Queen Handy with a Spanner, Automotive Technician Accreditation Survey Concludes

“If your car breaks down and an official motorcade drives by, who would you hope had come to your rescue?” That was the somewhat implausible question posed by The Institute of the Motor Industry in a recent survey of 2000 consumers concerning the Automotive Technician Accreditation scheme; but not to be outdone, the Great British Public got behind its monarch, delivering an equally implausible scenario in which the Queen took a look under their hoods. Perhaps drawing on her experience as a fully-qualified World War Two mechanic, HRH Elizabeth II (16 per cent) was considered most likely to undertake basic car repairs, followed by Conservative Party leader David “Dave” Cameron (13 per cent). Predictably, Gordon Brown gained 9 per cent of the vote (a sorry prediction for 2010’s General Election, if fought on the rather unlikely issue of car reparation) while eminently disposable pop culture guru Simon Cowell got 11 per cent.

“We had to laugh,” admitted Nigel Beaven, the spokesperson for the ATA scheme. “People may know that during the Second World War, the Queen trained to become a fully qualified mechanic. However, with today’s modern, high-tech cars, finding an automotive technician you know you can rely on can be a real challenge.”

The poll also revealed that most people have no idea how to check whether their mechanic was up to the job, with eight out of ten people admitting they think it is difficult to tell a good mechanic from a bad one. Tellingly, 82 per cent of those polled thought that an industry wide standard for mechanics would improve the reputation of the motor repair industry.

“It was interesting to learn that nearly half of the people polled didn’t know how to find out, from an objective source, whether a mechanic was competent,” said Beaven.

The poll also had some interesting insights on what the public considered important when choosing where to have their car serviced or repaired. Not surprisingly, over 80 per cent of people polled thought price was an important consideration. However, about the same number also thought it was important to select a company that employed professionally accredited individuals. Meanwhile far fewer people – less than half – thought it was important to have somewhere comfortable to wait while their car was being worked on.

“The poll shows that there is a consumer demand for the clear identification of competent technicians,” explained Beaven. “With nearly 19,000 technicians holding accredited status, if you employ an ATA technician then its worth shouting about.  Customers can then relax, safe in the knowledge that they are in good hands.”