Where can I find a good Mitsubishi Montero Mechanic?
That's a very common question among Mitsubishi owners. As some of you may or may not know, dealerships are not necessarily the best place to have work done on your Montero's/Raiders. In most cases they rarely see a Montero come in. One thing to keep in mind is that since they receive Mitsubishi Training and are Mitsubishi certified, they typically charge more than a local shop. Do they know more??? Not necessarily. Are they the only ones with the right tools to get the job done... not by a long shot. Additionally, because of competition in the Car sales market, service and repair work is where most dealers get the majority of their profits from.
This means one thing... You will be charged a lot by most any dealership to do any work on your Mitsubishi, and they may not be any more competent than a non-dealership facility. I.E. You may be paying too much for the same service you could receive elsewhere.
Finding a quality mechanic is a better strategy.
Are you saying one should avoid dealers when looking for a mechanic?
Absolutely not. What I am saying, is that you shouldn't consider yourself tied to only getting service at a Mitsubishi dealership.
In all fairness, I should mention that there are surely a lot of great dealership shops out there, and I welcome feedback from you if you know of one. If so, please email us and we'll add it to our list of good dealers.
What do I need to know to find a good mechanic?
Not too much. There are 3 key things...
1) Can they Diagnose your problem and do the work you need done?
2) Are they honest?
3) Are they reasonably priced
Find A Dealer with a good reputation through friends, aquintances, or through clubs.
First understand that Mitsubishi has had a long standing relationship with Chrysler and like most automobiles today, the Montero shares many of it's components with other vehicles, in this case Chrysler vehicles.
For example, the 3.0L v6 is used in the numerous Mitsubishi's (Montero, GT3000, etc) as well as many vehicles made by Chrysler (minivans, etc) as well as other vehicles manufactured by Mitsubishi, but rebadged as Chrysler vehicles.
This means that finding a competent mechanic may be as easy as finding someone who is good at repairing the engines on a Chrysler minivan. Now this information doesn't guarantee that they'll be better, but this does give you more options.
Of course, you can always email or call me and I'll see what I can do to help you find a decent mechanic locally by speaking with other club members in your area.
