How he got into it
Carson Banish got his start in a high school auto shop class. His teacher made sure the good students had a real income lined up after graduation, and Carson was one of them. That led to a job at Auburn Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, then Reno Dodge, then Utah Dodge, then back to Auburn Dodge.
He left dealership work around the time his daughter was born in 2024. After that he moved between a few shops, some good jobs among them, before losing one because he couldn't juggle the schedule with his custody time. That's when he decided to set his own hours and start Carsons Wrench Turning.
What he covers and what it costs
Carson works all over Placer County, based out of Auburn and covering Colfax and Alta. The farther he has to drive, the more it costs, since it costs him more too.
He says the most common roadside call is a tire blowout. He doesn't stock tires himself, but he'll install a spare the customer already has. Outside of that he says there isn't one job he gets asked for most, the work is different every time the phone rings.
He has set labor rates and service fees, but by his own admission he doesn't always stick to them. "I'm very nice and a pushover," he says, and he'll sometimes pay out of pocket or take a loss to help a customer who needs it.
On maintenance and what people get wrong
Carson says people assume oil changes and basic maintenance are cheap. For someone who can afford it, maybe. For someone who can barely afford the car in the first place, it isn't cheap at all.
His advice on oil changes is simple. Change it every 3000 miles, give or take, or every three months. If you check the oil and it's no longer the color it was when it went in, change it. He says sticking to that alone can take an engine well past 100,000 miles, sometimes past 300,000.
A repair he's proud of
Carson's first car was a 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX. He pulled the transmission apart himself after it started making metal shavings and noise, sold the car before fixing it, and moved to Utah. He says he doesn't regret the move, but he regrets selling that car every day. His advice to other young mechanics is blunt, if you love your first car, don't sell it, get a storage unit if you have to.
On other people's cars, he says the ones that stick with him are the vehicles other shops wrote off as not worth fixing. He calls the customers behind those cars his golden customers, not because of what they pay, but because they're appreciative and easy to work with. He says that kind of reassurance is what keeps him doing this job.
What's on the van and what he likes working on
Carson carries a welder, programmers, scanners, and tire pressure sensor programmers, and says he's quick at diagnosis. He says he can do almost anything a shop with a lift can do, it just takes him longer without one, which is part of why the bigger jobs cost him time and money.
His favorite vehicles to work on are anything before 1980, old Chevys especially, he mentions a 37 Chevelle as a favorite. He says he takes extra care with those cars because of what they represent in the history of the industry.
How to book a job, and what he'll say about hiring a mechanic
Texting is the best way to reach Carson. He says his phone sometimes looks like it's not going through when he's already on two calls and a third comes in. Whether you call or text, he'll want your first and last name, a callback number, your address, and the address where the vehicle actually is if that's different. For the vehicle he wants year, make and model at minimum, plate and state if you want a quote, and a short description of what's wrong or what maintenance you need.
On hiring a mechanic, Carson is upfront that he doesn't currently hold ASE certification or state registration, though he says both are in the works once he can afford them. His advice either way is to look for a mechanic who gives you more information than you expected, who hands you a receipt and a copy of the repair order, and who has an online presence with real reviews. He suggests giving a new mechanic something small before trusting them with something major, and going from there.
Interviewed by Mechanicrank · September 9, 2026. Nothing here is sponsored and nothing was rewritten into marketing copy. Read the other features or tell us about your own shop.