Here in NEW YORK, it is often recommended to take your car that is outside of its warranty to a local repair shop. But these days it doesn’t seem like there are any big differences between taking your car to a local independent shop and a dealership.
Around where I reside, we have a ton of independent repair shop about a few miles from each other, and I call them all to get quotes to compare with Toyota and Lexus prices.
For example: every local repair shop said it would take 2 hours to replace the gauge cluster at $160 an hour. Thats $320 compared to Toyota and Lexus $340 without tax.
$20 difference.
Few local repair shops charge $165 an hour.
The reason I’m posting this today is because I’m often suggested to stop going to the dealer once I’m out of warranty.
Paying $20 more at the dealer and free coffee, chocolate, big screen TVs and comfortable sofas to chill while your car is getting serviced doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
What’s your opinion on taking your car to the dealer vs to the local independent shops? Did you save a significant amount money going local ?
This is a non discussion item . Not every place in the US has the same cost differences . Plus some things are just solved better at either type of shop, dealer or independent.
If your Lexus dealer is like mine, you can get a free loaner car–even if you’re just going in for an oil change. That makes it possible to run errands instead of just cooling my heels in their waiting room. And, when I pick my car up, it has just been freshly washed.
My local mechanics are good, and they charge a tiny bit less than the dealer, but they don’t have loaners, so the choice is obvious… at least for me.
With as a rule of thumb, there is aways exceptions to every rule…
It might be half the price at an Indy shop in area X, doesn’t mean it will be in area Y…
And I have seen dealer parts be very cheap compared to the aftermarket, but some parts at the dealer are just crazy expensive vs aftermarket, so it is best to shop around…
It does seem like this is the case — to shop around.
Every time I take my car in for service, though, people ask me why I’m wasting my money going to a dealer. So I figured I must be doing something wrong.
Calling around hasn’t proven much of a difference so far for me, and I’m here scratching my head trying to understand the difference.
When i managed the financial aspects of the 33 shops that me employer owned and operated before my retirement in 2015 i would periodically survey most if the local car dealers to find out their labor rates. I would then set our labor rates at a dollar or two less to ensure that we were competitive.
If your dealership does good professional quality work, treats your fairly, and always tells the truth, and as long as they are price competitive with the inde’s, I don’t see any reason to seek out an inde shop. However sometimes a car owner may find the dealership does a good job, but find they have better personal rapport with an inde shop manager. For example the inde shop manager, b/c they tend to have fewer customers, may remember all of the work they have done on your car to date, and what remains to do, which part you are waiting on, etc. And every time you go to the inde shop, you are dealing with the same people. So you don’t have to keep repeating the same info you’ve already provided. It’s a compromise.
The dealer I use is a tad more than my local guy I used for years. The reason I use the dealer here is one example. Local shop pricing a new battery, we can do it but it will have to go to the dealer for programming so auto start works. Ok I just go to dealer. Window switch failed, took to dealer, replaced switch then had to program it. GMC. Parts place does batteries, took my daughters saturn for a new battery, made sure they used a memory saver. Guy told me yes ever since we had to pay 2100 for a toyota fix. Needed a new battery for my toy, asked if they used a memory saver, no they said, got the battery from toy, figuring if they screw it up they can fix it. GM dealer for oil change and alignment next week, I trust them, so not worth shopping around to save a few bucks.
The shop we use has labor rates similar to the dealer they do outstanding work and stand behind it. If they don’t fix the problem they will try again with free labor and throw in an oil change.
Until early 2022 I was managing a large independent shop and before that I ran my own business for several years. The rates I set were sometimes higher than the dealer, both for parts and labor.
When someone asks a shop how much something costs, it’s really because they don’t know the right questions to ask. It should be "how well…, how quickly…, are you equipped to…, do you offer…
If I offered service above and beyond what the dealer did, if I treated you personally and well, if I stood behind my work, if I picked up and dropped off your car, if I took the time to explain what your car needed and why, and if I listened when you spoke, I could charge as much as I wanted and the business still grew.
I had many conversations like “Bob, this is covered by your 100K powertrain warranty, go see the dealer.” “No, I can’t stand those people, I’ll pay you to fix it.”
I could buy a part from the dealer, charge more than dealer list, and still have a happy customer because buying it from me made it better.
There is price and there is cost. Each individual customer has to decide what the best “cost” is for themselves.
To stay on topic, I actually haven’t noticed a dimes worth of difference in dealer rates versus private shop rates. My Acura has always just gone to the dealer but my Pontiac has seldom gone to the dealer. Of course I have switched dealers over the years. I like one that gets me in in a coulple days instead of a couple weeks. But they are all having problems now with costs and trying to stay staffed up.
Good post. I can see why you were successful. If I had found a shop like yours I would never have become an ardent car-repair diy’er. I’d have been very happy to let an experienced car mechanic do all of the work (except perhaps oil changes.) But I was never ab le to find a shop who took a proactive-view of car repair, with the goal to minimize the long-term cost of car ownership.
