Chapter 22
When All Else Fails: Finding and Dealing with a Good Mechanic
In This Chapter
Choosing the type of service facility that’s right for you
Paying attention to the certification of the mechanic and/or shop
Evaluating automotive service facilities and deciphering a mechanic’s invoice
Maintaining a good relationship with a repair shop
Getting satisfaction on any complaint
You just moved and your trusted former repair facility is too far away. Or you bought a new set of wheels, and your old shop doesn’t work on that particular type of vehicle. You haven’t the faintest idea of where to go when your vehicle requires service that’s beyond your abilities, or where to get help in an emergency. The phone book is full of ads, but how can you tell which shops are reliable and which are just waiting to take advantage of you? Relax, dear friend; you’ve come to the right place for advice.
In this chapter, I tell you how to find a good service facility, give you tips for establishing a good relationship with one, and provide you with a winning strategy for getting satisfaction on any type of consumer complaint.
Choosing a Service Facility
Several kinds of shops repair and service vehicles: dealerships, chain stores, specialists, and independents. How do you decide which is the right shop for you? Each has its drawbacks as well as its advantages. The following sections describe each of these service options so that you can choose the type that’s best for you.
Of course, the type of facility you select may vary depending on the kind of specialized service your vehicle requires. If you drive a hybrid or other alternatively fueled vehicle, it’s probably best to stick to the dealership. If you drive a traditionally powered vehicle, you may be able to depend on an experienced independent for the best deal on reliable, competent service at a good price. You may find the best buys on tires at a major chain and the best brake or transmission work done at shops that specialize in them. See the section “Finding a Reliable Service Facility” for more information.
Dealerships
They often provide extra services to ensure goodwill. These can include notification of any maintenance that’s due, special sales on service and optional equipment, and so on.
They usually have a variety of factory-trained specialists on the premises. The advantage is that you may be able to have brake work, transmission work, and sometimes even bodywork done at the same place.
They stock a wide variety of original parts and equipment (OEM) made specifically for your vehicle. This not only assures you of satisfaction if parts fail, but original parts may increase the resale value of your vehicle.
If you have a complaint, you’re dealing with an established company that’s financially able to reimburse you and that’s insured to cover any major lawsuits that may result.
However, dealerships have disadvantages to consider as well:
Dealerships may be more expensive than other types of service facilities. Independent shops usually have a lower overhead to support.
The sales and service departments of a dealership often operate as separate entities. The attitude may be, “We have more work than we can handle, so if you’re not happy here, you can go somewhere else.” If you feel that’s the case, complain to the dealership.
You probably won’t receive the personalized service that you may get from an independent repair shop. At the dealership, you generally deal with a service writer who assigns your vehicle to the next technician available when its number comes up. Of course, if you build a good relationship with the service writer, he or she may honor your request for a specific technician who’s familiar with your vehicle and its quirks.
Chain and department stores
Large chain stores and department stores that have automotive service departments offer their own set of pros and cons. Some advantages include:
They can be less expensive than dealerships.
They usually stock a wide variety of parts, many of which are made to their specifications and carry their brand name. How these parts compare in price and quality to the original equipment supplied by the car manufacturer varies, depending on which chain you deal with.
The only time you absolutely don’t want to use anything but original equipment is when you’re restoring a classic car or if there are no reliable aftermarket parts available.
They usually provide good guarantees on parts and labor. And if you have a complaint, they’re generally motivated to keep your goodwill.
Large chain stores maintain branches nationwide that honor their warranties and guarantees. If you move or travel frequently, this feature can be very beneficial.
Chain and department stores also have their disadvantages, including the following:
They use service writers, and the work tends to be impersonal, with a new technician working on your vehicle each time.
Technicians at some chains get a commission on the parts they sell. This may motivate them to sell you a new part instead of repairing an old one, or to perform work that your vehicle may not really need.
Here’s a feature of large chains that has both positive and negative aspects: They’re good training grounds for inexperienced technicians who are just out of school and are working at their first professional jobs. If it falls into incompetent hands, your vehicle may turn out to be a guinea pig as well as a gas hog. On the other hand, it may be lucky enough to be tended to by bright, enthusiastic young people with all the latest knowledge and techniques at their fingertips.
Independents
An independent service facility can offer the best — or the worst — alternative. Consider these points:
Honest, reliable, and experienced independents can provide personalized service based on high standards of excellence. They can offer you the opportunity to communicate directly with a professional who knows you, knows your vehicle, and cares a great deal about maintaining a good reputation because most independent business comes from referrals.
Many independent shops are less expensive than dealerships. Others, especially those that service only luxury cars or high-performance sports cars, may offer the finest workmanship at relatively exorbitant rates. A cherished few provide fine workmanship at low prices — these people are probably saints disguised in greasy coveralls!
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Check carefully to be sure that the shop is reliable and able to do the job. Expertise, the ability to stay current by attending classes held by automakers (who sometimes bar independents from enrollment), the availability of specialized tools and
service manuals,
and the variety of parts in inventory may vary from one independent shop to another. A good independent knows where to find the proper talent, borrow the tools, and buy
OEM
parts at a good price. An unreliable one patches things together, uses cheap parts, and hopes for the best.
Specialists
There are two types of specialists: One type is a specialized chain store or independent facility that deals with a specific kind of repair, such as brake work, transmission work, bodywork, or muffler replacement. The other type of specialist is an independent shop that works only on specific makes or vehicles, such as Ferraris, Volvos, motorcycles, or classic cars.
Here are the pros and cons to consider:
A reliable specialist can provide the experience, specialized tools, and extensive inventory that may be unavailable at a shop that handles everything in general and nothing in particular. If you know that the trouble with your vehicle resides in a particular automotive system, you may want to look for a well-established specialist who focuses on that type of work.
Some specialized chains that sell and install cheap parts may be more interested in selling new parts than in repairing old ones. Their lifetime guarantees may keep you coming back to pay more for the labor to install those “free” replacement parts than you’d spend initially on higher-quality parts that last longer.
Check out national chains that specialize in the type of repair you need in consumer publications such as Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org) to be sure that the one you choose has a good reputation for durable parts and quality service.
Finding a Reliable Service Facility
Several organizations test, rate, and certify good service facilities or individual technicians. If you’re unsure about a particular shop, you can feel pretty secure if you see a sign posted in the shop or a patch on a technician’s uniform that indicates that the shop or the individual has achieved recognition from one of the following programs:
AAA (American Automobile Association) or Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) Approved Repair Facilities: Both the AAA and the Canadian Automobile Association have rating programs for auto repair shops. Representatives from these organizations visit and evaluate service facilities to make sure that they meet high standards for reliable work at a fair price, willingness to resolve complaints, and a history of few complaints. To qualify, shops must provide customers with written estimates of all costs and offer a minimum warranty on parts and labor of 12 months or 12,000 miles (12 months or 20,000 kilometers in Canada).
In most cases and with some exceptions, both the AAA and the CAA are willing to arbitrate disputes between members and approved shops if negotiations between the shop and the member aren’t successful.
To find an Approved Repair Facility in your area, look for the AAA or CAA logo on display at a shop, contact your local or regional association office, or visit www.aaa.com or www.caa.ca to find contact information for national headquarters.
If you’re a member of one of these clubs and you have an unresolved complaint about an approved shop, contact the Approved Auto Repair Service Program at your local auto club or its national headquarters.
ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) Certified Technicians: The ASE certifies technicians (not individual shops) by testing them on a variety of automobile repair specialties, including brakes and transmissions. ASE-certified automotive technicians and other service professionals can be identified in several ways: the blue and white ASE Blue Seal of Excellence sign displayed by a facility, the ASE certificates earned by their technicians displayed in the office or waiting room, or the ASE shoulder patch on a technician’s uniform. To obtain a list of ASE-certified technicians and/or Blue Seal businesses in your area, visit www.asecert.org.
ADS (Association of Diesel Specialists): If you own a diesel-powered vehicle that’s out of
warranty
and you’re looking for a reliable diesel mechanic, look in your local yellow pages under “Automobile Repair & Service” for a shop that displays the ADS logo. ADS-authorized shops must send their technicians to factory schools to keep abreast of new parts, techniques, and systems; must meet high standards for cleanliness; and must stock sufficient tools and parts to deal efficiently with most diesel repair and maintenance jobs. To obtain a list of authorized shops, visit www.diesel.org.
ASA (National Automotive Service Association): The ASA advances professionalism and excellence in the automotive repair industry through education, representation, and member services. For a list of ASA member shops, look for the ASA logo in your local yellow pages under “Automobile Repair & Service” or visit www.asashop.org.
Service and achievement awards: Check out the framed certificates hanging in the facility manager’s office. Reliable facilities often receive awards for customer service excellence. Also look for certificates awarded to individual technicians who have completed factory-training programs that qualify them to operate specialized electronic equipment and for grateful letters from satisfied customers.
Better Business Bureau: Check with your local Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) to find out whether a shop has been the subject of numerous consumer complaints.
Referrals: I’ve always felt that the best way to find a good mechanic is the same way you find a doctor, lawyer, or plumber — through referrals. Ask people who drive the same make vehicle as you do where they go for repairs, and then check out the shops that are conveniently located.
Evaluating a Facility
Before you need service, follow up a positive phone interview with an unannounced visit to gather answers to the following questions:
Is the place clean and well-organized or filthy and cluttered? Auto repair is a trade that calls for patience and precision. If the shop is sloppy and disorganized, the work may be, too.
Does the shop have modern electronic diagnostic and testing equipment? Up-to-date machines save time (and your money) by pinpointing trouble areas and checking adjustments and tolerances. Ask if shop technicians attend factory schools and seminars run by manufacturers to learn how to use the more sophisticated analyzers and if they keep up- to-date on new systems.
Modern vehicles require sophisticated, specialized, diagnostic computer equipment, sometimes specific to the make and model of vehicle. Find out whether your vehicle is in that category. If it is, you may have to take it to your local dealership for any work involving computer-controlled functions.
Does the shop have the necessary tools to do your job? Ask whether any part of the job will have to be sent out to a specialist. If so, ask if the shop will only charge you what the specialist billed them, or if the shop will increase the charge to compensate themselves for the time and effort involved in delivering the vehicle to the specialist and picking it up afterward.
If the entire job has to be done by an outside specialist, consider taking the vehicle there directly instead of having your shop serve as a middleman. Avoid conflicts with your service facility by saying that you want another estimate.
What form of payment does the shop accept? The advantage of using a credit card is that in the event of a dispute, you can withhold payment until the credit card company investigates the situation.
How long does the shop guarantee its repairs? Guarantees usually range from one month to one year. If a shop doesn’t think that its work will endure for at least three months, go elsewhere.
Can the shop provide references? Most shops allow you to call a few of its customers who have the same vehicle to see whether they were satisfied with service.
By the clock: Any type of automotive repair facility may determine the cost of a job by multiplying a fixed hourly labor rate by the time it took to complete the work. This simple system encourages technicians to take the time to do their best work. However, this system makes it difficult to accurately estimate what the job will cost because unexpected technical problems can raise the price significantly.
Pre-established price lists: Specialists and major chains such as brake, muffler, and transmission shops often set fixed prices for specific jobs. Sometimes several basic services are combined into one package. Prices are easy to understand and usually are competitive. You don’t pay more if the job goes slowly.
Flat rates: Most shops base their prices on the Flat Rate Manual, which lists every job that can be done and the amount of time it should take to accomplish the job on a specific vehicle. Estimates are accurate because they aren’t affected if a job takes longer than normal. However, you may be charged for the amount of time listed in the manual no matter how little time the work actually takes. Few shops will keep a technician who can’t “beat the book” by a substantial amount of time, so mechanics may skimp and cut corners to complete repairs as quickly as possible.
Variable flat rates: Some dealerships price jobs not only by the Flat Rate Manual but also by the level of skill necessary to do the work properly. Maintenance jobs usually are priced at a lower rate than more sophisticated repairs. You aren’t penalized if the job takes longer than expected.
Flat rates and parts commissions: At many chains or department stores, the mechanic shares in the profits on the sale of parts. You aren’t penalized if the job takes longer than expected, but you may have to pay more for a new part that could have been repaired cheaply and easily, or for parts that you never needed in the first place.
Getting the Best Possible Deal
If you’re dealing with a new shop or you’re faced with major repairs, get at least a second opinion and an estimate of costs from another repair shop. If there’s a big discrepancy, or if it’s a very costly job, get a third estimate and discard any that are much higher or lower than the others.
Ask for detailed, written estimates and updates. Require the shop to call you before they start the repairs if they find that the job will cost more than originally estimated. Beware of general statements; try to get as detailed an estimate as possible.
If major work is underway, ask to be notified about what they find right after they open the vehicle up to diagnose the problem. Will it be a simple adjustment or a major
rebuild?
Ask to be called if that estimate changes because the shop uncovers other problems during the course of the estimated repairs.
Save yourself from paying for unnecessary R&R (which means “removal and replacement,” not “rest and relaxation!”). If the technicians have to open the transmission or the
cylinder head
or get into the engine or any other hard-to-get-at area in order to make a repair, ask them to check the whole area for any other parts that look as though they’re about to need repair or replacement. A good chunk of the cost for labor is usually associated with just taking stuff apart and putting it back together again, so if the shop has to do removal and repair only once, you save money.
Don’t give the shop carte blanche to replace anything they please. Tell them that you will want to see how badly the parts are wearing before they proceed with any unauthorized work, and call around for estimates before you agree to additional major surgery if you feel that the price the shop quotes is out of line. (However, keep in mind that you’ll have to pay the new shop for R&R, as well.)
Ask that all the parts that are replaced be returned to you, regardless of whether the laws in your state require it. That way you can be sure that you’re getting what you pay for.
Ask for credit for the core charge on any rebuildable part that’s going to be replaced. Always ask what the shop will do with your old part. If they’re going to rebuild and resell it or sell it to a rebuilder, the core charge should be deducted from the price of the part that you buy to replace it.
Now go home, cross your fingers, and wait for the operation to be over. Of course, you may still be ripped off, but you’ll know that you’ve done everything possible to prevent that from happening. And because you’ve been so diligent and are so familiar with the parts and systems involved, you just may scare a potential cheat into doing a good job and charging you properly for it.
Always check the invoice carefully
When you bring a vehicle into a service facility, you receive an original invoice with information identifying your vehicle, listing the work they plan to do, and an estimate of what it will cost. When the work is finished, they will give you a final copy of this invoice that lists the actual work done and the cost of the labor and parts it required. This section tells you what to look for when you receive the original, estimated invoice and how to understand the final bill.
A standard mechanic’s invoice is divided into separate areas, each of which serves a different purpose. To decipher an invoice, match the number preceding each of the following items with the corresponding number on the invoice shown in Figure 22-1:
1 Description of the work: This area should list each job that needed to be done. When you pick up your vehicle from the shop, check this area item by item to see that everything was taken care of.
2 Labor charges: These charges are shown in fractions of an hour. If a job seems to have taken an excessively long time, ask to check the Flat Rate Manual, which is a listing of every job that can be done on a vehicle, with the amount of time it should take to accomplish it.
If the hours seem right, multiply them by the shop’s hourly rate to make sure that the math is correct. Then check that the labor total is the same as that shown in the Totals column 5.
3 Parts used: Each part should be listed with its price. Make sure that the costs have been added correctly and that the total is the same as that shown in the Totals column 5.
4 Subcontracted repairs: This area should show all the work that was sent out of the shop to be done by a specialist. The total costs should be repeated in the Totals column 5.
5 Totals: All the charges in the previous sections are repeated and totaled separately in this column. You pay the final figure.
In addition, every invoice should have a space for a written estimate 6 and a phone number 7 where you can be reached if necessary. You’ll be asked to sign the estimate on the signature line 8 when you receive the original estimated invoice, before the work begins.
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Figure 22-1: A standard mechanic’s invoice. |
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Establish a good relationship with your service facility
Finding a mechanic who’s reliable, honest, intelligent, efficient, and relatively inexpensive isn’t enough. You should aim for “most favored customer” status. After you discover an outstanding automotive shop, the ball is in your court when it comes to establishing a good and lasting relationship that will have them going out of their way to make you happy. Even though most small businesses are struggling to stay alive these days, a good independent service facility is an exception. Every outstanding one that I’ve encountered has had more business than time to deal with it.
Call for an appointment. Don’t just show up and expect the shop to drop everything and take care of you.
Get your vehicle into the shop early (by 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. at the latest) if you hope to get it out the same day. Allow sufficient time to give the technician or service writer a full account of what you want done or what you’ve found to be wrong with the car.
Bring along a written list of the things you want serviced or repaired. Include a phone number where you can be reached if questions arise or if the work is going to cost more than the original estimate.
On your list of what should be serviced or repaired, be as specific as possible about the symptoms you’ve experienced. This is of great use to the technicians who work on the vehicle. Help them out even more by clarifying what is happening, when it happens, and where the trouble seems to be located.
To give you an idea of what kinds of things to look for, important symptoms include:
• Warning lights and abnormal gauge readings
• Abnormal changes in acceleration, braking, mileage, steering, and fluid levels
• Drips, leaks, odors, vibrations, and smoke signals
• Any change in the sounds the vehicle makes when starting up, on the road, or coming to a stop
• Unevenly or prematurely worn belts, tires, and hoses
If you can provide enough information to help the shop diagnose the trouble easily, you won’t have to pay for test drives and electronic diagnostic procedures that may cost more than the simple adjustments or repairs that are necessary.
Provide the clearest information you can regarding all the symptoms, but do not diagnose the problem yourself!
If you tell a shop that your vehicle needs a specific job done on it, then that’s the work that will be done, and you’ll pay for it whether the vehicle needed it or not. If you want to inquire whether the trouble might be caused by a malfunction in a specific part, then do so but keep it in the form of a question. The final diagnosis must be up to the repair shop so that it can be responsible if the diagnosis turns out to be wrong.
Keep a maintenance record on your vehicle and bring a photocopy for the shop’s records if it didn’t perform the past maintenance. I provide a blank Maintenance Record, as well as a Specifications Record for basic information about a vehicle that will come in handy when shopping for parts, in Appendix B at the back of this book.
Don’t press to get the job done fast unless you’re really in a bind. A great way to take the pressure off everyone is to ask whether the shop has a spare vehicle, or loaner, that you can borrow until you get yours back.
Call to make sure that your vehicle is ready before you make the trip to pick it up. If it isn’t ready, try to be understanding (unless the shop is chronically slow about getting work done). If it’s a matter of parts that were ordered but not delivered on time, there’s little that the shop can do about it. If there’s a delay simply because the shop is overbooked with work, be polite but firm about your need to get the vehicle back as soon as possible.
When the vehicle is ready, ask what was wrong and what was done to repair the problem. Enter the details on your Maintenance Record for future reference. These records are also assets when you sell your vehicle.
Be prepared to spend a little time test-driving to be sure that the job has been done to your satisfaction. You’re better off returning immediately with your complaints than showing up several days later, after any number of things may have happened to mess things up.
Show your appreciation for a job well done. A phone call to the manager means a lot to a service facility, but a letter that the shop can display, praising a technician’s work, is even better.
If you know that your favorite independent technician likes a particular beverage or snack, arrange your pick-up for the end of the day, and bring that treat along in a paper bag. If you’re lucky, you may be invited to stay and share it. I’ve received some of my most valuable tutoring strolling around a shop after working hours, cold beverage in hand, while my mechanic expounded on the secrets of his art.
Complaining Effectively
Even if you follow all my advice about finding good service facilities and staying on the best of terms with them, there’s still a chance that someday you’ll get into a dispute. If you’ve maintained a good relationship with a shop, they’re likely to be cooperative about redoing work that fails to correct a problem, replacing defective parts that they’ve installed, and the like.
Getting satisfaction on any complaint
I learned the following technique from an excellent human-potential trainer, and I pass it on to you. It’s based on this “Golden Rule”:
Follow these steps to get satisfaction when dealing with any kind of dispute:
1. Before you contact anyone, decide exactly what you want done.
Presenting a specific plan for remedial action is much more powerful than waiting passively for someone else to decide what they’re willing to do for you.
2. Time your campaign carefully.
Don’t call just before lunchtime or closing time. Someone who’s hungry or eager to get home won’t want to spend a lot of time trying to help you.
Try calling 24-hour customer-service numbers in the middle of the night. Chances are they’ll be grateful for a bit of diversion.
3. Approach the proper person in a friendly way, assuming that he or she wants to do everything possible to settle the issue fairly.
To find out which person to approach, see the next section, “Climbing the complaint ladder.”
4. Open with a bit of friendly conversation.
The key is to establish a relationship as human beings. If possible, get on a first-name basis. Most complaint personnel have been trained to deal with suspicion, anger, and aggression. Very few are taught to expect friendliness, trust, and compassion. When they encounter it, the battle tactics they’ve been taught are useless.
5. Clearly state the problem and what you’d like the person to do about it.
Tell your story as though you were talking to a sympathetic friend, without blaming anyone. Keep it as short as possible, and don’t cloud the issue with unnecessary details.
6. Be prepared to back up your request with as much documentation as possible.
This is why it’s so important to keep maintenance records, invoices, guarantees, and warranties. If you’re asked to document your case, never part with your originals; just send copies. It’s foolish to place your strategic weapons in the hands of a company that has everything to gain by “losing” them!
7. Listen patiently to the person’s responses without interrupting.
If he or she gives you a hard-luck story to explain negligence or inability to give you satisfaction, be sympathetic. Showing that you care about the person’s problems will encourage him or her to care about yours.
8. In a friendly fashion, keep reiterating your problem and what you want done to rectify the situation.
Say things like, “Gee, that’s really a problem. I know how hard it must be to deal with something like that — and what can you do to help me?” Be reasonable. If the person can’t do exactly what you suggest, be willing to consider other alternatives as long as the problem is resolved.
9. Encourage the other person to see the problem through your eyes.
Say, “Jim, put yourself in my place. How would you like to schlep yourself to work on the bus for a week only to find that your car still doesn’t work when you pick it up and won’t be ready for another ten days?”
10. If the person says that he or she can’t help you, ask who has the authority to do so, and get your call transferred.
11. If you’re told that it’s company policy not to provide a remedy for your problem, stay cheerful — but refuse to accept it.
Kid the person out of it. (“Oh, come on, Charlotte, there has to be someone who can take this load off your shoulders. I’m sure your company wants to deal fairly with its customers, so who has the power to ‘temper justice with mercy’?”)
12. Repeat the process with every person you’re referred to. Keep repeating it until you get satisfaction.
This combination of friendliness, sympathy, and inflexibility really pays off. I’ve seen people go out of their way to help me after they realized that I expected them to be compassionate and creative people who could remedy the situation and that I cared about the difficulties they may have in doing so. So try it. What can you lose? You can always bring out the big guns as a last resort!
Climbing the complaint ladder
It’s usually good policy to take an auto repair complaint first to the person you dealt with and then work your way up to higher levels of power, if necessary. Going over someone’s head rarely pays off unless that person has proven to be unsympathetic or unable to help you.
Here’s a list of the steps to climb if you’re working your way up the automotive complaint ladder (you can adapt it to deal with the hierarchy involved in other kinds of complaints):
1. The technician who did the repairs
2. The manager of the shop, or the service manager if it’s a dealership or large chain
3. The owner of the shop or dealership
4. The factory representative at the car manufacturer’s nearest regional office
Write to the representative and explain what happened and what you want in order to resolve the issue. Be sure to include the following information:
• The name and address of the service facility
• The names and titles of the people you’ve already dealt with while trying to get satisfaction
• The make, model, and year of your vehicle and its vehicle identification number (VIN).
• Copies (not originals) of any documentation that you think is required, such as invoices, warranties, previous correspondence, and so on
5. The president or CEO of the corporation that built the vehicle
Some people suggest going to the corporate public relations department first, but I disagree. I’ve found that both the chief executive and the PR department often send the matter back to the regional office for action, so I’d rather have the president’s or CEO’s initials on the letter when it shows up at regional headquarters again.
6. If you still “can’t get no satisfaction” or you have problems with an independent shop that refuses to settle the matter properly, write to your local Better Business Bureau, your local Bureau of Automotive Consumer Affairs (if there is one), and your state’s Consumer Protection Agency.
These organizations may suggest taking the matter to a mediation service, or they may apply pressure of their own. Some states have special bureaus dedicated solely to handling auto repair disputes. If you live in Canada, contact the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan (CAM/VAP) at 800-207-0685 or www.camvap.ca.
7. If the shop has AAA, CAA, ASE, ASA, or ADS accreditation, write to those organizations with the full specifics of your complaint.
8. If your problem is with a dealership, visit the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Web site at www.nada.org to see whether your state has a mediation service (these services have no clout with independents, however).
9. Consider taking either an independent service facility or a dealership to small claims court.
In many states, new laws have raised the maximum of small claims settlements to levels that cover all but the most expensive auto repair disputes. The fees involved are generally negligible, and you don’t need a lawyer. From my experience, small claims procedures are usually swift and fair and aimed at allowing “the little guy” to bring a case of litigation without the need for legal or technical expertise or for great amounts of time and money. Be sure to bring all your documentation and, if possible, a witness who can testify on your behalf. “Expert” witnesses, like other automotive technicians, can be especially useful.
Many establishments would prefer to settle a dispute personally than to lose valuable time in court and have the fact that they’ve been sued by dissatisfied customers known to the general public and the Better Business Bureau. So it may be good to make these intentions known to the shop before you actually pursue these options.
10. If you’re really riled, you can complain to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (or one of its regional offices) at www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm.
11. To register complaints about defects and to obtain data on recalls, fuel, tires, child seats, seatbelts, and other safety-related issues, call the Department of Transportation’s Vehicle Hotline at 888-327-4236.
12. Another excellent guide to obtaining satisfaction is the Consumer Action Handbook. It’s full of valuable information on a variety of topics. Request the handbook by visiting www.consumeraction.gov.
13. Contact the Consumer Federation of America at www.consumerfed. org. This group of some 300 nonprofit organizations represents consumer interests through advocacy and education.