If we use our car chances are we will need to call on the services of a mechanic at one time or another. Like plenty of other things in life, car repairs are getting more and more expensive all the time. Vehicles are becoming more advanced, spare parts are costing more, the mechanics overheads are increasing and these charges are passed on to the end consumer, us! There are still things that we can do to reduce the effect that car repairs can have on our hip pocket and in this article we have just a few of the tactics you can use to save yourself money at the repair shop.
Simply knowing what to say and what not to say to your mechanic can mean the difference between a reasonable invoice total and one that sends you into the red. Unfortunately it is a fact of life that not all workshop operators are straight up and down and if you go in confessing that you know nothing about your vehicle you would be better of handing him a blank check and getting it over and done with! I am not saying all workshop owners work this way but my previous ten years in the industry tells me that this happens way more than we’d like to admit.
Spare parts prices are another area where we can save ourselves money if we know how. It is a well known fact that mechanics buy parts at a discounted price and add their cut on top and charge the customer this inflated price. So how much is your mechanic adding on to the parts he is selling you? When buying the parts the mechanic is provided with a recommended retail price on the invoice however many mechanics will simply ignore this price and charge you whatever they think they can get away with. This is a huge money-spinner for the mechanic and needs to be kept in check if we want to save ourselves some hard earned dollars.
Continuing with spare parts, many workshops will only use genuine parts and pass on their increased cost to the motorist. Now days the aftermarket parts suppliers are really on the ball with both cost and quality and unless your vehicle is still under the factory warrantee aftermarket parts should be considered. I have personally fitted aftermarket parts that have a warrantee that exceeds the genuine part warrantee but cost more than half the price of the genuine item!
As you can see there is something the consumer can do to combat rising car repair and maintenance costs and it is simply a matter of knowing what to look for. Car repairs are going to be a part of life as long as we drive motor cars and even small savings made each time they are repaired will add up to quite a bit of money over time and leaves us with more money in our pockets for doing the things we enjoy.
