One of the most expensive assets that a person will ever own is a car. While the costs of making a auto loan or lease payment, filling up the gas tank, and insuring the car are already quite high, the cost of maintaining a car and having it repaired by an auto mechanic are also very high. While having a car repaired by an auto mechanic can be expensive, there are several ways that you could save money.

Shopping around and negotiating is the first way to save money with an auto mechanic. When most people take a car into an auto mechanic's shop for repair, they will be clueless about what the actual cost of the repair will be. Because of this, mechanics have the ability to overcharge for both parts and labor. By taking the car into multiple mechanics to receive a different diagnosis, and a different quote, you will have the ability to use competing quotes to negotiate down the price of the repair.

Shopping for parts online could be the second way to save money when having your car repaired by an auto mechanic. Next to the labor charge associated with the car, the largest money maker for a repair facility is making money on the parts of the car. Unless you are taking the car to your dealer, the repair facility will likely have to order parts to complete the repair. To ensure that the mechanic does not over bill you for the parts, you could go online and check various auto supply websites to get an idea of how much the parts cost. If the mechanic still will not cut on his price, you could offer to order the parts yourself and have them shipped to the repair shop.

Asking for a warranty is the third effective way to save money when having your car repaired by an auto mechanic. When you have your car repaired, there is always the chance that the repair will fail and you will end up having to pay for it twice. Prior to having the repair completed you should ask for a warranty from the mechanic which will require them to re-repair the issue if the initial repair fails. This will not only save you money if the first repair fails, but will motivate the repairman to have the repair completed properly the first time.