Expert: Gary - 4/1/2011

Question
Hi,

After a car crash involving our 2003 Honda Odyssey, we have the choice of the dealer or a local shop to have the repairs done.

The local shop is large and has a good reputation. The dealer has repaired the car before and did a very good job with nothing weird or unexpected in dealing with them.

So, as a professional and insider, which of the two would you say is likely to do the best repair?

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear about the accident.

The only difference between a dealership shop and independent shop is who owns them. Typically, dealership shops have a bit better equipment than that of an independent. However, that's not always the case. I would definitely fall back on reputation. I have seen dealerships that have turned out jobs that were "in my opinion" sub-par and I have seen independents that have turned out great work and vice-versa. So to say that a dealership will always give you the best workmanship is not really true. At this point, reputation of the shop is all you have to go by.