MX-3.com

Exactly. Some shops have integrity. Sadly, some don't.
One of my techs told me he works at CT even though it has a poor image because it gives him the chance to work on all types of vehicles, as opposed to working at a dealer or specialty shop where he would only learn the skill set for one brand of vehicles. He is also one of the few people I allow to work on my cars.
It really boils down to the individuals who run the shop and work in the shop. In a small town, you can't afford to lose customers.

This is a good reason to learn how to do most of the work yourself.

110 an hour labor makes me cringe - especially for simple stuff like
batteries and sparkplugs

This is why I think it's a NEED to know about your car. As much as you possibly can. Even if you don't want to do the work yourself, at least know what your in for.

But I'm with the rest of you.. I'm really thankful that I know a great mechanic/friend who has never led me wrong. I also have a local parts guy who does things old school (no electronic filing of his parts, and he KNOWS his siht..).. I've been screwed over by Advance Auto and a few other "chain parts stores" plenty of times.. meanwhile he has never led me wrong. Always gets me the correct part, is VERY helpful, and pretty much amazing.

If it weren't for both of those guys, I'd be a LOT worse off.. they have helped me out a ton with my car.. almost as much as you guys =)

Most of the shops were retail shops, a lot of retail shops are dumb kids working who don't know any better I had a guy replace a lower radiator hose on my cousins Grand Am at Jensen Tire (I was busy with school and did not have time to go over nor did I want to work outside in the December) the hose was pushing against the pulley, he charged $400 (US) also for refilling and flushing the radiator and claimed to fix it. A week later it went out again and he said he could not fix it. Since the hose was pushed back from a car accident. I told him if he couldn't have fixed it he should have said that and not charged him the money, since he took on the job it was his liability, then I instructed him how to fix it. The next day when he called to pick up the phone he told my cousin I should not have been so rude. But honestly the best shops are small local ones who can not afford to lose a customer and have qualified, certified technicians.

Caveat emptor

Amazing how much scamming there is going on.

One thing I just noticed (just started part 2) is that they complained that they worked on the car for 15min and was charged an hour. That can be typical since the shops work on a "unit" based system. Ya, sure, the mechanic took 15min and they got charged an hour, which may of been the standard for that work on that car, but what if the mechanic spends 2 hours on a job that's suppose to only take an hour, would you want to be changed that extra hour, would you? It helps keep the system honest by not gauging customers by taking longer than required, but also encourages productivity by the mechanics, who get paid by the units. Sucks in cases like my mechanic and my cousin where they new mechanics take all the easy jobs and the senior ones get the harder jobs and literally end up with smaller paychecks.