Anyone else tip their mechanic?

[canetoad]

I should mention that here in Australia we generally don't tip trade & service people as they have a reasonably good minimum wage.

That aside, as I write, Vince, patron saint of aged motor cars is finishing up a days work on my car. He works for a mobile mechanic company, is probably around 50 and you can tell he just loves cars. No one has touched mine but Vince for several years.

Today will probably cost around $1,600. Replace water pump (also timing belt while it's accessible), drive shafts, service & tune. He also did the front brakes as they needed it. He lets me know what needs to be done next time.

I usually slide him $50 and say 'buy a nice bottle of wine'. It's worth every cent.

[taterguy]

1. We put money on our mechanic's bar tab