The state of auto shops

For things immediately local, I'm admittedly in a very rural area, so I write off some of our lack of services to that, but some stuff is just weird. To wit:

-Our local "shop" won't touch it if it isn't brakes, lube, etc. He spent 20 minutes explaining to my dad how to replace the window motor in his F-150, but wouldn't take my dad's money to just do it.

My dad did it himself and ended up with an interior door panel that's attachments included a zip tie, duct tape and a wood screw (not a joke) and a drivers window switch where up was down and down was up (also, not a joke.)

*My dad isn't where I got my mechanical prowess.

-Twenty-five minutes up the road is a business that is called "[xyz]'s AutoCool", advertising as auto AC and electrical specialists. Called with an admittedly not super easy AC request, but nothing that any reasonable person would think was outside of any shop advertising as an 'Auto AC Specialist(!)'. Not only was the answer "no", but it was "if it's more than a recharge or maybe a belt or something, I just don't mess with it."

Cool. (Pun intended)

- Have called a handful of shops (well outside of the slim pickin's of our rural area) to try to get someone to diagnose and fix my JDM Kei van. It's a carbed 3cyl. There's likely zero turn mowers out there with more complicated engines. Hard pass at every shop. It's not complicated, I just don't have the time to give it any attention and it doesn't run. I'm NOT overly concerned about the budget, and I tell them that. Still, pass.

- Live in an area with a TON of boats (per capita, anyway) and yet folks struggle to find anyone willing to do most any of the basic boat stuff. And the ones that do are, at best, barely competent. Something complicated? Forget about it. 

It's wild. And frustrating.

​​​​​​​​​​​

Well, this has received more replies than I had anticipated. I will say that if you are in the Jacksonville area, B&D Automotive is excellent and staffed by traditional mechanics that will tackle anything for really reasonable prices. I just can't say enough about them. Honorable and reliable. Their shop isn't glitzy, but they are super solid. 

In reply to Spearfishin :

Your first two examples are good.  Your second two, I would not touch.  

Trying to find any sort of part for JDM stuff is a wildly irritating pain in the ass.

Boats suck.

My shop is tiny.

I can handle 4 motorcycles or 4 quads or two side by sides at the same time.

Put one dead car in there, taking up space and now it's actually losing money.

I've stopped doing automotive for that reason. 

Even in a bigger shop, a bay that isn't producing is a problem. 

Spearfishin said:

- Live in an area with a TON of boats (per capita, anyway) and yet folks struggle to find anyone willing to do most any of the basic boat stuff. And the ones that do are, at best, barely competent. Something complicated? Forget about it. 

It's wild. And frustrating.

​​​​​​​​​​​

I worked on boats to  help pay my way through engineering school. No two boats are built the same. A boat repair shop is more like a Hot Rod shop than an automotive shop. This makes it impossible to forecast cost and timeline to the customer or the shop, and yet you have to make all of your year's income in about 5 months. Customers always need the work done "By the weekend".

We all hate crawling under a car on axle stands. With cars, you can buy a lift to raise and lower the car. With a boat, there is no easy way to get around climbing and jumping in and out of the damn thing to fetch tools. It gets old and I can't imaging what my knees would be like today if I had stuck it out as a boat mechanic. The pay WAS good for the times.

^My first tech writing job was at MerCruiser. Having to go down into one of the bays to replace the exhaust manifolds on a 350 Inboard so I could take pictures and write the procedure? 

That cured me of any desire to ever own a boat. 

z31maniac said:

^My first tech writing job was at MerCruiser. Having to go down into one of the bays to replace the exhaust manifolds on a 350 Inboard so I could take pictures and write the procedure? 

That cured me of any desire to ever own a boat. 

I've got a boat now with twin 350 inboards. Replacing the outboard manifold on those things is bullE36 M3. Working blind hard against gas tank. 

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Your first two examples are good.  Your second two, I would not touch.  

Trying to find any sort of part for JDM stuff is a wildly irritating pain in the ass.

Boats suck.

Sure, but NO one will touch it (the van).

And I get not liking working on boats, but you'd think someone would. They could damn near charge what they wanted. 

Spearfishin said:

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Your first two examples are good.  Your second two, I would not touch.  

Trying to find any sort of part for JDM stuff is a wildly irritating pain in the ass.

Boats suck.

Sure, but NO one will touch it (the van).

And I get not liking working on boats, but you'd think someone would. They could damn near charge what they wanted. 

When I was doing my boat-wrenching, I met a person in Fl who was a "Jack of all trades handy-man for Yachts." Best way to describe him would be "Problem solver"  He had like a dozen clients and seemed to live quite well  on his boat at the same marina as his clients. 

Spearfishin said:

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Your first two examples are good.  Your second two, I would not touch.  

Trying to find any sort of part for JDM stuff is a wildly irritating pain in the ass.

Boats suck.

Sure, but NO one will touch it (the van).

And I get not liking working on boats, but you'd think someone would. They could damn near charge what they wanted. 

If boat people are like hot rod people, they get mad that you charge anything because their buddy could swap an engine in his driveway in three hours and nobody should charge more than $50 an hour so if you want more than $150 to sort out the car you're a ripoff.

From an actual drop-off note left with a car.

Spearfishin said:

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Spearfishin :

Your first two examples are good.  Your second two, I would not touch.  

Trying to find any sort of part for JDM stuff is a wildly irritating pain in the ass.

Boats suck.

Sure, but NO one will touch it (the van).

And I get not liking working on boats, but you'd think someone would. They could damn near charge what they wanted. 

Our old apprentoid had a JDM Impreza

What a gong show, trying to find parts for that thing. Some is the same as here, some is not, some stuff shows up and its all the way wrong. I think it's still broken.