What to do when going to the shop

[BG6]

Being on the mechanics end I have a question about some responses here.  Why would you take your bus to a mechanic you don't trust? 

The first time you go to any mechanic, you have no basis for trust.  If you are in the middle of nowhere and need repairs, and that's the only shop in town, for instance.

If you know enough to tell the mechanic how to do the work then why are you paying him to do it for you? 

Because most of us don't have all of the tools, the pit, etc., or because some jobs need more than one set of hands and eyes or specialized training and certification.

If you don't know how to do the work then why are you standing over his shoulder watching and doing the back seat mechanic's?  I understand if you want to watch but unless you are asking your mechanic to teach you how to do some of the work then you don't need to be breathing down his neck.  Many shops have pricing signs as a joke that say they charge more if you watch.

I used to be a truck driver, owner operator with a company who would pay over half of the repairs done by a shop, but nothing for repairs I did myself.  I got into maybe a dozen shops for repairs over a couple of years.  The only time I had a shop refuse to let me watch the work (blown turbo), I ended up having to have it done over within 3 months because they didn't clean the galleys out and the debris got into the new turbo and screwed up the bearings.

  When you are hanging over him, asking him things and giving directions you are disturbing his train of thought and also making the job take longer and this really can run your costs up. 

Good point.  Which is one reason that I didn't "hang over" them or ask a lot of questions. 

We do the best job that we can and don't mind teaching you or you teaching us but when you hire us to do the job for you we are there to do it and do it right. Please don't second guess us or question our abilities.

Sorry, I will ALWAYS question the abilities of someone I don't know, when I hire them to do a job for me.

Now that I'm setting up my fulltime home, one in which the people I love more than the whole rest of the world will ride in, it's even more important to me than when I made my whole living with what the shop was fixing.

One thing that I used to do was alternate DOT inspections (my company required an annual every 4 months) between the two shops in my town, and told them that anything they found would be fixed either by me or by their rival.

[BG6]

  If you want to play mechanic then get the tools and do it. (excuses don't cut it)

"Play mechanic" . . ?  So, that means your interest in coaches is so that you can "play Greyhound bus driver". . ?

But please, post pics of your portable service pit, that being one of the few tools I often need but don't have.

[skipn]

"Play mechanic" . . ?  So, that means your interest in coaches is so that you can "play Greyhound bus driver". . ?

Probably a little bit.........To the moon Alice:)

But please, post pics of your portable service pit, that being one of the few tools I often need but don't have.

When I was turning wrench fulltime I never worked in a shop with a service pit. We must not have done it right.
    Since then working on my own tractors (85 to present) I still won't have a pit. Maybe when I'm old and in a wheel
    chair I may need to build one that is ADA compliant.

    To put it in perspective someone graduates from medical school at the bottom of their class
    every year...........may you always be healthy.

   Skip

[Gary '79 5C]

Watch the over tightening and damage to steel wheels.

Here is a recent failure of mine, but not of over tightening, at least not to my knowledge.

for what its is worth, it was a inner.

Gary