How to choose the right repair shop

Whether you drive a Bugatti Vayron or a hand-me-down banger, choosing the right repair shop can have a big impact on the future performance of your car. With something this important to your day to day life, you don’t want to leave anything to chance, so here’s a brief guide to choosing a repair shop you can trust.Before browsing for a single shop, do some preparation work. Go through your owner’s manual again, paying close attention to the suggested service schedule and anything else to do with maintenance. Once you’ve got that out of the way, start looking around for a repair shop to suit your needs as soon as possible. It’s an unfortunately common occurrence for drivers to break down, and in a blind panic choose the first unprofessional service that they see advertised. You’ll probably want to check out some objective consumer websites for impartial feedback, as well as simply asking around your friends and family. Even in the digital world we live in, word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a good service.If you find a repair shop with a near spotless reputation, this will usually be a decent business, but if you want to go the extra mile this ASE article suggests steps you can take in the shop itself. Wherever possible, get them to carry out some small, inexpensive kind of maintenance work to check if they’re all they’re cracked up to be. When you’re in the shop, a great way to judge a business is on their customer service. Professionally run repair shops will almost always have courteous and polite staff, who demonstrate specialist knowledge from the moment you walk in.