http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_land

Quote :

"Five Best Cities for Auto Repair 1. Memphis 2. Jacksonville 3. Omaha 4. San Antonio 5. Austin Five Worst Cities for Auto Repair 46. Raleigh 47. Washington, DC 48. Albuquerque 49. Honolulu 50. Chicago"

methodology:

Quote :

"AutoMD.com mystery shoppers conducted a fairness check of over 600 shops in the top-50 DMAs* (including a range of dealers, independent shops, and franchises like Pep Boys) by requesting quotes on a typical auto repair job: a front brake replacement job for a Ford Focus. To measure pricing integrity, the mystery shoppers called back two weeks later with an industry standard price estimate. The best and worst list was then calculated based on each city‘s rankings for three critical factors, weighted equally: 1. Repair Affordability: The average cost-per-job for that city based on prices quoted by repair shops 2. Price Disparity Range: The percentage variance between the lowest price quoted and the highest price quoted in each market 3. Shop Integrity Factor: The percentage of shops that shifted their original quoted price by more than 5% when presented with an industry standard price estimate"

actual press release for the report: http://www.automd.com/About-AutoMD/Press/2-24-2010

Whether or not you agree with Raleigh's position on the list, the entire methodology is suspect. Take the actual front brake pads. Aftermarket front brake pads all vary in quality and price--independent shops get their parts from a number of different sources. OEM Ford parts do have an MSRP but there is always variation between dealerships in terms of the markup they charge. It makes you wonder how they produced this "fair industry standard price" they used for the comparison. And how can you judge the integrity of the shop by how much they choose to come down on the price? You call a dealer and give them an "industry standard price" and they'll probably tell you to fuck off.

3/6/2010 11:13:29 PM

there is a real reason why raleigh ranks so poorly, think about it

3/7/2010 11:25:12 PM

I was getting 100k service items done on my 4runner, which I got quoted at Autosmart (small independent shop on NC55) for $600ish. I figured i'd call the stealership and see what my comparison price was.

I call Toyota of Durham, and they quote me $460. I went over the list line item by line item, and couldn't believe they'd actually be cheaper than an independent shop, but sure enough they were. So then, I called Fred Anderson and they quoted me $890.

what the fuck.


the methodology for this study may be off, but for those of us who don't have the time and ability to work on our own cars, it fucking sucks trying to avoid getting ripped off in the triangle.

3/8/2010 8:04:17 AM

There is this place called last change garage off lake wheeler rd ... but the guy who I trusted who was their master mechanic moved to this new place in apex ...

Its called express oil, and its brand new ... part of a chain (I know, I know ...), but this guy is an eagle scout, I know him well, and would trust any vehicle with him, as I know he would never rip anyone off.

Guys name is Matt Breneman

901 E. Williams St. Apex NC

(919)-387-8570

3/8/2010 7:05:22 PM

Just head over to Garner. Problem solved.

3/8/2010 8:11:43 PM

^^its called last chance. they have some pretty good transmission guys there

3/8/2010 8:17:22 PM