Mr. Thrifty- Your Guide to Thrifty Living - Guide to Car Repair and Maintenance: Do Not Use Car Dealerships

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Guide to Car Repair and Maintenance

Thrifty Commandments

#13: Sometimes the lowest price isn't always the lowest cost

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Guide to Car Repair and Maintenance

Article Index
Guide to Car Repair and Maintenance
Change Your Oil and Rotate Your Tires
Keep a Repair Log
Check Strange Noises
Find a Reputable Mechanic
Call an Auto Parts Store
Get Multiple Car Repair Quotes
Do Not Use Car Dealerships

Page 8 of 8

Mr. Thrifty Principle # 7: Never go to the dealer for repairs, unless you have a surplus of excess cash on hand that you don’t need. On second thought, call Mr. Thrifty and he can take that extra cash off your hands

A final word on dealerships: since the logo on your car is the same as the dealership logo, it seems logical that they would know the most about repairing your car, right? Wrong. There’s a reason some people refer to dealerships as the “stealerships”. Just about every car repair is more expensive than a regular shop, because of the high overhead associated with these types of operations. They will often put in expensive factory “original” parts, when new or rebuilt non-brand car repair parts made to identical specifications are available at huge discounts. Use them as a last resort only if your regular car repair mechanic can’t do the job.

Comments

Stealerships?
Written by Guest on 2005-06-24 09:22:47

I like that. I feel the same way. The dealerships seem to be out there just to rip you off. :upset

The way to do it is to find a good, local repair place. The other thing is to ask a bunch of questions to make sure that they are not trying to do too much work.

-- Ted the Saver

Dealerships not always bad..
Written by Guest on 2005-07-21 14:55:13

Well, maybe they are a bit more expensive, but in my experience I've gotten less bull from dealerships than from "Kwality Kar Mekanic". I take my car to the dealership with a problem, and they're so busy there they just fix that and don't try to convince me I need new headlight fluid or something equally fictional.

--Capo

High quality, high costs
Written by Guest on 2005-08-17 20:11:06

I agree that a dealership will repair your car right. However, they are really really expensive for car repairs. I think if you find a good local car repair mechanic you can get the same quality car repairs at a MUCH lower cost.

Change your oil
Written by Guest on 2005-09-25 18:20:27

The best single tip that I have found with regards to your car is simply change your oil every 3-5,000 miles. Keeps the car maintenance costs down!

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