It is important to understand the repair process in order to effectively communicate your needs to your Auto Repair Shop. When a problem arises, that fault must be diagnosed and verified at which time an updated estimate is provided for your approval. Only then with your approval can the technician begin repairs. Once repairs have been completed your car is retested for the original verified complaint so that when it is returned to you - it is returned repaired.

Obstacle Number One

The number 1 obstacle to this process is failing to effectively communicate what your car is doing that you don't like.

A good example of this is asking for a tune up because in your mind it has been a while since you had it tuned and your car has been increasingly hard to start in the mornings. Here is what happens. Your Repair Shop performs a regular maintenance tuneup thinking that the request for a tuneup is to maintain its performance -- rather than to repair an existing problem. So when your car is returned to you after having a regular maintenance tune up, you notice that it doesn't seem any better, causing you to lose faith in your Repair Shop. And the hard starting is still a problem.

Now let's take this same situation and communicate what is troubling your car and see what happens.

You take your car in and say: "It has been getting harder to start in the mornings. Can you please check it out and let me know what, if anything, it needs?

Yes, we can do that for you. However we will need to have the car overnight so we can start it in the morning when it is completely cold so our diagnostic equipment can find the fault. The Technician connects his diagnostic equipment and starts your car while it is cold and catches a glimpse of the fault. A little further diagnostics reveal a bad C.T.S. (coolant temperature sensor). With your approval the part is replaced and retested to make sure you now have good cold starts.

The big difference here is focusing on what it is your car is doing that you don't like as opposed to asking for a service that you think might help.

Have you ever had a wheel alignment done because you were getting a little shake in your steering wheel? Alignment will not cause a shake, only something rotating that is either out of round and or out of balance can cause a shake. Shops see this one all the time and is the reason most will "ask" why you want the service performed.

They don't ask why to "second think" you, it's because they want to return your car with the fault repaired and be recognized as a facility that gets it right the first time.

So the next time you're having coffee with your neighbor discussing how your transmission doesn't shift right anymore and your neighbor says it might be time for a fluid change, refrain from cruising on down to your shop and asking for one. Instead tell them, "My transmission doesn't shift right anymore. Can you check in out and let me know what it needs?"

After you get in this habit, you will find it much easier because you won't have to think about what may be going wrong -- that's the Repair Shop's job. You're paying for this service, so let them earn it.