Americans are okay with going to the dealership for regularly scheduled maintenance. But they’d rather find an independent mechanic when their car needs more repair.
That’s one conclusion Consumer Reports draws from a study of nearly 11,000 driving members.
The study, CR says, “focused on members’ experiences when their cars needed repairs that were paid for out of pocket, as opposed to recall repairs, which are free, and routine maintenance.”
Maintenance expenses, after all, occur at predicted intervals. Repairs are almost always a surprise.
CR asked members to rate repair shops based on 12 attributes, including pricing, honesty, the quality of the work, and the accuracy of the initial cost estimate.
Related: Cars Keep Getting More Expensive to Repair
CR Surveys Are Unique
Because CR is a subscription service that evaluates purchases from automobiles to vacuum cleaners, surveys of its members aren’t surveys of the general public. Instead, they’re surveys of people willing to pay a monthly fee to access thousands of product evaluations. CR studies are always surveys of picky people with disposable income for a subscription.
Dealers Score Poorly on Price
“Independent shops received the highest scores for satisfaction with price, while dealerships tended to score lowest. Nearly all dealerships got the lowest possible rating for price,” CR says. Only Acura and Tesla were rated marginally better.
Meanwhile, independent shops “were the only shops rated favorably for their willingness to negotiate on the price.”
Dealerships scored highest on cleanliness and the availability of loaner vehicles. However, “independent facilities stood out for their trustworthiness, reasonable prices, knowledgeable mechanics, and good reputation.”
Large repair chains not affiliated with dealers “were notable for their convenience,” CR says.
Average Repair Cost: Nearly $700
Related: Here’s How Much The Average Car Repair Now Costs
The average repair cost is about $700, CR says. “A quarter of the respondents paid between $200 and $499 for a repair, 26 percent paid between $500 and $999, 22 percent paid between $1,000 and $1,999, and 14 percent of respondents paid $2,000 or more for a repair.”
