Auto Mechanics Recommend an Attitude Adjustment
If it were a movie, they’d call it “Revenge of the Auto Mechanics.”
A few weeks ago, I detailed my woes with various and sundry mechanics who have laid their wrenches on the cars I’ve driven through the years. The sum total was this: My experiences with auto repair shops have not been the stuff valentines are made of.
Since then, much mail has arrived, most of it from motorists sympathetic to my plight or eager to suggest a reputable mechanic (we’ll get to those recommendations later).
But the most provocative and forceful responses came from a pair of auto mechanics, Glenn Kerr of Glenn’s Alignment & Brake Service in Costa Mesa and Anthony Thomas, president of the Orange Coast chapter of the Automotive Service Councils of California and owner of Tony’s Garage in Mission Viejo.
Suffice it to say they didn’t mince words.
Both men said I had over-generalized in detailing my misadventures with mechanics. They argued that I had insulted their profession.
Thomas was so angry he had to put down the paper and “cool off” before he responded.
My reference to mechanics as “grease monkeys,” he said, “was not only belittling and insulting to an entire profession but was an attack based on your personal prejudices,” akin to calling police officers “pigs.”
Thomas suggested that my “negative attitude” when I slouch off to the auto shop may be the reason I’m getting shoddy service. He also said it sounded like I was letting my car go too long between checkups and expressed concern that I was putting “such an unsafe vehicle on the road.” Much like doctors, he noted, mechanics “get frustrated” with people who show “disrespect” for their cars.
Kerr, meanwhile, said he was “truly sorry” to read about my problems with mechanics but noted that “it’s possible to get poor service in any field . . . even the Los Angeles Times newspaper delivery service.”
He, too, said I appear to be a car abuser: “Do you, like too many people, neglect these warning signals until it is too late? Your auto is just a piece of machinery. It needs prescribed preventive maintenance at regular intervals.”
Moreover, Kerr noted that “due to the sheer complexity of today’s automobiles . . . yesterday’s ‘grease monkeys’ have given way to today’s automobile technicians,” people who are “constantly” attending seminars and school to get training and upgrade their skills.
Both mechanics recommended that any motorist looking for good service stick with technicians certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence and shops affiliated with the Automotive Service Council (ASC), the nation’s “premier” automotive trade association.
Most ASC members live by a code of ethics, and “those that don’t usually don’t last long,” Kerr said.
Said Thomas: “The first item in our code of ethics is to promote goodwill between the motorist and the automotive industry. In writing this article, you downgraded an entire industry. Unfortunately, there are some members of our industry who are less professional than we would hope they would be. I believe the same could be said about any profession, yours included.”
Kerr concluded by saying I had “attacked, torn down and caused damage to those (mechanics) who are honest and reputable. Worst of all, you have the readership and the forum. I am unhappy to say I don’t.”
Wow. Thank goodness those guys weren’t angry when they wrote those letters.
To set the record straight, I don’t abuse my car. I’m one of those atavistic types who still change their own oil and filter every 3,500 miles. I hit the garage for a tuneup every 15,000 miles. I spend lots of money on preventive auto repair. Oh, do I spend money! Unfortunately, my car doesn’t always seem to appreciate it.
As Kerr and Thomas point out, every profession has its good guys and bad guys. And a whole lot of others in between. Mechanics have days when everything works, when the socket wrench makes the pistons sing. But not every day. Like all of us--journalists, teachers, doctors, lawyers--they sometimes make mistakes.
My problem has been finding a guy in a white hat, one who takes that mechanics’ code of ethics seriously each time he bends down under the hood. I guess I’ve just done a lousy job of picking.
Not everyone, obviously, has suffered a fate as dreary as mine. There are some motorists who think they’ve found a good mechanic.
Suzanne Robinson of Irvine wrote to recommend Jack Hargrave, who owns and operates the Foreign Affair near John Wayne Airport. Joe Woolfenden of Mission Viejo vouched for Tom Kiepe’s Saddleback Automotive shops in Irvine and Mission Viejo. Al Olson of Santa Ana said he puts his car in the hands of Bill Winter at Wheeler’s Auto Service in Santa Ana.
Frank Aylesworth of Santa Ana suggested the Our Pride auto shop in Garden Grove. It specializes in Nissan service, he said.
John Simpson of Newport Beach said Mercedes drivers can find “reasonable prices” and a “personal touch” at Maurice’s Mercedes Service Center in Costa Mesa. Dick Ryno of Irvine recommended El Toro Honda Service.
But the grand prize for mechanic loyalty belongs to James D. Meszaros of Huntington Beach. For years he has entrusted his car to Mike Merten of Ken Daniel’s Auto Service in Glendale. Since he moved to Orange County, Meszaros has continued to make the 40-mile journey to Glendale so Merten can continue to work on his car.
Proof positive that in Southern California a good mechanic is worth driving for.
