We all have come to live in a world where everything and everyone has a price. The money driven world. And when we come across a business advertising a free service, we jump at the opportunity to grasp it before it slips away. Albeit, what we haven’t come to discern is the cost and effect of the FREE service, in the future.
The auto repair industry is one of the many businesses stamped as the money hungry business.
Frankly, a visit to the mechanic alone stirs up the anxiety of an impending calamity. The fore thought of a generous estimate pins us to the ground. An estimate comprised of a variety of charges ranging from diagnostic fees, to labor, parts and so on. But what alarms consumers the most is the diagnostic fee, a fee they do not understand why they have to pay for. First and foremost, let me clarify how the latter works:
A diagnostic machine connects to your vehicle’s computer system and analyzes the code to determine the cause of the problem.
Benefits:
- Saves time troubleshooting a problem
- Saves the vehicle owner money intended to pay the technician for a COMPLETE mechanical check that could take hours, if the problem is not specified.
- Running a computerized car diagnostic check can highlight the problem in order to fix ONLY what needs to be fixed.
- Lastly, it could prevent future problems, future major costs.
That diagnostic fee is merely intended to run the diagnostic machine and to pay the experienced and certified technician for his time, training, knowledge and skills.
How is it that various auto repair shops provide free diagnostic tests? That’s the question many consumers inquire about. Whereas we should ask: is that diagnosis of any value, are their equipment up to date? We should question the quality of their machinery and technician’s knowledge. Are they solely retrieving trouble codes and relaying it to the consumer without indicating what is actually wrong with their vehicle? Are they overcharging me for the repair to compensate for the free diagnosis?
These are some food for thought.
Before falling in to the free clause, take a moment and analyze the domino effect of a minor problem. A minor initial diagnosis cost can prevent major issues such as replacing an engine or transmission, if the issue is not promptly treated.
Hence, why pay for a diagnosis? Simply because you want to know how and what to treat instead of fishing for a problem, merely paying for a proper diagnosis rather than replacing components based on a hunch of what might be wrong
Price is what you pay
Value is what you get!