-
Step 1
Prepare the questions beforehand. Come up with five or six check up questions regarding the reference's experience with the mechanic and write them down on a sheet of paper. Good questions to ask include how long the reference has known the mechanic, how often he has brought their cars to the mechanic for work, the quality of the repairs, the expense of the repairs and how communicative the mechanic was with the reference.
-
Step 2
Contact the references. Introduce yourself and inform them that you are calling because the mechanic listed them as a reference. Get their permission to ask some check up questions about their experience with the mechanic.
-
Step 3
Take notes while checking the reference. Write down the important points of the reference's answer, noting if the mechanic is extremely good or extremely bad in a particular area of auto repair. Be sure to write down any advice the reference has about doing business with the mechanic.
-
Step 4
Ask the references if they know the mechanic on a personal basis. This is worth double-checking, since the mechanic's references may not be willing to say something bad about a friend of theirs, or someone they will be seeing on a regular basis. However, even if the reference knows the mechanic on a personal basis, she can still give you an idea about the mechanic's personality and how open he is with his customers.
-
Step 5
Perform a search on the Internet for the mechanic's references. Use people-finding sites such as Anywho to make sure that individual references' address and contact information is correct (see Resources below).
