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About Me....
My name is Austin Davis, and I live in Texas
with my wife and daughters. Although I am not a hands on "mechanic", I
grew up in the auto repair business and have I spent most of my life at
the shop my grandfather founded in 1937. I started out doing everything
from cleaning up the huge mess auto mechanics make to driving one of the
parts delivery trucks around town.
My expertise is looking over the mechanic's shoulder and monitoring quality control. Let's face it just about anyone can replace a water pump, or brake pads, or an alternator, but not everyone performs the job correctly and with quality in mind. You the customer does not get mad or upset becuase the job was performed correctly, you get angry when short cuts were taken. My job as a shop owner is to make sure all acts of "short cut stupidity" have been caught and removed before you pick up your car....and that is a learned skilled.
After I graduated from Midwestern
State University in Wichita Falls, Texas with a degree in business, I
joined the management team and eventually became president of the
company. I have always been curious as to how things work, and I love to
take things apart...more so than to put them back together.
I was groomed to take over the family business
ever since I was a small boy, and "talking shop" at the dinner
table was all I ever heard. I have spent numerous hours attending
hands-on training courses from air conditioning repair to paint and body
re-finishing. I know a great deal about the business and have a real
knack for diagnostics. My wife laughs every time I diagnose a car
driving by our house, "that car needs a left outer CV joint."
I started writing this book, What Your
Mechanic Doesn't Want You to Know, in 1998 after a lady came to my
shop and told me how much (or how little as she thought) money she had
to spend to repair her car. She thought she had automatic transmission
problems and was afraid it was going to cost thousands to repair. She
had just come from a local transmission shop where they told her exactly
how much it would cost to overhaul her transmission.
I went for a quick test drive with her to get a
feel for this catastrophic problem her car was having. After a very
simple and quick test drive, I determined that it was not transmission
related but rather some kind of ignition problem (i.e. spark plug, spark
plug wire, ignition coil, etc.) She left the car with me so that we
could properly diagnose it and determine the problem.
Our conclusion was a bad spark plug wire, but
what should I tell her? She was prepared to pay me big bucks to
fix her "transmission problem," so would she be happy to pay
me $250? Shouldn't I be able to tell her ANYTHING as long as the car was
fixed, and I saved her BIG bucks? I would be a hero to her if I fixed
the car for only $250, and she would never have to know it was only a
bad spark plug wire. No, of course I really didn't do this, but I would
not be so sure she would not have been taken advantage of elsewhere.
To read my article on this incident click here: Transmission
Article
I realized then that in some cases, it was what
the customer said to the repair shop that was opening the door
for them to be taken advantage of. If I didn't run an ethical business,
I could have made a nice tip for my "expertise" (or my ability
to lie). From that day on, I have been writing down all instances that
have occurred to me that could have put the customer in jeopardy...and
it quickly began to fill a book!
After several years as manager and service
writer, I began to feel the need to venture out of my comfort zone and
try something new. In 2001, I resigned my position in the family
business and went full-time with this Internet venture (adventure). I
wanted to make a site where people can go and get real life auto repair
advice articles on a wide variety of topics. Most of my readers visit my
site because they are unhappy with their current repair shop, don't
trust the recommendation the mechanic gave them, or are trying to do
their own auto repair and need advice on what-to-do rather than
how-to-do.
If you have not spent some time looking around
on my site I encourage you to do so. You will find over 48 reader
question articles plus much more interesting advice, other auto related
links and illustrations.
My ebook will shed a totally new light on how
you perform service on your vehicle, how the mechanic will perceive you,
how you can easily save hundreds if not thousands of dollars on car
repair, and how to build your confidence and self esteem to deal with an
insurance company or mechanic.
My articles are featured on many popular
Websites, and in newsletters and ezines throughout the Internet.
Definitely sign up for my free newsletter. Try my eBook--you might see a
story in there that hits close to home. Buy it and give it a try, if you
are not completely happy I will refund 100% of your money...what have
you got to lose?
Thanks for your support
Austin
To review my eBook What your Mechanic Doesn't Want You to Know
--An insider look into the car repair industry Click
here to read more. One Sale Now!
Recommended auto related articles:
Check engine lights
explained
Motor Oils Explained
Front end Alignments
Explained
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