If it's Friday or close to Friday, am I allowed to leave my car at a Jewish secular mechanic to do a job at a set rate with the possibility that he'll work on it on Shabbat?
Would it help if I asked him to refrain working on it on Shabbat?
The question May a halachically 'Jewish' Atheist work as a 'Shabbat goy'? is related but different from what I am asking. The first difference is that you are specifically hiring the athiest to work for you on shabbat - here it's simply a possiblity that the mechanic will do the job on Shabbat but not a necessity. Second difference the mechanic is not necessarily an athiest but simply non-religious (tinok shenishba or what have you...).
