Do you want cough syrup or antibiotics?

Often, I am asked about the difference between one shop or another. I like to think about it in terms of the medical industry, because people often have felt the true pain of non professional doctors VS. true professionals. What do I mean? Well, let’s think about a scenario where you develop a cough so you go to see a doctor. One doctor comes in and listens to your cough and prescribes a cough medicine. They tell you to call in seven days if you don’t feel better. Seven days later you don’t feel better in-fact you feel much worse. Now you have pneumonia and need an aggressive treatment to make you feel better. Meanwhile, you have felt bad for more than a week, and now the treatment is just beginning.

Scenario two looks like this…The professional doctor comes in and begins to ask questions that may sound something like this:

How long have you felt bad?

Have you had a fever?

Have you been coughing anything up? If so, what color?

Does it hurt to breathe deep?

Are there any other symptoms?

The next thing a professional doctor might do is to listen to your breathing and run some tests. He may find out that you have bronchitis. Then he or she might say something like this…it sounds like you have a touch of bronchitis. What we need to do is prescribe some cough syrup to help relieve the coughing, but we need to treat the cause which is an inflammation or infection. We need to do that with some antibiotics. The good news with antibiotics is they kill all the bad stuff. The bad news is it also kills the good bacteria, too. When you complete the antibiotics you will need to take a pro-biotic to replenish the good bacteria so your body can fight off infection on it's own in the future. One last thing…would you like to know how you can avoid getting sick in the future? It’s really pretty simple for most people. We need to examine your nutritional and fitness habits. Would you like some advice on how to prevent disease so that all we need to do in the future is regular checkups? I can show you how to live the healthy, active lifestyle you want.

Wow, that would be different wouldn’t it! Good news; there are doctors like this. Mine is like this, and I hardly ever get sick. The same can be applied to almost any industry, including the Auto Repair industry. Here is a scenario we come across often:

Your engine is overheating with a coolant leak. It’s determined to have a water pump that is leaking. Shop “A” replaces the water pump (the cough syrup) and tops off the coolant and sends the vehicle down the road. Two weeks later, while on vacation, the thermostat fails causing excessive pressure in the system damaging the radiator. Now, you are in an unfamiliar town depending on someone you don’t know or trust. Are they going to do the job correctly? How long is it going to take away from your vacation? Is there any warranty on repairs when you get back home? Let’s hope it’s a positive experience despite the inconvenience.

Scenario two…Your car is overheating and has a coolant leak. The technician performs a pressure test and finds the water pump leaking. A test on the coolant is performed and it’s found the PH of the coolant is acidic (Normal Degradation). The service advisor asks about the history of the cooling system maintenance and you inform them that the coolant has not been serviced in the last 30,000 miles. The service advisor then tells you the following: The most likely cause of the water pump failure is the coolant becoming acidic. This is a normal thing that happens to coolant, and it’s recommended that it be serviced every 30,000 miles to prevent costly cooling system repairs. We need to replace the failed water pump (Cough Syrup) and service the cooling system (Antibiotics). Another recommendation is replacement of the thermostat. When a cooling system develops a leak, the void of coolant is taken up by steam, which damages the delicate thermostat. Thermostats are inexpensive compared to a future breakdown and should be replaced at this time. If we service the system we can avoid future cooling system failures. In addition, we have performed a maintenance inspection and the technician has made some notes on how to prevent other costly repairs. Would you like to know how to prevent other costly repairs (fitness and nutrition plan).

Now that the vehicle has been repaired and serviced correctly, the risk of costly breakdown has been radically reduced. Most problems with cars stem from a lack of proper maintenance. Unfortunately, it costs a little bit more to service a system rather than just prescribing the cough syrup. However, the savings in the end are generally so much greater than the initial cost. When searching out someone to repair your vehicle, the true professionals will always talk about the maintenance to go along with the repair. They are easy to spot.

I hope this helps you to understand the difference between the professional and the non professional, as well as the benefits and costs associated with each. Our team at Any BODY’S garage only want what’s best for you to keep your vehicle safe and reliable for years to come.