Are you committing any of these “sins” that cause car mechanics to judge you harshly?
It’s interesting how culture slowly shifts and evolves over the years. In Singapore, for example, our celebrated food culture has changed in the past decade or so, with new flavours and tastes coming in, as well as new habits.
Unlike in the past, it’s not cool to leave your trays and plates lying around after you’re done assuming somebody’s going to clean up after you. A more proactive ‘clean up after yourself’ culture is now in place and it’s a welcome change, we think, a sign of a more mature society.
Which is why you shouldn’t leave your mechanics to do the same for you when it comes to cars. Here are some of the worst habits of drivers that leave their poor spanner-men wasted hours and skinned knuckles for no good reason.
People who service their cars somewhere else
This is a touchy issue, it’s almost like having somebody other than your regular pet groomer touch up your favourite pooch just because they have a discount.
It sounds funny, but sure, people have been known to bring their cars to places other than their official, authorised dealers for service simply because it’s cheaper. And that’s a bad idea because unlike Fido’s feelings, having a car serviced by an alien workshop could mean invalidating your warranty.
It’s even less logical given most authorised dealers have a number of different and very convenient service packages and plans to suit almost any need. But if invalidating a warranty for ‘outside’ service sounds draconian, it’s also entirely logical because mechanics also hate…
People who don’t keep a service record
It takes quite a bit of doing to achieve this. Logically if you’ve had your car serviced at a proper workshop/dealer, they’ll do all the hard work for you and keep all the car’s service records on hand.
Of course if you’ve been penny wise and pound foolish and done servicing elsewhere, then all bets are off. And since the tech guys don’t know what’s been done to the car, upholding a warranty without a proper service record is next to impossible.
In any case, a complete service record is something which really helps a car’s resale value too — as much as 20 percent!
People who make weird modifications
Sure a car is a person’s to do with as they please – there are already people who have a full time job in telling you what you can't do to a car here. But modifications, if done incorrectly, can cause a lot of mechanical havoc. For example, even something that seems relatively minor, such as oversized wheels, can increase the amount of wear on the car’s suspension/running components such as bushings and bearings. As important if not more, it also affects safety since a different wheel size means the ABS can no longer perform efficiently.
Mechanics of course, have to deal with all this and get the car running again. But modifying a car beyond what it was originally designed for makes maintenance moving target and, again, might invalidate a warranty. Another one of course is about all these fancy gadgets (driving recorders, parking sensors and the likes). Poor wiretapping means very high risks the car electronics will be affected, or even worse, may catch fire. We’ve had so many cases in Singapore.
People who complain about unfixable things
The price of cars in Singapore means that the car market is one which is very pro-customer. No surprise, given that cars are the second biggest purchase a normal person will make in their lifetime.
But mechanics also have a tough time trying to solve ‘problems’ because of phantom noises, imagined vibrations or that some simply don’t understand how a car works.
We’re not saying a person has to live with a lemon, but truly defective cars are a rarity and if there does seem to be a weird noise, get a second opinion, drive gently and don’t throw about lawsuits before trying other solutions.
People who have no mechanical sympathy
We know that Singapore’s a tough place for cars and mechanics are the ones who have to deal with the effects of high temperatures, high humidity, rough roads and a constant plague of speed humps.
But drivers who treat the accelerator like an on/off switch, brake hard and don’t let the car warm up are causing wear and tear that’s entirely avoidable — and which they’ll likely end up paying for themselves in fuel bills or service fees.
