PM me your name, make, model & color of your car so I can tell them to put GOP stickers all over your bumpers.

[BOP]

Originally Posted by mAlice

Jay, @ the old Sunoco on 235 or Eric @ Ridge Service Center on 235 in...Ridge.

We used to go to Jay. Personally, I like him, and won't say anything bad about him, but we did move on to Hewitt's. John, the lead mechanic, treats us right, and we've been very satisfied. I've heard good things about Cheseldine's as well, so you probably can't go wrong with them.

Having been a dealer mechanic (Ford & Toyota) for a long time, let me say this: you can't make money on flag hour with oil changes and tire rotations. Well, you could, but you have to do a helluva lot of them. You also can't make money doing warranty repairs. They generally pay a fraction of book time, and again, you have to have a steady stream of cars rolling through your bay, hour after hour, day after day, and that ain't going to happen.

An example would be: if a certain transmission on a certain make and model paid 5 hours to remove and install, including diagnostic and quality checks, in most cases, the manufacturer might pay, let's say 3 hours for the same job under warranty. I won't get into the nuances of the thing, but you get the general idea. Obviously, I'd have to do almost 2 warranty transmissions in roughly the same time frame as the customer pay transmission in order to make the same kind of money.

Where's my incentive to pick the warranty job over the customer pay job, unless my boss threatens to fire me?

Or, if I'm among the 10 percent of mechanics/shops that are, say, less than forthright, where's the incentive to tell you that your vehicle is under warranty? For most of us, we tell you you're under warranty because we love cars, we love what we do, and we tend to be too honest for our own good (questions of karma aside for the moment). Remember: locked doors only keep honest people honest. Mull it over for a while.

Besides, most of us always carry in the backs of our minds: what if it were my wife/sister/mother/girlfriend in front of us, instead of you?

The only thing that makes YOU, as a mechanic, money, is customer pay work. There just isn't enough of that kind of work to go around at a dealership, and with the pay structure for warranty work dictated by the manufacturers, there's no incentive NOT to go after customer pay work like a hungry shark after a seal.

If you find an honest shop/mechanic: stick with them. Sure, there will be occasional glitches, but they're honest and they mean well. Besides, why is it that we EXPECT doctors to PRACTICE medicine, but our mechanics to NEVER, EVER make a mistake?

[Baja28 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Dixie

You first!

I'll put it right here.

Mike Insmd
White, Dodge, Quad Cab, Sport, 4x4
Gray, Toyota, Camry
Blue, Harley, Electraglide UltraClassic

Bring on the GOP stickers!!

[huntr1]

Originally Posted by aps45819

Had a friend that put himself through college by doing Home oil changes.
Set of ramps and a case of oil and he's do it in your driveway.

2 guys I grew up with did this. They would come to you and do standard maint. on your car (brakes, oil, tire rotation, etc.). 1 now works at Ron Bortnick Ford in Upper Marlboro (has for years) and the other owns a local (St. Mary's Co.) auto parts place.