Auto Repair: Dealership or Independent Shop

If you need an auto repair you can look online and find all types of choices. Some are larger and some are smaller. Some are specific to the type of vehicle while others are open for more general repairs and concerns. Your two main options are dealerships and independent shops.

Dealerships

While a car dealership is not owned by the manufacturer they do have a lot of weight in the decision making process. An individual or company owns the dealership, but in order to keep it he or she must follow a specific set of guidelines. The goal is to have every dealership for a certain manufacturer to be run the same way. A customer should have the same experience in each of the manufacturer's dealerships.

One of the benefits of taking your car to the dealer for an auto repair is the warranty. When you buy a vehicle the manufacturer tells you that it will run well and the parts will last for a certain amount of time. Usually the parameters are a certain length of time or a certain amount of miles. Either way, when something goes wrong, the manufacturer will take care of the cost of the auto repair, provided that you bring it to the dealership's service center.

Personal attention for customers isn't always a priority when it comes to dealerships. While the goal is to keep customers happy, many times people just become a number and an appointment. The location is busy and both cars and vehicles are pushed through the system every day. However, if you aren't happy with your experience, you have someone to call; the manufacturer.

Independent Shops

In most cases an independent shop is smaller than a dealership. It too is owned by an individual or company, but there is no manufacturer running the show. Independent shops are independent of any type of input from the car makers or even the different manufacturers of parts. This gives the shop much more freedom to run things they want to. There is no set process or procedure that each shop has to adhere to. If you go into one independent shop, you aren't necessarily going to have the same experience at another.

These shops focus more on auto repair that has fallen outside of a vehicle's warranty. Some specialize in certain parts of the car like the transmission or computer system while others can handle any problem with any make or model. With just a phone call you can learn more about what type of work a shop will be able to complete.

While many people assume that a car dealership is more expensive, that isn't always true. Prices for labor and parts vary from place to place. If price is what will make the final decision for you, be sure to call around for a quote.