No arranca.
It won't start.
Desde ayer a la mañana.
Since yesterday morning.
Spanish for real life · explained in English
Explaining a car problem in Spanish at the garage
You rarely know the word for the part, and you do not need it. Describe what happens and when: “No arranca” (it won't start), “Hace un ruido cuando freno” (it makes a noise when I brake). A mechanic works from symptoms, exactly like a doctor.
Spanish phrases with translations
Every one of these is a symptom, not a part. That is the whole trick.
Hace un ruido cuando freno.
It makes a noise when I brake.
Un ruido como metálico.
A sort of metallic noise.
Se prendió una luz en el tablero.
A light came on on the dashboard.
Esta de acá.
This one here.
¿Cuánto me puede salir?
How much might it cost me?
¿Me hace un presupuesto?
Can you give me a quote?
¿Para cuándo lo tiene?
When will it be ready?
¿Lo puedo dejar?
Can I leave it with you?
A dialogue to read aloud
Read one role and then the other. The translations are there to understand it; try it again afterwards without looking.
- Mecánico
Contame, ¿qué le pasa?
Tell me, what's wrong with it?
- Cliente
No arranca. Y hace un ruido cuando freno, como metálico.
It won't start. And it makes a noise when I brake, sort of metallic.
- Mecánico
¿Desde cuándo?
Since when?
- Cliente
Desde ayer a la mañana. ¿Me hace un presupuesto antes?
Since yesterday morning. Could you quote me first?
What to know before you go
- Pointing counts as vocabulary. «Esta de acá» (this one here) with a finger on the dashboard is a complete sentence in a garage.
- «¿Me hace un presupuesto?» asks for a quote before the work starts. Say it early — it is normal, expected, and it prevents the only real argument.
- «Contame» is the Argentine «tell me». You will hear it constantly; it is an invitation to start talking, not a question you have to parse.
Now it's your turn to talk
Without reading, describe two symptoms and when they started, then ask for a quote and when the car will be ready.
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