Why They Drive Bad Cars

          A short while back, the transmission in my wifes car broke so we had to have a transmission shop fix it. It cost us a little chunk of money and it also took a few more days to fix than we first thought. We didn't like having to pay what we did and it was an inconvenience, but we were able to take care of it just fine. We also have other cars so we didn't have to worry about finding rides while the car was in the shop.
          I'm sure a lot of us have had similar experiences, and to most of us it's just the price we have to pay to own vehicles. It's because of this train of thought that most of us think that other people should think the same way, or that car repairs shouldn't be that big a deal for other people, right? Wrong!
          Car repairs, even simple ones, are a very big deal for the clients we work with. A lot of our clients are single moms, and most of them have to drive older cars that are more prone to breaking down. I've seen a lot of our clients driving around with bad brakes, bad steering, bad tires, missing or broken windows, etc.
          The next time you see what you consider a piece of junk driving down the road, instead of turning up your nose at it or shaking your head, please think about why they are driving it that way. I have clients that make very little money and it only goes so far. They have to run their children to school and the doctors office, they have to come up with rent, utilities, food, insurance, etc.Because they do all this by themselves, they can only afford cars that you and I would think were headed for the junk yard. So keeping up with car repairs, by nessescity, rates low on their list of priorities.

          When you see rough looking cars driving around, instead of scoffing at them, keep in mind why they are being driven that way, especially if the driver is elderly or if it looks like a mother with children. Then ask yourself what you can do to make a difference in someones life, then do it!

Dishonest Garages, Or Are They?

          It never ceases to amaze me at how many garages make it a habit to cheat poor single women! I hear about this a lot because poor single women make up a lot of my clients. But is this what's happening all the time? I think there is a high percentage of  single women being taken advantage of but I also think there are a lot of cases where there was not good communication either by the garage, the customer, or both. Because of this poor communication, a lot of unnessesary repairs are done.

          Even if you don't know anything about cars, there are steps you can take to make sure you are not cheated. I don't have room here to write everything I teach but one of the more important things you can do is clearly tell a garage what you want and make them explain things to you in a way you can understand. I know a woman that took a car to somebody and told them to do whatever was needed to get it running, the mechanic took that to mean he could replace everything related to the problem whether it was bad or not and he ended up replacing half the engine.

          When you need repairs, get estimates, if something doesn't sound right, get another opinion. If they can't give you some idea of what it will take to fix the problem then go somewhere else. Check out places also, if 8 out of 10 people have a problem someplace, then there might be something wrong with how they do business. The point is, I've talked to a lot of women that have had problems, they didn't do their homework and when there was a problem, they blamed the garage for everything.

          Garages need to be better at communicating with their customers. Even if you have a lot of people waiting, you need to take the time to explain in a way the customer understands, what the problem is and what needs to be done instead of writing a vague description on a work order and telling them to check back later. Even if a person doesn't have a clue as to what your talking about at least they can see that you care enough to help them rather then being another person lined up to take their money. If you have a large garage and you have a mechanic that got in a hurry or made a mistake, don't cover it up or blame the customer, your a lot better off in the long run to own up to it and make it right.

          Even when the customer and the garage does everything right, there can still be problems or misunderstandings, let's face it, none of us are perfect. And there are a lot of bad garages out there that prey on people, but I like to think there are also a lot of places trying to make an honest living but just have poor communication skills. Either way, lets do everything we can to make sure a repair goes smoothly and to protect ourselves from fraud before we acuse people of being dishonest.