Helping normal people with their cars

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Hey y’all -

Kendra and I were talking the other day about how hard it is for “normal” people to own cars, especially people of modest incomes or single mothers (or non-mechanical single fathers!) who seem to be at the mercy of shady mechanics. I fixed our housekeeper’s Jeep for free in one evening when she was looking at a $1000+ bill (and she hasn’t raised prices since, ha!), and I know a friend who did his neighbor’s brakes for $100 when the shop wanted $800 for the job. And several times I have talked people out of the $1000 Michelins that the tire store recommended when the Kumhos would do the job, etc. Sometimes it’s just someone looking for a recommendation for a mechanic, which I have done countless times too.

I’m sure all of you who can turn a wrench have helped someone out too with advice, troubleshooting, or work. It feels good, doesn’t it?

So I was thinking, why not gather a database of friendly helpful-minded car nuts who are willing to help out people in need with their cars? Either for advice or wrenching or just helping people pick out tires.

Would you like to volunteer to be added to a such a list? Not sure exactly how, where, or when to distribute this yet, but I’d probably just start with a google doc that anyone can use to find a helpful car friend nearby. Just word-of-mouth within the car club for now … maybe expand it onto a map and make a easy to use interface for people to match people to what they need.

Anyways, if you’d like to participate, please shoot me an email or PM (or reply here) with the following details. I will keep any details private that you don’t want “out there”.

“Public” information
First Name
Any make/model specialties?
What City / Area are you in?
What’s the best way to contact you?
__ Email
__ Phone
When are you available?
What kind of services are you willing to provide?
__ Advice by phone
__ Advice by email
__ Troubleshooting / diagnostics
__ Oil changes
__ Brake work
__ Other minor repairs / maintenance for cheap (or free)
__ Major repairs / maintenance
__ Welding
__ Detailing
__ Auto body / painting
__ Electrical work
__ Modifications

“Private” information -- check anything that you are OK with sharing
__ Last Name
__ Address
__ Email
__ Phone number
__ Are you an automotive service professional?

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

I'll start

“Public” information
First Name
Mike
Any make/model specialties?
BMW, Honda, Porsche
What City / Area are you in?
Western Cary
What’s the best way to contact you?
x__ Email
x__ Phone
When are you available?
Nights and weekends
What kind of services are you willing to provide?
x__ Advice by phone
x__ Advice by email
x__ Troubleshooting / diagnostics
x__ Oil changes
x__ Brake work
x__ Other minor repairs / maintenance for cheap (or free)
x__ Major repairs / maintenance
x__ Detailing
x__ Welding
__ Auto body / painting
x__ Electrical work
x__ Modifications

“Private” information -- check anything that you are OK with sharing
x__ Last Name
Whitney
x__ Address
112 Picturesque LN, Cary, NC
x__ Email
whit32@gmail.com
x__ Phone number
919-454-5445
x__ Are you an automotive service professional?
No

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 1:57 pm

Mike,

I applaud your initiative and charity. Like most with our skills, I am frequently asked for automotive advice, help or assistance. I love helping folks and truly empathize with those held hostage by shady or just expensive shops – and like you say, it feels great to help someone truly in need. The hard part is figuring out who is in need and who is just looking for a cheaper alternative to the dealer.

My dad was one of those honest mechanics you rarely hear of and I worked in his shop in high school and college. Although most customers were great, there was always the guy who’s brother-in-law told him he needed a $100 fuel pump, then we had to break the news that he needed a head gasket or a transmission. Invariably we were labelled crooks. That experience shaped how I interact with automotive novices to this day.

It rarely takes long for people to learn who the “car folks” are in an office and I have become that resource for both my and Geri’s office. I willing offer advice, opinion and diagnostics/analysis for free. I rarely offer any physical work except in very special cases. I prefer to offer guidance and tools if someone wants to work on their car in my shop. I do this for several reasons:

It’s fun working with friends.
It feels a lot less like work, if someone is there with me rather than just dropping the car off.
I can generally work on my stuff (at least a little) while overseeing their work.
I really like the teaching aspect (teach a man to fish).
They personally experience/discover all the issues associated with the repair – no explaining surprises.
They have skin in the game.
They make all the time consuming trips to the parts store.
They generally work hard to get it done in one day.
They come away with a real appreciation for auto repair.
I never get called a crook. :thumbsup:

I have had folks (even club members) do brake jobs, shock replacements, exhaust work, clutch replacements, minor body work, wheel bearings, etc. Admittedly, not everyone has the interest/enthusiasm for this approach, but for the ones that do, I’ve found it to be a fun, rewarding experience. It tends to weed out those folks that are just looking for a cheaper alternative to the dealer.

Although I really like your idea, I’ll need to think about it some more. Thanks for posting this!

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:23 pm

Cash Davidson wrote:

It rarely takes long for people to learn who the “car folks” are in an office...

I'm that guy in my office, and I used to attempt to make a least a general diagnosis for at least the simple stuff. After a while it's gets old for me to take my time to offer advice and have the party turn around and do the exact opposite of what I advised. Two examples:

- A guy with a 1500HD Chevy pickup truck had the speedo stop working. It's a very common problem with GM clusters in general (happened in my Z-24) so no big deal. I find a guy who fixes them for $80 a pop, which includes programming. (No programming = no start because of the anti-theft system). I offered to take it out, and re-install the repaired unit for free. What did the guy do? He went to the dealer where they installed a new cluster for $800.

- Like Mike, I advise people against really expensive tires that they can't afford, especially ones sold at a dealership. I advised two co-workers on separate occasions to use Tire Rack instead and save a lot of money. What did they do? They went to the car dealer and spend $1K on a set of 15" tires!

I tell everyone not to take their car for oil changes at any local quick lube place and they do it anyway. I have a friend who is the insurance carrier for the local "Iffy Lube" and she will tell you NOT to go there as she's paid for more than one engine damage claim.

After this kept happening over and over, now I just say "I don't know", even when I do.

clinehall · **Posted:** Sat Dec 13, 2014 11:22 pm

Good idea Mike. I kind of am somewhere between you and VK. I end up having more influence on people that could afford to have someone do their work but are willing to learn to do it themselves. I recently taught my barber to do brakes on his Excursion before his "mechanic" charged him 800 for drilled and slotted rotors he "needed"

I've heard of these guys, maybe we could work with them http://www.wheels4hope.org/

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