Finding an auto repair shop that you feel comfortable leaving your vehicle with is a difficult task. Whether your car needs major repairs or simply regular maintenance, choosing a shop out of the yellow pages is very old school. Today, consumers are looking for a good mechanic shop that has quality, value and great service.

There are several questions we should ask before just picking an auto repair shop. We can ask trusted friends and family for their recommendations. Their experiences can help shed light on good shops and those to avoid. We can also ask others that own vehicles like our own and see where they take theirs and who they trust. This can be especially useful if you have just moved to a new area and are completely unfamiliar with the auto repair shops around. Once you have chosen a couple of shops to investigate, make sure they actually service your kind of car. It might be real informative to stop by the shop and look around to see what kinds of cars are being worked on. If you aren’t real comfortable scoping out the shop, call the Better Business Bureau to see if there are any complaints on file for this particular shop. Also check to see if the shop’s mechanics are certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). Both of these will give you a good idea of the quality of work that is done at any particular shop.

Finding out what warranties are given with any repairs done in the shop will also tell the quality of work and quality control that each shop aspires to. If the warranty is for 6 months or more, that is great, 90 days is good, and 30 days or less would definitely lead to more questions about quality than actual trust in workmanship.

Once you have chosen your auto repair center, make your appointment and don’t just plan to simply drop the car off and walk out the door to work. Plan to give yourself time to visit with the mechanic. Ask for a complete explanation of what is going to be done on the car and get clarification on things you don’t understand. This helps to make certain your mechanic knows what they are about to do and why. Also get an estimate of how much all this will cost up front. This will help alleviate any markups that you aren’t aware of, then when the work is done be sure you look at the actual bill to check for add ons.

And finally, just like we look up appliances and vehicles on Consumer Reports to get their pros and cons, be sure to look up the shop online and read any reviews you can find. Most consumers who have a bad experience are going to find a way to get the word out about their experience to warn other potential customers. And also those that have great experiences, they want to get the word out to promote the great deal and great service they found at a certain shop. The power of online reviews is remarkable.
Last but not least make sure the hours the shop is open to work with your personal schedule. If you will need a loaner car, make sure they provide one or that alternate transportation is either provided or available nearby.

Our vehicles are very important to our everyday life, having one that needs repaired takes time out of our regular schedule. We spend a lot of money on the car we ride in, so we want the care it receives to be exemplary. We wouldn’t expect any less of our own physicians, why expect less of our mechanics. The best auto repair centers are the ones that have the happiest customers.