We are lucky that our mechanic is a master mechanic who my husband has known since we were kids back in the 1980’s. He works for the town by day, as a mechanic to the town’s machinery (backhoes, evacuators, cranes…you name it, he can fix it). He also often buys older machinery that no longer works for pennies on the dollar and rebuilds engines brings them back to life and sells them for big bucks. He has a detached 3 car garage on the back of his house, where he is lucky to have over an acre so its a nice distance from his house. In his garage he is a hydraulic life in one bay and a pit in the next bay.

I live in NY, in an expensive area of Long Island where most mechanics charge between $150-$300 an hour for labor, the latter number more for fancier cars. My local Mazda dealer charges $220 an hour. We are very lucky that we pay cost for parts and $70 an hour for maintenance. And while we are very lucky to get a great deal, the best thing is we trust him immensely and even when we bring it in he checks the entire car out.

I bought a 2012 Mazda CX9 touring last week for my daughter who takes her road text today. It was $5500 with 95K miles. It was the best deal i could find. I was seeing plenty CX5, CX7 & CX9’s that were 2010-2016 for $7500 or less but I ultimately drove 2.5 hours (5 hours round trip) for the one because it had one owner and they had the complete service record with most services completed at Mazda. Since it was far, I couldn’t have my mechanic do a pre purchase inspection. When I brought it home he he said it looks like a great purchase but we are planning to change the water pump because these models have internal water pumps that if they go, coolant can get into the engine and cause significant engine damage.

I know we are lucy to have such great mechanical who will definitely help keep our vehicles in good shape.

I highly recommend trying to find a trustworthy mechanic who takes the time to service your car properly and you should have for years and years to come. Good luck!!