It is widely reported that 9 out of 10 women feel that they are being ripped off at the auto repair shop according to a study that was done by the Car Care Council which is an association that encourages consumer education. I know that I feel that way because every time I need to take my car in for repairs it always seems that the mechanic starts fast talking me as if I don't know anything about cars or what I am talking about. Or you may get a mechanic who pretends to be sympathetic to your pain and when the work is finally done he hits you with a bill thats a months salary. Recently I needed some repairs done on my car and I made sure that I followed some of the tips in this video to avoid being ripped off.
In addition to the video here are some other tips that you can follow to avoid being ripped off.
1. You can diagnose whats wrong before you go to the auto repair shop by using the CarMD tool which costs about $99.00 at http://www.carmd.com/. Just plug the hand-held device into your car(every model after 1996 has a standard connection port) and it reads the car's computer codes. You can then plug it into your computer for a full report on what problem the codes indicate, the most likely fix, and what labor and parts for the repair cost in your area. The report also lists recalls for your vehicle and summaries of technical service bulletins. You can also use the car-care guide at http://www.carcare.org/ to learn about typical repairs and questions to ask the mechanic. 2. Familiarize yourself with the owner's manuel , you will avoid unnecessary maintenance if you know what needs to be done at every service interval. 3. If you are getting the car repaired by an independent shop, call the service department at your dealership after you get the diagnosis to see wheather it's covered by the warranty and also to see if the price for the repairs are to high. You can even go to RepairPal.com to see if you are getting a fair price. Just enter the model and year, plus your zip code. You will seee a price range for dozens of fixes at dealerships and shops in your area. 3. Get a second opinion if you are unsure. 4. By all means try and take a guy with you to the auto repair shop because when a guy goes with you the mechanic feels a little intimidated because he knows another guy knows about cars. So those are my tips for us woman and guys if you're not car savy these tips will also be helpful for you as well.
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