How do you find a good mechanic?

[sze5003]

Sitting here at the dealership and I'm tired of paying for stupid service that they keep recommending. I have a 2011 lancer that has had no issues so far. I took it to the dealer in the beginning because when I first bought it no one around me had parts for the oil changes.

I think the dealer charges 99 bucks for alignment and 56 for synthetic oil change, 21 bucks to rotate tires. I just changed the back tires too and the front I bought six months ago.

So for those that don't have time to tinker on your own car how do you go about finding good local mechanics. The few I've been to when I had older used cars didn't know what they were doing. I would be back in there almost every month.

With this car nothing has gone wrong yet but I think dealership is a no no once warranty starts running out.

 

[HeXen]

Those services that I think you are referring to they recommend to prevent potential problems in the future.
You rotate tires so they last longer..etc. Things like that could save you money down the road. Though it's a different mentality than those who say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Neither is worse than the other, it just depends on you and how you value the future of your car. If you won't keep it beyond a few years or it's an old car, then maybe you don't need to try to prevent future problems that may not happen for years.

I found the best mechanics are the guys who do it on the side, like retired mechanics..the guys who don't "need" the money but just do it for extra money. Large dealerships don't seem bad in my experience but the typical shops tend to be the worst imo.
However you won't know who is an honest mechanic without either experience with them or reference from others.

 

[NutBucket]

Well first of all you're under no obligation to have the "suggested" services performed. Just follow what the owner's manual says.

Secondly, start by asking friends and family where they have their cars services. To be honest, the prices you quoted aren't ridiculous. For example, I spend almost $30 just for the synthetic oil/filter and then have to do the work myself. The shop I use for alignments charges $80 I believe.

Another option is to head to AAA and see what shops they are affiliated with. Its a decent starting point.

 

[sze5003]

Yeah I still have payments on the car for 2 years so I'll be keeping it a while. But I just realized the place I got the tires put on offered free rotation. Damn! I got my tires in tirerack too so I did save some money.

True those that do stuff on the side are probably the best. I would rather pay someone cash for alignment, oil, and rotation than pay the dealership nearly 200 bucks or more. They tried to tell me the cabin air filter needs changed. I changed it myself for 15 bucks and they wanted $70.

The thing is I come in for just an oil change and an hour later they come out and tell me everything else the car needs. I'm going to buy brakes on my own and save myself some money rather than do it here too.

 

[WilliamM2]

I usually do all my own work, but when it's a job I can't do myself, I ask my neighbor. He used to do all his own work, but at 70 years+ now, he has started paying to have it done. His Chevy truck breaks constantly, so he's figured out who fair and who's not.

Surely there is someone local you can ask.

 

[sze5003]

I will need to I just finished paying 200 for all the work done today. I need to have front brakes done still for the first time and they quoted me $320 at the dealership. They mentioned that you need to cut rotors too. Do you have to do this every time? This is the first time since I've had the car that the brakes are wearing down. So since 2011 I think those brakes are decent. They never mentioned anything with them before and I've been taking it there ever since it was purchased.

 

[NutBucket]

Drive smarter and brakes will last longer I can typically get over 100k before even thinking about brakes.

 

[sze5003]

I don't speed and normally I'm just in a lot of traffic stop and go. I also downshift a lot more which helps sometimes. I'm going to shop around for quotes and probably try and get oem pads online.

 

[nephilim2k]

In terms of car maintenance, I have found the following helps tremendously for fuel savings (as well as better wear and tear).

Remove junk from the car that is not needed - this can remove upto 5kgs/10lbs of weight from the car, depending on what is removed. It may seem small, but this equates to an additional 50 metres per litre of fuel, which over a 10 gallon tank could be as much as 2.25km (1.5miles). Could be the difference of reaching the gas station or not.

Ensure the tyres are up to pressure - even 5 psi under could increase drag by as much as 10%, thereby lowering the efficiency. Do not over inflate as this is dangerous and adds wear to the tyres.

Rotate your wheels - rotating your wheels every 3 months, ensures even tyre wear. It may not be a task you enjoy, but it is much better to replace all 4 tyres at once (as they're usually discounted when buying all 4), than 1 at a time, as this could be much more expensive.

Downshift rather than braking (unless you need to brake in an emergency) - The reason for this, is that it is much more fuel efficient, and gives better wear on the brakes.

Change oil once a year, and top up once a month - this is a given, the oil in the engine will build up dirt, grime, and general crap which can do damage to the car. Having it drained and replaced once a year ensures your engine has better longevity.


Experience*

I have a car which I purchased new in 1998, it has done 280k miles in 15 years (I average around 1550 miles a month). It drives better than my brothers car which was purchased new in 2007.

Might sound like I am doing a lot to the car, but the preventative maintenance costs far negate the costs of a full repair. Only thing I've had to replace is the Cam belt every 80k miles (due for a replacement soon), and a head gasket which went at 210k miles. The mechanic I use is a neighbour, and my car is in better condition than most cars that are between 3-8 years old, simply because I look after it.

NB - I drive a Ford Focus 1998 model

 

[sze5003]

That's pretty amazing, 280k miles and going. My 98 3000gt made it to 203k miles with some repairs and regular maintenance. With me always spending more time at work and in traffic each week I often don't have time left to keep tabs on the car. When I was working side jobs and in college I would treat my car like gold.

Now, it's not like that any more. I keep up with the psi, oil and fluid additions, and mainly due to highway miles, Ive been lucky to have my tires replaced 2 at a time. The rear tires I just changed still had some tread. The alignment should help now as well as the rotation.

 

[nephilim2k]

Good maintenance and prevention will keep a car going for a long time.

I want to see how long I can keep the car going, especially considering I've never had an accident in it, and its been solid as a rock. Even the electrics have been good considering it is a ford and they're renowned for crap electronics!

 

[7window]

Drive smarter and brakes will last longer I can typically get over 100k before even thinking about brakes.

You must drive a lot of highway miles that do not require using your brakes. For normal use brakes don't last 100k

 

[NutBucket]

I'd say 60% of my miles are highway. But I'm very easy on brakes unless its an emergency situation. With the CR-Z I'll probably get even more out of them with the regenerative braking helping out.

My wife is similar. I changed the brakes on her WRX at about 45k because I was upgrading to bigger rotors all around. The factory parts still had probably 50% pad life left. Its all about driving style and she drives far less highway than I do.

 

[phucheneh]

My driving is all mixed. Even 'highway driving' includes copious braking due to morons. This has caused warped front rotors, which pisses me off to no end.

I still have a solid 90% of the pad at 22k.

I don't know how people kill the brakes on normal cars in 20-30k. But they do.

 

[7window]

Nut and PHu,

Where do you guys get your brakes and what brand? I get mine at autozon(cheapest) with lifetime warranty. Last only a year without any abuse.

 

[phucheneh]

Mine are factory. They're definitely hard pads, which is why the rotors have gotten warped.

As a good point of comparison, Volvo has the softest pads I've ever seen. In over a year with that dealership, I never saw a warped rotor. I also saw some people getting brakes every 15k.

You can't make a direct, concrete comparison with price, but cheaper pads are generally harder. The $20-30 Autozone and Advance pads are typically durable, but fairly poor in braking performance.

 

[sze5003]

I just looked at tire rack and the most expensive breaks I can get are 70 bucks. They are called akebono performance. I think those are good plated ceramic pads too. I'm not sure about rotors but I have 47k on my car. Considering the guy at the dealership said my breaks should last until my next oil change, I may not need to do anything to the rotors.

Since I only need the front done I can save the last 2 pads for when it is time for the rear pads to go. Going to call a few places see how much the charge for labor if I just get the parts from AutoZone.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Mine are factory. They're definitely hard pads, which is why the rotors have gotten warped.

As a good point of comparison, Volvo has the softest pads I've ever seen. In over a year with that dealership, I never saw a warped rotor. I also saw some people getting brakes every 15k.

Rotors warp from heat cycling, not from hard pads. And that's when they warp at all, which is incredibly rare.

Most of the time what people think of as "warping" is actually an uneven deposit of pad material on the brake rotor caused by improper pad bedding or from sitting at a stop light after a hard stop with the brakes still on, allowing the pad to imprint slightly on the hot rotor.

Excellent description: http://backfires.caranddriver.com/posts/837-brake-rotors-don-t-warp

ZV

 

[phucheneh]

Ugh, don't start that shit. 'Thickness variation' is popularly called 'warped,' and nitpicking it is silly.

Hard pads do contribute more to [insert your favorite term for 'my car has rythmic shaking under braking']. The lack of 'give' in the pad material, for lack of a better term, causes the driver to apply more pressure to get the same amount of braking, and generally contributes to the rotor taking more of the abuse than it would with softer pads. Less physical dissipation of energy through pad wear means more dissipation through heat.

edit: and in my case, I can tell you exactly what has caused warpage- a terrible city full of both terrible drivers and ill-conceived road projects. Basically, traveling at 80mph and then having to suddenly sustain braking down to half the speed. Or less, down to being almost a full-on stop, sometimes. It may be able to be considered 'heat cycling,' but it's really not that so much as simply being brief periods of very high heat. It may well be deposits more than anything, but said deposits are what cause thickness variaton.

 

[NutBucket]

I too run factory pads unless I want something with more "bite". My aftermarket pads of choice are Hawk HPS. But again, not something I would install for a daily driver not interested in performance. As for non-oem I'd probably go with Akebono.

 

[nephilim2k]

you can get great aftermarket pads.

Softer pads last a lot longer than harder ones by a considerable margin, sometimes you can get more than double the usage compared to hard ones.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Ugh, don't start that shit. 'Thickness variation' is popularly called 'warped,' and nitpicking it is silly.

Fair enough.

Hard pads do contribute more to [insert your favorite term for 'my car has rythmic shaking under braking']. The lack of 'give' in the pad material, for lack of a better term, causes the driver to apply more pressure to get the same amount of braking, and generally contributes to the rotor taking more of the abuse than it would with softer pads. Less physical dissipation of energy through pad wear means more dissipation through heat.

Nope, sorry, but you're absolutely wrong here. The ONLY way brakes create braking power is by turning friction into heat. Hard pads or soft pads, to achieve a given stopping power you're still generating the same amount of heat. That's how physics and friction work.

Now, more abrasive pads will give you the ability to apply generate more heat (and thereby generate greater braking force) before the pad starts to fail and glaze, but you're also getting more braking power from that extra heat. For the same stopping power though, the same heat is generated regardless of pad type.

Harder pads are harder on the rotors because they're more abrasive, not because of higher pedal pressures. This also makes them more able to "scrub" the rotor clean off pad deposits (and is also why it's possible, as the article I linked mentions, to "cure" a "warped" rotor by fitting track-spec pads and doing a few hard stops to clean off the deposits from the softer street pads).

edit: and in my case, I can tell you exactly what has caused warpage- a terrible city full of both terrible drivers and ill-conceived road projects. Basically, traveling at 80mph and then having to suddenly sustain braking down to half the speed. Or less, down to being almost a full-on stop, sometimes. It may be able to be considered 'heat cycling,' but it's really not that so much as simply being brief periods of very high heat. It may well be deposits more than anything, but said deposits are what cause thickness variaton.

I'm at a loss as to what sort of driving conditions could possibly necessitate repeated 80-40 or 80-0 near-panic stopping on a routine basis. Especially given that 80 mph speed limits only show up in Western states on very rural limited-access freeways and not anywhere near congested urban centers.

Regardless, that's not an issue of pads. That's an issue of driving style being hard on the brakes.

Back to the OP's question though, I've had good luck with Akebono ceramic pads for normal-duty use. For performance and occasional track days I prefer either Hawk HPS or HP Plus, though the latter wear quickly and chew up rotors much more than street-only pads (though they're not as bad as, say, Hawk HT-10 or other true "track only" pads).

ZV

 

[sze5003]

Yeah I don't really need track pads. I saw a lot of people with lancers like to use HPS. I think I will go with the Akinobo pro pads but finding someone to install them will be a pain. I called a few shops and they said they don't like when you bring your own pads because they can't guarantee you anything if something goes wrong.

I could buy them and maybe have them put on at pep boys but I don't trust pep boys. Firrstone also said they use their own pads, Wagner.. and a standard break job starts at 149 for rear or front but they would need to see the car first.

There is a place by my office called chandlers. They get a lot of business from my company and give discounts according to a co worker so I may check if they will put them on for me. Cool thing is they will pick your car up from the office and bring it back when it's done.

 

[phucheneh]

In the grand scheme of things, it seems like we pretty much agree except for that you seem to be saying that harder pads have more bite, which I don't agree with. Really, we're probably both wrong as it's not really that simple...Autozone pads pretty much prove it; you can have a rock-hard 'almost just a chunk of cast iron' pad that doesn't stop for crap. Material is a factor, and it doesn't just boil down to more/less hard.

It still seems like clamping force is a factor, though. If a 'hard' track pad is generating more friction than an OEM pad, then it seems like physics would dictate that either something is wearing more, or the amount of pressure squeezing the rotor is greater.

And I guess you just need to drive in Nashville. Yes, I speed. But if you drive on the interstate a lot, you will encounter rapid 65-70mph stops. Traffic will go from flowing at the speed limit to standing still, then back to flowing, without even having any apparent cause. No accidents or road work, no awkward merges, ect...it's just 'well, time to ride first gear on the interstate,' the it miraculously clears up.

Now, add to that that the road system IS in fact crap, and there is constantly 'construction' (more accurately, parked equipment and a torn up road), ect...yeah, get used to cruising along at speed, then having multiple people in front of you mash their brakes until they've nearly stopped. Without warning.

 

[nitrous9200]

Yeah I don't really need track pads. I saw a lot of people with lancers like to use HPS. I think I will go with the Akinobo pro pads but finding someone to install them will be a pain. I called a few shops and they said they don't like when you bring your own pads because they can't guarantee you anything if something goes wrong.

I could buy them and maybe have them put on at pep boys but I don't trust pep boys. Firrstone also said they use their own pads, Wagner.. and a standard break job starts at 149 for rear or front but they would need to see the car first.

There is a place by my office called chandlers. They get a lot of business from my company and give discounts according to a co worker so I may check if they will put them on for me. Cool thing is they will pick your car up from the office and bring it back when it's done.

Check the Lancer forums and see what people there recommend. I put Akebono pads on the rear of my car and am about to put the front ones on; they are a bit on the expensive side but worth every penny IMO. Replacing brake pads is generally not a hard task; I needed to buy an odd-ball socket to remove the caliper bracket, but otherwise it's just nuts and bolts.