Some people say that a great mechanic is born, not made. Sure, you can go to school to learn the mechanical aspects of your job, but if that’s all you’ve got then you’ll be perfectly competent, but you won’t be out and out great. Here are the characteristics a mechanic has to possess in order to take it to the next level.
Patience
The reality is that most people who drive cars only have a limited understanding of what makes them go. Most people understand that you’ve got to put gas in regularly and change the oil, but beyond that, their understanding is, turnkey, press gas. Because of that, when something breaks down on the car, they’re at a loss and are suddenly well outside their comfort zone. A great mechanic has the patience to listen to the tales of woe that accompany the car into the shop and sift through that story for information that might help diagnose the problem.
Good Detective Skills
Building on the above, it takes real investigative skill to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some elements of the customer’s story will be interesting but irrelevant to actually solve the problem they’re having with their vehicle, while other elements might provide critical clues that can shave tons of time off the diagnostic step. This is not something that just anyone can do. It takes a special kind of person with just the right kind of eye and ear for detail to pick out the golden nuggets of information from what the customer is describing.
Persistence
Sometimes, problems are more involved than they first appear. Worse, some problems may actually be symptoms that point to an even larger problem. The only way around that is straight through it. That takes dedication and persistence. A good mechanic never gives up and doesn’t approach a repair job thinking that the first thing he tries is going to magically make the car better. It’s great when that happens, but sometimes things are a bit more complicated than that. A great mechanic is undaunted and will slog through the process until the problem is identified and corrected.
Come and meet our team of great mechanics, they just love to figure out transmission problems!
We are proud to announce that Pro-Tech Transmissions is featured in the May issue of Transmission Digest Magazine.
