Should I Service my Vehicle at a Dealership?

It’s an important decision… should I service my car at a dealership or at a garage? A common misconception is that it is way more expensive to service at a dealer. However, you will get the most value if you decide to skip on the garage and take your vehicle back to the dealership you bought it from.
 
One of the biggest advantages of taking your car to your dealership is that they know what they’re doing. It is a requirement that the technicians are factory trained and certified. The technicians will know your vehicle better than any local garage. They are specialists in what they do.
 
For example, when you take your car to a Kia Dealership, the technicians there work on Kia vehicles almost 100% of the time. They know what your vehicle needs more than a local garage would. A guy at a local garage may only fix one Kia a month and therefore have little experience.
 
If you’re willing to spend $30,000 for a new vehicle, then wouldn’t you want to make sure it’s in the best hands possible? Taking your new vehicle to a garage may be cheaper in the short-term, but when they put too much oil in the engine and it needs to be replaced, it will cost you in the long-run.
Another reason people refuse to take their vehicles to dealerships is that they assume they are dishonest. However, that really doesn’t make a lot of sense. If a Kia dealership is constantly getting a reputation for ripping customers off, Kia can actually take away their franchise. A dealership takes complaints very seriously, and therefore would want to be as truthful as possible so they could avoid them.
 
Finally, taking your car to a dealership usually isn’t any more expensive than taking it to Jiffy Lube or Walmart. A guy with a local garage should be cheaper, but a company that does car maintenance usually charges the same as a dealer. The only difference is that the dealership is experts in what they are doing, while the independent chain is less experienced working with your particular vehicle.
 
The decision is yours. Either take it to a dealership and make sure your vehicle is being fixed properly, or take it to a local garage where it might be cheaper, but also run the risk of it having bigger problems in the future.
 
Patrick Britton – Guest Blogger