If you’ve just landed here by googling “honest mechanic” then we’ll assume you’ve had a bad experience when having your car serviced or repaired in the Durham Region area.
Perhaps there was an incident where you felt you:
1. Were overcharged
2. Had work done that was unnecessary.
3. Came in over and over again and the problem was never corrected.
4.Were treated with distain or disrespect.
5. All of the above!
Mills Motors Buick GMC has 14 vehicle technicians that have achieved "Grandmaster" status
We feel you. We understand that there is nothing more frustrating then being inconvenienced by costly repairs on a vehicle that cost you a lot of money in the first place!
The question is, where should you go for car service in Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, or Courtice, when something does go wrong?
Independent Garage vs. Dealership Service Department?
There is a perception that its cheaper to deal with an independent. This is simply not true.
Here are the facts:
Lowest Price – Dealership prices for common vehicle maintenance and service repairs are more than competitive when compared to the independents. Whenever the independent seems like its less expensive, the difference will be in one of three places…1) independents may use cheap, low quality parts 2) they are cutting corners on the job 3) while they may post a lower hourly rate, they often charge more actual hours to perform the repairs!
Training and Expertise -Independents lack the technician training required to provide proper maintenance and repair on your vehicle. When the independant can’t diagnose the problem (which happens often), they always refer you back to the selling dealership. This is because they know only the dealership has the expertise required to diagnose and fix almost any mechanical issue.
Also, manufacturers ensure their dealers have advanced diagnostic tooling, which is a tremendous advantage often unavailable to independent garages.
One-Stop Shop Vehicle Service – at a dealership you get Sales, Service, Parts, Accessories, and sometimes even a great Body Shop and Collision Centre. By servicing your vehicle at the dealership from which it was purchased, the dealer is inclined to provide more goodwill and possibly even discounts to reward long-standing and loyal customers.
Now that you are thinking about servicing through a dealership, perhaps even one with GM Goodwrench Service…here’s what to look for:
1) Convienience – proximity to your home (Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville, Courtice, Port Perry) and work is often a factor, but does your service provider offer complimentary shuttle services so you can go about your daily routing while your vehicle is in the shop?
2) Comfort - maybe you have the time or flexibility to wait for your vehicle while its being worked on. Is there an upscale customer lounge with TV, Wireless capability, free coffee, and children’s play area? You might as well enjoy yourself while you wait!
3) Service excellence – There is no substitute for good old fashioned customer service. Do your homework on this issue. What GM dealer has been around the longest? What are people saying about the various GM dealerships in Durham Region? Surely you must have family or friends that have had a positive experience with various dealership service departments.
If you’re convinced then its time to book your service appointment!
If you’re still unsure, then read this article on how to assess the quality of a GM dealer in area.
Or you can watch this w5 TV program that exposes some dishonest car repair operations in the GTA.
Interesting just how biased this article is, realistically it may as well be an add though it claims to be otherwise. I’ve used dealers in the past, BRIEFLY due to the requirement of the warranty, and then made the mistake of using Canadian Tire. While they may not all be the same, I can honestly say that the service department of one in Oshawa was at the least incompetent if not criminal causing a problem and then trying to charge me $1200 to repair it.
While I’ve not needed to go to my Honest Independent mechanic in a while, there is NO question as to whom I recommend when someone asks for a referral!
Hi Steve. We welcome ALL feedback, positive or otherwise. We have not disguised the fact that our blog posts are written by the dealership, with the perspective of a dealership. On a daily basis, our service department sees unfortunate situations arise from customers who take their vehicle to an independent first, and then have to have the problem fixed by our skilled technicians. In the end, the experience costs the customer more money then it would have if it had been fixed properly the first time. Thanks for your comment!
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