Mechanically speaking...Comment by David Batzofin

                                                 
Do your palms start to sweat when you take your car for a service?
Why do dentists and mechanics evoke similar fear in me?
Perhaps it’s because I have no control over what they are about to do to my prized asset.
I bought my first car from a family member, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do…never buy a car from someone you know unless you have had it properly checked, which I did not.
As it turned out, the car had been in a major accident and was being held together by a large amount of body filler! (But I digress).
The little mechanical knowledge I have I learned form fixing that car!
Many a weekend I would have to change the u-bolts before going out on a date. The grinding steel on steel noise that may be a reason why I never got few second dates!
I sold the car to a backyard mechanic who is probably still driving it.
With modern cars the intricate wiring and computer driven systems usually defy “home repairs”. In fact most manufacturers warranties become void if you attempt repairs at home (These threats are similar the label on a mattress that states” Removal of this label will void your warranty” Why?)
Garages used to be full of calendars of semi-naked women and they smelled like old tyres and dirty oil.
The mechanics used to have oil stained hands and be dressed in an overall that had seen better days.
The modern workshop looks more like a control room at NASA and not an oil stain in sight.
If you take your car to a dealership then it is almost like checking into a hotel…or hospital.
The reception staff is usually very friendly and efficient, but often not mechanically minded.
“Can you describe the noise that your car is making? Is it SCRAAAAAAAPE or  SCREEEEECH?”
You are promised that your car will be ready by a certain time and that if any major repairs are required you will be called before they are undertaken. And we believe that this will happen, how gullible we have become!
No matter what time your car was meant to be ready, it will always be in the wash bay when you call.
When you eventually arrive to collect your vehicle you are handed an invoice which invariably includes an amount for “consumables”, which turns out to be rags and hand cleaner or something similar. Like paying for swabs in an operating theatre.
Shiny, pine-scented and hopefully repaired, you reclaim your car and on the floor you find ‘your’ old parts. But are they? And what do they really prove?
In the workshop is a bin full of old parts and as a car leaves a random selection are put in. Again much like your surgeon handing you “your” appendix in a bottle.
So, if you find an honest mechanic treat him with respect…he is worth his weight in sparkplugs!