Local Mechanics Slowly Disappearing
January 24, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
It should be obvious these days that cars are getting so complex that even manufacturers are having problems finding faults and fixing them. A friend of mine, who is a qualified BMW mechanic, was telling me that when new BMWs breakdown in the middle of the road (and he was quick to point out that its a rare oddity but it does occur), that there is absolutely nothing RACQ or any other road side mechanic could do about it, and the cars are generally towed straight to BMW.
Even then, BMW mechanics will plug the car into the diagnostics systems before attempting to fix anything. Sure if its a flat battery, it might be an easy fix, but thats about it. Even so, some cars won’t even start after a flat battery (e.g. the Subaru Impreza WRX/STi – due to the security system losing its settings). So this brings about the problem of everyday local mechanics having to deal with the new and advanced computer car systems when diagnosing a problem.
Craig Wilson who used to run his own car workshop, recently wrote about this issue in his blog.
The motor repair industry both here in Australia and around the world is undergoing some pretty major changes. From what I see and the information I am getting from people still in the industry, the local mechanic down the road will all too soon be a thing of the past.
I believe that as our motor vehicles become more and more technologically advanced, dealerships will be the only ones with the financial resources to equip their workshops with the necessary equipment. The small operators will increasingly find it hard to keep up with the technology and keep prices down. The training that tech’s receive when working at a dealership would give them a distinct advantage also.
Now if your wondering why this is an issue, well lets think for a moment about not only all the self employed mechanics who are going to find it hard trying to repair a brand new Ford Falcon when the traction control system is playing up, but also the fact that if your car can only be serviced by the dealer, how much more you’re paying compared to what a local mechanic would’ve charged you.
Of course, if you own a BMW or Mercedes, you would be relatively hesitant to take your car to a local mechanic in the first place, but we are no longer just talking about BMWs and Mercs. The technological advancement is remarkable in all new cars. If you go looking in a car dealership today, you will be presented with a list of technological terms including everything from the tried and tested ABS to, Computer Controlled AWD systems and about half a dozen other technologies in the middle.
It was only yesterday that I was writing about the upcoming Mitsubishi Evo X and its array of technological advancements such as
- Super All Wheel Control,
- active suspension and steering,
- active brake control technology
- electronically controlled four-wheel drive with active stability and yaw control and an active centre differential.
Can you imagine an everyday mechanic trying to fix any of these systems if a problem occurred? Of course this isn’t an issue now as there is still a great deal of old (80s-90s) cars around and that is keeping the local mechanics in business. But in 10 years time when the current old cars are starting to be dumped and all the cars which are then 10yrs old are still driving around, who is going to fix them? Your local mechanic or your Ford/Holden/Toyota/Subaru/etc dealer? I think the answer is all too clear.
However, the biggest question with this emerging problem isn’t so much that local mechanics are all going to go bust, but more so that when something breaks with your car, you have the choice of taking it to one or two mechanics – which are most probably all operated by the same dealership network. What does that equate to? Lots of $ spent on a problem which may be something simple, but due to equipment cost, fixing simple problems is going to get a lot more expensive!
So the main questions remains though, what can you do about it? Not too much, the way things are going, the local down the road mechanic/shop/fruit store are all going out of business and being replaced with more K-mart tyre and autos/westfields/coles’. I am sure some of you are thinking thats its best to stay clear of cars that come bundled with an endless list of technological systems, but this is simply a bad way to think. Sure the more computer controlled cars become, the more complex they are to fix, but at the same time, most of these features are to improve safety and driver comfort.
I think local mechanics will need to start looking into new avenues, perhaps specializing in a specific brand of cars (as some already do) in order to afford the high price of car diagnostic systems. It would be interesting to see just how many local workshops are still around in 10-15 years time.
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From personal experience I can say that even though dealers do charge more for repairs, they can at least diagnose the fault more accurately and it can work out cheaper in the long run if your local mechanics guessing ability is not up to scratch.
I agree, It will work out cheaper if the problem is correctly diagnosed and fixed the first time.
Sorry guys but dealers are thieves. I stopped taking my car to a dealer many years ago after a number of bad experiences.
I have friends who are mechanics and have worked at dealers and they have horror stories to tell.
I don’t even like going to dealers for warranty work, it makes my skin crawl trying to get any sense from those idiots. They are like politicians in that you never get a straight answer just a bill or a new tax.
I have never heard a good thing said about a dealer. They are a place to buy a car but not a place to have one fixed if you can possibly help it.
There are plenty of non-dealer specialists out there and with the exception of electrical / body control module type problems or errors most problems can be fixed.
I friend of mine has an independent Porsche workshop and he is flat out working on some of the most complex cars ever made, with very few issues. In fact he even gets work from the dealers when they cant fix something…
Hopefully the independent doesn’t become technologically extinct…
Thats good to hear steane
thats what I was saying in the article, that local car workshops will need to branch into specific types of cars, that is the best way to stay alive,
generic mechanics are going to have a hard time fixing modern cars in 10 years time!
Of course, if all car manufacturers decided to use standard interfaces to the computer systems, then the local dealer could still easily stay competitive, and you could feel confident taking your car where YOU choose for a service.. and of course, politicians could become honest, and global poverty come to an end.. But it’s a commercial world, so while it would be great if they decided on flexible standards to allow access to common electronic params in autos, it will probably never happen. It’s not in the interests of manufacturers to allow others to mess with their cars. They couldn’t charge a fortune to fix them then ;)
HI, I would like to suggest something, seeing that the car mechanic is worried. In a lot of people’s opinion, a car mechanics job is not as highly regarded as an IT industry job, yet, as we can see, in ten, fifteen yers time, the mechanics and the means of controls of the car would be vastly different. This means two things: ONE, IT and software/programming knowledge would be a major part of a car mechanic’s knowledge bank, and TWO: a major direction change in the education of a car mechanic is required. I would hate to see our car mechanics disappear. I don’t know much about cars and I depend on them, and if only some of them are left, then we are all buggered with prices. What I suggest is a two prong solution: ONE, TAFE should open courses for car mechanics and start offering their students some basic knowledge of the computer programming that is used in the car of today, and TWO, University courses should begin to educate a new cadre of computer-literate car mechanics, because the car mechanic’s job would be so specialised. A whole new educational system is required, to move the car mechanic from a skilled labour to a profession, with a standard of operation that is beyond what is available today. Only by reinventing itself can the car mechanic survive, albeit in a slightly different role, possibly in a job similar to IT technician.
I dunno if they are disappearing, Im sure everyone thought they wouldnt last when say ABS came out or vvt or powersteering etc lol. It takes time, but these new technologies aernt coming in that quick on your avg car, so mechanics have time to adapt.
after reading the article and following comments,you
guys havn’t got an idea what you are talking about.all
the systems you have mentioned are not to be fixed by
motor mechanics ,even if they are trained by dealerships.automotive electricians are the people who
are trained to solve problems.they can investigate faults in vehicles much better than motor mechanics.
everything today in modern motor vehicles is electically controlled.the people trained in these systems have to also have an extensive knowledge of the mechanical system they are controlling.so next time you have a fault in a vehicle seek the service of a qualified auto elec first.most have all the programing machines required.don’t think they just fix lights and replace batteries.over the years i have had some weird things go wrong with my various vehicles and been ripped off dealers and various mechanics.i now found a good mechanic,but i always go to my auto elect first and he steers me in the right direction.would you go to a doctor if you had a tooth was sore?
^
Lol nice analogy mate but wrong. A more appropriate one is would you go to a cancer specialist if you didnt know what was wrong with you? No…. you go to a doctor first! So why go to a auto electrician when for starters most people dont know whats wrong with their car and it could be mechanical AND mechanics can deal with most electrical issues as well anyway!!!
Specialist repairers like automatic transmission guys will only become stronger with the change in technology as dealers that provided transmission services are shutting down that section of business left right and centre,And now they are sending all there work to a specialised repairer even warranty work!
everyone seems to be a mechanic when it comes to car problems i own a mobile mechanical business in perth i am a qualified mechanic with over 20 yrs experience in uk and australia. i have worked at quite a few dealers and franchise garages around the perth area and have found that majority of these dealers and franchises are either owned or run by people who have never been mechanics or have no mechanical experience they like to charge the earth even if they cant find the fault with your car.many garages around perth employ unqualified mechanics apprentices or just trade assistants who know less than my dog.it seems that all the decent qualified mechanics have gone to the mines because of the minning boom here in wa.i get quite a few calls from cheased of people who have had bad experiences with main dealers and the franchise garages and i have fixed many cars that others could not and alot of the time have been easy to diagnose if they used some common sense.at the moment wa is in the process of licencing all people who work on cars and charge people for work they do so hopefully in the next 2 years some of the so called mechanics will be out of bussiness.one thing i would like to point out that even i am not perfect but if i work on a car and i cant fix the fault myself i do not charge for my time hense alot of my work is from recomendation from many happy clients that i have helped (and also quite a few garages as well)alot of franchise garages seem to be sprouting everywhere but remember to ask to see there mechanics qualifications before you think of investing you money in their socalled expertise also remember just because they washed you car cleaned your wheels and put amagic treeon your rear view mirror thats all they might of done just to keep you happy .as a mechanic i dont wash or clean cars because im too busy fixing cars correctly or fixing other peoples stuff ups
Dealers are over rated,before Hubby and I went in to manufacturing overseas ,we had a work shop for 15 years.Hubby bought a state of the Diagnosis machine that none of the dealerships had. When they couldn’t fix it they bought it to us. Un be-known to the poor sole who owned the car. We would charge the dealer then they would charge the customer with their bit on top of it .Something they still do now.
^ have to agree with you lisa and steane, dealers are terrible, ive even heard of instances where people have gotten the car back worse than when it went in.having a 98 seat theyre meant to be serviced by VW but have heard of some bad stories with them so i steer clear. i either work on my cars myself or get my mates trusted workshop to do it. being a young uni student its works out cheaper too!
I’m just wondering about the title… the ‘local mechanic’s’ what? is ’slowly disappearing’?
Or maybe someone put an apostrophe in the word ‘mechanics’ that really shouldn’t be there..
Yep as usual more dealer bashing.
If one dealer is a “rip-off”, then don’t use them any more. Dealership service centres are far better now then they have ever been. Yes they do also make mistakes, but don’t we all in our own jobs?
We the consumers demand more safety, more gadgets, better economy, more power, so what else should we expect? There is no way the local mechanic will be able to keep up. We ourselves drive the technology and complexity in cars, not dealers.
Axe,not sure if its bashing but dealers command top prices to service your vehicle. One would expect them to not leave bolts undone,install parts correctly,to diagnose problems correctly and not just throw parts at it,not to get lip from smart arse service managers.Also to have the most up to date diagnostic equipment available . Yes we have changed dealers when we were not happy with the warrenty service from one ,but had another and another . Last one refused to work on the car again after we posted their stuff up on Ford Forums. Yes small mechanic workshops will fix cars under manufacturers warranty,but the manufacturers wont pay the small mechanics normal hourly rate .There are only so many dealers you can use,then you run out! Only thing we found dealer trained mechanics were good for in our workshop was changing wiper fluid,tyre black the tyres and waisting bloody time!
Excellent suggestion, local mechanics moving into specialising can offer customers an alternative to manufacturers franchised service departments. Not sure that warranty work could be carried out and reimbursed by the manufacturer I would suggest that the vehicle would have to then go back to the dealer so that it was approved. Here’s a suggestion. If you prefer to service with your local mechanic, perhaps you should ask him or her if they are capable of carrying out diagnostics and or repairs on the model you will be buying. Also ask the dealer how your warranty could be affected by choosing not to service your vehicle with them (even so much as the incorrect additives and lubricants used can result in the maufacturer declining a warranty approval). I do hope that local mechanics can continue to survive. Techicians must evolve at the same rate as new models are developed and manufacturers will always have the advantage with they’re franchised service outlets due to they’re latest tooling and technology. Does this make Dealers thieves ..?
All the small workshops who have purchased Chinese Hoists will soon be dead anyway! How in hell do these tin cans get passed adr, and how did they get all those quality certifications.
They are dangerous crap. I have just seen an “American Bendpak” made in China rated at 4 tonne that struggled to pick up a Commodore sedan. It had safety issues all over it, and I would not stand under it for any money.
Wake up, this is not engineering, this is design by price. Within 3 years you will have to pay people to take these piles of crap away!
Hi Ern, my husband just purchased 18 Bend Pak hoists for his dealership in Melbourne. Great hoists with loads of safety features. Are you sure this was a Bend Pak? They are made in USA. We even saw the factory over there last year when we went to SEMA.
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