Why Choose Dealership Service?

With so many choices for service on your automobile, you may find your self asking: "Why should I go to the dealership when I can just go to ABC Fast Lube?" I thought for our first blog entry, I'd address this often asked question.

The reality is, you likely have far more choices than you realize. Nowadays, there are specialty stores that have branched out into the vehicle service market. For instance, what you may recognize as the local "tire only" retailer likely will perform routing maintenance. There seems to be some type of quick lube in every town and of course the mass merchandisers often have a vehicle maintenance center incorpoated into their facilities so that you can have your routine maintenance performed while you grocery shop.

In speaking with our customers, I find that all understand the importance of the dealership when it comes to warranty repairs or even for non-warranty, higher technical repairs, but many don't consider the dealership for maintenance items based on their perception of pricing. To all of us, our perception is our reality. But more and more I find that perception is just that...perception. Here's a few hard facts on dealership pricing:

• There is actually very little difference between the non-dealership service providers and the dealerships when it comes to pricing of maintenance items. In shopping our dealership's 10 most often performed maintenance itmes, it turned out that the dealership was at or below the market average in all 10 occurances!

• When it comes to repairs of a higher technical nature, the dealership is almost always the least expensive place to have the repair performed. "How could this be?" you may ask. Well, it's actually quite simple. Most dealerships are staffed with highly trained technicians. These technicians are using proprietary hardware and software that the aftermarket shops is simply not able to access. The result is the fixed-first visit percentage is often dramatically higher at the dealership than in the independent shops. In addition, the technicians are typically able to repair the vehicle in a much shorter time period resulting in a lower repair charge.

Hopefully this information is helpful to you when it comes to selecting a service provider. But as always, do not hesitate to give us a call anytime you have questions regarding your vehicle's maintenance needs or repair needs. We're always happy to answer your questions! You can also feel free to visit our website: http://www.outtencars.com/ for more information including a virtual tour of our service and parts departments, a copy of our maintenance menu...with prices...and a convenient appointment scheduling tool. Thanks again for checking our blog and I look forward to talking with you soon.

Regards,

Rick