How to find a good auto repair shop, according to actual repair professionals (VIDEO)

Description

Here at Shop Press we’re always looking for interesting news about the auto repair industry, and we see articles pop up pretty routinely offering advice to vehicle owners about how to find a good mechanic. A lot of this advice is fairly generic and of debatable merit, e.g. ask friends and family, look at online reviews, etc.

So, we decided to reach out to Dorman’s network of repair shop contacts, the Dorman Tech Council, to see what some actual auto repair professionals recommend.

One recommendation was repeated by a few shop owners we talked to, and seems kind of obvious, but we hadn’t seen it before in any of the myriad lists we’ve encountered online: ask a local parts store. The logic is that the counterpeople at your local parts retailer will have likely interacted with a number of shops in the area, and have a good sense of which ones know what they’re doing. They will know which shops have low warranty rates and which have relatively high rates of returns, the latter of which indicating they might just be firing the parts cannon at problems and not properly diagnosing the root causes.

In addition to that, many shops recommended simply calling or stopping by a garage, which might not tell you much about their technical expertise, but will give you a snapshot of what it would be like to work with them. Do they answer their phone quickly or call you back? Are they patient and willing to answer any questions you have? If they diagnosed your vehicle, can they clearly explain what they found in terms that make sense? Are their estimates clear and transparent? All of these things are good indicators they care about their customers, know what they’re doing, and run their business well. At the very least, you can rule out those shops that are unresponsive, rude, disorganized or not adequately trained.

In the video below, Nick and Lemmy share their thoughts. Take a look, and more importantly, let us know in the comments if you have any other suggestions!