In many years of car ownership, like many people, I’ve found it difficult to find a good, honest mechanic. I firstly want to point out some of the bad experiences I’ve had with mechanics and who I recommend seeing to work on your car.
It’s taken me a long time and I’ve been through a lot of people to find these mechanics. These mechanics are in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria and hopefully they can help you out as much as they’ve helped me.
Signs of a bad mechanic:
– When they tell you that they’ll keep you updated on their progress but you’re constantly following them up. Even when the car’s ready to go, at times I haven’t been notified.
– Some mechanics find extra items that aren’t urgent but may require replacement later. Instead of calling you to talk about it and get the go ahead to do the work, they replace the items and when you go to pick your car up there’s an extra surprise on your bill.
– When they can’t fit you in for the next year or two because they’re too busy.
– When you’re rushed out the door and they don’t have time to explain what they’ve done.
– A particularly bad mechanic destroyed a wheel stud on my car, knowing that I was taking the car out on a track day in the next week. I think he just expected me not to notice and downplayed it by saying it wasn’t an issue.
– In terms of prices for parts, labour and servicing, I’ve generally been lucky. However, a dealership did a poor job replacing the clutch on my BMW, resulting in a bent transmission input shaft. This resulted in a significant amount of oil to leak out from the bellhousing. Due to them not being able to repair the input shaft, they wanted to charge me $20,000 to replace the gearbox, so basically, they wanted me to pay this money for their stuff up. I ended up taking the car to get the input shaft repaired by somewhere else, still costing me about $4,000. The dealership didn’t even acknowledge that they’d made a mistake or give me any money towards the repairs. I’ve never taken the car to another dealership since this occurred.
Mechanics that I recommend:
It took me long enough, but I’ve finally found two decent workshops to take my cars to. I briefly mentioned these two mechanics in my previous post, and if you live in Melbourne, I recommend booking your car into the following for any service or repair work:
1. Eastern Ranges Motors, Lilydale
Aaron and his team have been very helpful in carrying out servicing and repair work on my Nissan 300ZX. He’s also happy to thoroughly explain the work that’s required and is a genuine car enthusiast. They were happy to replace the leaking heater core, a very time-consuming process, requiring removal of the whole dashboard. After the car was stolen, he did all the necessary work to get the car up to roadworthy standard again, including finding a smash repairer to fix the frame rails. More recently, the car was taken to them to fix a fusible link and brake issues, both jobs done well and not costing a fortune. They’re also happy to fit you in on short notice, update you on the work, don’t have any hidden surprises when picking the car up and their prices are reasonable. The option of having a loan car and being warmly welcomed at reception makes this a great mechanic to visit.
2. Ringwood Autohaus, Ringwood
For years, I’ve seen many different mechanics to fix and service my BMW M3 but have been left disappointed many times. A good friend of mine recommended I take the car to Tom from Ringwood Autohaus, who specialise mostly in European cars. Tom is very friendly, helpful and is also a car enthusiast. The team were very helpful with sorting out the cooling and spark plug issues on my M3. Like Eastern Ranges Motors, they’re also happy to fit you in on short notice, update you on the work, don’t have any hidden surprises when picking the car up and their prices are reasonable. I’ve never felt rushed out the door and Tom always has time to explain the work that he’s done and answer any questions.
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