Why do people take their cars to the dealerships for non-warranty work?

sometimes. sometimes they aren't too bad, have reward point system, and their prices sometimes are actually pretty competitive than others. Sorry your shop is losing bidness.

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Seems like car dealership service centers are generally horrible and are 10x slower than everywhere else.

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I just dropped off my wife's vehicle for 100K mile service and to repair a cracked exhaust manifold.

The cost was not extraordinarily higher than non-dealer mechanics.

I normally do my own repairs but everything is so damn tight I didn't want to fuss with it this time.

Dealerships are the only place where the mechanics are required to maintain a certain level of training and you also know that since they are representing a brand you have leverage. I get all of the work done on my vehicles at the dealerships. Even oil changes.

That only matters with certain cars.


You can get a Kia repaired at McDonalds.

No idea, they usually have the shitiest 'mechanics'.

sometimes the dealership offers complimentary wine glasses with an oil change?

Dealers have trained technicians who actually know all the ins and outs of your automobile because they've received the latest training on your automobile. They know the exact specs, and have the latest engineering updates. They have genuine parts from your auto's manufacturer that are all up to the exact specs your auto was designed for.

Shade tree mechanics have none of this. They might have an out of date service manual that's kinda close. He may have been trained at one time back when (and if) he worked for a dealership. But now that training is so out of date it's irrelevant on newer models. He might sorta know things like torque specs on a model that is close, but not exact. And when those specs are updated he won't know about it any more than you will. He has aftermarket "will-fit" parts of suspect origin and who knows what sort of warranty.

When it comes to dealing with matters like this, remember these words, "you get what you pay for".

Well because they come get my vehicle at my office a leave me something to drive.

Typically because the technicians are factory trained to work on their specific vehicles. Also, the independent shops tend to RIP your head off. The parts installed on vehicles are higher quality also