by Most people like to think the manufacturer is there to help them when their car requires warranty work, maintenance, and emergency repairs. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Most car manufacturers have a slim profit margin on the sale of their vehicles and dealerships have an even smaller one. Where most companies and dealerships make their money is by repairing and maintaining your vehicle.
This lucrative business nets them billions of dollars every year and which is why they have been fighting tooth and nail to keep aftermarket parts from Japan and China from reaching the shores,
As they want to keep a monopoly on what goes into your car and you tied to their apron strings.
This is why we’d like to suggest you think about switching to having the work done on your vehicle by an independent auto repair center. Aftermarket parts today are made to the exact specifications and often by the same companies who make the original parts that went into your vehicle the first place.
An independent service center is aware of this and stocks the replacement parts you need. There are also five other reasons for you to shift your car’s servicing preferences.
Price
Independents want to keep your business and they will cut you a deal to keep your business while the big boys are looking to get you to trade in and buy next year’s model. So, they will make replacement look better than repair.
Customer Service
An independent is aware of which side their bread is buttered on and they need your goodwill to stay in business.
You will tell may be one to three people about a good service experience. If you have a bad one you’ll tell everyone within shouting distance the same thing. In addition, an independent repair center can’t rely on sales of a new vehicle in lieu of repairing one that is broken.
Their entire business rest on their skills and abilities to provide the best care and maintenance possible along with this a friendly smile and listening to their customers is what they do best.
Location
Independent automotive repair centers put themselves where their customers are. Rather than next to access ways and near other major roads where you’ll find a number of dealerships clumped together to attract business. This makes them much easier to get to when your car needs maintenance, warranty work, and emergency repairs.
Personal Relationships
With an independent, you have a person who lives in the same part of town as you do and considers you their neighbor. Dealership service centers are impersonal and are driven by a time clock to get the customer in, get them fixed, and then get them on the road and ready for the next one.
This mechanistic approach does not lend itself with a smile and the shake of the hands. Often you never see the mechanic who has worked on your car.
With an independent, you often know their name, about them, and about their family as well as often they will invite you in to watch as the work is done on your vehicle.
This builds up trust and rapport and you know they see you as a person and not a number.
Flexibility
Independents work around your schedule and not vice versa, They know you need to get in when the job permits and they make arrangements to adapt to your needs and not the other way around as dealerships at fixed hours.
Final words
You now know why independent auto repair shops can give you a better deal than the much larger and connected service centers run by dealerships and the manufacturers.
These five reasons are just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to what independents will do to keep your business. He wants to make you happy, which is exactly the opposite of what a dealership is looking to do. They are working toward their looking toward gaining market share, making you depended on them, and directing you to buy a new car while charging you an arm and a leg to keep your current one running.
That alone is enough to make you want to shift your business away from the dealership and into a more reliable repair place and someone who actually cares about your needs, which is the hallmark of a good independent repair shop.
