Taking a cue from @John Codman.. Everyone thinks auto repair is so easy. I like helping friends and neighbors with repairs. But people think I'm some sort of a magician with a magic wand or something. Case in point. My neighbor wanted me to put a set of custom aftermarket Chineseium headlights in a Ford ranger. Nice guy but he's at 100 mph all the time. Naturally he wants to watch me do it. I start and he starts with suggestions and consecutive questions to thr point i cant even think straight. In the middle of the headlight job, he needs me to look at the loose fog light. Dropped what I'm doing to look at fog light. He goes in the truck and turns on the headlights and one isn't working and questions why. Why? Because the one light isn't plugged in yet because the fog light has taken priority with you, so I'm looking at that now. Can't do two things at once. So after taking the front marker lights off, he want to put yellow/ amber bulbs in because the new markers are clear not amber. Ok fine. Comes back with LED's and a $70 receipt. Why LED's?? The guy at the store says they're better. We put those in and guess what? The flasher is blinking fast because there's less load on the system. Now he goes back to auto zone who doesn't know they carry flashers. I text him a screen shot of the LED flasher that shows "in stock". Now I'm cringing at changing the flasher. He says the classic line- "why? it's only 5 minutes to do!". Yeah huh? ...I take the panel down under the column and there are 5 times the amount of wires under there. Some idiot has been there before installing whatever. Lots of zip ties, electrical tape and crimp connectors. After digging and digging and clipping zip ties, I find the flasher and replace it. Problem solved. But c'mon with this "it's only 5 minutes" Its NEVER 5 minutes!! Just because a mechanic makes it looks easy doesn't mean it is.
Tell them, I’ll coach you through it, then you pull up a chair and enjoy a beer while they do the wrenchin’…. I find that much more enjoyable.
I get that all the time when people drop off their riding mowers. The let gas in them all year that should be treated or drained. After many sit out all fall and winter,they wont start in the spring. People drop them off on a Friday and then call me Saturday asking if their mowers ready... Boneheads! I tell them if I need plugs,fuel line or parts,I have to order them or drive somewhere not local to get the parts,but it goes over their heads. Let alone they drop one off and think they will jump others in line and get theirs first. I tell people to start thinking about it now so I have time to diagnose and get the needed parts in time for them to mow. I have about 6 people who are regulars and they understand.They usually have their mowers here now or call me to set up a time. They are the ones I most likely,just get the blades sharpened,plugs replaced and oil chnges. Some even pay me to keep spare tune up parts and wear pats here in case.But....I do have my regular pain in the asses too..
Every job seems more complicated for me now. Just lining up a trunk lock took me forever last weekend. Plus my eyes are getting worse, fuzzy vision to go with fuzz brain.
I really do need to print that out! I love it when someone tries giving me suggestions or advice. I usually tell them- Dude, it's not my first week on the job ok. I know how to work on cars!
Here's an amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Mechanic-Rep...660&sprefix=auto+repair+,aps,126&sr=8-15&th=1
Helping folks out = No good deed goes unpunished Headlights: Have to drop the bumper cover in my Lincoln to change a headlight
Yeah, I helped my in laws by changing a coolant pipe on their neglected 2007 Tacoma. It took 6 hours and $300 to do the original work of fixing a coolant leak plus replacing spark plugs, belts, and hoses that had 180k miles on them. They couldn't afford to pay for the parts. In the process I strained a muscle in my lower back. I am 4 weeks into a 6-8 week recovery for that. I can't replace the master cylinder and bleed the brakes in my Wildcat for another few weeks and the weather is warming nicely. Yes, no good deed goes unpunished.
My sister-in-law wanted me to do the brakes on her Nissan Murano out of the blue one day when she visited. This is the widow of my brother. I did it but didn't get paid for it.
A friend of mine taught me to use a phrase that changed my life. “I don’t know how to do that.” I’ve abandoned “I can do it” for this new phrase.
At least all you have to do is have them shut down and reboot (after confirming it's plugged in). Just jokes....to me IT stuff is way more difficult than nuts & bolts. One of my neighbors who also talks at 100 mph asked me to replace a head gasket. I told him his cars need to be 1972 or older for me to work on them.
Try being an upholsterer, every other job comes with this is easy I could do it in a couple hours. I just would rather pay a professional for that little bit. Do a 04’ ish mustang seat lower bolster repair. Ford glues all the seams in the seat to the pad, they can’t do listing and hog rings like every one else. Try getting a glued cover off the foam and reuse that foam without another hour of repairing foam and shaping it. Much less getting the seams apart to replace a panel or two. People suck sometimes.
When people at work see my Buick or old trucks I get asked about working on them. Kinda of hinting at will I work on their junk. Answer is always “I only work on my own stuff”. Got burned one to many times by family working on their stuff that I won’t do it anymore.
I don't mind working on others stuff, but I don't want them around, unless they are kids who want to learn. Also I don't expect to profit... LOL.
Try being a parts store owner. That happens all the time. Plus when giving suggestions. I get “no, that isn’t it”. All the time. Although in reality it “ is” it. Helping with working on there cars, they just get in the way… I can’t tell them to just leave me alone, cause they are the customer
The collision restoration side of it is comical....."can you fix this while your doin the other side" ..won't take but a few min....to pull out the 8in crease..repair..prime paint and blend two adjacent panels??....I love being asked stupid **** like this..just makes my day because I get to be a complete dick. Then you get the guys that are just delusional and think it's still 1988 and 5k gets you a show winning paint job....i tell them 25k on average and the looks on their face is awesome...."but its just sanding and painting ".....them fools get a thrashing
I like it when the customer says just plug in the tool and it will tell you what's wrong! I once had a woman complain that we charged her too much to fix a short. At the time, our labor rate was $75 an hour and we charged her three hours. The service writer told her that we would never charge $225 to fix a wire. We only charged $10 to fix the wire. The other $215 was for knowing what wire to fix.
