The crew at вЂњCar TalkвЂќ took serious offense to customers who used their repair shop as a second opinion before going elsewhere. Remember that you are taking up a mechanicвЂ™s time when you request an estimate. If you vehicle reeks, people are going to associate that smell with you. Take the same approach you ought to take with garbage: Before going in for a repair, clean up the car the best you can. Whether youвЂ™ve got a rowdy dog or kids in diapers traveling with you every day, the odors they create could turn a mechanicвЂ™s stomach. In a post covering what they hated about customers, the gang from NPRвЂ™s вЂњCar TalkвЂќ called out folks who donвЂ™t realize how bad their car smells. Terrible smellsДog and/or baby smells can make a mechanicвЂ™s life miserable when doing repairs on the interior. When you have nothing to offer, a mechanic might think you donвЂ™t give a damn about the process. Before you go into a repair shop, take note of when the problem occurs, how it affects performance, and other details - whether or not they seem important. | iStockДid your car begin having the problem after a road accident? Does it happen in every gear? Are there any other observations you have? This information will help a mechanic diagnose a problem and could speed up the process of solving the issue. Zero insight on carвЂ™s problemДЄny type of background information could help a mechanic diagnose the issue. Otherwise, they might just think of you as a bit of a slob. In some cases, mechanics might take it as a lack of respect for their work, especially if they need to fix something inside the vehicle. Taking it to the shop with a bunch of garbage inside will probably raise a few eyebrows. Most people take the same approach to their car. If you invite someone to your house, you will probably straighten things up so it looks presentable. A dirty car interiorДЄ filthy car interior tends to send a message about the vehicleвЂ™s owner. Imagine how it will feel having your car towed to the garage after rendering it undriveable. If you tried and failed to pull off a repair your mechanic could handle easily, youвЂ™re going to be embarrassed (not to mentioned judged). Maybe you can handle tinkering with small fixes or changing the oil, but getting involved with the engine or brake system gets tricky. Just because you took a six-week night class doesnвЂ™t make you ready to start working on the old Dodge. Botched DIY jobsДo-it-yourself repairs gone wrong could affect a mechanicвЂ™s judgment of you. Wait your turn like a good citizen and chances are your mechanic will be happy the next time you come in. ThatвЂ™s the natural order of things, and if you try to change that you might get the gang at the garage angry. Someone with a more pressing problem (or someone ahead of you) might come first. Mechanics have an idea how theyвЂ™re going to work over the course of the day, so donвЂ™t expect to just jump the line and get your repair done first. When a repair shop has several jobs to do, you cannot always expect your car to be fixed first. If itвЂ™s something known to be essential for cars, he probably will judge you, and you canвЂ™t blame him. Were it some obscure bit of maintenance, your mechanic might give you a pass. Failing to change your oil every 5,000 miles or so means poor lubrication, parts corrosion, overheating, and other symptoms of decay. When you bring in a car and your mechanic sees piston wear and dinged steel parts, heвЂ™s going to ask if you changed the oilВ recently. Woman talking to a car mechanic in his repair shop, both are standing next to the car If you act like a jerk or treat a vehicle like something disposable when you go to the shop, you could end up with your mechanic judging you. Meanwhile, it wouldnвЂ™t hurt to show that you care about your car too. Treating the staff at a repair shop with respect in every aspect of the transaction is essential. Without the right crew helping you with regular maintenance and repairs, you might even get a vehicle to 300,000 miles.ДЇor a solid customer-mechanic relationship, remember itвЂ™s a two-way street. The best at their job will keep your vehicle on the road for reasonable prices, making your daily commute, and overall quality of life, better. When you find a good car mechanic, you want to maintain that relationship for as long as possible.

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