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Today's vehicles are too complicated to repair without a complete assessment. So, when you drive up, be prepared to provide, as best you can, the what, when, and where. Leave the why to our technicians.

Eight Tips for Better Auto Repairs

Five minutes will make all the difference in the success of your next vehicle repair — and those five minutes tick off the clock long before anyone touches a wrench. That's because what you tell, and don't tell, the shop's service adviser shapes what will happen, and not happen, to your car or truck that day.

You know nothing about cars. Except that yours is misbehaving? Not so. If you drive that vehicle, you know plenty, and the smart service adviser will coax it out of you. "Sometimes I have to be kind of an investigator," says Tom Vick of Autohaus-Vick in Bellevue. "Does this happen cold? Hot? On heavy acceleration? Does it shimmy? All the time or only under certain circumstances? There are all kinds of questions I'll ask to find out what really ails your car." Do you want to increase the chances that you'll give the information needed to accurately and inexpensively repair your car? Listen to the service advisers as they share their tips on assuring that all repairs are done right and economically that first time.

1. DESCRIBE, DON'T DIAGNOSE "Don't tell us what needs to be done," says Ben Christie, owner of Christie's Automotive in Yakima. "Tell us the problem and let us diagnose it. Don't say, 'I need a tune-up.' Why do you need a tune-up? Is the car stalling? Running rough? That's what we want to know. Say there's a stalling problem with a fuel-injected car. Usually, it's not tune-up related."

What's wrong with customer diagnoses? Too often, they're just wrong, says Bruce Finnigan, owner of 34th Street Garage in Seattle. "In fact, if a customer says, 'My fuel pump is out. I want you to replace it, and that's all I want you to do,' we might decline to proceed, if we honestly think it needs more diagnosis. Most systems, in fact, are complex, needing a thorough diagnosis."

Computer diagnostics are central to the quality automotive service delivered by Circle & Square's ASE-certified technicians.

In fact, you should be a little wary of a shop that begins repairs without performing diagnostic tests. Shops do charge for diagnostic time, which varies depending on the nature of the problem. Today's vehicles are too complicated to repair without a complete assessment.

So, when you drive up, be prepared to provide, as best you can, the what, when, and where. Leave the why to our technicians.

2. TELL EVERYTHING "Many people have the conception that if they tell me very little, the cost will be very little," says Larry Milne, owner of Milne's Downtown Auto Repair in Bellingham. "Actually the opposite is true: the more info, the less time it takes to fix the car."

3. 'FESS UP Okay, you tried to save a few dollars by doing a repair at home and that only seemed to make matters worse. "Don't play mum," urges Herb Koelle, service manager for Ruddell Auto Mall in Port Angeles. "Say there's an electrical problem. Sometimes, it's because the owner tried to tune it himself, but now he's ashamed to admit it. Please, just say so. When we know what really happened, it's so much easier to make the repairs you need."

4. TAKE THE SERVICE ADVISER FOR A RIDE "Certain things, especially noises, are really hard to reproduce," says Milne. "A mechanic, on his own, might tune in to a completely unrelated noise, one the customer has grown oblivious to, and fix the wrong thing. That's why it's important for the customer and our technician together to identify what's wrong with the car."

5. GET A WRITTEN ESTIMATE Washington State law is clear: If a repair will cost more than $100, a shop is required to give you a written estimate upon a face-to-face request. Shops welcome this. "It makes a whole lot better business sense to go ahead and give a written estimate," says Koelle. "Then there's no shouting at service advisers."

Sometimes, though, "written estimates are not practical without first going through a diagnosis," cautions Christie. A knocking sound could be fixed with the tightening of a few bolts or an expensive engine rebuild. But the shop won't know until it delves into the nitty-gritty of your car's mechanicals. The solution? If the diagnosis will cost more than $100, get a written estimate. And, once the needed repairs are detailed, "if the shop doesn't want to tell you in writing what it's going to cost, I'd be real skeptical," says Christie.

6. OPEN YOUR EARS When a service adviser recommends work be done on your vehicle, usually there's a good reason. "Pointing out potential problems, especially safety-related ones, is our responsibility," adds Bruce Finnigan. "If we notice something particularly severe and the customer declines to get the repair done, we'll note on the invoice that the car really shouldn't be driven that way."

When the service adviser tells you the brakes are about to fail or your tires need replacing, listen carefully. Maybe you will want to get a second opinion from another shop, especially when dealing with high-cost repairs. But don't ignore these recommendations.

7. DO ASK FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICE If, after you drop off your car, you remember that other problem you neglected to mention to the service adviser, pick up the phone and call. Service advisers know that customers are often reluctant to call later in the day with needs they overlooked, but their advice is to just do it. "If people want more work done, that's great, if we have the time to do it," says Milne.

8. INSIST POLITELY THAT YOUR PROBLEM BE SOLVED In the car repair business they are called "comebacks". That's when a customer returns with the vehicle and claims the original problem is still unsolved. A sign of an incompetent shop? Hardly. As vehicles become ever more mechanically complex, comebacks are going to occur. What matters is how the shop responds. Good ones don't hesitate: "If we do not do a proper repair, we want the opportunity to rectify the situation," says Mike Lorentz of Don Lorentz Auto Care Center in Vancouver, Washington.

However, you should also be aware that some concerns, especially intermittent ones, may need further diagnosis. Systems are complex, interdependent, and often components that are proven faulty can mask the failure of others.

Take the anxiety out of car repair by patronizing AAA-Approved Auto Repair shops, located throughout Washington.

Circle & Square is an AAA-Approved Auto Repair facility with a 2-year/20,000 mile warranty!