It might seem very logical and sensible to rely on expert
opinions for highly technical subject areas like our cars, and
when things go wrong you simply look up to mechanics. But
unfortunately as we have it here in Nigeria, questioning or
double checking a technical advice from a practitioner is the
sensible way to go. The logical reasons behind this trend is
due to situations where you find advises twisted to a certain
mechanic’s favour or may be just totally being wrong; in
some instances you find car owners receiving re-cycled advice
which come from very limited and myopic experiences.
So why does one have to worry about even the little advice
from a typical auto-technical personnel? The kinds of advice
car owners receive affect their cars on a daily basis, as well as
capital expenses, actions and procedures to be performed on a
car.
Hammering on the need to question mechanic advice you get
doesn’t mean there are no good and experienced mechanics.
As observed over here, a fair chunk of mechanics-even the
seemingly sophisticated ones-tow the same line of being
untrustworthy with poor expertise.
All these factors make it necessary to weigh opinions you get
from mechanics by considering the nuggets below.
Cross-reference User experiences : Your most formidable
tool to carry this out is the internet which allows you to
connect with as many car owners (with the same brand and
model as yours).
What does your car manual say? It’s that simple; consult
your owners’ manual and find out what your car manufacturer
has to say.
Your direct experiences: your past experiences with the
auto-technician plays an important role which builds up what
most might refer to as ‘gut feelings’. So based on the little or
plenty experiences, what does your gut feeling say about
anchoring your actions on a mere opinion from that
mechanic?
Perceived skill level of technician: it might take another
expert in automobile repair and maintenance to accurately
ascertain the true level of your mechanics’ expertise. However
you could still come up with a sketchy evaluation based on
your perceptive level and understanding of how cars work and
how they ought to be repaired.
Equipment-Expertise assessment: does your mechanic have
sophisticated and necessary tools observed to be commonly
used by other mechanics? How long have they had these tools
and equipment? Do they get to use these equipment? How
well do they employ these tools to solve car problems? These
questions should help to examine another angle of their
expertise level.
Evaluating auto-mechanics can be a daunting task, but the
above pointers can help in making a quick judgement during
instances that might require being decisive. These occasions
span from decisions like the type of car to buy to even
procedures to perform at different times on your car.
www.autobaseafrica.com/how-to-weigh-mechanic-opinions/