Shop Press

Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle.

From the creative minds at:

FEATURE STORY

Hot Off the Press

Stress Test Vehicle Grounds

Pop quiz, no cheating: how many amps does the ground side of any circuit conduct? If you said, “As many as the hot side,” get yourself a gold star and skip this article. For the rest of us who weren’t born innately knowing the answer to that question, stick with me...

The Tightwad’s Way To Install Any Wheel Bearing Race

I don’t own a bearing race driver kit, and I haven’t in 20 years of fixing stuff. I also refuse to use sockets to drive a race. I learned a method a long time ago I’ll pass along to you newer techs: I use the race I’m replacing. I primarily have used this trick when...

Shop Profile: Locked N Loaded 4×4

I’ve owned two Jeeps–the 1973 Super Jeep CJ-5 featured in a previous Shop Press article, and a 2010 Wrangler Sahara. The reliability and my enjoyment of the former wasn’t “super” in any way despite American Motors’ best efforts at model name puffery, and the latter...

Check Out This Hacky Diag Tool

Disclaimer: Dorman Products purchased this kit at full price.In the interest of serious investigative reporting, I swiped the Shop Press credit card for $14.83 to try out a diag tool I thought looked super-cool: the relay bypass. What’s that? Short version: Imagine a...

Dealers make house calls. Why not you?

I had a great experience recently when my dealer’s service department called to ask if I’d like to schedule some routine maintenance needed on my SUV from one of their fleet of nifty new mobile service vans, with the promise that my cost would be the same as if I...

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

by | Apr 20, 2023 | 2 comments

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!

Related Videos

The articles and other content contained on this site may contain links to third party websites. By clicking them, you consent to Dorman’s Website Use Agreement.

Shop Press Comment Policy

Participation in this forum is subject to Dorman’s Website Terms & Conditions. Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline feedback
View all comments

Get Articles In Your Inbox

Subscribe to receive a monthly email summary of our latest Shop Press stories.

Shop Press

I agree to the above privacy statement and T&Cs

Thanks! You're now subscribed.