7 Truths About Pricing Automotive Service by Phone
There’s an unfortunate trend that has remained prevalent through the years that has people calling automotive repair shops in the hopes of getting an accurate quote over the phone. It sounds like a good enough idea. Call three shops and choose the shop that shares with you the lowest price for the type of service you need.
While this practice may be great for saving money while holiday shopping, it’s an awful way to approach automotive service. Before you pick up the phone to call a shop for a price quote, put on the brakes and read these seven truths about pricing automotive service over the phone. You’ll be glad you did for your peace of mind and the health of your automobile.
1. Not an Accurate Process by Any Stretch of the Imagination
Would you call your doctor to diagnose a serious illness over the phone? Of course you wouldn’t. Your health is important, as is the health of your automobile. Only after a thorough checkup can your doctor ensure that you are well, and only after a thorough diagnostics workup can we hope to accurately gauge the health of your automobile. We want to make sure the problem you’re having isn’t caused by something else, and only through diagnostics can we hope to provide you with an accurate quote.
2. A Physical Inspection is Always Necessary
Our technicians need to physically inspect your car and everything under the hood in order to accurately gauge your automotive issues. We always appreciate your efforts to describe your car noises and issues over the phone, but we’d rather you provide us with the ability to inspect your automobile before we provide you with an actual number.
3. Today’s Car is Far Too Complex
Automotive repair isn’t as straight forward as it used to be. Today’s cars may contain aftermarket parts or a series of part configurations that are unique to your car depending on where and when it was built. Only by seeing your car in the ‘fiberglass and oil’ can we determine what parts and service you need.
4. Shops May Quote Inferior Parts to Earn Your Business
If you call around pricing for quotes, some shops may want to earn your business by giving you the lowest quotes possible. These low quotes are oftentimes associated with aftermarket parts that won’t last as long as quality German-made parts made for your automobile. Stick with physical inspections to get better quotes and access to better parts.
5. The Problem May be Caused By an Underlying Issue
If your car is leaking something, merely patching the leak may not fix the problem completely. We need to provide you with a thorough diagnostics workup to ensure that your problem isn’t caused by something else. This is something you will never be able to find out over the phone.
6. It’s Usually Just a Best Guess or Made Up Number
Shops that give out quotes over the phone are really just placating you in order to get you to bring your car in. They don’t know how long your service is going to take or even what’s wrong with your car in the first place. Don’t fall for this trick, as you’ll only be disappointed in the end when you find out that the quote was much more expensive than you expected. When we give quotes, we honor them and that’s why we never give them out over the phone.
7. It Teaches You to Disregard the More Expensive Shops
When you get into the practice of calling around from shop to shop, you might automatically pass up the highest-quality service just because it’s more expensive than the others. Instead of pricing around, gauge a shop by its reputation and its business organization and overall service environment. Check online reviews and talk to other customers in the service shop. A quality shop’s reputation will precede it, and quality shops only provide quotes when the car is present and able to be inspected.
There is one service we will quote over the phone and that’s our twice-yearly 5,000-mile regular maintenance service that includes an oil change, tire rotation and full inspection. For all other service or maintenance issues, we prefer that you bring your vehicle into our shop. We want to provide you with the most accurate quote and the highest-quality service that will have you back on the road quickly while simultaneously extending the life of your automobile. That is the Dubwerx difference and we urge you to call or come in today to experience that difference for yourself.