Winter’s approaching and my thoughts turn to my car and preparing it and getting it serviced for the imminent cold weather. However, living in the countryside has many benefits, but a vast array of good car mechanics is not one of them.
Sometimes the ineptitude has been truly unforgivable. One mechanic fixed the wrong side of the suspension (and then denied he’d done so and only relented once presented with real, unanswerable, photographic evidence of his cock-up).
Another was supposed to fit brake pads but only fitted one, a mistake that left us with 12,000 kronor-worth of damage to my brake system (and rendered the car hugely dangerous in the process). And yet another neglected to tighten the bolts on one of my front wheels, which led to the wheel flying off the car while I was driving at 80km/h.
This low level of competence means that those mechanics who are halfway capable can usually pick and choose their customers. Some are even known to ’sack’ customers who, they feel, want too much work done or who turn up late for an appointment. Yes, this happened to me.
One particular chap, who was otherwise excellent, carried out a considerable amount of work but didn’t charge us. This was his way of ’letting me go’ in punishment for me being late twice. A sort of severance (non-) payment.
Another reluctantly took on our car for a service, and then didn’t charge us (or return our calls). We later found out he hadn’t done any of the work either.
The worst offender, though, lied about the condition of our car and essentially scammed us out of about 50,000 kronor. I’m tempted to name him here, but I won’t just yet.
It’s really weird because in London, where I’m from, there are loads of decent mechanics bidding for your business.
But, apparently, many mechanics up here just don’t want to fix cars. Not many competent mechanics anyway.
According to a friend, good Norrland mechanics only want to fix heavy plant machinery. Cars are for kids, he reckons.
As a result, says my mate, the franchised car dealerships, such as Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, stalk the corridors of engineering schools, signing up promising teenage talent long before they graduate.
A very good car mechanic can therefore command a princely salary at a franchised dealership in town, which leaves the rural parts largely at the mercy of the bungling and the rude.
Me? More than 10 years on, I’ve finally found a very good mechanic. But I’m not telling you who it is. He’s mine, all mine!
This is a column and the views are the author's own.
This column was originally published at norran.se/english, the English part of norran.se