With the cost of car and truck repair work increasing,choosing the right service center is essential more than ever. If you are paying several benjamins to have your car repaired,you had better be sure that every dollar you’ve invested was truly needed to fix your car and wasn’t just an inflated repair shop’s rate or totally unneccessary repair work.
Which repair shop is much better? The car dealership? A large service center? A small independent store? Every one has it’s positives and negatives … Each one is under pressure to generate income in order to endure … The car dealership has the latest diagnostic devices and the factory trained specialists,but the cost of labor,about $100 per hour,is not uncommon (not to point out the cost of parts …).
Large service center – Costs are much better than at the car dealership,but availability of latest diagnostic devices and factory trained specialists remain in concern …
Small service center. These shops merely can’t afford the financial investment needed to buy the costly diagnostic devices or costly training. However there are a few very good ones:
Back to the initial concern – how to choose the right service center? There is no simple answer … First of all,the store and repair work area needs to be tidy and the store’s specialists need to be knowledgeable and ASE certified.
There constantly will be a concern: how sincere are store’s staff members? You constantly need references from other individuals,who have used this store in the past,and you constantly need to check with regional BBB (Better Business Bureau) for complaints against this service center.
If the nature of your car’s issue has been figured out,and car does not need any additional diagnostic,like if you need a brake job,you can go to the little independent store if you know a good and sincere mechanic there. They can do a good job and their prices are very competitive.
Its usually much better to go to the place that has the proper diagnostic devices (not necesserally the car dealer) if your car does need a diagnostic. Read the following information before you go and spend some cash …
Most of the vehicles on the roadway today have the OBDII – on board diagnostic system. If you have an inexpensive scanner (code reader) that cost $50 – $90,you can connect this scanner to the connector below the steering wheel column and scan the on-board diagnostic computer for so-called “troublecodes.” Refer to the booklet that comes with the scanner if scanner shows any problem codes. In many cases,the booklet will provide you an idea on which system is mulfunctioning. Your benefit? If you know what system is mulfunctioning,and the service consultant at the repair store tells you that something completely different need to be fixed,you know what is going on … Also,for instance,if your scanner tells you that issue is your oxygen sensing unit. If issue is not the wire that links the sensing unit to the automobile’s electrical system,you can call around,getprices for the part and labor,and choose a location to change the sensing unit. If,after repair work is done,your scanner does not show the oxygen sensing unit associated problem code,the issue was fixed! You can save a lot of cash by doing this! Like we have said before,the affordable scanner (code reader) is your first line of defence against high automobile repair work prices and deceitful specialists … Lastly,the correct maintenance will help to lessen unexpected repairs,which will save you money!