Communication Breakdown--Communicating With Service Technicians

You've put off taking your car in for service long enough, or you just can't stand listening to that rattle anymore or you come across a problem with your car that you just can't fix yourself. Now comes the daunting task of taking your vehicle into a service facility. But what do you tell the guy behind the counter? How can you be sure that he understands what your needs are? And how can you be sure that the shop won't try to sell you alot of parts and services that you may not need? The first step is clear communication with the service writer.

When you go into the shop keep in mind that the service writer or technician are people just like you. They have families and feelings and homes just like you. They hopefully speak the same language that you do and though they know more technical jargon about the car than you do they cannot read your mind. So speak to them like you would your friends and explain to them in clear, concise words exactly what you want done to your car. For example, don't just say: "It's making a funny noise.", but instead say:"It has a rattle in the front. It sounds like...." This will give them an idea of what they are listening for and where the noise seems to be coming from. Tell the service writer what the symptoms are, when the problem occurs and any other information that may help them to correctly diagnose and repair your car right the first time. You wouldn't go to your doctor and just say "I don't feel right", you would give him specific symptoms to look at. Do the same with you service tech.

It would also be a good idea to tell them of any service that has recently been done on your car. If you or another shop has recently worked on the vehicle there may be something that was done that caused the problem or that the tech can eliminate as being the cause of the problem. Also, if they ask you to imitate a noise don't think that they are just doing this to amuse themseleves. They just want to make sure that they are looking for the noise that you hear. The best way to communicate your needs is to take the service writer or technician for a test drive in your car. Unless thay are extremely busy they should be happy to do this, but let them drive. This allows them to get a feel for the car and what it may be doing that is causing the problem at hand. They may also feel something that you have gotten used to during your day to day driving. I have been on test drives with customers before and found serious problems with the car that they were not even aware of.

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