Full inspection

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Do you remember the recent TV series "Leading Roles"? For one of the main characters of this film, Zhenya, the problem that will be discussed in this article, perhaps, will never arise. Working in a car service and repairing cars was her main goal.

If you are a happy owner of a car, but do not understand motors, brake pads and carburetors in the same way as the heroine of the film, then sooner or later you will face the problem of choosing a workshop that you can entrust your four-wheeled friend to.

I don’t want to scare you, but the consequences of a bad choice can be very sad. A friend of mine repaired his car at the nearest car service for about a month (despite the fact that the breakdown was quite trifling), and finally, after taking the car, he found that nothing had changed. "We need more serious repairs," the car mechanic told him with a shrug, and for the next ten minutes he listed the work that needed to be done. With a wave of his hand, the friend went to the dealership, paid three times more, but after half an hour he left in a perfectly working car. Do you want more examples?

They talk about replacing new or original parts of the car with those that have long served their time, about damage to door locks, electrics, stereos, alarms, the appearance of fresh scratches or even dents on the body. But these are still flowers. They say that some car mechanics have connections in criminal circles and specially make prints of ignition keys, doors and multilocks, sew up an additional key fob for alarm. Imagine, after a while you, being catastrophically late for work, run out into the yard and … you find that your car is gone. And as we are doing with the investigations of thefts, you've heard a lot. And getting damages from an insurance company is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. But this is a topic for a separate conversation. Now let's get back to car services.

To begin with, I will give a small classification of the currently existing workshops, albeit a simplified one.

Option one - amateur

Almost any garage cooperative "keeps with itself" a craftsman Petrovich or San Sanych, who arranged a mini-service in his own garage. As a rule, this person has extensive experience in repairing domestic cars, perhaps even repaired a carburetor from the government "Chaika" or "Pobeda". He is an enthusiast, he loves to rummage under the hood and will happily undertake to "study" the device of an unfamiliar foreign car. Perhaps he will turn out to be a master "from God." But do you want to take risks and trust him with your handsome "Peugeot" or the little "Beetle"? I want to? Then open the "Dusk Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko - in the first part of the book such an experiment is very vividly described.

It's another matter if this specialist was recommended to you by people whom you trust even more than yourself. Otherwise, contact such a workshop only for minor repairs - in order to get to a real service.

As you might guess, you will have to purchase all the parts and spare parts yourself. The prices for work are the lowest here, often referred to as "How many it is not a pity!" or measured in wine-vodka equivalent.

Option two - "soviet"

In the distant Soviet times, in every city there was necessarily at least one service station (service station), budgetary, of course. There, as a rule, people were enrolled in a queue several months in advance; But in such a service there was good equipment, there it was possible to make a complete diagnosis of the car and not be tormented by the problem of where to get the necessary part. Time passed, the situation in the country changed. Today these service stations have found a second life. Arriving there, it may even seem for a moment that you are in the past. Outwardly, little has changed there: the same lifts, the same confusion.

Repair of "Zhiguli" or an old foreign car can be entrusted to such a workshop. Just choose the master carefully - there is a high probability of running into an amateur. Therefore, ask more clarifying questions and, if something alarms you, it is better to go to another place.

Option three - branded

Full-fledged car services, created already in the post-perestroika period. This can be either a completely renovated service station, or specially equipped areas. Prices for services in them vary depending on the equipment and ambitions of the owner. But here you will find an order, an approved price list, spacious and clean boxes (it is better to check it personally), staff in uniform (by the way, here they are chosen more carefully than in the previous case). Many workshops of this type give a guarantee for their work and respect regular customers, purchase high-quality spare parts for cars. Prices, of course, are high, but reasonable in terms of price-quality ratio.

Option four - dealer

These are luxurious technical centers of the leading automobile concerns. They have the most modern equipment, everything is automated and computerized to the maximum, only original spare parts, clean, spacious and bright boxes. Highly professional staff who have passed strict selection and special training. For visitors there is a cafe and lounges, from which you can watch the progress of work. If the repair is delayed, you may be temporarily given another car. In short, everything is at the highest level. As well as the prices, they are several times higher than in ordinary workshops. It is worth contacting the dealership if you have a new expensive car or the warranty period has not yet expired. Or a lot of money.

What do the experts advise? If you are not limited in funds, then do not hesitate to go to the dealership. Otherwise, choose a specialized car service, that is, not the one whose sign promises to solve any problem associated with any car, but one that performs only a few types of work, and better with only a few types of car models.

Not all workshops are allowed directly to the repair rooms, but you need to try to get there. A good service should have spacious, bright rooms, clean and ventilated, the cars being repaired should be far enough from each other - otherwise, there is a high probability of damage to your car when repairing another. Be sure to talk directly with the repairman - he must be neat, sober, adequate, confidently answer all your questions. And again, if something worries you or raises doubts, it is better to leave the car service immediately.

But the main clue is experience. Therefore, ask all your friends - someone will definitely give you useful advice, at least tell you which workshop it is better not to contact. By the way, when going to the service on a recommendation, try to get exactly to the specialist you were told about. After all, it is not a fact that all other workers will be as good.