Top Reasons to Trust an Independent Auto Repair Shop Over a Dealership
When someone has a vehicle that is in need of an oil change in Longmont, CO, they essentially have two different choices. They can either bring their vehicle to a dealership or they can get an independent auto repair shop to handle it for them. The choice that they make can have a big impact on both the quality and effectiveness of the oil change they receive in Longmont. Therefore, it is important that drivers know which place they should be going to for all their general auto repair needs in Longmont.
There are many different reasons an independent shop is the obvious choice. In fact, here are several of the biggest reasons independent shops come out on top in their battle against dealerships.
Better Understanding of Why Vehicle Issues Happen
If someone takes their vehicle to a dealership of the same brand, then chances are that the dealership technicians are simply going to confirm what part is malfunctioning or damaged in the vehicle and then simply swap it out with a new version of the same part. While this is a great short-term solution, it does nothing for the long-run health of the vehicle. That is where independent technicians have the upper hand.
Because these independent shops work on all kinds of vehicle makes and models, they have to develop an understanding of why something happens and not just what to do when something happens. Although this difference might seem subtle, understanding why something happens instead of just how to react when it does happen is crucial in maintaining the health of something like a vehicle.
If a certain issue is being caused by some sort of problem in a totally different component of the vehicle, then this may not be something that the dealership technicians are going to be able to identify unless it is a super common problem in their vehicles. For those more specialized problems, someone needs to understand why other similar issues happen so that they can know whether or not there is a totally different component possibly at fault.
This will be the difference between fixing an issue the first time rather than trying to swap out three or four different parts before finally fixing it. So if someone’s vehicle is not under full warranty or they are not wanting to spend countless hours sitting in a dealership waiting room, then they are often better off going with an independent shop instead.
More Personalized Service
Not everyone drives the same and a person’s specific driving habits have a big influence on the health of their vehicle. That is why it is so important that independent shops take the time to learn who someone is as an individual rather than just an account number on the screen. A driver does not need to give their VIN number every time that they have an appointment because the technicians at an independent shop will already know their name, which is even more important.
Nowadays, most independent shops also use equally advanced computer systems as large dealerships, so they have the capabilities to track and look up any previous servicing information for the vehicle just as easily. Therefore, they have all the same data as the dealership and also have the benefit of knowing personal driving information on top of it.
This is handy in learning valuable pieces of information like how far that person drives to get to work every day, if they go on any off-roading adventures on the weekends, and if they live in a particularly hilly part of town. All this stuff is not information that a dealership is likely to know and even if the driver does tell them, it will probably not be the same technician who is working on their vehicle the next time so they would have to explain the information all over again.
However, most independent shops have technicians who are more like family than they are coworkers. Therefore, all this information is widely available and it is likely that the same couple of technicians will be working on the person’s vehicle every time anyways. So they only have to explain it once or twice and then that information is remembered and taken into consideration for the next time the vehicle has a problem, like needing a wheel alignment in Longmont, just in case their driving habits have something to do with it.
No Convincing to Unnecessarily Purchase a New Vehicle
When someone goes to get car service in Longmont, the last thing that they often expect is to be told that they should purchase a new vehicle entirely. However, this is exactly what tends to happen at dealerships all the time.
This is because dealerships make most of their money on new vehicle sales rather than the servicing of current vehicles. Therefore, if they see that someone has owned their vehicle for more than a few years and is nearing the end of their lease term, then they might try and convince the driver that it would be better for them to simply upgrade to a new vehicle entirely and save themselves from having to pay for repairs on their current vehicle.
This is not something that drivers will have to worry about when going to an independent shop because they do not sell vehicles or make any money whatsoever from the driver purchasing a new vehicle. And regardless of whether it is their current vehicle or a new vehicle, it is assumed that a loyal customer is going to continue coming to the independent automotive shop for all their servicing needs, so they get the business either way.
Therefore, they will only ever suggest looking into getting a new vehicle if their current one is in such bad condition that it is going to cost them more money to repair it than what it is worth.
