: >> Then why not go to Honda Dealer ? All work is warranteed for 1 year. : >>
: >> Lynn : >>
: >>
: >
: > Because some dealers are good and some are bad. Also, turnover at a : > dealer is sometimes high and you don't really know who will be working on : > your car. : >
: > Another problem with dealers is that you have to talk to an relatively : > uninformed person, the "service writer" and rarely speak with the actual : > mechanic. Find a good independent specialist and you can communicate : > directly with the owner and/or mechanics. : >
: > Good independents are well worth supporting when you have one available. : >
: > John : >
: John you are correct when you say when you have one available. : : However just from my consumer point of view since I am not connected with : the industry, I see that in the next ten years the indy shop will become as : rare as the white rhino in Africa. : : With the enormous cost of new diagnostic equipment and highly specialized : and ever changing skills needed to service more and more technologically : sophisticated electronics and advanced power plants (read hybrid and the : hydrogen fuel cell) there will be no chance for the small indy shop to : survive. I don't think that a shop can make a go of it even as a brake shop. : At some point the manufacturers will devise a brake system that is so : reliant on electronics that you will need a dealer out of necessity to do : the service. : : I am not saying which is better, but just stating what I see as the future : of auto service. : I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but in the Atlanta area, where I live now, I have my pick of at least two independent shops that can handle p retty much anything my current cars need (except alignment, and I have good options for that too). That's what I'm looking for in Houston. When I need someone to service my fuel-cell-powered flying rocket car in 10 years, I'll go to a dealer if I have to.
I've had mixed luck with dealers, although I will say I've done better with the Honda dealers here than with dealers for the other cars (other makes) that we've owned before.
Good idea on the Car Talk site -- I'll take a look.
Paul