The reason I wanted Mike Kamal (co-president of the Automotive Distribution Network) on the panel I moderated a couple months ago at the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium is because he tells it like it is. He didn’t let me or the audience down.
For those of you who didn’t make it to GAAS, the topic for the panel was “Who will fix the cars?”. Of course, much of the discussion revolved around the omnipotent car dealers.
Quite bravely, Kamal admitted that his own family does not take their vehicles to independent repair shops.
“If people in this room would admit they don’t go to our customers, (then) what does that say for the industry?” Kamal asked.
Gulp! I was busted! Ironically and unfortunately, I’m one of the people Kamal was talking about.
At the risk of sounding like a two-headed politician, I do have an explanation for my behavior. What I thought would be a temporary situation at best has turned into a situation of convenience.
Before jumping to conclusions, read my story; it may not be too different from your own. You see, I did use the same technician for more than 20 years, but he eventually moved so far away that I couldn’t follow him. (I followed him on his first move out of town.) This guy was so good that I inconvenienced myself numerous times over the years just so he could service my car. I not only drove across town, but I would leave my car three or four days at a time, which meant that I had to either borrow a family member’s car or rent one. I took every recommendation that he made because I knew he was looking out for my interest. How do I know that? Simply, he took the time to explain to me what was wrong with my car and how he was going to fix it. And when he fixed it, he reviewed the repair with me...in minute detail.
Believe me, it was a sad day when I stopped going to him.
After “Ed,” I tried four other technicians who were all recommended by family and friends. Maybe my family and friends have low standards or my standards are unrealistically high, but none of these guys were worth the chewing gum that’s stuck to the bottom of my shoe.
Finally the repairs on the car I was driving exceeded its worth so I bought a new car. When I did, I did what most consumers do –– return to the dealership for maintenance and repairs. To my surprise, I was introduced to the service manager and the technician assigned to my car.
One surprise led to another. My assigned technician is ASE certified and is extremely knowledgeable about the car I drive (as well as the rest of the Chrysler fleet).
Not that I’ve had any real problems thus far, but “my” technician always delivers the keys to me with the completed work order and a full explanation of what he’s done. With one peculiar problem that I had with my brakes, the service manager and technician took me to the bay to explain the problem and the fix. Was I being set up for the kill? No. Although this was a brake problem that wasn’t covered under the new car warranty, the dealership absorbed the cost of the repair because they felt this problem shouldn’t happen with so few miles.
With this kind of service and personal attention, the dealership simply stripped any motivation I had to look for a new independent technician.
OK, I guess that’s supposed to be my reason for not finding a new technician. As I wrote it, it seemed to make sense. As I go back and read it, it sounds like a pretty lame excuse for somebody who’s been in the industry more than 20 years.
I mean if I can’t convince myself — and maybe you’ve fallen into the same trap — how are we going to convince the motoring public that they need to find an independent repair shop that can take care of their car as good as, if not better than, a dealership?
This issue is further complicated by the fact that most consumers believe they have to go back to the dealership for all their maintenance and repair work for the duration of their warranty. Complicating that scenario is when consumers buy extended warranties. Go to the front cover to read Senior Editor Sativa Ross’s in-depth article on extended service contracts. One suggestion you’ll find in her story about extended warranties is for repair shops to hang banners explaining that customers have choices on where to get their cars serviced. Obviously, jobbers and retailers should do the same. The glitch? If consumers are taking their cars to dealerships, the signs will never be seen.
This problem rates right up there with the Right to Repair legislation which, of course, is meaningless if consumers assume they have to get their cars repaired at the dealer. Consumers have an excuse –– they may not know any better. But we do. I do. Thanks, Mr. Kamal, for reminding us of that.
