We’re a little over a week into May, and temperatures in the Greater Houston area are swiftly climbing. Forecasters anticipate highs of over 90 degrees all weekend, a month and a half before summer officially begins! These next few months are going to be hot.
As kids, teens and college students wrap up their semesters, many families plan countryside road trips, beach adventures and camping expeditions. Others pick up extra shifts at work, where they’ll blast their car AC during their commutes. One commonality most people will share this summer is relying on their vehicles more than ever.
Yet hot, Texan summers are notorious for taking a toll on your vehicle. As things heat up, your car will frequently operate outside its normal temperature range, which can lead to a host of issues if your car isn’t properly prepared.
The most common vehicle issues caused by excessive heat include shortened battery life, tire pressure fluctuations, engine failure (due to heated engine oil), stress on the cooling system and worsened fuel economy. To prevent any on-road and off-road catastrophes this summer, it’s essential to practice due diligence with your car maintenance.
But vehicle maintenance can be an overwhelmingly expensive and unnecessarily confusing process. Car mechanics are notorious for lying to their customers in order to gain extra work for services their cars may not need, and for price gouging services and part replacements. As well-versed people in a niche-knowledge field, vehicle mechanics keenly perceive when people don’t know much about cars. Unfortunately, this can result in customers spending lots of money they don’t need to, and don’t have.
Human greed is quite the phenomenon; it is why it’s essential to have a trustworthy, transparent and fairly priced car mechanic. And I could not recommend my personal mechanic, Rey Lozano with Auto Helpers, enough.
Rey Lozano has serviced my car, as well as all of my family’s vehicles, for years. Rey is an excellent and highly experienced mechanic, but most importantly, he’s a man of genuinely upstanding character.
As a woman, I’ve visited many auto shops, and my experiences have been ridiculous. Women are stereotypically less knowledgeable about cars, and while I know many exceptions to this rule, I am not one of them. I’ve left shops excited about the great deal an overly eager mechanic cut me, only to call my dad later on and find out that I’ve been extorted. Moreover, I don’t know the indication of any sounds my car makes. If no lights come on, I hop on I-10 under the assumption that I’m good to go.
Since I started using Rey Lozano with Auto Helpers’ services, I am proud to announce that I’m no longer a pending road hazard. Rey is incredibly sincere and has done fantastic work on my car. He never tries to pressure me into a shady, last-second additional service that my car doesn’t actually need.
Actually, there have been times where Rey has told me that certain services can wait, and to prioritize holding onto my money rather than getting more car work done. His estimated quotes closely (or completely) match his actual costs, and he doesn’t misrepresent part expenses or unfairly price for labor.
Recently, Rey told me that the reason he’s so reasonable with his prices is because he isn’t so greed-driven that he needs to charge hundreds of dollars for labor for thirty minutes of servicing a client. This should be a rudimentary concept, but in his industry, it’s not. Far too many mechanics and auto shops value making a quick buck over building long-lasting relationships with clients. But eventually, people will catch on and resent you. Selfishness is a collapsing business model.
Auto Helpers is located in West Houston at 1320 Upland Drive, Houston, TX 77043. Rey Lozano can be contacted at (281) 678-7494, or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/Autohelpers.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored article. Rey Lozano with Auto Helpers has offered no financial incentive in exchange for this story. He’s just an excellent mechanic, and he deserves recognition.
