May 5th 2006.


They're awaitin' for ya!

The population is slowly ageing. At least in the Western world.

Which inevitably means that, as the actuarial insurance underwriters will tell you, women are very often left to fend for themselves,
since their life expectancy is that much greater.

What does this have to do with cars and car repairs?

Just this, many ladies find themselves having to own and maintain a car completely alone for the first time in their lives.

If they were lucky, their hubby had found and used one garage for his car repairs for many years, knew the owner and his
staff very well and the history of his car is safely stored on the hard disc at the garage.

If the (better?) half was a "shop around" type who had a receipt from every place in town, including the big red triangle, then
madame now has a problem. Where can she go for honest, reliable auto advice and auto service?

We have a growing number of lady clients who find themselves in this position and you have no idea how confused and intimidated
they are by the whole process of having to visit the waiting room of a garage. So records are consulted and best advice is given and
the lady goes home to ponder on her best course of action.

Of course she has heard, as everyone has, of the prevalence of pirates and villains in the car repair business and even though one
has reassured her that all is well and the car is in good shape, she still doesn't know whether she is in the first stage of a big con-job.

Eventually, a noise can be heard when the car is moving, or the brakes are applied.
Eventually, a light shows up on the dashboard and our widowed lady client shows up at our front door asking for an analysis of
the problem.
We test drive the car and then raise it into the air and target the problem.
We find the problem and issue a written estimate.

Assuming it is this time of year, the repair work cannot be done immediately and an appointment is arranged.
Then comes the dreaded phone call:

"my next door neighbour says........................."


Almost always in this situation, there is another man around.

The dreaded next door neighbour, the son, the brother, someone who is convinced we are ripping off this defenceless old lady and
that our diagnosis is completely wrong. That all the car needs is " a new fuse - or sump'n".

These know-all, know nothings are the bane of our lives. They destroy a confidence building process we had tried hard to encourage
and they place the cold hand of doubt into the heart of this poor lady. What do we do, apart from curse know-all shade tree mechanics
under our breath, write off the whole idea of servicing the car and throw the the lady and her car into the shark pool?

Not if we can help it, but sometimes we later hear that, sure enough, our diagnosis was correct, but our written estimate was
WAAAAY under what it should have been and the car has been repaired elsewhere at twice the cost.
Our chagrin can have no bounds.

If the late departed was a shop around, then the best advice we can give is get at least two, maybe three diagnoses if the cost is in
excess of $300 or so.

The low ball price may be incompetence or an effort to draw you into the shop and then call you to tell you the work is going to
cost much more.

The high one may be a rip off.

It's is a lot of work and a lot of bother, but if you were buying a refrigerator or a 42" flat screen television set, would you shop?
Would you take the time to look around?  With that much money at stake, of-course you would.

Just like a dentist or a doctor, finding and using the services of a good, technically competent garage is golden.
If the husband had been going to the same man for many years, he must have been well satisfied with the work and the price.

Don't let some loud mouthed nosey neighbour come between you and a good service that is very hard to find these days.