Weigh Your Options: A Guide to Assessing Local Auto Repair Shops Near You
If your car stalls in your garage or driveway, that’s bad enough news. If the engine dies while you’re on the road, the situation is even more dire. But perhaps most stressful of all is the experience of taking (or towing) your vehicle to a service garage whose staff you don’t really trust — and then getting hit with a bill that’s through the roof for services you think are barely adequate.
If you have auto insurance with roadside assistance, you’ll have fewer worries about being stranded on the side of a strange road with a disabled car. But your vehicle still needs repairs and maintenance from a local auto service shop on a fairly regular basis. That’s what keeps your ride healthy for the long run.
You ask yourself, “Is there an auto repair shop near me that I can actually trust?” “How do I find a reliable repair shop near me?”
Here are some of the key points to review in your efforts to make the best connection to a local auto shop with a reliable mechanic.
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing an Auto Repair Shop
You must connect with a hopefully nearby facility with reliable mechanics and customer service you can trust. You want assurance that you’ll get the fixes you need done and will be charged fairly for it. No more worries about what to do if your car breaks down when you least expect it.
Most repair facilities have a service counter, a lobby with uncomfortable seating and old magazines, and the garage itself. So, how can you tell a trustworthy mechanic from the sort of facility you should stay away from?
It can be hard to know, but it’s best to start with the basics.
How to Find Reputable Auto Repair Shops Near You
Ask your friends and neighbors where they take their cars. How long have they been going to that shop? Do they think they’re fairly charged for repairs? Do they recommend it?
You can also read online reviews to see what past and existing customers think of the local auto shops you’re considering.
To an extent, you can gauge a shop’s reputation with your first visit. How clean is the establishment? How does the customer service staff treat you? Do red flags go off in your head? Do you feel overcharged for the repairs made or suspicious of the quality of that service?
Granted, you might have to be overcharged or under-served once before you can form a valid opinion in this way, but at least you’ll know whether you wish to give that facility your customer loyalty or avoid them like the plague.
Evaluating Expertise and Certifications
The best-trained and most talented auto mechanics have certification from credible industry certifiers. If a service center only hires certified mechanics, it will be happy to brag about this in its ads and on its website.
If not, don’t be shy. Simply ask whether their mechanics are certified.
ASE certification from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence is the industry standard. Mechanics earn this certification through a combination of training, testing, and on-the-job experience.
If you’re looking for vehicle inspections, the ASE is a good place to start. In addition, your local DMV should be able to provide a list of repair shops qualified for state vehicle inspections.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing an Auto Repair Shop
Yes, you need a go-to service garage you can trust. But there might also be occasions when you must ask yourself a key question: Can my go-to auto repair shop do the job as well as one that specializes in that sort of repair? That often means the brand-name auto care facilities that only fix or replace mufflers, transmissions, brakes, or other car parts.
If you have a good idea of the kind of work you need, check out your local general service center to make sure they even handle that kind of work — or want to. If you have the luxury of time, get a cost estimate from the repair shop you’re considering and one from a national brand shop specializing in that fix. You should be able to feel confident in the work of the specialists.
Roadside Assistance and Proper Maintenance for Your Vehicle
If you’re properly taking care of your car, you should get it serviced regularly. That might include everything from tire rotations and quick oil and lube jobs to annual checkups to extend the life of your vehicle. Then there are the “funny sound” appointments you make to head off potential disasters in the making.
Have you ever googled “Is there a car repair shop near me?” Sorry, but this won’t be of much help if your vehicle dies or gets hit in another city. But if you care for your car regularly, you’ll have fewer of those emergencies. (And if you have roadside assistance as part of your auto insurance, even the possibility of being stranded far from home will be less scary.)
If you’re lucky enough to choose a repair facility that’s within walking or biking distance of home or work or near public transportation, you’ll feel less stranded when your ride must go to the car hospital.
Average Cost of Local Auto Repair Shops
Of course, the price is important. Car repairs are rarely inexpensive, but it’s a matter of degree. In general, car dealerships often charge more, but they have reputations to uphold, so they’re highly likely to make sure you’re happy with the work or to handle complaints to your satisfaction.
Sometimes, it’s worth paying a little more for a reliable mechanic you can trust. But if the cost is a lot more or seems unreasonable for the job required, keep looking for local auto shops that can earn your repeat business.
Establishing a Good Relationship with Your Local Auto Repair Shop
This might be the best way of all to find — and stick with – an auto repair shop. This is more of a gut instinct decision than one based on science or economics. It means that if you have one good experience with a repair facility, stay with them until you’re disappointed — and maybe that will never happen.
At such a facility, you always feel respected and fully informed by your customer service rep, the work is done as promised, and the cost estimate is fair and as financially painless as possible. If it’s the sort of place you’d recommend your parents or adult children entrust their vehicles to, your little shop around the corner has earned your brand loyalty.
Evaluating Customer Feedback and Reviews
Sometimes, the bad decisions that others have made can save you from making your own mistakes. That’s a good reason to read credible online reviews about a repair facility before scheduling our first appointment.
Several trustworthy sites offer auto repair reviews, including Yelp, Consumer Reports, Facebook, and Google. To find reviews on a shop you’re considering, submit a search engine query such as “(name of shop) auto repair reviews.”
Don’t just read the first few reviews you see. Take in several, so you have the opportunity to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. Try to read between the lines. Does each writer with a complaint seem to have a good case, or do they have unfair expectations? Is there praise or complaint about a particular aspect of the service that’s important or trivial to you? Do you repeatedly read about the same faults, whether it’s the level or service, the cost, or the competence of the mechanics?
If you keep getting the same bad news from customer after customer, it probably means something.
Red Flags to Avoid With Car Repair Shops
Trust your instincts. Are you leery of even spending time in the waiting room? Afraid to use the restroom? Doubtful about the competence of the customer service rep and the mechanics who will work on your car?
A repair facility can give off bad vibes in a number of ways. It might look dirty, cluttered, and disorganized. The mechanics might be loud and coarse in conversation. Your customer service rep might be unfriendly or come across as unknowledgeable.
Go online and check out the customer reviews. This is another red flag. Any business can have a few negative reports, but if that’s virtually all you see, proceed with caution. Or keep looking elsewhere.
If your cost estimate looks high, do a search engine query to find a typical price for the sort of work you need on the make and model you drive. If your quote is significantly higher than what you find online, this is yet another hint that your search for the ideal auto service center and a trustworthy mechanic should probably continue.
Making the Final Decision: Balancing Cost and Quality
You need your car. It must start on the coldest mornings and never leave you late for work or in an otherwise empty parking lot after dark. If your teenagers drive your cars, you don’t want to think about them getting stranded on the side of a road late at night.
That means that while you want to pay as little as possible on maintenance and car repair bills, the cost of not getting quality car care can be even higher. And if you don’t bring your vehicles in for regular maintenance because you can’t find a place you trust, a breakdown can occur, and that will probably set you back more than regular maintenance would have cost.
Yes, the cost of your repairs matters, and you want to save when you can. So make that a factor, certainly, but not the only one. The bottom line is that if you find a local repair facility you feel confident about, it might be worth paying a little more for the peace of mind it brings.
Understanding the Link Between Auto Repair Shops and Insurance Rates
A well-maintained vehicle is less likely to break down and need to be towed. There’s a reduced risk that it will cause an accident if the brakes work properly and the tires have plenty of tread. And if your car doesn’t cause an accident, your auto insurance rates can stay low.
Your auto policy works like any other form of insurance. The fewer claims you make, the lower your premiums. So, if you find a local auto repair facility you trust and regularly take your car there for maintenance, it’s an excellent way to keep your auto insurance rates low.
Another option is to meet with an expert who can provide sensible and valuable answers to your common questions about auto insurance.
Understanding the Link Between Auto Repair Shops and Insurance Rates
Establishing a connection with a professional and well-respected auto repair shop will save you money in the end. If you do need to file a claim with your insurance, they may have suggestions of shops they do business with, but trusting your own mechanic with repairs you pay for on your own is vital. Depending on the repair, you may not be able to make an insurance claim, but with a trusted mechanic, you’ll be back on the road in no time.
At Acceptance Insurance, our independent auto insurance agents can help you find coverage at the most affordable rates. Call us at (877) 405-7102 or get a quick quote online. You can also find an office near you and schedule an appointment with one of our dependable agents.
