Okay.  If I decide to get this car fixed, I need to have it done cheap.  Does
anybody know a good indepenent Mechanic who can do the work inexpensively here
in Ann Arbor?

There is no hurry, if they need to take the time to do it over several weeks
adn it will save me money, I have no problem with that.

31 responses total.

What kind of car?  What's the trouble with it?

        Jim at Conley's in Ypsilanti.  Book ahead;  the word's already out that
he's good.

useta live nextdoor to conley's...word, they're good.  pretty nice
folks as well.

Steve Steeb in Ann Arbor is a good mechanic, but I have no idea whether
he's cheap.  He usually has a four-to-six week waiting list.

"Ann Arbor" and "cheap" don't usually go together...

If you can get the car to Tecumseh, or you have AAA Plus, you can go to 
Barron's in Tecumseh.  They're cheap and do good work.  517-423-1309.  
They're replacing the alternator and battery on my pickup right now, 
and it'll cost me around $200 total.

Steve Steeb is great, but only if you have an american car (or an MG).

We like Main Street Motors in Ann Arbor.

My family gets all their repairs from Jack at the Marathon at Maple and
Miller.  

"Cheap"?  You get what you pay for, often.  Just remember that.

The Great Undatable One has good things to say about the same Marathon station
that flem's reccomending.

Japanese Auto Professionals, on Main at the railroad tracks.  I
won't buy a car they won't do.

A friend's mom swears by Weaver's Marathon at Packard & Stadium.

Japanese Auto Professionals is great.

Re #12: I have a friend with an immortal Accord that swears by them.  
I'll definately go there when I need major work done on my Civic.  
(Hopefully that won't be until it reaches its scheduled timing belt 
change.)

I guess next time my mr2 breaks down that's where to go.

I'll third the endorsement for Japanese Auto Professionals.
Very competent, and they don't try to gouge you by selling
you things you don't need.  Of course, the limitation is that
they only service, um, Japanese autos.

Right, which is why I can't go there any more.  Unless I get a Subaru WRX,
which I'm considering.

Howard Cooper is pretty good if you have a VW

I thought they expanded to Saturns as well. Main Street Motors is Good, but
tehy are expensive.  Keep in mind I am looking for inexpensive, it doesn't
even have to bea licensed mechanic as long as they have a good reputation.

If they're good, you should *expect* they have a license - think about
the sort of person who would work on a complete stranger's car for less
money than the market rate of the work being done, but can't be bothered
to fill out some paperwork and get the proper license from the state.
Probably such a person wouldn't bother to get insurance in case
something happens to your car while they're working on it.

The biggest complaint about Japanese Auto Professionals that I have is
that they're very busy, and they have a really teeny lot & building - simply
parking there during the day to get a car looked at can be a challenge.

Another voice for Japanese Auto Professionals.  They have no parking, so 
they want to get your car done and back to you as soon as humanly 
possible, which is in marked contrast to some other operations I've dealt 
with.

I have known some really good garage mechanics who liked to work on cars just
for fun, not for any profit.  I just don't know any right now.  Adn as I said,
cost is the over-riding factor.  I just got stiffed by a company with a lot
of approval and good mechanics, licensed, and insured.  They turned me loose
with a car that is in no condition to be driven very far, and they don't care.
Can someone else do any worse?

"Worse?"  You are joking, right?  In the vast spectrum of possible
outcomes, there are definitely *far* more nightmarish worst cases, and
you came off relatively scott-free.  You have your health, your car, and
it didn't take years to sort out, or cost an arm and a leg, either
figuratively or literally.

Yes, there *are* people who enjoy working on things "for fun".  It
doesn't necessarily follow that it's fair to ask them to work for a
discount.  Generally speaking, if they're competent and sane, they learn
to say "no" pretty quickly.  The few who haven't have 20 years of
backlog to catch up on.

Well, a friend of mine who helped me out and other people he knew for 
free wasn't exactly doing it for fun-- I think it was because we 
needed it.

Besides, he taught me quite a bit about the 87 Chevy Nova I had at the 
time.. at least enough that I was no longer ignorant.

*shrug* My parent's neighbor likes to work on cars and will work on 
cars for people in the neighborhood for a discount. He does pretty good 
work too. He also likes to shovel everyone's driveway when it snows (he 
has a plowblade on his snowmobile.) And come to think of it, he mows 
everyone's lawns for free too. But, those kind of guys are pretty rare. 
I would say he is definately competent. I will leave it to everyone 
else to decide if he is sane or not. 

Re #20: That would sort of make sense -- a fair number of Saturns are
actually made by Isuzu.

Let me chime in as a less than happy former customer of JAP.  I had a car
worked on there many years ago (a Toyota Camry) and while the specifics fail
me right now I remember being quite irritated that they were apparently trying
to gouge me. I had gone there based on lots of reccommendations.

I now go to Main St Motors West.  

For brake, suspension, and exhaust work, The Quiet Zone in Ypsi can not be
beat IMHO.  The same goes for Discount Tire for tires.

Back in the early eighties, when I first started using JAP, it 
was owned by either two or three guys who were Quakers.  Quakers
have a work ethic that they can only charge a fair price for their
goods.  On my first visit I brought them a repair problem that
Howard Cooper was going to charge half again as much more to fix.

I know at least one of those original guys are still there.  Don't
know about the other and I don't know if anyone is still a Quaker but
I've repeatedly had them tell me something I thought was a problem 
could easily wait a bit and get take more wear before needing replacement.

I've also had them tell me that something should be taken care of 
right away and when I balked he chided back, "Don't expect me to 
take it in one busy morning as an emergency 'won't start' problem."

That's similar to my experience.  They've always been cheaper than the dealer
on the occasions I've gotten quotes from both, and they've occasionally talked
me out of getting something fixed.  I have trouble imagining them "taking"
someone.

From what I've seen of their work on my friend's Immortal Accord, they
*are* extremely meticulous.  It wouldn't surprise me if they often
recommend repairs that other mechanics would let go.  I've noticed most
mechanics seem to regard any car with more than 100,000 miles on it as
unworthy of any serious repair work.

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