My Mechanic Won’t Give Me An Estimate On The Phone

Why your mechanic probably won’t give you an auto repair estimate over the phone.

You’ve probably called an auto repair shop at one time or another since you started driving and asked the mechanic you spoke with for an estimate on the cost to repair the problem you were experiencing with your vehicle. Chances are, that mechanic could not give you the estimate you requested. You may have been frustrated by their refusal, but there are good reasons why a mechanic won’t give you a phone estimate on repairing your vehicle without seeing the car and giving it a good inspection first.

Why Can’t You Get a Phone Estimate?

There are several reasons a mechanic would be unwilling or even unable to give you an estimate on the cost to repair your vehicle without seeing it. For example, no two cars are identical, even if they are the same year, make, and model. Small differences in how you drive, the environment you drive in, and your preventative maintenance can significantly affect how much it will cost to repair an issue you currently have.

You may have a warning light on your dash that you had diagnosed by someone other than your mechanic. Some auto supply shops offer to read the error codes connected to warning lights for free, which may lead you to believe that they would know why your warning light came on. The problem with this situation is that many warning lights have many sources, and fast reading of the error codes can only give someone a vague idea of the root of the problem. It’s fine to read the error codes, but you must understand that the diagnostics done by your mechanic to find the root cause of a particular error code takes time and expensive equipment the auto supply shop likely doesn’t have. Your mechanic wants to check for all the reasons behind an error code to help you avoid expensive and time-consuming repairs later.

Cars are complicated machines with several complicated systems working together. Small failures in one or more systems can cause catastrophic failures resulting in expensive repairs. Your mechanic has many tools to use to diagnose the precise problem behind the issues you have with your vehicle that go far beyond a code reader or a YouTube content creator who seems to have a similar problem with their vehicle. For a mechanic to give you an estimate for auto repairs over the phone without seeing and diagnosing your vehicle’s problem is courting trouble. You want your mechanic to fix the problem at the root, not the surface, and they can only do that after they inspect and diagnose your particular vehicle.

The mechanics at West Automotive Group want you to get the best and most precise repairs based on their diagnosis of the problem. You can call us and ask questions about what you might think the problem is, and they’ll happily answer them, but they won’t diagnose your vehicle or give you an estimate without seeing your car first. Why not call us today and make an appointment for an inspection and diagnostic evaluation of the issue you’re having with your vehicle today?