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Maintenance & Repair Dealer vs. independent shop?
294 messages, Last post on Feb 12, 2008 at 5:09 PM
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that the best independant shops are in mid sized towns/cities. In my experience, small town shops seem to charge more because they know they have the monopoly on that particular town. In other words, they know they can charge more, because the locals will pay it instead of driving out of town. In large towns where there are a ton of repair shops, they tend to charge more as well (plus push extra services). I think they do this because they don't care to build loyalty, they just want to get as much as they can at one time, because the customer will probably just go somewhere else next time anyway. I have found mid sized towns to be the best setting. I think this is because the town is still small enough for word of mouth advertising to be effective, but large enough for the shops to have to deal with competition. This is all just my opinion after having lived in small, medium, and big towns/cities. |
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You enter your location and optional preferences (car makes they specialize in, whether speed or cost of repair are more important) and get a list of rated mechanics. Three that I found with this tool (all in greater Minneapolis) have been excellent. Had to change shops as I moved between the city and suburbs a couple of times. http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/find.html Second best to reliable advice and recommendations from people you trust, of course. |
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Couple of miles from downtown, immediately next door to a porn bookstore, at the rear corner of the lot, I found a hidden treasure. Two decidely unimpressive, rather small buildings operated by latins. One is a body shop sometimes also having a mechanic. Other body shops wanted $1800 to fix my little car, they did it for $850. Their since-departed mechanic changed the serpentine belt and master cylinder plus had a guy come out and service (but not replace) front brake rotors for $200. Several wrecked cars litter their lot. Later, I was rearended and the $2000 bodywork repair estmated at a very nice, very clean body shop was done for $400 at this latin-operated place. They painted the front bumper of my car (not damaged in accident) for an extra $150. Twenty feet away is a separate shop operated by different latins who don't do body work. They installed Brembo front brake rotors I bought at autobarn dot com plus brake pads they had a local parts store bring out. Total charge for pads and labor to install pads and Brembo rotors: $70. This same shop that did not do body work installed my pre-purchased plugs, plug wires and air filter for....$30 (6 cyl engine). They also GLADLY gave me the old parts in a bag when I asked they do it before they did the job. If you drive an American car, be good to yourself and your family and get some Brembo front brake rotors installed NOW. Improves braking performance by an amazing amount. $170 with free shipping (autobarn). Wise to also hunt on internet for 8 millimeter spark plug wires (usually available in many colors). Look in white pages of phone book under "latin" or "latino" as the first word for an indy auto gargage. All these repairs were done in 2005.
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Replying to: observer22 (Dec 27, 2005 12:39 pm) I since moved - not so far away that it is impossible to use his place, but it is a real pain in the neck to get there (I'm in Carrollwood now, if anyone's familiar with Tampa, FL) . Fortunately, when my car needed tires, I got a good feeling from one of the places I stopped - and I also happened to coincidentally speak with the manager. Their prices were reasonable, they were professional and did a good job. I made sure to always speak to that manager throughout. THis is a chain, by-the-way, called Allied Tires & Service. Afterwards, I started taking my car there for my oil changes instead of the dealership, and again, I only dealt with the manager. I think we have a good relationship, but until recently, I couldn't be certain they wouldn't try to cheat me. When I last dropped my car off for an oil change, I asked them to change the air filter. Not chek the filter - but change it. It wasn't until I was waiting to actually pick up my car that I realized I'd said the wrong thing - I wanted them to change the cabin filter! I would have totally understood if they changed out the air filter - after all, I told them to, but when I didn't see a charge, I asked and they told me that when they checked, the air filter still had a lot of miles left on it. That convinced me that I'd found an honest shop. |
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The discussion on "Finding A Good Independent Repair Shop In A New Town" is dead under this topic. In fact, it seems the entire topic is dormant. Why not try making "Finding A Good Independent Repair Shop In A New Town" a new topic and see what happens?
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Jan 03, 2006 2:36 am) |
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I have a Pontiac and my dad is always telling me to go to the dealer for service. I'm not so sure about the whole Goodwrench thing. I thought Mr. Goodwrench was an old bald guy. What do you all think?
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Replying to: emartin1 (Mar 03, 2006 9:05 am) http://mysite.verizon.net/vzenvv0t/myexperiencewithtricountytoyota/ |
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I'm gonna say, flat out, that I'm not much impressed by my local Lexus dealers' service bays. Always maddeningly polite, in the vein of Compaq's Bombay Service Center, and always ready with a loaner on tap, they are however no better at diagnosis or communication than any independent I've used. I'm still under warranty, so major repair cost isn't an issue per se, but minor costs can be documented as higher in all cases. In another thread, I explained that I had them do an alignment when the car was in for its 15K, the day after I had new rubber installed at Wheelworks. They charged $150 for the alignment, but hey, it was a convenience thing, and besides, they do Lexus all day long and should have a better handle on it than the tire shop, right? Turns out they sub the alignments and wheel repairs to a local shop. Who, you might well ask? Why, Wheelworks! Wheelworks charges $60 for the same alignment. So I could've left the car with the tire shop for another hour and saved the $90, which I did on subsequent rubber changes. Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, I run for the GOP nomination... Anywho, the years have left me rather inclined to use an independent for out-of-warranty. One caveat: the indy should specialize in your brand or a group of brands that includes yours, I think. Between new and out-of-warranty is a span of 3-5 years. My thought is that a good independent who specializes in a brand or group of brands will invest in upgrades or tech to be able to keep up to date on his or her bread and butter, so assuming a price advantage for the indy there's no compelling reason for dealership patronage. I'm inclined to think a decent Toyota specialist in the area can take care of my car every bit as well as the Lex dealer; I'll only miss out on a loaner. BHD. That's my inclination anyway. Dissent? |
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| But why are you getting an alignment everytime you get new tires? | |
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