Learning to Prioritize Automotive Repairs:

Working in the Automotive industry I have had to become accustomed to being in the business of delivering bad news. Nobody likes having to bring their car to a shop, or call their mechanic because usually, that means something is wrong and it is going to cost them. Paying for repairs on something that broke sucks, but it helps when you at least know what you’re paying for. So I try to make it a smooth process in educating my clients on what their vehicle needs and why it needs it.

Sometimes there are unforeseeable failures on are vehicles that there was no way to prepare for previously. But, a lot of the time the more expensive repairs can be avoided by performing annual safety and maintenance inspections on your vehicle. Ignoring the squealing sound coming from your brakes until it turns into a grinding sound will cost hundreds more in the end than it would have to get some new brake pads put on.

Maintenance and safety repairs are very different, but usually ignoring maintenance on your vehicle can introduce expensive safety issues later on. 

Most shops now days will try to sell you every fluid flush under the sun while ignoring a lot of the more safety-related issues because the maintenance sales are easy money. While some fluids are recommended to be exchanged at certain mileage intervals by the manufacturer, a lot of the flushes that are sold are pretty unnecessary or extremely overpriced. The last dealer I was at was charging almost $200 to swap out power steering or brake fluid, the average bottle of fluid is about $10, so you can see the huge profit margins they have there and why they push all of that.

BMW Starter Replacement – Example of an unexpected costly repair

Does it Start, Stop, and Steer?

These are the main safety attributes that are looked at when inspecting a vehicle’s condition. Everything else falls into the cracks of maintenance. If a car won’t even start, the last thing you want to see is an estimate full of fluid flushes and other maintenance services. Whereas if your car functions correctly in all 3 of the core categories, then that means you can focus more on the maintenance needs (Filters, fluids, flushes, etc.) to prevent a core issue later on.

I always advise people to keep an emergency budget set aside for vehicle repairs. It’s nicer to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Nowadays repairs can be very pricey, and not a lot of people can just come up with $3-4,000 if their transmission suddenly fails! Then if you do not ever need the emergency funds they are there for a down payment on another vehicle in the future.

Nobody likes to pay for these repairs, myself included. But trust that it makes the process so much easier when you understand what needs to be done and when to do it.

If you have any questions about repairs you may need, or estimates you have been given, comment below!!