When your car has trouble and you have to find an auto repair company to bring it in for work, what goes through your mind?
Unfortunately, the bad often outweighs the good. There are many trustworthy, reliable shops in the Denver area today. Yet they don’t make the news. The news is always filled with who got scammed, who provides shoddy work, and case studies of people that “lost everything” by relying on someone who is anything but reliable.
According to the Consumer Federation of America, auto repair rip-offs are consistently one of the top five most frequently reported consumer complaints. Over $20 billion is spent annually on unnecessary or faulty auto repairs.
So what do you do when its time to find an auto repair company to do work on your car? It can be summed up with two items.
1. Do your homework first.
2. Perform regular maintenance.
The reason most people find the scammers and the unreliable repair shops is because they wait until they are in emergency situations, trying to find the best help at the lowest price immediately.
Think of your car as you do your own body. You eat the right foods, exercise, take care of it, and get regular checkups every year. When something goes wrong, you’ve probably had indications from your doctor along the way about areas where you can improve.
The same holds true with your car. In order to keep it in tip-top shape, you must give it the right “food” – oil, fluids, gas – and provide regular maintenance each year. When you head in for regular oil changes, belt repairs and other maintenance type items, you develop a relationship with a mechanic. They begin to understand your car. You begin to rely on the mechanic’s advice as you build a relationship.
If you head in for an oil change and they try and sell you everything they have to offer, even making “larger than life” claims, you can turn the other way and find another repair company. And because oil changes are frequent – multiple times per year – this gives you a chance to try out as many shops as needed to find the one perfect for you.
Then when the emergency occurs, you’ll know who to call. And who to trust.
Thanks for the helpful information on auto repair companies. I think these are some really good things to remember when looking for an auto repair company. I like what you said about how people have problems because they wait until they are in an emergency to find an auto repair shop. If you wait until its an emergency then that gives the shop the opportunity to take advantage of you. Thanks for the help!