One of the hardest things when you know absolutely nothing about “What Makes a Car Go,” is how to clearly communicate with your auto repair mechanic in Burke, VA. While most of us know a few things about our vehicles like it takes gas to run, a flat tire doesn’t go round, a dead battery won’t allow you to start your car, and when you see dirt, it needs washing.
When your car breaks down or weird things start to happen or you hear noises you’ve never heard before, knowing how to communicate the symptoms of your vehicle by talking with your auto repair mechanic in Burke, VA goes a long way toward getting your vehicle fixed right the first time and saves you money by avoiding needless repairs. Even though you might not know exactly what the problem is, describing the symptoms accurately will help your auto repair mechanic get a better understanding of what is wrong and how to fix it.
Make sure your auto repair mechanic in Burke, VA understands what exactly is happening to your car when you take it in for repairs by taking these factors into consideration.
- Write It Down—Keep a list of issues you are having with your vehicle. Don’t rely on your memory of you may miss an important detail. Include specific sounds and smells in your description.
- Explain Clearly—Try your best to describe the problem to your mechanic in a way he can understand. Maybe this list of common terms for auto symptoms will help you:
- Backfire—loud bang that comes from your vehicle’s tailpipe or engine.
- Hesitation—when your vehicle suffers a loss of power when accelerating.
- Knocking—a rapid rattling or knocking sound heard when accelerating.
- Misfire-when the engine cylinders do not fire like they should, leading to a loss of power.
- Shimmy—when your vehicle experiences a side-to-side motion that you feel through the steering wheels or tires.
- Sluggish—car doesn’t accelerate strongly or smoothly.
- Surge—car surges upward in speed.
Sometimes to communicate your vehicle’s problem you might ask your auto repair mechanic in Burke, VA to test drive your vehicle so you can better explain problems you have observed. Let him be the one to decide who should drive during the test drive. This is what he does for a living as an auto repair mechanic, and by driving it himself, he can get a feel for how it handles the road and he knows what to look for by the way you explained the problems. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
