"Joe explained to me the repairs on my Trailblazer would cost approximately $3,000. Then he did something completely unexpected: he tried to talk me out of it!"
"Being a home-grown Huntersville boy, I've known all the local shops to take my car to when it needed help. Over the last 5 or 6 years, I have come to know Joe Carbon with Good Old-Fashioned Auto Repair through many local and Chamber business events we frequent as well as the H.O.H.T. organization which he co-founded. His reputation for honesty and integrity is well known in the Lake Norman area, so I finally decided to give him a try when my Trailblazer began acting up.
My wife had purchased this used vehicle years before at a yard sale. The Trailblazer has served me well. However, like all things with age, comes issues. I have a mechanic I know and trust but sometimes run into issues with the amount of time my Trailblazer is out of service. That is a concern because I need my vehicle to pick up my four grandkids from school each afternoon. I decided to give Joe a try because he offers the service of picking up the vehicle and returning it when the service is complete. Joe also explained that he would be performing his preventative maintenance inspection, that he does with each vehicle, as well as diagnostic work relating to the engine miss and check engine light, which had to be resolved in order to pass state inspection as well.
Joe went over, as he always does in great detail, on all his inspections and found that including spark plugs, very dangerous suspension parts, leaking exhaust, and a number of lights that the Trailblazer would fail state inspection. In addition, some of the damage internally had been done that would cause an engine knocking and rough running on a cold start at idle: this issue not worth messing with. All of this to the sum of approximately $3,000. Then he did something completely unexpected: he tried to talk me out of it!
If it had been anybody else who called me with this repair estimate, I would have said: "Just close the hood. I'll be by to pick it up." But something told me that I could trust Joe and that he was not just trying to up sell me (something I have always feared with car repair folks). After giving it a day's thought, I called him back and explained to him why it did make sense. I only use the vehicle a few times a week to kart my grandchildren around and it is big enough to do that. A few times a month, I use the vehicle to haul mulch, in my dump trailer, and several times a year haul cattle to the sale barn. It is the perfect tow vehicle. If I can get another 10,000 to 15,000 miles out of it, it is $3,000 well spent.
If you've ever heard Joe's explanation of what makes GOFAR different, he lived up to every word: he got to know who I was, he got to know the overall condition of the Trailblazer and then he put himself in my position and asked himself if he was me, what would he do? Joe completed the work and then even drove it 60 miles (at no charge) to complete the computer's drive cycles so he could take it for state inspection (also at no charge). A week later, Terri called to follow up with me and make sure all the work was satisfactory. When I told her there was some sort of noise I could not identify, Joe was at my door the next morning to get it solved, which he did immediately. The nut on one of the new parts had vibrated loose and just required re-tightening and he had it back to me in a matter of a couple of hours.
In my consulting business, DBeard Consulting, LLC, I stress to my clients the importance of selecting the RIGHT person when you are hiring someone for your organization. That's what we do, help our clients get the RIGHT PERSON on the RIGHT BUS, in the RIGHT SEAT. While we use state of the art technology to assess employees, I did not need an assessment to tell me Joe's character. He did what he said he would do and considered my needs above his own. He made me comfortable doing what I hate to do...spend money on car repairs.
So I ask you: Is this how your automotive repair experience would have gone?
