Hire a mobile mechanic? Pros and Cons

What to Look for in a Skilled Mobile Mechanic

Mobile mechanics offer the convenience of coming to your location, saving you the hassle of visiting a traditional repair shop. However, selecting a reliable and skilled mobile mechanic requires careful consideration. This guide will provide the essential factors to consider when choosing a mobile mechanic, ensuring that your vehicle is in capable hands.

Two ways to hire a mobile mechanic: From a service or from an online ad

Mobile mechanic booking services

Companies like YourMechanic, What to Look for in a Skilled Mobile Mechanic, or RepairSmith contract with independent mobile mechanics. The company sets the hourly rate, and the mechanic gets a portion of it. However, in many cases, you won’t save much money over a local shop’s hourly rate because there’s a middleman and a warranty involved. So, the advantage of using a service is that you’ll have some sort of guarantee that you won’t get by hiring a mechanic from an online ad.

Hiring a mobile mechanic from an online ad

Craigslist mobile mechanics are different. In most cases their labor rates are cheaper than a mobile mechanic firm, independent shop or dealer. That’s because they have lower overhead. These are totally self employed business men/women who want to work solo and are willing to charge less per hour than the shop or dealer because they still wind up making more money in the end.

What types of services are suited to mobile mechanics?

Minor to moderate repairs like:

• Battery, starter and alternator diagnostic repair and replacement
• Engine diagnostics
• Normal maintenance like spark plugs, belts, inspections, coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid and power steering fluid flushes, etc.
• Brakes and minor suspension maintenance and repairs (brake jobs, shocks, struts, control arms, ball joints, etc.) No alignments however. That must be done at a shop.
• Repairs on power windows, power door locks, dash and instrument cluster and some engine control module reprogramming.

What services that can’t or shouldn’t be performed in your driveway

The services listed below can technically be performed in your driveway, but to do them right, your car should be brought into the shop because they require a lift. These repairs often go wrong when performed outdoors or even in your garage.

• Engine or transmission swaps
• Major suspension repairs
• Body repair and painting

How to avoid the bad independent mobile mechanics

Some mobile mechanics are people who couldn’t make it in the real world of a shop or dealer. That doesn’t mean they’re bad at what they do. They just want their independence and the ability to control their own schedule.

However, some of the traits that don’t work well in the real world, also don’t work well when they’re independent mobile mechanics, like:

• They’re unreliable (don’t show up when they say), make promises they can’t keep, quote too low a price, and then try to jack up the bill at the end.
• They use sub-standard parts to lure you in with a low price.
• They don’t own the proper diagnostic tools and replace parts rather than actually performing tests to determine what’s wrong.
• They disappear halfway through the job.
• They don’t respond to your phone calls.

How can you tell the mobile mechanic is good? Simple. Ask these questions first

• What ASE certifications do you have?
• Where have you worked as an auto tech?
• How long have you been on your own?
• Can you give me references?
• Where do you buy your parts, and can I talk to your parts supplier to get a recommendation?

Don’t ignore the warning signs of a bad mobile mechanic

• If they’re running late for the first meeting, they should at least call and let you know the new arrival time. If they show up late after the call, don’t hire them
• They don’t show up because their car broke down. Their vehicle is their business. If they can’t maintain that, they can maintain yours.
• Have they performed a diagnostic before quoting a repair price? If not, they’ll replace a part, hoping that’ll fix the problem. If the part doesn’t fix the problem, they’ll be back, asking for more money to fix yet another part.
• Do they want money upfront? That means they’re broke. Shops usually don’t ask for money upfront. Neither should a mobile mechanic.
• Do they carry liability insurance? Look, it’s simply a cost of doing business. If they screw up the job, you’ll want to file a claim. If they carry liability insurance, they’re serious about their business.
• Compare their price to what normal shops charge. Sometimes, the less scrupulous mobile mechanics tear apart your vehicle and then demand a large payment to finish the job.

Lastly, check your city ordinances

Some cities/towns don’t allow car work to be done in your driveway unless you are the one doing the work.

©, 2019 Rick Muscoplat