Three Ways to Determine if your Tech is Repair Savvy

There are three different ways to determine if your auto repair shop and employed technicians know their trade AND are worthy of your business.

The only national certification available in the auto repair industry is through ASE or the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence. Many auto repair technicians cherish the chance to compare their skills against other techs and their national average test score. In just the automotive side of ASE, there are 8 basic tests. If you pass all eight tests, you are called a Certified Master Automotive Technician. ASE has tests for parts staff, service writers, heavy truck techs, school bus techs, diesel techs, paint and body techs as well as machinists.

Other techs, certainly a minority, say they won’t take the test for different reasons. The most common reason, which by the way applies to every single profession in the world, is they know a guy who was an ASE Master tech and I’m 10 times better than he is. Vote with me, spend your dollars at the shops that employ ASE Certified Techs and we will change some minds. I believe consumers who patronize facilities who employ ASE certified technicians will be better served in the long run.

A great way to find certified technicians and quality repair shops is through the NASCAR Performance Network. Just visit NASCAR.com and click on the auto service tab. Enter your zip code for a list of automotive repair shops and qualified technicians near you.

No matter who you decide to use, make sure they employ ASE certified technicians who are certified in the area your car needs the repair in. You would never go to a nose doctor for an foot problem, so don’t go to a shop for brake work and no tech there is certified in brake diagnosis and repair.

The second way to find out if your auto repair technician knows what he is doing is also the most used way and the most dangerous way. The proof your shop knows what they are doing, is they fix your symptoms with a part or two and do it without guessing with your money. Dangerous, but effective.

The third way is to ask a bunch of questions throughout your car repair process. Which one of my symptoms are you going to fix with your suggested repair? Is your suggested repair a “guess” or a “fix”? What happens if your suggested repair does not fix my symptoms, what will we do once it is determined your “fix” was a “guess”? Who will pay for what?

Beware of a shotgun repair. “You need plugs, wires, fuel injectors cleaned and a new fuel pump”. Your response should be, “Which one is causing my idle miss?  OR Which one is causing my low power at highway speeds problem”. Force them to hang their hat on a specific repair and decline all the rest. You can “reward” them with the other suggested work once you know they fixed what you brought the car in for.

Always ask for your old parts back, just in case the repair doesn’t fix your symptoms, you can ask the old part be reinstalled. Always pay with a credit card, that way you have 30 days to verify your symptom has been repaired.