lechanics matter

BY MARC ROVNER
Contributing Writer

A visit to your mechanic must
be second only to a visit to the
dentist on the list of things
people hate to do.

Car repairs are expensive, come
at an inopportune time and merely
return your trusty transportation to
its pre-breakdown condition.

But you can adé an element of
predictability and potentially
reduce costs with one simple tip.
Find a good mechanic and build an
on-going relationship.

Finding a good mechanic is part
intuition and part research,

Talk to your friends for refer-.
ences and asking people with simi-
lar cars who they deal with and how
happy they are with the service are
all important steps in finding a
mechanic who is honesi and com-
petent.

A good mechanic is someone

you will be spending thousands of

dollars with and will rely on their
advice for years to come.

Beyond the trust issue, dealing
with the same mechanic year ufter
year enables the mechanic to get to
know your vehicle and how you

A relationship
to nurture your
vehicle along

drive. Peter Griffiths of Peter
Griffiths Motors, a Volvo repair
specialist. in North Vancouver
explains it this way.

“In the long run, [ can save my
regular customers money on their
car maintenance by predicting
when a particular service will be
required and catching repair items
before they compound themselves
into bigger, more expensive prob-
lems.”

The cost of brake servicing can
vary from less than $100 to over
$1,000.

Often, the difference in price can
be traced back to how regularly the
brakes were serviced and whether
the repair was made before expen-
sive parts became damaged beyond
repair.

‘it's a much more rewarding
dealing with regular customers
because there are far fewer costly
surprises,” says Frank Allers of
Aflers Frank Auto Sport, a Porsche
& Import Car specialist.

“f get to know my customers dri-
ving habits and can predict when
the next service will be required
and can monitor and correct poten-
tial problems in the carly stages.”

Another important reason to
build a relationship with your
mechanic is the quality af service
you are likely to receive.

“It's important for mechanics to
take good care of regular customers
and not over charge hecause regular
customers are always worth more to
your business in the future,”
explains Griffiths.

Often, a five minute repair is all
that's required to get you on your
way.

Here again there are benefits to
knowing your mechanic.

“{ generally don't charge for
something I can fix in a few min-
utes. | know that customer. will be
back and I see it as part of the rela-
tionship,” says Allers.

“Besides, I get to know their
cars fairly well, making diagnosis a
lot easier.”

Car repairs are never something
to look forward to, but by taking a
few simple steps before you get
stuck, you can make the visit to
yvur mechanic a whole lot tess
painful.

DRIVER Frank Allers watchas as mechanic. Peter’ -
Griffiths works on the Keen Engineering Formula
Atlantic Car. Both professional meshanics, Allers
and Griffiths know the importance of keeping & a car in
fine working order.

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