Best and Worst Bay Area Auto Repair Shops
Consumer's Checkbook, which is a nonprofit magazine and website available by subscription at $34 per year, annually publishes the results of its survey of persons who have deal with Bay Area auto repair shops. The surveys cover price and quality of work. Of the 559 shops evaluated, 221 were rated "superior" for their overall quality by 90% or more of their surveyed customers. On the other hand, 66 shops were rated "inferior" for overall quality by at least 20% of those surveyed.
Checkbook found no relationship between shops' prices and the quality of their work! Checkbook also found that price differences can be dramatic. Replacement of belts on a Honda Accord ranged from $506 to $1,200. Hourly rates ranged from $80 to $196.
Persons who did business with new car dealers' service centers rated their overall performance as superior only 61% of the time. Persons rated non-dealer repair facilities superior 87% of the time. This may prove that non-dealers have to try harder to stay in business.
Using its site, checkbook.com, you can sort and select shops by such factors as location, whether the shop does in-factory repairs, and by considering price and quality.
