Finding the Right Mechanic for Your Sports Car

Owning a high performance vehicle such as a sports car is a big responsibility. In order to perform at the level it was designed to, it must be regularly serviced and maintained, and not just by any old mechanic, but by someone trained to work on high performance engines.

But although those who work on sports cars are specialists, there are good and bad ones, as in any profession, and the way to find a good one is the same as finding any good mechanic.

Word of mouth

If you are a sports car enthusiast, chances are you belong to a club of some kind or attend the occasional outing to share your passion with other enthusiasts.

With such a network at your fingertips you are bound to find a good mechanic. People like to tell others when they receive exceptional service, so if you keep your ears open, you?re likely to hear where everyone else takes their vehicles and who they consider to be the best.

Credentials

If a tradesperson is good at what they do, then they will have the credentials to prove it. Asking a mechanic for their credentials is not rude. In fact, if they have specialist qualifications they will be happy to show them to you.

While pieces of paper do not necessarily mean superior ability, they do indicate the mechanic?s approach to their profession, showing that they are serious about what they do and that they take the trouble to keep abreast of the latest techniques and technology.

Website

Most businesses have a website these days, including mechanical repair shops, and these are a great way to suss out;

• The professionalism of the business – if the site is badly designed and full of grammatical errors, you?d have to wonder about their attention to detail when working on your car.
• What other people think of them – glowing testimonials are a good indication, as long as they are attributed to a source that can be checked with a quick phone call.
• Their qualifications ? if they are a legitimate business, they will belong to various industry bodies and organisations, the names of which will normally be displayed somewhere on their website.
• Their policies ? if they offer a guarantee on all their work, you can feel more confident that they will do a good job and that if they don?t, at least you will get your money back.

Premises

Dropping in and seeing mechanics at their place of business can tell you something about how they operate. If their workshop is clean and well organised, then you can assume that their work would be as well.

If they are courteous, helpful and professional, you can also assume that they are a well-run business where customer service is a high priority.

Start small

Once you find someone you think can do a good job, don?t book your pride and joy in for a major service. Start small with an oil change or a basic service to see how they go.

If the job they do is professional, timely (and, unless money is no object, reasonably priced), then let them do your next full service and so on, until you either know they are as good as you were led to believe, or you decide to keep looking, with no major harm done.