Originally Posted by
1989Pre
You apparently know what to watch for. Not everyone is as savvy. Those are the people who need protection by society setting a high standard. The mechanics at the better shops you listed should have no problem passing a rigorous, standard test.
The four local shops around me (within 15 miles) run the gamut from great to lousy, as well.
Yelp.com
It will likely tell you first hand from other customers if the shop is good. The resources to vet a shop already exists. If a shopper doesn't use them, that's his problem.
If you put in some kind of regulation it will drive prices up and likely not do anything of any real value. You have to be licensed to be a car mechanic and pass standards and there are still a ton of garbage mechanics out there that don't know a break rotor from an oil pan. Same goes for cosmetology. You have to have a license to cut hair and pass government standards. Yet lots of people get lousy haircuts every day.
Government regulation of an industry rarely raises the actual product standards of that industry. It just adds an extra layer of cost that's passed along to the consumer. More regulation is almost never the answer to improving anything.