Finding A Quality Auto Repair Shop

Finding A Quality Auto Repair Shop

New to your town or city? Looking for a good auto repair shop?

The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), the non-profit organization that tests and certifies the competence of individual automotive repair technicians, knows a thing or two about selecting a vehicle repair facility.

Whether you are new in town or you are just looking for a new shop, the experts at ASE offer some guidelines to help take some of the anxiety out of your search:

• Look for a repair facility before you need one; you can make better decisions when you are not rushed.
• Ask friends, co-workers and associates for recommendations.
• Consult local consumer organizations, such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and chambers of commerce, about the reputation of the shop. Inquire about the number, nature and resolution of complaints.
• Search online for business reviews and visit the shop’s Facebook page if one is available. You can learn a lot about a business and its team by reading social media.
• Look for a tidy, well-organized facility, with vehicles in the parking lot equal in value to your own and modern equipment in the service bays. You likely won’t find hospital-clean conditions, but consider whether the facility’s image and level of professionalism meet your needs.
• Don’t make your selection based solely on location convenience.
• Determine if the shop works on your vehicle make and model or performs the types of repairs you need. Some facilities specialize.
• Look for signs of technician competence. The customer area should display trade school diplomas, certificates of advanced coursework and ASE certifications — a nationally recognized standard of technician competence — for all the employees.
• Does the business have a sense of community? Service awards, plaques for civic involvement, customer service awards, membership in the Better Business Bureau and other consumer groups is a good indicator.
• Professionally run establishments will have a courteous, helpful staff. The manager, service writer, or technician should be willing to answer your questions thoroughly.
• Labor rates, fees for testing and diagnostic work, guarantees, methods of payment, etc. should be posted in the front office/waiting room.
• Ask for the names of a few customers as references. Call them.
• Start with a small or minor job, such as an oil change or tire rotation. Reward good service with repeat business and more complex work.

Look for the Blue Seal

ASE also recognizes some of the best automotive repair shops through its Blue Seal of Excellence program. To qualify, 75 percent of the employees at the automotive repair facility or related business must be ASE certified, covering all the areas of repair or support offered.

In addition, all facilities that employ full-time service consultants and/or estimators must have at least one who is ASE certified. Service consultants must hold current ASE Service Consultant (C1) certification, and estimators must hold current Damage Analysis & Estimating (B6) certification.

To locate an ASE Blue Seal Shop in your area, visit our locator page.

Stopping and Steering are Keys to Driving Safely

Stopping and Steering are Keys to Driving Safely

There are more vehicles on U.S. roads than ever before. With an estimated 240.5 million cars and light trucks crowding our roads as of 2011, your safety and that of others is at risk when your vehicle isn't stopping and steering at its best. Reducing your vehicle's stopping distance by just an inch or so could make the difference between a minor scare and a major fender bender.

Crowded roads aren't the only concern. The roads themselves are often in a sorry state of repair. Portions of our highway system (including many bridges) haven't seen much in the way of maintenance or repair since they were built.

In cold climates, the freeze/thaw cycle enlarges cracks and holes in the pavement. In sunnier spots, the heat, heavy cargo hauling and years of neglect take their own toll on roads. The result can be a moonscape of potholes that can affect the handling of your vehicle. Bad roads can cause suspension components, so vital to steering control and handling, to grow old before their time.

But you don't have to be an automotive expert to keep your vehicle's stopping and steering systems safe. An ASE-certified brake service technician is trained to diagnose problems and identify potential areas of concern, such as checking thickness of rotors and identifying worn brake lines and hoses.

Pay a little now, or a lot later

Putting off repairs for too long results in growing costs. For example, let’s look at a typical brake job. Not only will you have to buy new brake pads, but add in new brake rotors as well to replace the ones that were ruined by procrastination.

New rotors can range from $50 to $250 or more, depending upon the vehicle application — and that's foreach wheel. Even if normal wear dictates rotor replacement, the upside is that it could be the last time you'll ever replace them before you trade in the vehicle.

It's important to perform needed maintenance early. Allowing the situation to bloom into an expensive repair threatens the practicality of keeping your paid-for wheels on the road. If you made 36, 48 or even 60 monthly payments without flinching in order to buy the car, but don't like to pay for maintenance, try considering it as a short-term "car payment" that only has to be made occasionally.

Safety tips for brake service:

• Invest in a top-quality brake pads.
• If any rotors are marginal for continued service after refinishing (too thin or very close to the minimum thickness specification), have them replaced. An ASE-certified technician can compare the specification dimension and your rotors' actual thickness for you on request. If you own an older vehicle equipped with original equipment (OE) rotors, be prepared to replace them at this time.
• Have the brake calipers inspected to ensure that any moving parts, such as slides and bleeder screws, haven't corroded and frozen up.
• Don't always jump at the lowest quoted price for your brake job. A low price quote can mean that you're not getting the complete brake system serviced.

Remember, there are cheap jobs that use basic components. There are also more-expensive jobs that use premium components. When evaluating the cost of any vehicle repair or maintenance, consider the quality of work and the parts. What's the cost difference between the two? Which one would you trust most?

Beyond basic brake pads and rotor replacement or resurfacing, ask for quotations on the following expanded parts and services if you own an older vehicle:

• If your brake hydraulic system has never been flushed, consider having it serviced to remove moisture and impurities from the fluid reservoir, lines, calipers and/or wheel cylinders.
• Have rubber-type flex brake hoses replaced when they're hard, cracked or simply old.
• When rotors are being resurfaced for reuse, request inspection of the wheel bearings.
• On rear-wheel-drive cars or trucks, have the front wheel bearings inspected and repacked with new grease, along with replacing the seals. Don't take the chance of being stranded over an inexpensive bearing or seal.
• For drum brake applications, ask to have a new brake hardware kit installed when the brake shoes are replaced and the drums are refinished. The technician should ensure that each assembly's wheel cylinder pistons, starwheel adjuster and bleeder screw aren't sticking or seized.
• Have your emergency brake assembly tested periodically. Have it repaired or adjusted if necessary.

This approach to vehicle maintenance may cost a little more up front, but if you make the investment now, you can be sure that-old or new-your car or truck will stop in the shortest distance possible-and be able to steer around trouble.

If your vehicle is more than five years old and has only had brake pad and rotor servicing in the past, it's generally appropriate to have the items from our expanded list serviced or replaced.

To find a local ASE Blue Seal Shop that can help you keep your vehicle in top condition, visit our ASE Blue Seal Shop Locator page.

SIDEBAR:

An ‘Epidemic’ of Unperformed Maintenance
Consider these facts regarding vehicles and maintenance:

• In its Automotive Aftermarket Status Report 2012, analysts at the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA) reported unperformed vehicle maintenance across the entire U.S. fleet had grown to $62 billion in 2010, compared to $54 billion a year earlier.
• According to a 2005 Car Care Council report, poorly maintained vehicles account for 5 percent of all accidents, causing more than $2 billion in property damage, lost wages and medical expenses.
• The average age of cars on today’s U.S. roads is more than 11 years, according to a 2011 study by Polk, a Southfield, Mich.-based research firm. Light-duty trucks average 10.4 years old, and the average age of the U.S. fleet is 10.8 years old.

Arbitrarily dividing the unperformed maintenance amount by an assumed (and generous) average repair cost of $300 per vehicle across the entire car and light truck fleet potentially indicates that 206.6 million vehicles need some type of maintenance and repair.

Amazingly, this suggests that more than 85 percent of the entire passenger car and light truck fleet suffers from some form of unperformed maintenance. If your vehicle is over five years old, the likelihood that it needs maintenance or service of any type climbs dramatically.

National Standards Help Consumers Locate Qualified Automotive Technicians

National Standards Help Consumers Locate Qualified Automotive Technicians

Car owners know they should keep their vehicles in good operating condition, but often they do not know where to turn for dependable service or what to look for in a repair shop.

Some choose a repair shop based solely on its convenient location or an advertised special. Not the best move, according to officials with the nonprofit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, also known as ASE. “Look for the ASE sign,” says Tony Molla, vice president of communications at ASE. “It indicates the repair shop employs one or more ASE-certified technicians.” Molla emphasizes that finding a competent auto technician need not be a matter of chance. Much of the guesswork has been eliminated, thanks to a national program conducted by ASE: “Qualified technicians are the backbone of any repair establishment,” he adds.

ASE tests and certifies automotive professionals in all major technical areas of repair and service. With more than 300,000 currently certified professionals, the ASE program is national in scope and has industry-wide acceptance and recognition. ASE-certified technicians and parts specialists can be found at every type of repair facility, from dealerships, service stations, and franchises to parts stores, independent garages, and even municipal fleet yards.

Certification Benefits Motorists

ASE certifies the technical competence of individual technicians, not repair facilities where they work. Before taking ASE certification tests, many technicians attend training classes or study on their own in order to update their knowledge. By passing difficult, national tests, ASE-certified technicians prove their technical competence not only to themselves, but to their employers and their customers. ASE does not certify repair shops or monitor individual business practices, but it stands to reason that those shop owners and managers who support their employees' efforts to become ASE-certified often will be just as proactively involved in the other aspects of their businesses as well, says Molla.

How Certification Works

ASE certification exams are offered eight months a year across the country in secure, proctored test sites across the U.S. and Canada. The tests are developed by industry experts with oversight from ASE's own in-house pros and are designed to measure on-the-job competency. Technicians who pass at least one exam and fulfill the two-year work experience requirement carry the “ASE-Certified Technician” designation. Those who pass a battery of exams and fulfill the experience requirement earn “Master Technician” status.

There are specialty exams covering all major areas of repair. There are nine tests for auto technicians alone: Engine Repair, Engine Performance, Diesel Engine, Electrical/Electronic Systems, Brakes, Heating and Air Conditioning, Suspension and Steering, Manual Drive Train and Axles, and Automatic Transmissions. There are also exams for collision repair, school bus and transit bus technicians, damage estimators, parts specialists, and others.

ASE certification is not a designation for life, however. All ASE credentials have expiration dates, and ASE requires automotive service professionals to retest every five years to demonstrate a commitment to continuing education and stay abreast of continually changing technologies in order to retain certification.

Finding ASE-Certified Technicians

Repair establishments with at least one ASE technician are permitted to display the blue and white ASE sign and often do outside and inside their facilities. Each ASE professional is issued personalized credentials listing his or her exact area(s) of certification and an appropriate shoulder insignia. Technicians are also issued certificates that employers often post in the customer-service area.

Businesses with a high level of commitment to the ASE program (75 percent of service personnel certified) are entitled to a special "Blue Seal of Excellence" recognition from ASE, with distinctive yellow and blue signage. These elite facilities are among the best in the national. More than 1,500 businesses participate in this growing program.

As with other professionals — physicians come to mind — automotive technicians often specialize. So it's wise to ask the shop owner or service manager for a technician who is certified in the appropriate area, say, brakes, engine repair, or air conditioning.

Vehicle owners can visit the ASE website – www.ase.com – for more information about certified automotive technicians, as well as seasonal car care tips and more.

Don't Overlook Automotive Technology as a High-Tech Career Path

Don't Overlook Automotive Technology as a High-Tech Career Path

Parents and students should take a second look at automotive repair, a high-tech career that is always in demand and can’t be outsourced overseas.

Parents, if becoming an automotive technician is not high on your list of career choices for your child, perhaps it’s time to look again.

Officials with the nonprofit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) — the independent group that tests and certifies the competence of auto technicians nationally — note that automotive service and repair has changed dramatically in just the span of a generation. High-tech systems unheard of 30 years ago are now standard equipment on much of the nation’s fleet of vehicles: stability and traction control systems, adaptive cruise control and variable valve timing, just to name a few. And more changes are on the way: hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles are commonplace; hydrogen fuel cell and other alternative fuel vehicles are deployed in municipal fleets around the country; and Internet connections, voice recognition commands and GPS mapping are available in economy to luxury models.

Given the advance of technology and a richly varied automotive industry that offers an array of positions and career paths, the future is bright for talented young persons with math, science, communications and technical skills. And unlike many high-tech careers that require four, six, or even eight years of college, automotive technology careers can begin after just two years of education. As with any career, lifelong learning and continuing education is necessary, but the simple fact is, students in automotive technology can get out into the real world sooner – and with less college debt.

Moreover, job growth looks strong into the foreseeable future. The U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts automotive repair and maintenance industry is expected to add 237,500 new jobs and have a 30 percent growth rate through 2020, making technicians one of the top 20 jobs with relatively high median earnings and the potential for significant job openings over the next decade. And with the outsourcing of jobs picking up steam – first manufacturing jobs, now computer programming, customer call-center work, and accounting services all going overseas – it should be comforting to know that automotive service and repair is fairly immune to such moves.

So, what kind of work is out there?

The jobs run the gamut from line technician to service consultant, service director, or store owner. There is work in parts, parts distribution and wholesaling; collision repair, painting, and damage estimating; vehicle maintenance, repair, and performance upgrades; and motorsports. There’s the growing field of high-performance machining and rebuilding. There is work in technical areas, training, or in management at the corporate level for national franchises, vehicle manufacturers, and private and municipal fleets. There are positions with high schools and community colleges, as well as proprietary schools, as instructors. Still other technicians find themselves moving into sales, marketing, and business management. Countless automotive aftermarket executives got their start turning wrenches, though nowadays the tool of choice is as likely to be a diagnostic computer and monitor.

In fact, so many people have started their careers in the automotive aftermarket as an auto technician that it is viewed as something of a portal career. For those whose true calling is in the service bay, it’s far from a dead-end career. Top-notch technicians well versed in computer diagnostics and the latest engine performance and driveabilty solutions can and do command top-dollar salaries. Pride in work, technical savvy, and craftsmanship are rewarded.

So if your child prefers to get out into the real world and make his or her mark, consider a career in automotive technology. Ask your child’s guidance counselor, or better yet, visit your local National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) accredited community college or technical school.

The nonprofit National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) conducts the only nationally recognized certification program for automotive service professionals. ASE offers a wide range of tests that serve virtually every segment of the automotive service arena. More than 360,000 professionals hold current ASE certification. To learn more, go to www.ase.com.

The National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation, or NATEF for short, is ASE’s education arm. NATEF works closely with the automotive service industry to develop national standards for automotive training programs. Such programs, in turn, benefit students and employers alike by providing a steady stream of job-ready young technicians. For more information about NATEF’s programs, a list of certified automotive Career/Technical programs in your area, and additional career information, visitwww.natef.org.