Did you ever think for a minute that the city you live in didn’t apply to how much you spend for automotive repairs? Well, according the AutoMD.com’s latest Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report, the city that you live in can have a great impact on how much you spend and who you can trust at your local automotive repair shop.
We were happy to know that AutomotiveAddicts.com’s very own hometown of Jacksonville, FL ranked #2 for being one of the best cities for auto repair in the areas of quoted price, shop integrity and price disparity.
Time after time people are ripped off with auto repairs every day. It is great to view such a chart from AutoMD.com so that you may prepare yourself to be cautious of who you let work on your vehicle. Among the worst areas that will have to exercise extreme caution are cities like Washington, DC and Honolulu, HI.
Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report rankings (full list)
View the AutoMD press release below or visit AutoMD.com for the full list of cities here.
Press Release
AutoMD.com™ Ranks Best and Worst Cities for Auto Repair
Car Owner Fears About Unfair Repair Shop Quotes Confirmed
Advocacy Report Measures Affordability, Price Disparity Range and Shop Integrity
Carson, CA – February 24, 2010 – AutoMD.com (www.automd.com), the most comprehensive and unbiased free online auto repair resource, today released its Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report, the first to analyze how the top-50 most populated U.S. cities stack up when it comes to providing consumers with fair auto repair cost estimates. In the report, Memphis ranked as the best city for fairness and consistency of prices quoted in auto repair, while Chicago ranked as the worst.For the report, AutoMD.com mystery shoppers conducted a fairness check of over 600 shops in the top-50 DMAs* (including a range of dealers, independent shops, and franchises like Pep Boys) by requesting quotes on a typical auto repair job: a front brake replacement job for a Ford Focus. To measure pricing integrity, the mystery shoppers called back two weeks later with an industry standard price estimate. The best and worst list was then calculated based on each city’s rankings for three critical factors, weighted equally:
1. Repair Affordability: The average cost-per-job for that city based on prices quoted by repair shops
2. Price Disparity Range: The percentage variance between the lowest price quoted and the highest price quoted in each market
3. Shop Integrity Factor: The percentage of shops that shifted their original quoted price by more than 5% when presented with an industry standard price estimate“If you are one of the 88% of car owners who feel that they are not getting a fair shake at the repair shop** … this report shows that you are probably right,” said AutoMD.com President Shane Evangelist. “Repair shop quotes in more than half of the cities for the same job had a variance from lowest to highest of over 150% – with over two-thirds of the shops overall changing their price quote when presented with an industry standard price.”
Underscoring that few car owners are immune to the challenges of repair shop pricing, Evangelist noted that even in Memphis, the report’s top ranked city, there was a 135% price quote disparity – with one in four of the city’s repair shops tested changing its quote when presented with an industry standard price.
“With such drastic quote fluctuations within each city — and a chronic lack of integrity in the actual prices quoted — consumers clearly need to arm themselves with research before setting foot in the repair shop,” continued Evangelist. “The bottom line is that information is power; and, fortunately, car owners now have access to online tools so they can compare local repair shops, establish a local market repair invoice price and make sure that they get a fair deal at the repair shop.”
* Designated Market Area
**A recent AutoMD.com survey shows that 88% of car-owners have felt overcharged at the repair shop, with 74% reporting the shop either suggested or charged them for repairs not needed.About AutoMD
AutoMD.com ™ (www.automd.com), a wholly-owned subsidiary of US Auto Parts Network, Inc., (Nasdaq:PRTS), is the most comprehensive and unbiased free online automotive repair resource designed to empower car owners with the best way to repair their vehicles. Backed by a team of automotive data specialists and certified auto mechanics who are advocates for the car owner, AutoMD.com allows both car owners and DIYers to 1. Diagnose car problems, 2. Know how much auto repairs should cost, 3. Understand the steps needed and the time it should take with How-to Auto Repair guides, and 4. Find the right local auto repair shop at the right price for their issue.Unlike other repair sites, AutoMD.com does not rely on revenue from repair shops or dealerships, so car owners can rest assured that AutoMD.com repair shop listings are completely unbiased and designed to help car owners choose the best, most affordable shop for their vehicle issue.
