Tips How Not To Get Cheated By A Mechanic

A mechanic is not a person to avoid when you have a car. If you’re not self-sufficient (and most of us aren’t when it comes to our vehicles), you need to find someone reliable who will not only always fix whatever is wrong, but also who won’t rip you off. How can you make sure you won’t pay more than you absolutely have to?

1. Know your car and repairing the basics – it’s harder to rip off someone who knows what’s going on and what’s wrong. You don’t have to become a mechanic yourself, but it would be good to make friends with your car’s manual.
2. Make the use of one of the various diagnostic tools – use a sensor and an app to know what’s going on. You will be able to check the estimated costs of the repair and react if a mechanic charges you a lot more.
3. Ask for an up-front estimate and demand a call if a new problem arises – get the estimated price and check on your own if it’s legit. Then, ask your mechanic to always give you a call if it turns out that the problem is bigger or there’s something more. There are mechanics who claim they had to do something so they charge you for it, but they never actually did it.
4. Ask around for recommendations and read online reviews/opinions – simple as that. If someones have a trustworthy mechanic, it’s worth a try.
5. Always double-check the prices of parts on your own – see if you’re not being overcharged before you pay the bill.
6. Always ask for the old parts – some mechanics may say that they had to replace a part only to charge you for a new one when, in fact, nothing happened.

To know more about car breakdowns and how to deal with them, check out this infographic provided by Fixdapp: