Should I Use an Independent Mechanic or the Dealership

This is one of the questions that we all have to ask ourselves. You want your car fixed correctly but also don’t want to pay more than you have to. One thing I have learned is to first decide whether you need regular maintenance (oil change, tire rotation, spark plugs, etc) or you are having an issue that doesn’t seem to be related to any of the basic work. I am going to focus on having an issue not associated with regular maintenance with this post.

There are not many worse feelings than driving down the road and your check engine light comes on. Especially when nothing seemed to change. For you car nerds (myself included), you start going through your mental list of what all possibilities it could be (burnt spark plug, bad ignition coil, HEAD GASKET, arg!). For everyone else, you may just think about your engine blowing up or your brakes failing. Both possibilities but about as rare as winning a car on The Price is Right (which I saw a license plate this morning that said just that).

My personal rule of thumb is if the car is not under warranty and the issue is with anything other than electrical, take it to a certified independent mechanic. Especially one who specializes in your brand of a vehicle (An independent mechanic does not mean go to your local tire service shop. There is a high probability that you will be paying for the mechanics time to learn about your car/engine before they are even able to begin the fix. This type of shop has their place, it’s just not here). They will have mounds of knowledge about your car and its engine and are not afraid to fix it the best way they see fit (unlike a dealership that has a book that tells them the exact steps they have to go through to test/exchange each part. This takes more man hours and allows them to bill extra time).

However, going to a dealership is not totally out of question. If time is of the essence, if they are offering you a special rate, if you have a very good relationship with them from previous warranty work or if you think this may be a more specialized/rare issue, a dealership may be your best bet. They should 100% know your car and be able to work on it blindfolded. Yes, you will probably pay more but it will be done correctly and should come with a warranty on the repair.

Whichever option you go with, DON’T DO IT YOURSELF unless you are positive you know what you are doing. I once thought I would change the air filter on my wife’s VW GLI. Once I acquired my VW engineering degree to remove the filter box (and 16 screws), I was able to successfully install a brand new, top of the line filter in two hours...TWO HOURS! Most places offer to change the filter for a few bucks with an oil change. All VW/Audi owners should rejoice and gladly fork over that money. On the other hand, a pre-teen could change a Subaru filter.