Auto Talk 101: Tips for Not Getting Ripped Off at an Auto Shop - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Auto Talk 101 - Tips for Not Getting Ripped Off at An Auto Shop Four or five things that can help you to protect yourself so that you don’t get ripped off by an autoshop. First, and foremost, is to trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, if you feel like they’re feeding you a line, trust, trust yourself. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You don’t have to know about a car. You don’t have to know technical information to know whether you like the way you’re being treated. Auto shops work for you. You are purchasing a service from us. You have a right to have your questions answered, uh, to have things explained as much as possible in a that way you can understand it even if you don’t know anything about a car. But, more important even is to select a shop that you trust before going in. I encourage everyone to have a relationship with their repair facility. So in otherwords, know where you’re going to go when you have a problem. Um, talk to your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers. Find out where they go. Do some research. Look at reviews on the internet. Look at the CarTalk Website. Look at your Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List. There are a lot of places where you can go and find out whether shops have a good reputation or not. Then, go in, meet them! Go in for something simple like an oil change, or maybe you have a tail light out or uh, need some new wiper blades. Go in for a simple repair. See the place. See what you think. Meet the people. Talk to them. See how they treat you, how they treat your car. You know, if you pick your car up and there’s greasy fingerprints all over it, and, you know, they’ve put 60 miles on your odometer that’s you know, that’s a problem. But once you have established a relationship then you know where you’re going. When your car breaks down it’s stressful. How am I going to get to work? How am I going to get the kids to school? How am I going to do this? How am I going to get to the grocery store? Without being worried about, ‘Where am I going to take it?’ ‘Do they know what they’re doing?’ ‘How much is it going to cost me?’ So you can at least eliminate some of that stress by knowing the answer to that question before it’s urgent. I know where I’m going to take it.