Lies! All Lies!

Grrr... being a woman I hate going to a mechanic's garage. Mainly because I have this preconceived idea that the mechanic will lie to me because I am a woman and I don't know anything about cars.

Well, over the past few years, I have actually learned a lot about cars. I'm no expert, I will never claim to be, but I can typically stay up with a conversation between a couple of mechanics and I can name a part by it's proper name to the car parts store. I don't tell them "It's the thingamagig with the whatsitcalled". It is "the alternator" or "my idle pulley" or "the clutch bearing". Whatever it happens to be.

Over a few years, I have learned who I can trust and cannot trust in the world of mechanics in our little town. I have my husband do as much work on the car as he can, but since he is a truck driver, he is not home often and so I take my car to certain people.

I came across a problem once and was suggested that I take my car to a certain shop and replace the battery. I did. I drove my car in and they put in a new battery and charged me an outrageous amount for the battery. I guess labor was more than the battery. I have a 5 year warranty on this battery. I smiled and paid the bill and felt confident at the time because this shop claimed to be "good Christians" and "trustworthy". Well, it was just about a year, my car started having problems again. I checked many things and came to the conclusion that it was either the battery or the alternator.

The alternator checked out okay, but the battery was low. I decided to take the battery back to the shop to have it tested, and since my car would not start, I had to borrow my neighbor's car and take out my battery. At this shop, I explained that the alternator was good, but my voltage meter read low on the battery, and could they please check it to make sure it was okay.

The mechanic smiled, took my battery and hooked it up to the voltage meter and said "It's just low. Go home and charge it and it will be fine." I took it home and charged it. I put it back in the car and it would not start. I had to jump start it. I thought that since it was low, it really just needed to run for a while and would be fine.

It was fine for about a month. The past few weeks, it started getting harder and harder to start the car. It would do the infamous "rrr-rrr-rrr" before it would kick over. Well, I threw my jumper on and it started right up.

Today I went to start my car, I had to mail a patient complaint for my husband and I wanted to get it out this morning. My car won't start. Grr. I toss the jumper on it and it starts right up.
Now, OBVIOUSLY there is something wrong with the battery if it cannot stay charged. My alternator is fine by the way. My guess it's the chemicals or water or something. I'm not taking it apart. But my point is, my trust in this "good Christian and trustworthy" mechanic has been completely broken. Perhaps they were just busy at the time when I came in and did not have time to help me properly, whatever, but they could have at least let me know if that was the case.

Will I ever do business with this mechanic again? Absolutely not. I feel that they lied to me - whether that was the intention or not. I feel like they did not care. I felt like they were in a hurry to "get me out the door" so they could goof off or finish talking about their day weekend of hunting. I just did not feel like they took an interest in fixing my car. This is why I have my husband do most the repairs on my car. And this is why a lot of women do not like taking their cars to the shop.

So the next time your car breaks down, make sure you KNOW of a mechanic that you can trust. And sadly enough, being a "Good Christian" mechanic does not always mean that they are trustworthy.