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Am I the only one who thinks paying extra for a 'certified' mechanic is a total scam?
My truck's transmission started slipping last Thursday on I-94 in Detroit. I took it to a big name shop that charges $150 an hour because they're 'ASE certified' and all that. They quoted me $4,200 to rebuild it, said it would take a week. I called my buddy who runs a small garage out of his barn, and he did it for $2,000 cash in two days. Same parts, same result, truck runs fine now. So what's the real value of that certification if the work is the same? Has anyone else had a better experience with a smaller shop over a flashy place?
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caseythompson1mo ago
Had a similar thing with my Subaru last year. Took it to a shop that bragged about their "factory trained" techs and they quoted me $3k for a head gasket job. My neighbor's cousin did it for $800 in his driveway and it's been fine for 15,000 miles now. Honestly think half that certification stuff is just a way to charge more.
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jamie8041mo ago
@caseythompson that "factory trained" markup is just the same as paying extra for brand name everything else.
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taraross1mo ago
You know what, I used to be one of those people who thought the certification stuff was worth it... but honestly, this kind of thing really changes your mind. I've seen too many buddies get ripped off by those big name shops to still believe that markup means better work.
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