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Scotty Kilmer I'm not a professionaly trained mechanic but I learned from many older guys around your age over the years I'm only 26 but I have fixed cars in my area for about 5 years the work that I get is usually just friends or friends of friends and the occasional person I don't know I'll offer to help, the majority of my work is stuff that gets turned down by the local pepboys or people bring me a 5000 estimate with services that are not needed or sad stories of how they just bought a car it was working fine for about a week and then it dies, usually it's something small like a crank sensor or just a straight up bad battery here in the desert in arizona and the stealer ship wants over 1000bucks for that.i just fixed a no start on a land rover discovery that nobody in town "couldn't find out why it has no spark. " in 10 minuets I hooks up the autel check the data pid for engine speed and it stayed at 0 for me that was plenty of information to condemned the crank sensor . Now I could have gone in with a test light and checked the wiring to the sensor checked the resistance on the sensor but I knew from experience that was the issue. As a former parts store employee I found the original Bosch sensor for 80 bucks I only charged the lady 50 bucks to swap it out (took less than an hour ) she was so happy she paid me double she said she had been waiting over a month for a local 4wd custom shop to fix it and they wanted over 500 bucks
But there is only one you, one Scotty. I cannot find someone like you. I do got a good adress though, so i think. But they never call me when my car is ready, i always have to call myself :(
Scotty! I noticed the Quick Jacks in your background. What are the chances you could do a demo/review? Been considering Quick Jacks for some time now. Any good?
I made the mistake if taking my 2001 Maxima to Meineke years ago for an oil change. After 15 minutes the mechanic sat down next to me and essentially told me I needed about 3 grand in work done, but he'd do it for $2500 if i agreed to do it then and there that day. The car drove fine and i didnt have any issues with it soni was immediately suspicious. I told him no after he tried convincing me that I'd be lucky to make it home, and he went ahead and did the oil change. I took the car to a independent mechanic that a friend recommended and the guy confirmed that aside from some very minor stuff that would cost no more than $300 to fix, the car was in excellent shape. Needless to say I tell everyone to stay the hell away from Meineke now.
I've got quotes from meineke, now I'm a lead mechanic at one. Way over priced and super hard to find a good one. They're all franchise, so everything is going to differ shop to shop.
Scotty has helped save me a couple thousand dollars just fixing my own cars. With that, I honestly don't trust ANY mechanics to touch my car, all they do is cut corners and rip you off. Paid $55 at nationally known oil change place that took an hour to do what takes me 30 mins by myself. They broke my air filter housing, then put back only 3 of the 10 screws holding the wind cover under my Ford Focus. I took my Expedition to another well known automotive shop because of loose steering, he informed me that it was worn out struts and shocks, upper and lower control arms, tie rod ends and gave me a quote of $1300 to replace all that. He looked astonished when I informed him all of those parts were less than a year old because I installed them myself. As it turns out it was a $27 Pitman arm that took an hour to replace myself. It just goes to show you thousands of people get screwed over every day out there and there should be tougher laws to crack down on such crooks.
Once I had an air conditioning problem in a Toyota Camry took it about 12 mechanics who all quoted a faulty compressor and even a few said the alternator needs replacement at a cost of over $1,300. When the real reason was re-gas at $50 and change a fuse in the fuse box $0.20 cents
I worked at a mechanic shop during the summer. The mechanic there never used a computer but immediately knew what was wrong with almost every car. That man was amazing.
We just call 'em "Educated Idiots" where I'm from...and they usually tend to show an obvious terminal case of cranial-rectolitus the more they keep talking. They typically wanna brag alllll about just how "smart & educated" they are.. while displaying several certificates/degrees on their wall somewhere of their extensive "education" sources.. but they also usually tend to have absolutely *NO* freaking common sense whatsoever. (Which becomes abundantly clear the more they keep speaking!).
"lucky to find a guy like you around you" You are the last mechanic I would ever want. You spend half the day burning rubber and the other half sleeping in trunks. lololol thumbs up as always.
My mechanic retired and all of his customers are sort of heart-broken. He had a heavy Italian accent so you had to listen carefully but he was brilliant. Dropped my car off for front brake pads and saw a 12 cyl. engine on a stand and asked what it was from. Ferrari America!! Another time I was driving by and saw him under a RR, so I stopped. He showed me what he was doing and why it was a very poor quality car. Then there was the time he was so busy he knew he wouldn't be able to get to my repair quickly so he showed me the defective part and told me how to install it (only one way and simple). I did it in 10 min. Brought him a xmas gift one year and he thanked me then showed me his office stacked floor to ceiling with other gifts and said that, in the future, he really rather I give the money to charity. He was very honest and never over-charged anyone that I know of. You were very lucky if he'd accept you as a customer. I saw him gently turn down several.
funny how just being a decent human being will make you set for life. Some people are too focused on the money or having to work as little as possible, and yet their attitude backfires in the end.
Sometimes it "backfires" but more often they seem to get away with it. My old mechanic had several customers who were extremely wealthy with numerous exotic cars and large estates. If one of their cars needed repair, they usually had to wait until the cars of people who needed them for work were repaired.
B Strong if u go to a place where the mechanics are employed by the oner??. Don't blame the mechanics, blame the shop oner,managing staff,shop forman. The mechanics are paid buy the hour. The oner is the one jurking u off. I've seen places charge 50.00 for chaneing a fuel filter. It only takes 5 min to do that job. The oner is responsible for your bill ,NOT the mechanics. Thay or paid the same no matter how much is done. I know I worked for them. And customers hated me for their disonisty. If u wont to hate someone? Find a mechanic who runs his own shop that takes advantage of u.
B Strong at dealerships mechanics are paid buy the book hour. Meaning if they don't have nothing to work on they don't get paid. I have brought home paychecks as little as 45.00 dollors a week. U should focus your anger on the oner of the business. They determine what it cost to repair your car. The mechanic works for the dealerships are shops there employed at. They have little to do with your repair bill. Your anger is placed in the rong place. I'm going to assume you are intelligent. I've worked for business for 35 years. If your going to blame someone for ripping u off .? Blame the damn oners, shop forman, division manager or the sails person's who smiles like a grinning possum. Yes business do rip people of . BUT as long as people like u keep paying and not understanding the causes of kuruption, IT WILL CONTINUE. .....
I wish someone would invent(?) not sure of proper word , a way that mechanics cannot scam you. this is insane how this can be legal for mechanics to rip us off.
Even the quick oil change places try to scam. Took my daughter's car in for service (I was visiting from out of town, and she had no way to change at her apartment). Mechanic called us into the garage area, pointed to a drop of oil in the oil pan area, and stated we had an oil leak. Only problem was, I already knew she didn't have a leak, because I had checked her parking space at the apartment, and the oil drop he was pointed to was honey-colored... indicating he had placed it there himself. After speaking with the manager and threatening to call the local news, we got her oil changed for free. Although I should've called, anyway.
LordCarpenter I got asked if I wanted to buy some weed from the front desk girl @ JIFFY LUB...yes I said @JIFFY LUB because she had the hook up from her bf and could get it in less then 30 mins. I guess it's -go for the oil change stay for the weed hook up @JIFFY LUB...yes I said JIFFY LUB!
Slade Stockill if they showed this to his daughter they probably would have scared her into getting unnecessary work that would have cost her an arm and a leg. I have never seen an honest quickie lube shop
Slade Stockill It's a scam because the honey color of the oil meant it hadn't been used. He placed it there to scare her into paying for work she didn't need. I'd bet they'd also "find" something else wrong and try to squeeze more money out of her.
LordCarpenter He probably cleans oil filters with degreaser and says okay miss that will be $19.99 🤤 although a new filter is only $8 and the tool to do it yourself cost $3😉 Although that cheap oil is going to snowcone so bad the filter will be Shit by Christmas.
I took my wife's vehicle in to a Stealership for a mandantory State Inspection a few years ago (the only time I ever take a vehicle to a shop). The service tech not knowing I'd been turning wrenches for 40 years, a young, wet behind the ears guy came and got me in the waiting room and informed me of a very bad leak in my rack and pinion..... "Come out here, I'll show you, the rack and pinion is all wet because of a leak, " he said. As we walked he said he had time to do the replacement today for $985 if I wanted to go ahead and get it done. He then took me under the vehicle on the lift and a sure enough, and area of the rack and pinion was all wet..... he said, "you see, this is very bad!"................ I looked, sure enough it was wet, and I said, "Oh, the wetness coming from the AC Condensate line just above it???" To which he said, "Uh, uh, uh, yea, I guess it cooouuuld be............." I laughed, and said, "Get our vehicle off this lift, and don't ever try to scam me again....do I make myself clear!!"
Lee Dress I mean, they literally make you drive during the driving test, the whole point of a driving test is to see if you can drive. edit: unless you meant the "rules of the road" sit down at a desk and answer these questions test, in which case you're spot on
Fake Name, Standards have been lowered on all driving tests, written and the actual driving. Even the idiots out on the road are licensed. Sometimes I wonder if they got their license from the bottom of a cereal box.
You think his wife would let that slide? Lol. Guy where I work has a tear off calendar of sports ill. Swimsuit models and he keeps all of them on display
In many fields, clients don't have the experience or skill set to recognize whether the work is at a high standard. So, you end up with glowing reviews by less informed customers if the front office said the right things and gave them a warm glowing feeling when the visit was over. Interestingly, those with experience often define 'good' with a very different yardstick. In many fields I have noticed a disconnect between customer and peer reviews. Not all the bad experiences are the fault of the shop, and not all the 'great' RUclips mechanics have the respect of their peers. Stuff happens, even in the best hands. As for those who advise doing things yourself, just remember that the average customer would be near the incompetent side of the scale, not even as good as a typical Walmart shop. Getting into DIY auto repair means your learning curve will include inevitable errors, which is OK as long as you're up for that. Strangely, confidence builds before competence, so in a few years you go through a phase of overconfidence that can get you into deep trouble. After a few decades you'll accumulate enough experience to have the right balance of confidence and humility. Most never get there.
spelunkerd im overly cautious. i can diagnose decently well i think though when repairing anything major i have this fear i will cause serious damage so i ALWAYS have a very experienced friend advise me before i commit fully to a harder repair.
A lot of cars out in the front with dust because it takes them a week to get to your car is a sign of a bad shop, period. He nailed that one. Good shops get cars in and out of there in all but a day or two, unless it's a serious job like an engine swap, then it's usually a Saturday gig. Still, no lots of cars. Avoid those places!
Not necessarily. I worked in a transmission shop. After winter storms and ice storms, we would get swamped with blown transmissions. The customers understood and had no problem leaving their car until we could get to it. First come first serve and we eventually get them all done. This was and still is the shop in town with the best reputation so they had no problem waiting. We were also the only Jasper Transmission preferred shop around and we sold a lot of those too.
Thanks Scotty, I got my first car a few months ago and haven't had any major issues yet, but wanted to make sure I was aware. Your kind of content helps a lot in making everything easier.
derrik tie - I actually know a couple mexican mechanics that I've personally watched fix many an issue with various vehicles. The owner is a legal resident of the U.S. the other guy is not. Point is they both do some of the best work I've ever seen in a timely manner for insanely good prices. Just because one of the guys is illegal doesn't mean he's a bad mechanic (in fact he's one of the best I've seen), it just means your a bigot/troll that had nothing useful to add to the comment section. I find it laughably ironic how your ancestors were illegal aliens to this country, which somehow doesn't bother you, but you take offense to illegal aliens from Mexico. Yet you somehow forget or flat out refuse to educate yourself on that obvious fact, that is unless you're a full blooded Native American, meaning you were native to America. I'm sorry people from other countries bother you so much Mr. Snowflake, but hey Kleenex makes a very useful product to wipe your tears with, you should buy yourself a pack and get on with your life.
Scotty, you are the man! It's about time someone told the truth.. you wouldn't believe the prices I hear that people pay for car repair. Thank you for being truthful! Knowledge is power!! Keep up the good work!!
Avoid dentists that are the jack of all trades (every specialty), but the master of none. I had a dentist slaughter me during an extraction. He tried to do everything in order to jack up his revenue.
My mother was slaughtered by a heart surgeon. He tried to cover it up first thing and eventually wrote a phony description of the operation, not mentioning his gross errors.
I hear you Weasel... My 95-year-old aunt went to emergency for pneumonia the ER Doctor noted she was dehydrated so they decided to open the tabs on the IV which put pressure on her heart... and due to her already having difficulty breathing it put enough pressure on her system and stopped her heart. Lucky for them they were able to get her heart started again but even the heart doctor said they treated her to aggressively.
Ron Consumer We had a similar experience with my 89 year old Stepfather, he had a fall and was taken to hospital for a check up. The ''doctor'' insisted he just a sprained wrist and wanted to send him home. We had to argue for a second opinion and an x-ray showed the bone in his wrist was actually broken in 2 places!
I stay away from dealerships. My alternator went out on my tundra and the local Toyota dealership wanted 995.00 for the alternator and 600.00 to put it on. I laughed and bought one online for 225.00 with a lifetime warranty. My mechanic put it on for 100 bux.
$100. to put install a alternator? Alternators are very easy to install!
5 лет назад+1
I am just a home mechanic. But I charge like $40 for a quick 10 minute install in a Ford. But if it is a kia, oh hell, that will take at least 5 hours, so $250 minimum start... and I haven't seen an alternator cost that expensive of $225 before. I seen them run in the $105-$165 range. Unless you are getting boosted alternator for running stereos and speakers and heavy subs.
I have a dealer 2 year bumper to bumper warranty, so it benefits me to go there and get it fixed at no cost - right? No loopholes? Tell me there are no loopholes!
It really depends on the dealer and the people who work there. I had a Chevy dealer in California that was great. Sure, they charged a little more for routine maintenance, but they never once tried to upsell me or scam me. And on two different cars that had major problems, they spent a lot of time diagnosing and never charged me when I opted not to rebuild the engines.
Steve My car doesn't have a dipstick you moron. So, how the hell am I suppost to do it? So, I had to go to the dealership because I asked around at other places and they all said that the dealership is the only ones that can do it. I bet your would let someone charge you for work that they never did. Not me. I caught them. Or better yet. I think you work for them.
Never go to JL for anything but an oil change. And be thankful if they DIDN'T change your trans fluid. They don't stock the correct fluid for all cars.
Nah, don;t g to Jip Me lube at all. I went once when I needed to go on a long trip unexpectedly. I checked the oil after and it was still dirty. They might have drained most of it out and left in the dirty filter or something.
Do your own work!!! My ac went out in my truck so i got a quote for 1200. I went to advance and bought everything i needed to do a complete rebuild for 550. I took it to the shop to vacuum and recharge for 90. Total cost was $640 saved almost $600. 👍👍
Diego Manuel completely agreed, my is300 needed a new throttle body, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and a couple of others sensors and I got quoted for $2700, bought the parts for around $500 and did it my self with the thanks of RUclips videos.
I have an 87 Camaro and I went to an "A/C Shop" to get a quote on replacing the evaporator. They wanted $2000 just in labor to replace it. I paid $80 for the part and it took me a couple hours to replace it. I even put a new drier in it. $25 for the drier, $120 for the gauges and $100 for the vacuum pump. Still cheaper than $2000.
and how much for the labour? shops quote for the labor to dismantle the dash at a labor rate, also remember, a quote is an educated guess at how long a job will take, not a set price with no variables.
but it does prove your ability to learn and test your short-term memory skills which you are required to have as a mechanic usually really s***** mechanics say oh you're just book smart and they can't fix a f****** sandwich!
I once took my motorcycle to a Honda shop due to a vibration in the front end. The mechanic stated it was caused by the single disk brake on the front wheel. He claims since the disk was on the left side of the wheel, only the left side of the tire was doing all the stopping. His only cure was to add a second disk to the front wheel to balance it out. With that logic, all cars stop using only the inside of the tire. Needless to say I never went back to that place. A new tire solved the vibration issue.
Dealerships and chain repair places are the worst. They try to upsell with all sorts of crap you don't need. Labor rates are the highest, and parts are charged at retail prices. Don't do it.
EElectric_M so true no one has touched my car but me. Not because I like being a mechanic but because I can’t trust anyone to do anything correct or honest in Vegas.
Just like me, my car will most likely never go to a mechanic besides myself. Even if hard and challenge tasks and tools are needed, i am here to handle it. The mechanics i know are all a bunch of scammers, people that dont give a shit about the cars they work on, people that do incomplete work, bad work and do not respect the car and its brand engineering. So yeah, i am here to tackle it now.
420CEO What is the simplest job a mechanic can do? An oil change I say. Once I had an oil change done on my Suburban at a GMC/ Cadillac dealer. Something was wrong, checked oil dipstick, WAY overfilled. Two “technicians” both added fresh oil. Other times at a different dealer (Chevrolet) oil drain plug not tight enough so it came loose and another time so tight threads were stripped.
I refuse to deal with mechanics that work in commercial shops. I have a few friends that wrench on their own cars, like myself, and none of us own cars that we can't fix ourselves. I spend a bit of time most everyday watching RUclipss. Scotty, you have saved me a few times and I have learned a bunch of good, real world stuff watching your schooling. You are a good mechanic and I can spot that a mile away.
A good mechanic is one who loves his work and truly cares about his customers. A mechanic who is knowledgeable with his diagnostics tools and knows how to use his tools properly. A mechanic who goes over his work after its completed and testing his work to make sure the problem it came in for is fixed. Reputation in a repair shop is everything, all the way down to management. Do your homework when shopping i.e. word of mouth, google shop customers reviews etc.... Scotty is right in that good well established shops in the past may no longer do quality work.
honorquest Yes... Keyboard warriors aren't worth anybodies time or energy... Plus besides none of those words are Ebonics so he's actually double stupid...
As a mechanic myself, I absolutely agree with everything this gentleman said. ESPECIALLY the word of mouth part. I've never had to advertise myself, and will never need to either. Thanks Scott! Your videos is spot on!
Pricing is same with many craftsmen, like I called a plumber to change a pump to my boiler. And he wanted 1000$ for it without giving much details. I called another plumber, hand he came by the same day to look at it to give me a quote. We made a deal that I got all the parts needed and that I would drain the system so he could do fux the pump and plumbing. The bill landed on no more than 500$. Thats what I call a good craftsman
awesomefacepalm also some landscape workers overcharged for some random reason. When I was in high school I work with my uncle doing landscaping and some customers would call him and ask him if he could do the job because some other guys wanted double or triple for what my uncle charge.
Just remember that a great mechanic will be paid like a great mechanic. Quality work will cost money. He will be priced very competitively along with the other good mechanics. A mechanic deserves to get paid what he is worth nobody works for free. So sick of customers complaining about the hourly rate for a mechanic like scotty with 30 years experience. All those snap on tools and tool chests arent free folks. A good mechanic has 50-75k worth of tools in that 15k tool chest.
I listened to a show by a guy named The Car Doctor. His saying was something like, Good Mechanics are not expensive, they are PRICELESS!! Thanks for your good work Scotty!
TheBear same here. Especially working at the dealer it makes it more relaxed for me to be a bit more meticulous in each job I do. I try to do nothing but good fair work to everybody that comes through the door, but it makes it especially easy and joyful when the customer is lax
Scotty. Thank you for your service. I know this is off subject, but I wanted to tell you this because I retired from the USAF after 22 years on active duty. It was about 24 years after I returned from Vietnam before anybody other than my folks said "welcome home" to me. It was another truckdriver at a fuel stop who saw my "Vietnam Veteran and Damned Proud of It" cap I was wearing. He walked over to me from the next fuel island, stuck out his hand and shook mine, as he said those words. Anyway, that's what I want to tell you, PLUS, I enjoy your videos and am a subscriber.
I've put bad reviews on a shops website. I got a call from the owner wanting to correct their problem and I told him sorry buddy I found someone else to do it 3 times cheaper. (He wanted 1,500 in just labor to install a differential...) I got it done for 500 with my parts provided from someone else. He had no interest after I told him that and then proceeded to remove all of my reviews from his web page. This is whats really bad. He told me one price when I brought it in which was 600 dollars. So I dropped it off, 3 DAYS later I get a call saying no its going to be 1,500. He wasted my time and left me borrowing a car for 3 days.
I bought an entire rear end for $350 and swapped it in 4 hours. That was 4 years ago and it's still working fine. Moral of the story is, buy direct from your local junk yard. Mechanics charge a finder's fee.
i am a mechanic myself, and i see exactly what Scotty says, 99% of mechanics has no skills to find the issue and repair the car the right way, they just became parts changers, they have no idea what they are doing even if they have tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools.
im having a hell of a time finding a mechanic that can actually repair a short circuit in my 97 nissan quest , its like no mechanics have any electrical troubleshooting and electrical repair abilities at all .
Recently I took my car in to one of the most reputable, and busiest, shops in my town for a clunking sound (wish I had watched Scooty's video on warn out control arms) coming from the left front wheel when leaving a stop light. I told the service writer about it and said I thought it was a strut toping out when weight shifts to the rear of the car under excelleration, but I wanted a mechanic diagnose the problem and give me an estimate. After about an hour the writer called and said it was the struts just like I thought. So I order new struts came in a week later to have them installed. The bill came to just over $1000 dollars and when I left the clunk was still just as it was before, no change. I think the writer order the repairs, knowing it would playcate me since it was my idea. The moral of this story is, I think you should never offer your opinion about what might be causing a problem even if you know what it is.
If you are in Long Beach, don’t go to Gretchen’s... Owner is never around, and considering the employees cuss each other out in front of the customer and they break parts putting them on. I recommend H and J. I saved so much money going to that shop in Stanton. I’m just hoping someone in Long Beach sees this... this is a warning!
Super Discount Transmissions in Avondale, AZ. They'll rebuild your transmission 3 or 4 times, still not get it right, leave your front driveshaft bolts backed out, fry your computer, and then tell you that they won't give you your money back because it's under warranty and that's not how it works.
Best bet is to go to like five diff places and go with the cheapest has never failed me if they agree what is wrong. I had a small oil leak ,One shop said oh a rear main 2k to fix, One shop said valve cover gasket $80 to fix .One shop said front main 1k to fix. One shop said oil pan gasket $900 to fix. The 5th place said valve cover gasket $300 to fix.Turns out it was a Valve cover gasket and cost $80 to fix .
ok i am mechanic. and this is how i diagnose where the leak is. My first step to degrease the engine and complete pressure wash the engine. Let it dry and run the car for a few sometime and recheck, its the only way you can know exactly where the oil leak starts from. most mechanics i knew before just guess without proper investigation. pressure wash will pinpoint the leak. and dont always go for the cheapest mechanic. he might want to do an easy job the valve cover gasket but it might not be the problem.
I have had nothing but bad service from Ken Towery Firestone. I tell them what to do and they do something else. I told them what to do about an overheating radiator, but when I returned to the shop they told me they only replaced the thermostat. I told them that was not what I asked them to do. My car overheated on the drive home and I never have gone back to them. Another mechanic did what I told him to do and it fixed the problem.
50 years?! Wow! Scotty you have been working on cars almost twice the years of me being on the planet. You've help me on my car repairs and saved me money. I really respect this video, and what you do sir. Living legend.
Things will start to go bad eventually. I'd say around 2034. For instance...I had to change the bulbs in the dash on my '68 Corolla about 10 years ago. They were slightly dim after 40 years.
Hmmmm.....in the last 20 years, 600k miles of driving. Toyota and nissan is the only cars that had left me stranded. Both of them engine issues. Nissan was complete distruction. No thanks.
Pep Boys came to my area and bought up a bunch of local shops. I went to get an alignment at the small Collierville Tn. Pep Boys. The guy I saw working was young. I found out he was still in school for auto maintenance. I was already suspicious. Sure enough I was told my car couldn't be aligned and I needed to replace the tie rod. I get home and first of all the hood wasn't latched all the way. SECOND, you could tell he never tried to properly break the big jam nut on the tie rod, he appeared to have left tool marks on only the rod itself. Pitiful! They turned this kid loose without supervision. I happen to be mechanically able bodied to check behind people but what about the other people who aren't!! Sad that a large company allows their name to suffer because of greed. I went back to tell them after my van was aligned somewhere else.
I had a bad run in at Pep Boys when I took my '81 Datsun 280zx because of driveline noise. Well they spent all day and after figuring out they couldn't get my u-joints because they are pressed in. It couldn't be fixed. So I said well just put the car back together so I can leave. Well they said the mechanic lost the parts to put the u-joints back in. So here it was on a Friday and I was stuck without a car. I said you are going to get me a car, I am not going to be stuck without a car on the weekend. So needless to say they gave me a rental to use. It took 5 days to get my car fixed. They had to send my driveshaft do a specialty driveshaft shop to have new u-joints pressed in. So that rental cost them plenty of money. lol Long story short, I never had work done on any of my vehicles at Pep Boys again. Minus smog check once or twice. But it has been many years. I try to do all the work I can on my own.
Yeah, my dad worked with one of those clean mechanics. He said he was technically proficient and did do the job, but he rarely ever beat book and that doesn't make the department manager happy when you are working in a dealership. My dad was so much happier when he left there and worked for a small independent shop. Word of mouth got him business, and he didn't have to worry about book rates.
Correction: there's book learning, real learning and RUclips! I've followed RUclips videos on repairing a heat exchanger, cv joints (axle replacement), fuel pump, ... I only need to see it done properly once. ;-)
I take automotive maintenance classes and work as a lube/maintenance tech for a Kia dealer. Work taught me so much more! Auto classes are more meant to enhance a hobby. I didn't have any major experience with cars despite being a gear head by heart, and starting from even the bottom was quite difficult. There were many missing tools I need, I was unfamiliar with almost every car coming in except Kias (you'd be surprised how many different brands come in), and this made me awfully slow and nervous at first. 5 months after starting, I've gotten WAY better, and very familiar with most cars coming in. My tool set is becoming stronger, my co workers like how I sell more work from inspections, and the service advisors are much more comfortable trusting me doing light line repairs and even some recalls. I'm taking it slowly. Don't want to be overconfident. Already had a few customers come back because I forget just 1 small thing like a cabin filter cover. Can't be perfect.
Dcc357 stick with it brotha, I’m in my third year of being a tech, and it only gets better, easier, and more profitable. Just make sure you always do good work. At a profit if you can, at a loss if you must. But always good work
School is very important - especially today. What you don't realize is that the time is very limited and they can't cover everything. You're in a position where you got the basic info and later on started connecting the dots in real life. A person who never went to school like and had the same back ground, would not be at your current level with everything being equal. Good luck with your career and try to move to high end popular brands (Mercedes, BMW, Audi). Those owners can actually afford more than an air filter and since the Germans break fairly often, it will allow you to have a normal life outside work.
Dcc357 you'll always learn more at work. Shop i worked at would hire kids out of UTI and they didnt know a thing and were too cocky to learn, they never got past doing oil changes and tire rotations
Jacob Ashmore don’t blame the school I graduated from UTI as well I’ve learned more there than I would have being in a shop for the same amount of time I’ve seen a lot guys come out doing really well it’s the younger kids just out of high school who’s never had a job before and didn’t pay attention in class that give us guys a bad name... I’m always lookin for new things to learn from the more experienced techs. A lot of the guys when they go to UTI have no clue what there getting into. Had a classmate from my own neighborhood I ended up working with up in Houston as well didn’t even know that dealerships had a mechanic shop to fix the cars they sold lol but he turned out be a ok guy and works his ass off.
You don't pay for advertisements, but you get them for "free" through your You Tube channel. If I lived in Texas, you would be my go to man, and this is coming from Canada. Honesty goes a long way, especially after 50 years. Thanks again for the great content Scotty!
The best way to find trustworthy mechanic, dentist and so on is to ask round good neighbors, friends and overall "good" people. I never trust advertisements.
When I was about 19 I decided to become a mechanic to repair my own vehicles to avoid getting scammed and be sure the job was done properly. In my 3rd year I had enough of working on other peoples cars. I treated them well as if they where my own cars but after 3 years I had completely lost interest. Now I am in a living situation where I dont have all the tools I use to have and have no place to work on my car(s).. So I am back to being at the mercy of these shops.. its very stressful for me. When I explain to them I may know the problem because I already diagnosed it they just look at my and say "yea sure you did" as if I know nothing. I really need a garage!
I was a mobile mechanic (retired) and most of my jobs were from women. They love a good mechanic who doesn't charge them an arm and a leg. Don't need to, my side benefits are great. They treat me very well. :)
I wish you were my mechanic. My good mechanic was off for a year, what a nightmare. One time I had this vehicle, 90's van, just had it cert/safety checked for the gov. to license it. Everything was done, a vacuum hose popped off, towed my vehicle to my friends garage, mechanic said I needed about $1,300 to do the job. I called my mechanic, he said all those things on the list were just done for the safety check, so I towed it out of there fast and it was a $20.00 fix. What a cheat he was, I told my friend, and she just wouldn't believe me, since he was such a ''great guy''. Goes to show you. Like I said, I wish you were close to me, but I'm close to Niagara Falls!!!! Singed RoseMarie
Scotty works on all the modern cars, and has worked through all the technology changes and is up to date as far as I can tell. School always prepares you for yesterdays technology. Most people learn on the job by doing.
Rata 4U as a programmer that is incorrect. The oldest coders have the best understanding and not to mention code doesn’t really change that fast. iPhone updated there language after 5-6 years. Most younger (30 years >) programmers however don’t understand most errors because older people coded in much much harder ways. Updating the tech only made it easier. It’s like digging holes with a shovel but you finally get a tractor.
lol. Mechanics with 50 years of experience don't only work on cars from the decade they started from, they work on whatever is brought in. Your example of your dad isn't a good one because you have no indication of when he stopped working or what he worked on. There are plenty of enthusiast pilots who need someone to work on their vintage aircraft and fleets keep their aircrafts in use for decades. You can choose to adapt or not. Even with that, there are some kick ass mechanics who solely work on muscle cars, or specific make/models only.
@Rata, most of the elements of cars haven't changed in the last 50 years, they became computer controlled but nothing is drastically different. The "instinct" still applies, a mech with 50 yrs of exp would know the ballpark area where to look for the problem whereas a new mech would have no clue which subsystem to start with.
When I worked in a motorcycle shop, the boss took on a new mechanic. He duly arrived Monday morning with a large steel cabinet on wheels. Inside its drawers and trays were beautiful shiny new looking tools all neatly arranged in compartments. It looked very professional and impressive. The boss had to let him go on Friday because the guy didn't have a clue what he was doing.
Finding a dishonest mechanic might not be too scary cause you can get away with it, BUT a dishonest doctor can be a very scary thing cause if you need urgent treatment and the doctor did a lousy job, you'll be in trouble.
My Aunt (Grandfather's sister) died of chemotherapy in the 80s. This was back before Chemotherapy was more precise; she went for it, came back like a zombie and laid on the couch for 2 years before dying.
Bobby Chakraborty Bad mechanics lose customers to better mechanics. Bad doctors lose customers to funeral directors. In both cases, they don't get repeat customers.
Bobby Chakraborty last time I took my truck to the shop the mechanic didn’t bolt the hood bolts properly that the lock didn’t grab the front part of the hood so when I drove for block the hood went up and it mess up the hood arms 🤦🏻♂️ good thing the owner came to see it and repair with no charge
I've had some mechanics, including a dealer, vandalize my car. Put hole in different parts of the car. Oil leak. water leak air conditioner compressor leak master brake leak. Coolant leak into the engine-it hurts working people! Happened in Texas.
Rapture Angel I can understand this I have been done the same way and I work for a living just like the mechanics so I will do as much as I can my self
Scotty, I feel tempted to be a mechanic myself and open up a shop in front of the scam shop and charge cheaper and get things done right, then thank the bad ones for bringing me more customers.
You know Scotty, I've been watching your videos for some time now and you always say your cheap. As far as I know all those tools you have there they DONT COME CHEAP. I think the right word to use SMART. Your definitely spending smartly. Great videos.
Speaking of crappy mechanics - for me, the biggest nightmare is ... (drum roll) the SERVICE WRITER! I had an encounter with one of these doofuses several years ago when I bought a car that turned out to be not very well maintained - the guy's wife drove it for quite a while without bothering to have the oil changed, a fact I discovered when the oil light came on, and when I tried to drain it, nothing came out. So I called a garage that seemed to be reputable, and even offered free towing. Next day I get a call from the SERVICE WRITER telling me that there was all kinds of blockage in the engine, and goes through a laundry list of everything that was going to have to be disassembled and cleaned, and mentioned along the way that there were (another drum roll) BRASS FILINGS in the oil pan. Anyway, he quoted me $972 to take it all apart and reassemble it, adding that he couldn't say how long it would run even after he did all of that. Two things wrong with this: (1) how could he know everything wrong inside the engine if he hadn't bothered to take it apart yet? and (2) brass is a very soft metal - not something one is going to find in a car engine. I told him to let me know what it would cost to tow it back to the house and to forget about it. An hour later, he calls back and the price magically drops by over half! It was ready a couple of days later, and when he called to tell me the work was done, as well as when I went to pick it up, he repeated the bit about "I don't know how long it's going to run" like it was a newly-assigned mantra. In the end, I never had oil problems with it for the years I drove it afterwards. But it instilled a new distaste for SERVICE WRITERS, who I suspect are there for two reasons: to pile on additional (and possibly unnecessary) work, and to enrich himself with bonuses earned by suckering the ignorant owners who swallow the hook they throw out. Great video, Scotty!
The daughter's Toyota had a rear latch go out - a common problem in earlier year Toyota Sequoias. It had previously been replaced by the Toyota dealership. I replaced it and found a paint spot on the latch part, designating that it was a used part! The invoice had charged for a new part, but what customer is going to know that the mechanic slipped in a used part? I realized that dealerships can be con artists too and often generally are in that category. They were bringing in used parts, perhaps from their collision division, and "recycling" them for additional profit.
i would have simply pulled the dipstick before i bought the car, that tells you alot : metallic dust in the oil, black black black oil, no oil... These are all very bad signs.
Roland St Germain you can find brass filings in an engine... Depending on what material the bearings are made of. Most are made of various soft metals.
Also having brass filings would make sense from what you described... Pulled drain plug and no oil came out. This likely means that the bearings were starved for oil, which will result in the brass filings. The brass filings means now that the crank bearings and if it has it, cam bearings need to be replaced. When you reply those bearings, you because all the money is in labor to get to them replace the Head gasket Water pump Cam bearings Machine the head All top end gaskets All bottom end gaskets Oil pump Head bolts Piston rings Pistons (if it is found that they or the bore is bad) Hone the cylinders Timing belt (or chain) Timing belt or chain tensioner Thermostat And more that I'm too tired to think of at the moment. So yes, you can have brass filings... And based off that know that everything in the engine will be replaced when you take the entire engine apart to get to those bearings. However why he didn't have confidence that the engine would last is beyond me. A rebuild is a rebuild. Do it right and it lasts a long time. Also if the camshaft doesn't use bearings the block or head could be ruined.
That looked like my garage. The problem is the amount of tools you need to work on a car. I may not use a tool for years but I know were its at although I may have to dig through a couple layers to get to it
I have worked in the auto industry most of my adult life and Scotty makes some very good points. But my experience is in parts and service the management field. I don't turn wrenches. I was blessed once when I was managing an Import Repair specialty shop to have a mechanic that could do anything. Most shop owners or service managers never have that privilege. They want to do the best for their customers but they can't find good mechanics. My guy at the Import shop previously worked for a VW dealership and was certified by VW and Porsche but he could fix anything. That is a true gift to a service manager or even a service writer. There is nothing worse for a service manager to have his tech tell him "This is what is wrong with the car and this is what it needs" and then you call the customer to get approval for the work and then after the tech does the work he comes back and says "Well, that didn't fix the problem so now I think it's this." ARRRGHH ! We had a customer once that had taken his Nissan to a dealer with an electrical problem. They couldn't figure out what the issue was even with all their dealer scan tools and computers and such. My guy, Dexter who looked like a Biker version of Santa Claus, got his ohm meter out and his test light and yes, it took him a few hours but he figured out what the problem was when these guys with these fancy scan tools couldn't. There was another time when a guy had problem in the valve train of his Toyota. We researched it and found there was a TSB out for this issue. The problem was to correct it you had buy a special tool from Toyota. My customer was pressed for time and there was no Toyota dealer near by who had the tool. Dexter looked at the tool Illustration and specs closely and said "I can make that tool" Sure enough, he went back to our metal lathe and made that tool and made the repair. I miss those days. I miss those kinds of Techs. I am now a service manager at an Ag dealership and if you think finding a good auto mechanic is hard, try finding a good Ag Tech. Oh, and if you ARE an Ag Tech and have experience working on Balers and Tractors and such and are reading this and would like to live in a low tax, low cost of living place and make $25 to $35 an hour...PLEASE contact me.
A friend of mine had her transmission go out on her old volkswagen and instead of going to one of the reputable mechanics that i suggested, she went to this questionable shady tree mechanic. The guy let his teenage kids do a lot of the work and it made me question the legitimacy of the mechanic. My friends car sat on this mechanics lot for 9 months and was never touched. Her car didn't get fixed until my friend kept calling and demanding that her car get fixed. Then finally when they put the new transmission in, we took it for a test drive and found that her speedometer was now broken and didn't work. When confronted about the broken speedometer he just insisted that the speedometer was already broke and refused to fix it. My friend didn't know what to do, so i suggested that she make the mechanic undue the work he did and put the broken transmission back into the car and then tow it to a more reputable mechanic. When she did this, the mechanic became very angry and started yelling and cussing her out. He then refused to undue his faulty work, and demanded that she pay him for the job. A job by the way that he charged over $6,000 for... i suggested that she take the issue to court, but unfortunately she was too nice and just payed him instead. The silver lining in the story though was that i finally convinced her to switch mechanics, and less than a year later, this so called mechanic actually went out of business.
hothamandfauri sounds like to me he left a connection unplugged which is a simple mistake I’ve done it on my own vehicle after working on it. But unless parts are hard to find and really expensive (I don’t know what your VW) friend owns but that could’ve been a factor but I highly doubt it.
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Scotty Kilmer I'm not a professionaly trained mechanic but I learned from many older guys around your age over the years I'm only 26 but I have fixed cars in my area for about 5 years the work that I get is usually just friends or friends of friends and the occasional person I don't know I'll offer to help, the majority of my work is stuff that gets turned down by the local pepboys or people bring me a 5000 estimate with services that are not needed or sad stories of how they just bought a car it was working fine for about a week and then it dies, usually it's something small like a crank sensor or just a straight up bad battery here in the desert in arizona and the stealer ship wants over 1000bucks for that.i just fixed a no start on a land rover discovery that nobody in town "couldn't find out why it has no spark. " in 10 minuets I hooks up the autel check the data pid for engine speed and it stayed at 0 for me that was plenty of information to condemned the crank sensor . Now I could have gone in with a test light and checked the wiring to the sensor checked the resistance on the sensor but I knew from experience that was the issue. As a former parts store employee I found the original Bosch sensor for 80 bucks I only charged the lady 50 bucks to swap it out (took less than an hour ) she was so happy she paid me double she said she had been waiting over a month for a local 4wd custom shop to fix it and they wanted over 500 bucks
But there is only one you, one Scotty. I cannot find someone like you. I do got a good adress though, so i think. But they never call me when my car is ready, i always have to call myself :(
Scotty Kilmer
You forgot to shine some light at the scam "mobile mechanics". Specially the ones from Craigslist.
Scotty Kilmer
Also some shops make you sign an open bill. And that is straight up bullshit to scam you dry.
Scotty! I noticed the Quick Jacks in your background. What are the chances you could do a demo/review? Been considering Quick Jacks for some time now. Any good?
I wish Scotty was my local mechanic 👌🏼
Noir Spectre but don't you think he'll charge more then usual cause of his fame and notoriety?
I live about six hours from this guy Texas rocks and me to at least I know my car would run awesome
of course not. he might charge more than a bare minimum mechanic simply because he is so experienced but you'd know he's not cheating you.
I know right
Brad Jones I think he's retired
I made the mistake if taking my 2001 Maxima to Meineke years ago for an oil change. After 15 minutes the mechanic sat down next to me and essentially told me I needed about 3 grand in work done, but he'd do it for $2500 if i agreed to do it then and there that day. The car drove fine and i didnt have any issues with it soni was immediately suspicious. I told him no after he tried convincing me that I'd be lucky to make it home, and he went ahead and did the oil change. I took the car to a independent mechanic that a friend recommended and the guy confirmed that aside from some very minor stuff that would cost no more than $300 to fix, the car was in excellent shape. Needless to say I tell everyone to stay the hell away from Meineke now.
ShenmueAtheist just to let you know those kind of shops are known in the field as fast food mechanics
I've got quotes from meineke, now I'm a lead mechanic at one. Way over priced and super hard to find a good one. They're all franchise, so everything is going to differ shop to shop.
Do your own oil yourself man. Its the 2nd easiest job to do on a car after changing a light bulb...
@@davecrupel2817 Kind of hard to do when you live in an apartment complex who doesn't allow people to work on their vehicles on the property.
@@emperorpalpatine1228 find a place behind an abandoned building or some other place out of sight.
Scotty has helped save me a couple thousand dollars just fixing my own cars. With that, I honestly don't trust ANY mechanics to touch my car, all they do is cut corners and rip you off. Paid $55 at nationally known oil change place that took an hour to do what takes me 30 mins by myself. They broke my air filter housing, then put back only 3 of the 10 screws holding the wind cover under my Ford Focus. I took my Expedition to another well known automotive shop because of loose steering, he informed me that it was worn out struts and shocks, upper and lower control arms, tie rod ends and gave me a quote of $1300 to replace all that. He looked astonished when I informed him all of those parts were less than a year old because I installed them myself. As it turns out it was a $27 Pitman arm that took an hour to replace myself. It just goes to show you thousands of people get screwed over every day out there and there should be tougher laws to crack down on such crooks.
Once I had an air conditioning problem in a Toyota Camry took it about 12 mechanics who all quoted a faulty compressor and even a few said the alternator needs replacement at a cost of over $1,300. When the real reason was re-gas at $50 and change a fuse in the fuse box $0.20 cents
Nice.
I agree there needs to be more consumer/customer protections against crooked mechanic practices and stronger prosecution
Are you in california scotty if yes im comimg to you
@@dennisakoglu2718 hi Dennis did you know I love you
I know I've found a good mechanic when i see him pop outta the trunk & ring a bell
Mad Hatter 😂
Pure facts!
I don't know if I'd trust him with my motorcycle...or a blue Mustang....or a classic 'vette.
but everything else? Sure. lol.
+Tim Ewa, yup, those intros with the sudden stops & screeching tires makes me screech...haha
Makes him sound like a leprechaun or something haha
I worked at a mechanic shop during the summer. The mechanic there never used a computer but immediately knew what was wrong with almost every car. That man was amazing.
“Scam mechanic”
They are few and far between.
"There's book learning, and there's real learning."
-Scott Kilmer, 2018
JOSEPHUUUUU
Or "book-smart"
Someone who can memorise a textbook but isnt practically skilled or experienced.
We just call 'em "Educated Idiots" where I'm from...and they usually tend to show an obvious terminal case of cranial-rectolitus the more they keep talking.
They typically wanna brag alllll about just how "smart & educated" they are..
while displaying several certificates/degrees on their wall somewhere of their extensive "education" sources..
but they also usually tend to have absolutely *NO* freaking common sense whatsoever.
(Which becomes abundantly clear the more they keep speaking!).
"lucky to find a guy like you around you" You are the last mechanic I would ever want. You spend half the day burning rubber and the other half sleeping in trunks. lololol
thumbs up as always.
My mechanic retired and all of his customers are sort of heart-broken. He had a heavy Italian accent so you had to listen carefully but he was brilliant. Dropped my car off for front brake pads and saw a 12 cyl. engine on a stand and asked what it was from. Ferrari America!! Another time I was driving by and saw him under a RR, so I stopped. He showed me what he was doing and why it was a very poor quality car. Then there was the time he was so busy he knew he wouldn't be able to get to my repair quickly so he showed me the defective part and told me how to install it (only one way and simple). I did it in 10 min. Brought him a xmas gift one year and he thanked me then showed me his office stacked floor to ceiling with other gifts and said that, in the future, he really rather I give the money to charity. He was very honest and never over-charged anyone that I know of. You were very lucky if he'd accept you as a customer. I saw him gently turn down several.
funny how just being a decent human being will make you set for life. Some people are too focused on the money or having to work as little as possible, and yet their attitude backfires in the end.
wholeNwon what part did u need changing that he showed u only one way to replace it? And what was the secret way
A strange looking resistor that controlled fan speed. No secret, only one way to install it, so I couldn't make a mistake.
Sometimes it "backfires" but more often they seem to get away with it. My old mechanic had several customers who were extremely wealthy with numerous exotic cars and large estates. If one of their cars needed repair, they usually had to wait until the cars of people who needed them for work were repaired.
The "No soup for you" mechanics are the best.
Mechanics that rip you off should be locked up like the crooks that they are.
B Strong if u go to a place where the mechanics are employed by the oner??. Don't blame the mechanics, blame the shop oner,managing staff,shop forman.
The mechanics are paid buy the hour. The oner is the one jurking u off. I've seen places charge 50.00 for chaneing a fuel filter. It only takes 5 min to do that job. The oner is responsible for your bill ,NOT the mechanics. Thay or paid the same no matter how much is done. I know I worked for them. And customers hated me for their disonisty. If u wont to hate someone? Find a mechanic who runs his own shop that takes advantage of u.
B Strong at dealerships mechanics are paid buy the book hour. Meaning if they don't have nothing to work on they don't get paid. I have brought home paychecks as little as 45.00 dollors a week.
U should focus your anger on the oner of the business. They determine what it cost to repair your car. The mechanic works for the dealerships are shops there employed at. They have little to do with your repair bill. Your anger is placed in the rong place. I'm going to assume you are intelligent. I've worked for business for 35 years. If your going to blame someone for ripping u off .? Blame the damn oners, shop forman, division manager or the sails person's who smiles like a grinning possum.
Yes business do rip people of . BUT as long as people like u keep paying and not understanding the causes of kuruption, IT WILL CONTINUE. .....
Alton Rowell I got me a trustworthy mechanic now. You are better off to get side family owned shop to work on car.
Wow , you really skipped a lot of English classes.
I wish someone would invent(?) not sure of proper word , a way that mechanics cannot scam you. this is insane how this can be legal for mechanics to rip us off.
Even the quick oil change places try to scam. Took my daughter's car in for service (I was visiting from out of town, and she had no way to change at her apartment). Mechanic called us into the garage area, pointed to a drop of oil in the oil pan area, and stated we had an oil leak. Only problem was, I already knew she didn't have a leak, because I had checked her parking space at the apartment, and the oil drop he was pointed to was honey-colored... indicating he had placed it there himself. After speaking with the manager and threatening to call the local news, we got her oil changed for free. Although I should've called, anyway.
LordCarpenter I got asked if I wanted to buy some weed from the front desk girl @ JIFFY LUB...yes I said @JIFFY LUB because she had the hook up from her bf and could get it in less then 30 mins. I guess it's -go for the oil change stay for the weed hook up @JIFFY LUB...yes I said JIFFY LUB!
More like Jiffy Bag, amirite?!
Slade Stockill if they showed this to his daughter they probably would have scared her into getting unnecessary work that would have cost her an arm and a leg. I have never seen an honest quickie lube shop
Slade Stockill It's a scam because the honey color of the oil meant it hadn't been used. He placed it there to scare her into paying for work she didn't need. I'd bet they'd also "find" something else wrong and try to squeeze more money out of her.
LordCarpenter He probably cleans oil filters with degreaser and says okay miss that will be $19.99 🤤 although a new filter is only $8 and the tool to do it yourself cost $3😉 Although that cheap oil is going to snowcone so bad the filter will be Shit by Christmas.
We need a credit bureau for Mechanics service quality & honesty!
Terry kadhim you are so right about this
I took my wife's vehicle in to a Stealership for a mandantory State Inspection a few years ago (the only time I ever take a vehicle to a shop). The service tech not knowing I'd been turning wrenches for 40 years, a young, wet behind the ears guy came and got me in the waiting room and informed me of a very bad leak in my rack and pinion..... "Come out here, I'll show you, the rack and pinion is all wet because of a leak, " he said. As we walked he said he had time to do the replacement today for $985 if I wanted to go ahead and get it done. He then took me under the vehicle on the lift and a sure enough, and area of the rack and pinion was all wet..... he said, "you see, this is very bad!"................ I looked, sure enough it was wet, and I said, "Oh, the wetness coming from the AC Condensate line just above it???" To which he said, "Uh, uh, uh, yea, I guess it cooouuuld be............." I laughed, and said, "Get our vehicle off this lift, and don't ever try to scam me again....do I make myself clear!!"
Gene D wish you had a hidden cam!
Good
Bullshit, you got ripped off and said "okay sir, bend me over and please don't pull my hair too hard."
R\thathappened
And then the entire dealership clapped.
I made the mistake of saying no rush. I was not in a rush, I was out of work at the time. Took 2 weeks for a 2 hour job.
Wilson Solt
Yep same here..2 weeks later car was still outside no one knew who it belonged to..
My “mechanic” has taken almost 7 months working on my Odyssey’s transmission cause
“I can’t find the fix, but I’m working on it”
Fernando Torres 7months? Holyshit...
A virtue in life where we polite people end up.
It seems if you give even half a shit about the job you do, you'll get all the work you can handle and then some.
just because you can pass a driving test doesn't mean you can drive a car. same goes in ALL walks of life.
Lee Dress I mean, they literally make you drive during the driving test, the whole point of a driving test is to see if you can drive.
edit: unless you meant the "rules of the road" sit down at a desk and answer these questions test, in which case you're spot on
Fake Name we have a written test, and a driving test. I meant the written test.
True that. Too many retards on the road 👎
Fake Name, Standards have been lowered on all driving tests, written and the actual driving. Even the idiots out on the road are licensed. Sometimes I wonder if they got their license from the bottom of a cereal box.
Lee Dress also not just on driving
Many jobs have retards with diplomas but can’t do shit and there work rate is trash
First up front sign of a scam mechanic, they will have a salesman in the front office.
Hahaha
That's Halfords
😆😆😆
Sounds like Firestone.
Every shop has a receptionist lol but I see what you saying
Usually the person you are making an appointment with, or telling them your vehicle problems, knows nothing about vehicles.
I didn't see a single calendar in your shop with a female model, you are clearly NOT a mechanic.
William Wade well, it may on his computer or phone, even these models have gone all electronic too. Lol
They still make girly calanders? ...where do you get them
Rigid Tool always has one... Just to play off the company name... ;-)
It was there was just had a bunch of s*** piled on it..
You think his wife would let that slide? Lol. Guy where I work has a tear off calendar of sports ill. Swimsuit models and he keeps all of them on display
In many fields, clients don't have the experience or skill set to recognize whether the work is at a high standard. So, you end up with glowing reviews by less informed customers if the front office said the right things and gave them a warm glowing feeling when the visit was over. Interestingly, those with experience often define 'good' with a very different yardstick. In many fields I have noticed a disconnect between customer and peer reviews. Not all the bad experiences are the fault of the shop, and not all the 'great' RUclips mechanics have the respect of their peers. Stuff happens, even in the best hands. As for those who advise doing things yourself, just remember that the average customer would be near the incompetent side of the scale, not even as good as a typical Walmart shop. Getting into DIY auto repair means your learning curve will include inevitable errors, which is OK as long as you're up for that. Strangely, confidence builds before competence, so in a few years you go through a phase of overconfidence that can get you into deep trouble. After a few decades you'll accumulate enough experience to have the right balance of confidence and humility. Most never get there.
spelunkerd im overly cautious. i can diagnose decently well i think though when repairing anything major i have this fear i will cause serious damage so i ALWAYS have a very experienced friend advise me before i commit fully to a harder repair.
A lot of cars out in the front with dust because it takes them a week to get to your car is a sign of a bad shop, period. He nailed that one. Good shops get cars in and out of there in all but a day or two, unless it's a serious job like an engine swap, then it's usually a Saturday gig. Still, no lots of cars. Avoid those places!
Not necessarily. I worked in a transmission shop. After winter storms and ice storms, we would get swamped with blown transmissions. The customers understood and had no problem leaving their car until we could get to it. First come first serve and we eventually get them all done. This was and still is the shop in town with the best reputation so they had no problem waiting. We were also the only Jasper Transmission preferred shop around and we sold a lot of those too.
Scotty, you really tell it like it is..... hard to find honesty these days.....
We need more mechanics like you....
_Everything_ Scotty has said is true. I speak from personal experience.
Thanks Scotty, I got my first car a few months ago and haven't had any major issues yet, but wanted to make sure I was aware. Your kind of content helps a lot in making everything easier.
I have had the best luck with little country shade tree mechanics. My dad was a good mechanic and he couldn't even read or write.
You can also look for that old pot bellied, greasy beaded guy who smokes Cigars all day and can barely hear what you say.
These are my favorite mechanics. :)
derrik tie - I actually know a couple mexican mechanics that I've personally watched fix many an issue with various vehicles. The owner is a legal resident of the U.S. the other guy is not. Point is they both do some of the best work I've ever seen in a timely manner for insanely good prices.
Just because one of the guys is illegal doesn't mean he's a bad mechanic (in fact he's one of the best I've seen), it just means your a bigot/troll that had nothing useful to add to the comment section.
I find it laughably ironic how your ancestors were illegal aliens to this country, which somehow doesn't bother you, but you take offense to illegal aliens from Mexico. Yet you somehow forget or flat out refuse to educate yourself on that obvious fact, that is unless you're a full blooded Native American, meaning you were native to America. I'm sorry people from other countries bother you so much Mr. Snowflake, but hey Kleenex makes a very useful product to wipe your tears with, you should buy yourself a pack and get on with your life.
Benson G LMAO YOU SHUT HIM DOWN
Old guy I worked under couldn’t read or write his own name, put tools in his hand he was a genius.
You could not have said it better! Finding a good mechanic is as hard as finding a good dentist 100%
Scotty, you are the man! It's about time someone told the truth.. you wouldn't believe the prices I hear that people pay for car repair. Thank you for being truthful! Knowledge is power!! Keep up the good work!!
Thanks for the support!
That's so true mechanics, doctors, dentists, lawyers, every industry has both good and bad.
Avoid dentists that are the jack of all trades (every specialty), but the master of none. I had a dentist slaughter me during an extraction. He tried to do everything in order to jack up his revenue.
Ron Consumer Unfortunately, a lot of bad doctor's mistakes get buried! 💀 ⚰️
My mother was slaughtered by a heart surgeon. He tried to cover it up first thing and eventually wrote a phony description of the operation, not mentioning his gross errors.
I hear you Weasel... My 95-year-old aunt went to emergency for pneumonia the ER Doctor noted she was dehydrated so they decided to open the tabs on the IV which put pressure on her heart... and due to her already having difficulty breathing it put enough pressure on her system and stopped her heart. Lucky for them they were able to get her heart started again but even the heart doctor said they treated her to aggressively.
Ron Consumer We had a similar experience with my 89 year old Stepfather, he had a fall and was taken to hospital for a check up. The ''doctor'' insisted he just a sprained wrist and wanted to send him home. We had to argue for a second opinion and an x-ray showed the bone in his wrist was actually broken in 2 places!
I stay away from dealerships. My alternator went out on my tundra and the local Toyota dealership wanted 995.00 for the alternator and 600.00 to put it on. I laughed and bought one online for 225.00 with a lifetime warranty. My mechanic put it on for 100 bux.
$100. to put install a alternator? Alternators are very easy to install!
I am just a home mechanic. But I charge like $40 for a quick 10 minute install in a Ford. But if it is a kia, oh hell, that will take at least 5 hours, so $250 minimum start... and I haven't seen an alternator cost that expensive of $225 before. I seen them run in the $105-$165 range. Unless you are getting boosted alternator for running stereos and speakers and heavy subs.
I have a dealer 2 year bumper to bumper warranty, so it benefits me to go there and get it fixed at no cost - right? No loopholes? Tell me there are no loopholes!
@@nightlightabcd Do you know how running a business works?
It really depends on the dealer and the people who work there. I had a Chevy dealer in California that was great. Sure, they charged a little more for routine maintenance, but they never once tried to upsell me or scam me. And on two different cars that had major problems, they spent a lot of time diagnosing and never charged me when I opted not to rebuild the engines.
Don't go to jiffy lube. They tried to charge me to change my transmission fluid even though they didn't even do the job.
Alessia Benedetto Your th idiot that cant do it
Steve My car doesn't have a dipstick you moron. So, how the hell am I suppost to do it? So, I had to go to the dealership because I asked around at other places and they all said that the dealership is the only ones that can do it. I bet your would let someone charge you for work that they never did. Not me. I caught them. Or better yet. I think you work for them.
Steve You are
Never go to JL for anything but an oil change. And be thankful if they DIDN'T change your trans fluid. They don't stock the correct fluid for all cars.
Nah, don;t g to Jip Me lube at all. I went once when I needed to go on a long trip unexpectedly. I checked the oil after and it was still dirty. They might have drained most of it out and left in the dirty filter or something.
Do your own work!!! My ac went out in my truck so i got a quote for 1200. I went to advance and bought everything i needed to do a complete rebuild for 550. I took it to the shop to vacuum and recharge for 90. Total cost was $640 saved almost $600. 👍👍
Diego Manuel completely agreed, my is300 needed a new throttle body, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and a couple of others sensors and I got quoted for $2700, bought the parts for around $500 and did it my self with the thanks of RUclips videos.
I have an 87 Camaro and I went to an "A/C Shop" to get a quote on replacing the evaporator. They wanted $2000 just in labor to replace it. I paid $80 for the part and it took me a couple hours to replace it. I even put a new drier in it. $25 for the drier, $120 for the gauges and $100 for the vacuum pump. Still cheaper than $2000.
and how much for the labour? shops quote for the labor to dismantle the dash at a labor rate, also remember, a quote is an educated guess at how long a job will take, not a set price with no variables.
Diego Manuel good job,sir
Amen, Scotty! "test taking" does not equate to really knowing how to fix something.
but it does prove your ability to learn and test your short-term memory skills which you are required to have as a mechanic usually really s***** mechanics say oh you're just book smart and they can't fix a f****** sandwich!
"There's book learning and then there's real learning." Amen amen! Wise words from a wise man.
Adam Macias BOTH are important.
I once took my motorcycle to a Honda shop due to a vibration in the front end. The mechanic stated it was caused by the single disk brake on the front wheel. He claims since the disk was on the left side of the wheel, only the left side of the tire was doing all the stopping. His only cure was to add a second disk to the front wheel to balance it out.
With that logic, all cars stop using only the inside of the tire. Needless to say I never went back to that place.
A new tire solved the vibration issue.
Robert Heinkel unbelieveble that kind mechanic is exist
Sounds like it was a balance or tire wear issue.
Dealerships and chain repair places are the worst. They try to upsell with all sorts of crap you don't need. Labor rates are the highest, and parts are charged at retail prices. Don't do it.
I'm my own mechanic thanks to crooks.
EElectric_M so true no one has touched my car but me. Not because I like being a mechanic but because I can’t trust anyone to do anything correct or honest in Vegas.
Just like me, my car will most likely never go to a mechanic besides myself. Even if hard and challenge tasks and tools are needed, i am here to handle it. The mechanics i know are all a bunch of scammers, people that dont give a shit about the cars they work on, people that do incomplete work, bad work and do not respect the car and its brand engineering. So yeah, i am here to tackle it now.
420CEO
What is the simplest job a mechanic can do? An oil change I say. Once I had an oil change done on my Suburban at a GMC/ Cadillac dealer. Something was wrong, checked oil dipstick, WAY overfilled. Two “technicians” both added fresh oil. Other times at a different dealer (Chevrolet) oil drain plug not tight enough so it came loose and another time so tight threads were stripped.
But can you trust yourself? How do you know you aren't tying to scam yourself
Nizzle FoShizzle you say staying in the garage all weekend like its a bad thing.
"very good tools can be very small" -Scotty Kilmer
That's what _she_ said!
Oh, maybe not ...
Well as the saying goes, it's not the size that matters but how you put your tool to good use.....lol
I wish my wife would think the same.
Robert Villegas heyo!......🏌️♂️
I refuse to deal with mechanics that work in commercial shops. I have a few friends that wrench on their own cars, like myself, and none of us own cars that we can't fix ourselves. I spend a bit of time most everyday watching RUclipss. Scotty, you have saved me a few times and I have learned a bunch of good, real world stuff watching your schooling. You are a good mechanic and I can spot that a mile away.
RUclips was invented for you, Scotty.
Scotty really is a legend and will have a huge legacy
thanks for the support!
Huge Subaru Legacy
Maybe a statue?
A statue of Scotty in a Subaru Legacy.
A good mechanic is one who loves his work and truly cares about his customers. A mechanic who is knowledgeable with his diagnostics tools and knows how to use his tools properly. A mechanic who goes over his work after its completed and testing his work to make sure the problem it came in for is fixed. Reputation in a repair shop is everything, all the way down to management. Do your homework when shopping i.e. word of mouth, google shop customers reviews etc.... Scotty is right in that good well established shops in the past may no longer do quality work.
Love your video mate. Wish I could find a mech like you.
I Love this Dude! He Has literally helped repair Almost ALLLL my Vehicles through Osmosis ... He's A Beast!
No U-bonics please.......thank you.
Illbeyour Huckleberry I love as Schuyler ignored your racist ass, lol
honorquest Yes... Keyboard warriors aren't worth anybodies time or energy... Plus besides none of those words are Ebonics so he's actually double stupid...
better than halitosis
As a mechanic myself, I absolutely agree with everything this gentleman said. ESPECIALLY the word of mouth part. I've never had to advertise myself, and will never need to either.
Thanks Scott! Your videos is spot on!
Pricing is same with many craftsmen, like I called a plumber to change a pump to my boiler. And he wanted 1000$ for it without giving much details.
I called another plumber, hand he came by the same day to look at it to give me a quote.
We made a deal that I got all the parts needed and that I would drain the system so he could do fux the pump and plumbing.
The bill landed on no more than 500$.
Thats what I call a good craftsman
awesomefacepalm 0
awesomefacepalm also some landscape workers overcharged for some random reason.
When I was in high school I work with my uncle doing landscaping and some customers would call him and ask him if he could do the job because some other guys wanted double or triple for what my uncle charge.
Just remember that a great mechanic will be paid like a great mechanic. Quality work will cost money. He will be priced very competitively along with the other good mechanics. A mechanic deserves to get paid what he is worth nobody works for free. So sick of customers complaining about the hourly rate for a mechanic like scotty with 30 years experience. All those snap on tools and tool chests arent free folks. A good mechanic has 50-75k worth of tools in that 15k tool chest.
If you paid 90k for your tool chest full of tools you probably over paid.
Shuhtup. All mechanics are pieces of shiiiht
I listened to a show by a guy named The Car Doctor.
His saying was something like, Good Mechanics are not expensive, they are PRICELESS!!
Thanks for your good work Scotty!
Two things to never say to a mechanic:
1. No hurry, take your time.
2. Money is no object.
It's funny because when my customers say that to me I work better and give them better service.
TheBear Well, you're one of kind.
Never say my wife is picking it up.!
Buffalo Benno Or, if you have a wealthy mother-in-law, don't go to her mechanic. He will assume that she's paying for it and you'll get gouged.
TheBear same here. Especially working at the dealer it makes it more relaxed for me to be a bit more meticulous in each job I do. I try to do nothing but good fair work to everybody that comes through the door, but it makes it especially easy and joyful when the customer is lax
Scotty Kilmer the real OG
Scotty. Thank you for your service. I know this is off subject, but I wanted to tell you this because I retired from the USAF after 22 years on active duty. It was about 24 years after I returned from Vietnam before anybody other than my folks said "welcome home" to me. It was another truckdriver at a fuel stop who saw my "Vietnam Veteran and Damned Proud of It" cap I was wearing. He walked over to me from the next fuel island, stuck out his hand and shook mine, as he said those words. Anyway, that's what I want to tell you, PLUS, I enjoy your videos and am a subscriber.
Saul Goodman, real life version
Haha if Saul was a mechanic
better call scotty
What makes you think Saul Goodman is a bad person? And I was not talking about their character but rather appearance and gesticulation.
I knew that Scott reminded me of someone but I was not sure who ... thanks
Saul goodman meets filthy frank
I've put bad reviews on a shops website. I got a call from the owner wanting to correct their problem and I told him sorry buddy I found someone else to do it 3 times cheaper. (He wanted 1,500 in just labor to install a differential...) I got it done for 500 with my parts provided from someone else. He had no interest after I told him that and then proceeded to remove all of my reviews from his web page.
This is whats really bad. He told me one price when I brought it in which was 600 dollars. So I dropped it off, 3 DAYS later I get a call saying no its going to be 1,500. He wasted my time and left me borrowing a car for 3 days.
I bought an entire rear end for $350 and swapped it in 4 hours. That was 4 years ago and it's still working fine. Moral of the story is, buy direct from your local junk yard. Mechanics charge a finder's fee.
Thanks for testimony
What is the name of the shop?
Because I DON'T want to do business with them either.
i am a mechanic myself, and i see exactly what Scotty says, 99% of mechanics has no skills to find the issue and repair the car the right way, they just became parts changers, they have no idea what they are doing even if they have tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools.
im having a hell of a time finding a mechanic that can actually repair a short circuit in my 97 nissan quest , its like no mechanics have any electrical troubleshooting and electrical repair abilities at all .
You make car repairs interesting and fun ❤
This is exactly what every RUclips video should be like! I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation sir.
Recently I took my car in to one of the most reputable, and busiest, shops in my town for a clunking sound (wish I had watched Scooty's video on warn out control arms) coming from the left front wheel when leaving a stop light. I told the service writer about it and said I thought it was a strut toping out when weight shifts to the rear of the car under excelleration, but I wanted a mechanic diagnose the problem and give me an estimate. After about an hour the writer called and said it was the struts just like I thought. So I order new struts came in a week later to have them installed. The bill came to just over $1000 dollars and when I left the clunk was still just as it was before, no change. I think the writer order the repairs, knowing it would playcate me since it was my idea. The moral of this story is, I think you should never offer your opinion about what might be causing a problem even if you know what it is.
New control arm bushing?
If you are in Long Beach, don’t go to Gretchen’s... Owner is never around, and considering the employees cuss each other out in front of the customer and they break parts putting them on. I recommend H and J. I saved so much money going to that shop in Stanton. I’m just hoping someone in Long Beach sees this... this is a warning!
Harrison S Gretchen's.... those fuckers...
Glad I'm not the only one who had an issue there... I even made a yelp review about that place.
Super Discount Transmissions in Avondale, AZ. They'll rebuild your transmission 3 or 4 times, still not get it right, leave your front driveshaft bolts backed out, fry your computer, and then tell you that they won't give you your money back because it's under warranty and that's not how it works.
Long Beach ca?
Jose Diaz asmr yep!
Best bet is to go to like five diff places and go with the cheapest has never failed me if they agree what is wrong. I had a small oil leak ,One shop said oh a rear main 2k to fix, One shop said valve cover gasket $80 to fix .One shop said front main 1k to fix. One shop said oil pan gasket $900 to fix. The 5th place said valve cover gasket $300 to fix.Turns out it was a Valve cover gasket and cost $80 to fix .
Good job mate
ok i am mechanic. and this is how i diagnose where the leak is. My first step to degrease the engine and complete pressure wash the engine. Let it dry and run the car for a few sometime and recheck, its the only way you can know exactly where the oil leak starts from. most mechanics i knew before just guess without proper investigation. pressure wash will pinpoint the leak. and dont always go for the cheapest mechanic. he might want to do an easy job the valve cover gasket but it might not be the problem.
suresh jayasiri thats how i fixed the front crank seal on a disco ll last weekend. the part was $21 ;)
most work on cars can be done on your own. google and youtube are your friends in repairing. good work
Alton Steel that’s why u use google to diagnose and buy your own quality parts then use RUclips to learn how to replace them
I have had nothing but bad service from Ken Towery Firestone. I tell them what to do and they do something else. I told them what to do about an overheating radiator, but when I returned to the shop they told me they only replaced the thermostat. I told them that was not what I asked them to do. My car overheated on the drive home and I never have gone back to them. Another mechanic did what I told him to do and it fixed the problem.
I wish Scotty had opened his own chain of garages across the country. We need more mechanics like you!
Not a single curse word...thanks Scotty
Trebor Skeem who cares?
Looks like alot of sad people below...thanks for a great video with no curse words :)
Guy Muffin you are very odd... nice RUclips videos, I definately think you have the ideal moral and beliefs xD
tefflongsxr Are you a thug, or are you an internet gangster? Internet gangster haha
50 years?! Wow! Scotty you have been working on cars almost twice the years of me being on the planet. You've help me on my car repairs and saved me money. I really respect this video, and what you do sir. Living legend.
I have a '94 Toyota Celica. I don't need a mechanic
true
Things will start to go bad eventually. I'd say around 2034. For instance...I had to change the bulbs in the dash on my '68 Corolla about 10 years ago. They were slightly dim after 40 years.
IcantSignIn xD the bulbs omg so much damage
You do your own oil changes and brake pads
Hmmmm.....in the last 20 years, 600k miles of driving. Toyota and nissan is the only cars that had left me stranded. Both of them engine issues. Nissan was complete distruction. No thanks.
Pep Boys came to my area and bought up a bunch of local shops. I went to get an alignment at the small Collierville Tn. Pep Boys. The guy I saw working was young. I found out he was still in school for auto maintenance. I was already suspicious. Sure enough I was told my car couldn't be aligned and I needed to replace the tie rod. I get home and first of all the hood wasn't latched all the way. SECOND, you could tell he never tried to properly break the big jam nut on the tie rod, he appeared to have left tool marks on only the rod itself. Pitiful! They turned this kid loose without supervision. I happen to be mechanically able bodied to check behind people but what about the other people who aren't!! Sad that a large company allows their name to suffer because of greed. I went back to tell them after my van was aligned somewhere else.
I had a bad run in at Pep Boys when I took my '81 Datsun 280zx because of driveline noise. Well they spent all day and after figuring out they couldn't get my u-joints because they are pressed in. It couldn't be fixed. So I said well just put the car back together so I can leave. Well they said the mechanic lost the parts to put the u-joints back in. So here it was on a Friday and I was stuck without a car. I said you are going to get me a car, I am not going to be stuck without a car on the weekend. So needless to say they gave me a rental to use. It took 5 days to get my car fixed. They had to send my driveshaft do a specialty driveshaft shop to have new u-joints pressed in. So that rental cost them plenty of money. lol Long story short, I never had work done on any of my vehicles at Pep Boys again. Minus smog check once or twice. But it has been many years. I try to do all the work I can on my own.
What that makes no sense wont bother explaining because your mechanically able
Who are you referring too? I thought I explained my rant well enough.
explain what? i agree with atranfanatic.
Thank you. I thought both of us, explained our situations pretty good.
Yeah, my dad worked with one of those clean mechanics. He said he was technically proficient and did do the job, but he rarely ever beat book and that doesn't make the department manager happy when you are working in a dealership. My dad was so much happier when he left there and worked for a small independent shop. Word of mouth got him business, and he didn't have to worry about book rates.
Correction: there's book learning, real learning and RUclips! I've followed RUclips videos on repairing a heat exchanger, cv joints (axle replacement), fuel pump, ... I only need to see it done properly once. ;-)
Kelvin Waters Roger that I would never been able to put lights in Tahoe without RUclips.
Or shut off my dumb tps light
I take automotive maintenance classes and work as a lube/maintenance tech for a Kia dealer. Work taught me so much more! Auto classes are more meant to enhance a hobby. I didn't have any major experience with cars despite being a gear head by heart, and starting from even the bottom was quite difficult. There were many missing tools I need, I was unfamiliar with almost every car coming in except Kias (you'd be surprised how many different brands come in), and this made me awfully slow and nervous at first. 5 months after starting, I've gotten WAY better, and very familiar with most cars coming in. My tool set is becoming stronger, my co workers like how I sell more work from inspections, and the service advisors are much more comfortable trusting me doing light line repairs and even some recalls. I'm taking it slowly. Don't want to be overconfident. Already had a few customers come back because I forget just 1 small thing like a cabin filter cover. Can't be perfect.
Dcc357 stick with it brotha, I’m in my third year of being a tech, and it only gets better, easier, and more profitable. Just make sure you always do good work. At a profit if you can, at a loss if you must. But always good work
School is very important - especially today. What you don't realize is that the time is very limited and they can't cover everything. You're in a position where you got the basic info and later on started connecting the dots in real life. A person who never went to school like and had the same back ground, would not be at your current level with everything being equal. Good luck with your career and try to move to high end popular brands (Mercedes, BMW, Audi). Those owners can actually afford more than an air filter and since the Germans break fairly often, it will allow you to have a normal life outside work.
Dcc357 you'll always learn more at work. Shop i worked at would hire kids out of UTI and they didnt know a thing and were too cocky to learn, they never got past doing oil changes and tire rotations
Jacob Ashmore don’t blame the school I graduated from UTI as well I’ve learned more there than I would have being in a shop for the same amount of time I’ve seen a lot guys come out doing really well it’s the younger kids just out of high school who’s never had a job before and didn’t pay attention in class that give us guys a bad name... I’m always lookin for new things to learn from the more experienced techs. A lot of the guys when they go to UTI have no clue what there getting into. Had a classmate from my own neighborhood I ended up working with up in Houston as well didn’t even know that dealerships had a mechanic shop to fix the cars they sold lol but he turned out be a ok guy and works his ass off.
Unbelievable how accurate this is.
Lets clone scotty
Do it
let's open a kickstarter project!
Need to find a way around the accelerated aging issue.
call the CIA
amer albakri need 6 of em for a few bank jobs
You don't pay for advertisements, but you get them for "free" through your You Tube channel. If I lived in Texas, you would be my go to man, and this is coming from Canada. Honesty goes a long way, especially after 50 years. Thanks again for the great content Scotty!
Keinan Menard yes i think se are Petty fucked. Here in Canada to find a Goods one. Specially southern ontario.
Wait he lives in Texas? What city? I want him to fix my car lmao
As far as i know you have to pay a tax to youtube
also live in southern ontario1
Houston
Scotty we need more people like you ! The world would be a much better place !,God bless you!
This the only guy's videos I always hit the like button at the start of the video because he never disappoints.
Yes, I do that too!
The best way to find trustworthy mechanic, dentist and so on is to ask round good neighbors, friends and overall "good" people. I never trust advertisements.
From one mechanic to another...... Really Great Video! The insight you offer in this video is completely accurate. I hope people listen.
When I was about 19 I decided to become a mechanic to repair my own vehicles to avoid getting scammed and be sure the job was done properly. In my 3rd year I had enough of working on other peoples cars. I treated them well as if they where my own cars but after 3 years I had completely lost interest. Now I am in a living situation where I dont have all the tools I use to have and have no place to work on my car(s).. So I am back to being at the mercy of these shops.. its very stressful for me. When I explain to them I may know the problem because I already diagnosed it they just look at my and say "yea sure you did" as if I know nothing. I really need a garage!
I knew a mechanic who was very terse like that. Upshot was he was a very good mechanic and didn't overcharge, but I could not stand his attitude.
Time to buy cheap tools and get ‘er done
SCOTTY WINS AGAIN!!!!! Absolutely love this man!!
Scotty Too Hottie is the the Truth ! Wish he was my mechanic. They hating on Scotty cause he tell the Truth . Keep it going 🦾
I was a mobile mechanic (retired) and most of my jobs were from women. They love a good mechanic who doesn't charge them an arm and a leg. Don't need to, my side benefits are great. They treat me very well. :)
Burb giggity
Get some action out of the deal?
Mike apparently. But it's the internet, why lie to thousands of strangers?
Burb They might charge you a middle-leg tho.
No joke mate. :D
I wish he was my neighbour lol!
Zoran Terzic same here!
Oh god me too...
Zoran Terzic are you from Australia? Or UK or new Zealand? I noticed the spelling of neibour....lol
I'm UK !
Praveen Sharma Australia
Your just too cool for being brutally honest! Love it! Keep up the great work!
I wish you were my mechanic. My good mechanic was off for a year, what a nightmare. One time I had this vehicle, 90's van, just had it cert/safety checked for the gov. to license it. Everything was done, a vacuum hose popped off, towed my vehicle to my friends garage, mechanic said I needed about $1,300 to do the job. I called my mechanic, he said all those things on the list were just done for the safety check, so I towed it out of there fast and it was a $20.00 fix. What a cheat he was, I told my friend, and she just wouldn't believe me, since he was such a ''great guy''. Goes to show you. Like I said, I wish you were close to me, but I'm close to Niagara Falls!!!! Singed RoseMarie
You can't learn to ride a bike by reading a book on it. Truth.
Scotty works on all the modern cars, and has worked through all the technology changes and is up to date as far as I can tell. School always prepares you for yesterdays technology. Most people learn on the job by doing.
Rata 4U as a programmer that is incorrect. The oldest coders have the best understanding and not to mention code doesn’t really change that fast. iPhone updated there language after 5-6 years. Most younger (30 years >) programmers however don’t understand most errors because older people coded in much much harder ways. Updating the tech only made it easier. It’s like digging holes with a shovel but you finally get a tractor.
lol. Mechanics with 50 years of experience don't only work on cars from the decade they started from, they work on whatever is brought in. Your example of your dad isn't a good one because you have no indication of when he stopped working or what he worked on. There are plenty of enthusiast pilots who need someone to work on their vintage aircraft and fleets keep their aircrafts in use for decades.
You can choose to adapt or not. Even with that, there are some kick ass mechanics who solely work on muscle cars, or specific make/models only.
@Rata, most of the elements of cars haven't changed in the last 50 years, they became computer controlled but nothing is drastically different. The "instinct" still applies, a mech with 50 yrs of exp would know the ballpark area where to look for the problem whereas a new mech would have no clue which subsystem to start with.
When I worked in a motorcycle shop, the boss took on a new mechanic. He duly arrived Monday morning with a large steel cabinet on wheels. Inside its drawers and trays were beautiful shiny new looking tools all neatly arranged in compartments. It looked very professional and impressive. The boss had to let him go on Friday because the guy didn't have a clue what he was doing.
Scotty my friend. Most probably we will never meet but I want to say "Hi" from Pakistan.
Hello!
😂😂😂😂
The Two Perspectives you never know
Buy a green card and stalk him
Buy?
Finding a dishonest mechanic might not be too scary cause you can get away with it, BUT a dishonest doctor can be a very scary thing cause if you need urgent treatment and the doctor did a lousy job, you'll be in trouble.
Bobby Chakraborty or if a radiologist or cardiologist misdiagnosed an issue.
Or a brain surgeon saying you have cancer and mistakenly did a surgery to you. This was on the news.
My Aunt (Grandfather's sister) died of chemotherapy in the 80s. This was back before Chemotherapy was more precise; she went for it, came back like a zombie and laid on the couch for 2 years before dying.
Bobby Chakraborty Bad mechanics lose customers to better mechanics. Bad doctors lose customers to funeral directors. In both cases, they don't get repeat customers.
Bobby Chakraborty last time I took my truck to the shop the mechanic didn’t bolt the hood bolts properly that the lock didn’t grab the front part of the hood so when I drove for block the hood went up and it mess up the hood arms 🤦🏻♂️ good thing the owner came to see it and repair with no charge
Scotty is a gem.Hizs knowledge saves you money.Super practical mechanic and more!
My mechanic pops out of hatchbacks to tell me the job is done 😊
I've had some mechanics, including a dealer, vandalize my car. Put hole in different parts of the car. Oil leak. water leak air conditioner compressor leak master brake leak. Coolant leak into the engine-it hurts working people!
Happened in Texas.
Didn't you read any reviews before going to these places? These sound like people have no idea what they are doing.
Rapture Angel I can understand this I have been done the same way and I work for a living just like the mechanics so I will do as much as I can my self
this is the only mechanic ive seen with such clean hands.. and not a scar on either arm!!!
Scotty, I feel tempted to be a mechanic myself and open up a shop in front of the scam shop and charge cheaper and get things done right, then thank the bad ones for bringing me more customers.
I'm a mechanic. This video is absolutely true 100%
U said it scotty! There's a big difference between book smart and actual experience..
I've found my mechanic, been doing my maintenance/installs for like 5 years now
If the mechanic says your flux capacitor needs replacing...you probably need to find a different mechanic.
You know Scotty, I've been watching your videos for some time now and you always say your cheap. As far as I know all those tools you have there they DONT COME CHEAP. I think the right word to use SMART. Your definitely spending smartly. Great videos.
Speaking of crappy mechanics - for me, the biggest nightmare is ... (drum roll) the SERVICE WRITER!
I had an encounter with one of these doofuses several years ago when I bought a car that turned out to be not very well maintained - the guy's wife drove it for quite a while without bothering to have the oil changed, a fact I discovered when the oil light came on, and when I tried to drain it, nothing came out.
So I called a garage that seemed to be reputable, and even offered free towing. Next day I get a call from the SERVICE WRITER telling me that there was all kinds of blockage in the engine, and goes through a laundry list of everything that was going to have to be disassembled and cleaned, and mentioned along the way that there were (another drum roll) BRASS FILINGS in the oil pan. Anyway, he quoted me $972 to take it all apart and reassemble it, adding that he couldn't say how long it would run even after he did all of that.
Two things wrong with this: (1) how could he know everything wrong inside the engine if he hadn't bothered to take it apart yet? and (2) brass is a very soft metal - not something one is going to find in a car engine. I told him to let me know what it would cost to tow it back to the house and to forget about it.
An hour later, he calls back and the price magically drops by over half!
It was ready a couple of days later, and when he called to tell me the work was done, as well as when I went to pick it up, he repeated the bit about "I don't know how long it's going to run" like it was a newly-assigned mantra.
In the end, I never had oil problems with it for the years I drove it afterwards. But it instilled a new distaste for SERVICE WRITERS, who I suspect are there for two reasons: to pile on additional (and possibly unnecessary) work, and to enrich himself with bonuses earned by suckering the ignorant owners who swallow the hook they throw out.
Great video, Scotty!
Charlie Clark Nissan?
The daughter's Toyota had a rear latch go out - a common problem in earlier year Toyota Sequoias. It had previously been replaced by the Toyota dealership. I replaced it and found a paint spot on the latch part, designating that it was a used part! The invoice had charged for a new part, but what customer is going to know that the mechanic slipped in a used part? I realized that dealerships can be con artists too and often generally are in that category. They were bringing in used parts, perhaps from their collision division, and "recycling" them for additional profit.
i would have simply pulled the dipstick before i bought the car, that tells you alot : metallic dust in the oil, black black black oil, no oil... These are all very bad signs.
Roland St Germain you can find brass filings in an engine... Depending on what material the bearings are made of. Most are made of various soft metals.
Also having brass filings would make sense from what you described... Pulled drain plug and no oil came out.
This likely means that the bearings were starved for oil, which will result in the brass filings. The brass filings means now that the crank bearings and if it has it, cam bearings need to be replaced. When you reply those bearings, you because all the money is in labor to get to them replace the
Head gasket
Water pump
Cam bearings
Machine the head
All top end gaskets
All bottom end gaskets
Oil pump
Head bolts
Piston rings
Pistons (if it is found that they or the bore is bad)
Hone the cylinders
Timing belt (or chain)
Timing belt or chain tensioner
Thermostat
And more that I'm too tired to think of at the moment.
So yes, you can have brass filings... And based off that know that everything in the engine will be replaced when you take the entire engine apart to get to those bearings.
However why he didn't have confidence that the engine would last is beyond me. A rebuild is a rebuild. Do it right and it lasts a long time.
Also if the camshaft doesn't use bearings the block or head could be ruined.
That looked like my garage. The problem is the amount of tools you need to work on a car. I may not use a tool for years but I know were its at although I may have to dig through a couple layers to get to it
I have tools, but generally can't find it when I need it.
Yep the tools you use the most are on the top of the pile and easy to find. No opening 20 drawers to find them
I have worked in the auto industry most of my adult life and Scotty makes some very good points. But my experience is in parts and service the management field. I don't turn wrenches. I was blessed once when I was managing an Import Repair specialty shop to have a mechanic that could do anything. Most shop owners or service managers never have that privilege. They want to do the best for their customers but they can't find good mechanics. My guy at the Import shop previously worked for a VW dealership and was certified by VW and Porsche but he could fix anything. That is a true gift to a service manager or even a service writer. There is nothing worse for a service manager to have his tech tell him "This is what is wrong with the car and this is what it needs" and then you call the customer to get approval for the work and then after the tech does the work he comes back and says "Well, that didn't fix the problem so now I think it's this." ARRRGHH ! We had a customer once that had taken his Nissan to a dealer with an electrical problem. They couldn't figure out what the issue was even with all their dealer scan tools and computers and such. My guy, Dexter who looked like a Biker version of Santa Claus, got his ohm meter out and his test light and yes, it took him a few hours but he figured out what the problem was when these guys with these fancy scan tools couldn't. There was another time when a guy had problem in the valve train of his Toyota. We researched it and found there was a TSB out for this issue. The problem was to correct it you had buy a special tool from Toyota. My customer was pressed for time and there was no Toyota dealer near by who had the tool. Dexter looked at the tool Illustration and specs closely and said "I can make that tool" Sure enough, he went back to our metal lathe and made that tool and made the repair. I miss those days. I miss those kinds of Techs. I am now a service manager at an Ag dealership and if you think finding a good auto mechanic is hard, try finding a good Ag Tech. Oh, and if you ARE an Ag Tech and have experience working on Balers and Tractors and such and are reading this and would like to live in a low tax, low cost of living place and make $25 to $35 an hour...PLEASE contact me.
Scotty you always make amazing videos!!
Better than Eric the car guy. He has become a pitch man for merchandise.
A friend of mine had her transmission go out on her old volkswagen and instead of going to one of the reputable mechanics that i suggested, she went to this questionable shady tree mechanic. The guy let his teenage kids do a lot of the work and it made me question the legitimacy of the mechanic. My friends car sat on this mechanics lot for 9 months and was never touched. Her car didn't get fixed until my friend kept calling and demanding that her car get fixed. Then finally when they put the new transmission in, we took it for a test drive and found that her speedometer was now broken and didn't work. When confronted about the broken speedometer he just insisted that the speedometer was already broke and refused to fix it. My friend didn't know what to do, so i suggested that she make the mechanic undue the work he did and put the broken transmission back into the car and then tow it to a more reputable mechanic. When she did this, the mechanic became very angry and started yelling and cussing her out. He then refused to undue his faulty work, and demanded that she pay him for the job. A job by the way that he charged over $6,000 for... i suggested that she take the issue to court, but unfortunately she was too nice and just payed him instead.
The silver lining in the story though was that i finally convinced her to switch mechanics, and less than a year later, this so called mechanic actually went out of business.
hothamandfauri sounds like to me he left a connection unplugged which is a simple mistake I’ve done it on my own vehicle after working on it. But unless parts are hard to find and really expensive (I don’t know what your VW) friend owns but that could’ve been a factor but I highly doubt it.
Sounds like a made up story....
LOL
BrutusPalmeira / sounds like a shady out of business mechanic is salty
do you even know people? common sense is at best something most people don't consider, and at worst a misnomer.
I love you Scotty! You crack me up at least once a day when I feel bummed I watch your videos. Have a great day!
So cool Scotty is uploading more videos finally.