Why it's a bad idea to price shop automotive services.

 We often get phone calls from people calling around to different shops trying to get prices for services or repairs. Today I'm going to give you some incite into and reasons why this is not a good way to pick a repair facility to service or repair your vehicle.
I'm going to give some bullet points first, reasons that many may, or may not have considered before calling around. Then I'll give you a simple analogy that will hopefully pull it all together for you. Here it is: 

1. Consider that you are asking for a price for a repair on a vehicle, that the shop has not seen, and doesn't know the condition of, or if the repair you want a price on is actually what you need.

2. Consider that all shops doing a repair do not do the "same" repair, that is they most likely do not all use the same quality of parts, nor do they all have the same quality of Technicians, and many take "shortcuts" when performing procedures to keep the price down.

3. Prices quoted over the phone are not binding and will probably not be the price you will actually pay when it comes time to pick your vehicle up. (Most of us are familiar with the term "Bait and switch")

4. When shopping for a "price" what you are not shopping for: Quality, Honesty, professionalism or customer service.

 Now that analogy,
Let's say you start having chest pains, you think you may even be having a heart problem. Would you start calling around to Hospitals or Doctors asking "How much will this cost?" and choose where you will go based on price? You might say, "Well of course not! I'd find the best place to go to get checked out. I'm not going to roll the dice when my life may depend on it". You would want all the necessary tests done, and the best doctors doing them. And even if you did get prices, do you need surgery? Or will it turn out that the problem is just a bad case of heart burn? 
 When looking for a shop, ask the right questions. Is this shop professional, trustworthy, using quality parts and providing great customer service?   

Welcome to my place!

Hi, and welcome to My Blog. It’s purpose is to help vehicle owner’s get answers to their questions and clear up any confusion they may have concerning service that they may need. But first, I'd like to start with a little about us. We are a family run business and we are also a Napa Auto Care center. We offer a nationwide warranty. What sets us apart from other automotive shops? There are several things. The first is customer service. We know people have a choice where they go for service and we highly value that. We adhere to the highest industry standards both out in the shop and in the front office. Our goal is to service and repair vehicles properly and to the highest quality standards the first time, every time! Part of that is making sure our customers understand everything that we do. That's just one area where our staff excels, resulting in happy customers who know that they are getting the best value possible anywhere! We inspect every vehicle that comes into our shop for service. These inspections are performed by Master Technicians who know your vehicle. Though we always service your vehicle in a timely manner and try to accommodate your schedule whenever we can, we never cut corners to try to save time or money. Experience has shown that doing it right the first time, using the best quality parts available, always saves both time and money in the long run.

Now you have the opportunity to pick my brain or just to ask for my opinion of things automotive. You ask the questions and we'll do our best to give you answers that you can understand, in plain English. The ball is in your court now, ask away.

Send questions to   office@mikehowesautomotive.com