One of the most popular questions you ask yourself when your car service is due is, “who should I go to, to get my car serviced? A car dealership or independent garage?”
There can be many pros and cons for both dealerships and independent garages, in this article, we aim to look at both to see overall who comes out on top, dealerships or independent garages?
Car Dealership
Can sometimes be cheaper
You may think independent, local garages are always the cheapest option, but in some cases a dealership can be just as competitive as your local garage. It’s always worth double-checking before booking with a local garage.
They know your car inside out
Dealerships are specialists in a certain type of model or car within that manufacturer. If you have a Ford Fiesta for example, the dealership will specialise in Ford cars, regardless if they are Fiesta’s, Focus’ or Mondeo’s.
They know their cars inside and out, so they are more likely to know what is wrong with the car and how to fix that specific issue.
This can be good if your car has a very uncommon specific problem that only a certain model or range of cars have.
Maintain value with dealership stamp
Some car owners believe that by getting a dealership stamp in their service log, that it maintains some of the cars’ value over a period of time.
The idea is that – going back to our Ford example – because Ford are the ones to have worked on the car, the car will keep some of its value with the Ford stamp in the service log.
Independent
Personalised
One thing that an independent garage can offer that a dealership can’t, is a more personalised service.
There are many ways these local garages have built up a positive reputation over the years. Perhaps your family used them and recommended their friends to use them, or maybe your local garage is well known in your area for being the best. All of these traits have one thing in common, word of mouth. Because they’re local, people tend to know each other within these small towns and word of mouth for businesses still carries a lot of weight.
Another reason why independent garages are personalised is because they will talk to you about the problem you’re having and what they will fix. They will never carry out work on your car without your consent, so if you’ve dropped your car off, be sure to leave your contact details and keep your phone handy!
Most often the cheapest option
Whilst sometimes a dealership may be as competitive as an independent garage, most of the time, a local garage will often be the cheaper option.
And often, the quality of work is just as good (if not better), in fact, a lot of the time, the owners of these local garages are highly qualified vehicle technicians who have previously worked for dealerships and have a lot of training and experience.
Furthermore, over the years these vehicle technicians will have worked on thousands of cars, different manufacturers, models all of which will have helped them develop their skill set.
But what do we mean when we say cheaper? Purely price.
Local garages can afford to offer cheaper prices because of the service they are promoting rather than the brand.
Ford, BMW, Mercedes are all promoting the brand, that because you take your car to the dealership, the perception is that the quality of service will be higher. Which isn’t always the case. However, this is why it’s usually more expensive to go with a dealership rather than an independent garage.
Lindleys follow manufacturer guidelines
One thing that we believe sets us apart from our competitors is that our vehicle technicians will follow manufacturer guidelines to ensure the validation of a cars’ warranty.
We understand the importance of following correct procedures and guidelines so much so that we have your best interests in mind when working on your car.
We carry out a high-quality service with a competitive price that will save you money compared to a dealership. Take a look at where you can find a Lindleys Autocentre near you.
So if your car is ready for a service, why not book a car service with Lindleys Autocentres where our fully qualified vehicle technicians will be more than happy to work on your car and offer you a personalised service, following manufacturer guidelines that can often be cheaper than a car dealership.
