My old mechanic, a four-bay garage, always had time for emergencies–usually no more than a day or two. I get the feeling that they left a few slots open every day for emergencies.
Since I moved, the new place I go to not only has a week lead time for emergency repairs, they actually take a week off for Christmas. It’s like they don’t actually care that their customers depend on their cars. and just fill up every slot they have as soon as they can, regardless of urgency.
Is always having time available for emergencies a usual practice or an unusual one?
It’s like they don’t actually care that their customers depend on their cars.
Or they are super busy, and maintain a work life balance.
Every emergency mechanic visit I’ve had has been same day, sometimes with an hour or two wait if they’re full up.
A week though? Seems a bit much.
My mechanic takes appointments for scheduled maintenance… Always my pick of the day, even next day. And he’s awsome if I have a problem, like I need a tire patch or something urgent, I go in and wait and he gets me out asap.
Waiting a week? Naw man, go elsewhere. If you have AAA, find a shop that gives you the AAA discount on hours too.
Different places have different norms. You’ll also find shops of any sort that work better and worse with your schedule. Whether or not it works with your budget may be a different story.
My mechanic is usually able to take me same day. Patched a slow leak in my tire in 20 minutes.
Find a new mechanic. I could have my car in tomorrow with my mechanic if needed
I lived in a pretty small (sub 10k pop) town for years, and there were 3 garages. The one for general engine stuff was always crowded. The body and tire shops on the other side of town were way quicker even if the work itself took longer, since you really didn’t have to wait.
Bigger city now, and it’s not really an issue. Loads more garages and repair shops. Though, this may also be due to the fact this city is crazy about cars and not just because it’s a larger city.
My mechanic doesn’t do appointments. You drop it off, and it gets fixed. They are pretty busy, but even so it’s usually same day service unless you drop off later in the afternoon.
My mechanic is a 1-man outfit, but I feel he’d slip me in for a real emergency, but I’ve never presented one. It’s usually next day service unless he’s hammered. I might wait until a third day.
