50 Shades of Grease: What Really Happens When You Take Your Car to the Shop…and How to Spend Less Money There

By Ryan Bell

ASE-certified master technician Ryan Bell shares just what really happens when you drop your car off at the shop. Both informative and humorous, 50 Shades of Grease offers simple, practical tips anyone can use to save time and money on automotive maintenance and repair. Funny stories along the way keep things fresh and interesting, and you'll walk away with a whole new respect for (or fear of!) your mechanic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329378353

Book preview

50 Shades of Grease: What Really Happens When You Take Your Car to the Shopand How to Spend Less Money There

50 Shades of Grease

What Really Happens When You Take Your Car to the Shop…and How to Spend Less Money There

By Ryan Bell

Copyright © 2015 Ryan Bell.

All rights reserved.

No portion of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. 

ISBN: 978-1-329-37835-3

Preface

I really want the automotive industry to become a more honest and friendly environment for customers. I don’t like seeing people paying for extra services just because a company is trying to make more money, a service advisor wants more commission, or a technician wants to make more hours for the week.

I am an Automotive Mechanic, an ASE certified Master Technician, and I also have a Bachelor of Science degree in Automotive Technology. Overkill I know, but I am a little bit of a Car Nerd. I want to give the average person a look into what we do, as well as answer questions like Do mechanics ever take my car out for a joy ride? or Is it true all the best mechanics also have great mustaches? This book includes everything you ever (and never) wanted to know about your mechanic.

Many jobs can be dangerous or difficult and are better left to professionals. However, there are many jobs the average man or woman could easily tackle. I have saved literally thousands of dollars by being able to repair my own vehicle, and you don’t have to be a Master Technician to do the same.

Unfortunately, I have noticed you don’t need several of the services they try to sell you at most shops. My hope is that this book will help guide you to determine which services you do and do not need.

You will learn how to inspect your own vehicle, know when something doesn’t feel right, and when to immediately stop driving your car. I have also included many true stories from my start as a lowly oil change guy all the way to the top in my current position as an over-qualified oil change guy to keep things interesting. These stories include, but are not limited to a crazy hillbilly mentor from Kentucky, cars crashing into tire machines (was it yours?), an old man trying to fight me, test drives gone wrong, garage doors falling on people, a stinky old lady (was it your grandma?), energy drinks, environmental hazards, pranks, fires, injuries, mistakes, corrections, cover ups, dishonesty, revenge, love, romance, lube, oil, filters, and tips and tricks for you more mechanically-inclined readers.

The Beginning

I was ecstatic when I got my first job as an automotive mechanic. I had always enjoyed working on cars and I was tired of office jobs. With the exception of some auto shop classes in high school, I had very little experience and was understandably nervous my first day. I was supposed to follow the Master Mechanic around all day and see how he did things. I now know that this long-haired man from Kentucky was most certainly not a master mechanic, at least not in the eyes of any reputable source.

Anyways, he pretty much shooed me away and I ended up doing things on my own while asking all the other techs a lot of questions. I did this until about 2:00 pm when he asked me to come along on a test drive with him to listen for a noise. I was super happy and willing to finally be able to see what this guy does and learn some things from him. So I hopped into the customer’s car and we took off into the sunset. His long brown hair was flying out the window while we continued down the highway for a suspiciously long period of time.

I finally asked where we were going and he smirked saying, This dirt road I use to hear suspension noises. It has a lot of bumps. This seemed reasonable, even though we had been driving for a good ten minutes.

We finally turned onto a dirt road passed a couple of homes until we were virtually in the middle of nowhere. It had rained a lot the week before, so needless to say there were mud puddles all up and down the road. My new mentor looked over at me with his beady eyes and floored the Chevy Malibu flying through the puddles at 40 MPH.

I’m going to get fired on my first day was the only thought running through my head. When we finally got to the