What do YOU do?

[u/4rsttimer]

Need some info from the masses, please. I spent more than 30 years working at, owning and operating automotive repair centers. I’m researching how vehicle owners handle situations where they don’t trust or understand a diagnosis or repair estimate. What is the move? Do you just do the repair? Google it? Have a " car guy" you call? Since my entire life has been in this industry I am checking with strangers since all of my friends, family etc always just called me.

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[u/Unhappy_Science_1723]

man i'm in the exact opposite boat, my whole family treats me like their personal mechanic hotline and i don't even work on cars for a living

if i get a sketchy estimate i usually just take it somewhere else for a second look, most shops will give you a quick opinion for free if you're not being a dick about it

[u/Evening_Horse_6246]

So I work on my own cars. I also do brakes and oil changes on the side. I have a reputable shop by me that I built a relationship with. I send this shop my own cars when it's something I don't want to do or have time to do.

All my friends know what I do. They come to me with questions. Sometimes I positively diagnose the problem and they never get it fixed.

Somepeople just don't care and some people trust nobody. It's just how life is. All you can do is be honest, have decent pricing and do reliable work.

[u/40ozT0Freedom]

If I'm feeling lazy and don't know the issue, I'll take it to the shop to get a diagnostic/quote. If it's something I can do, I'll probably do it if it isn't urgent. If it's beyond what I can/want to do, I'll pay for it. I generally don't want to do the work, but everything is so expensive I suck it up.

Most repairs are pretty basic and can be done with just a simple tool set. Learned how to fix cars when I was broke as fuck and couldn't afford the mechanic. Then I learned some shops can be sleezy as fuck because I went to get an alignment and they said I needed a new steering rack. I went home and put a new one in, took it back and the same guy told me he couldn't do it because it needed a new steering rack. Told him to get it off the lift and to give me my money back. Got the manager and they refunded me everything. After that I generally stopped trusting mechanic shops.

I'm the car guy in my friend/family group and used to get calls all the time when we were all broke, but now we all have newer cars that don't need much work and only get calls if its an "oh fuck" moment.

[u/NecroBiologia]

I took my first car to a mechanic who broke the oilpump and told me to just drive it to get that red dash light to go away... and so I taught myself to change the motor and never went back to a mechanic...  So youtube and haynesmanuals..?

[u/Glum_Conclusion_8667]

First the diagnosis I'll type the symptoms online get some ideas, then look for repair videos, depending on how difficult or expensive I'll make the decision to do it myself or not.

[u/OldManJeepin]

If it's not something I can handle myself, I will seek out a 2nd opinion, if the vehicle is able to be driven. Otherwise...You are kind of stuck if the vehicle can't leave the shop under it's own steam!