Milt was the auto repair guy we could always TRUST. We loved Milt. We even brought some coffee from Hawaii to give him when we returned to Illinois. Tif and Ed needed the oil in their car changed so we brought it over to Milt along with our coffee. What a shock! Milt was gone! Where is he? We were heart broken.
We met Milt when something went wrong with our Camry four or five years ago. We took our car to four places to get an estimate. They all said the repair would cost between $400 to $600.
When we brought the Camry to Milt, he checked it over and said the car should fall just within the limits of the warranty. "Take it to the dealer and get them to repair it," he told us. "If they give you any trouble, have them call me." We did.
At first the dealership didn't think the warranty would cover the problem. They counted out the months and we fell just within a month of the warranty expiring. Amazing! Milt saved us a lot of money.
From that point on we always brought our car into Milt to have it serviced. We recommended him to others. Tif brought their cars into Milt also. Milt would list what things really needed to be fixed and what could wait. We trusted Milt.
When we went to Merlin's they said Milt was no longer the owner. "He's probably retired," they added. The franchise was now corporately owned and they didn't know where Milt was. I tried to find him on the Internet but couldn't locate him. I can't believe he retired because he was too young.
So where the heck is Milt?
Speaking of which, does anybody know a really good mechanic on Oahu who's amazing, honest and not too expensive?
When we brought the Camry to Milt, he checked it over and said the car should fall just within the limits of the warranty. "Take it to the dealer and get them to repair it," he told us. "If they give you any trouble, have them call me." We did.
At first the dealership didn't think the warranty would cover the problem. They counted out the months and we fell just within a month of the warranty expiring. Amazing! Milt saved us a lot of money.
From that point on we always brought our car into Milt to have it serviced. We recommended him to others. Tif brought their cars into Milt also. Milt would list what things really needed to be fixed and what could wait. We trusted Milt.
When we went to Merlin's they said Milt was no longer the owner. "He's probably retired," they added. The franchise was now corporately owned and they didn't know where Milt was. I tried to find him on the Internet but couldn't locate him. I can't believe he retired because he was too young.
So where the heck is Milt?
Speaking of which, does anybody know a really good mechanic on Oahu who's amazing, honest and not too expensive?
I bet this kind of thing is happening everywhere. Corporations are buying out the little businesses and the family enterprise is truly endangered. How sad. I do hope you locate him eventually.
ReplyDeleteGood luck finding another guy like Milt! Sounds like a tall order.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find someone else you trust....Milt sounds like he was one of a kind.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any mechanics worth recommending on Oahu island since I only ride motorbikes. I actually fix my two motorbikes myself due to past dealership issues. I do know that for most part "technicians" as they're known have a base salary and receive a commission for the cars they work on. Say, the customer pays $85/hr. for labor and if a repair job take two hours that'll total $170 of which the technician receives the rated commission.
ReplyDeleteNow, a genuinely honest technician will take 2-hours on a 2-hour job or 2½-hours if it requires the extra time. The problem with this is that if the next technician does a 2-hour job in 1-hour, skipping steps or not doing a full repair, the less scrupulous technician can then pull another work ticket and receive commission all the while the honest technician is tiding up things on his repair job. After a while, seeing that the dishonest technician gets away with shoddy work (customers don't complain or the dealership covers for the shoddy work), the honest technician might be inclined to follow suit.
You really should take your Prius to the dealer (Servco). That's what David does with his Camry, especially since the parts are all computerized and the car needs a special kind of oil.
ReplyDeleteWe have a great mechanic here in Arlington. I know how you feel about having someone you can trust to fix your car. Dianne
ReplyDeleteGigi: We do take the Prius into to Servco. However we also have a Honda van and was less than pleased with the Honda dealership here in Hawaii. They tried to convince us that we needed new tires. When we brought the van over to Costco across the street for a second opinion, they said we didn't need new tires yet. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteperhaps he on facebook. It's a pain not to be able to find a good service whether it for your car or hair when things change...
ReplyDeleteWhere have all those guys like Milt gone? It is so hard to find a good repairman anymore. Sometimes, these guys are great at repairing cars, but not as good on the business end. That leads to any early closing of the doors. I hope he is well and working someplace, and I hope you find out where that is.
ReplyDeleteGood mechanics are hard to find. We had one and he retired – another one went out of business. We go to the dealership, but it is expensive and we don’t trust them completely. I hope you find one in your area.
ReplyDeleteWe have tried Hana Ho auto repair http://hanahoautorepairhonolulu.com and have been satisfied with the price and quality of service so far. Husband found them in the yellow pages while looking for a repair shop to change timing belt and valve cover gasket (older Nissan Quest) and they were MUCH cheaper than the rest. They took care of a bunch of smaller repairs at the same time without charging more (including topping off the A/C, that and a bunch of other items). This was in February 2010 and so far the van runs well. Husband has a knack of feeling a person out on the phone (I certainly don't have the same people smarts). But we haven't used them much since....knock on wood
ReplyDeleteL.
L: Thank you so much for that tip! I really appreciate it. An honest, good mechanic is not easy to find.
ReplyDeleteThis happened to us too. Our service provider was a company shop, but when Chrysler closed dealerships, ours was gone. the head of the service department was a former student of mine, and he took very good care of us. When we went back, nobody knew where he was. Sad.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I agree. An honest mechanic is not easy to find.
ReplyDelete