The Automotive Aftermarket's Only
Independant News Source!

I guess as a journalist, it is natural to be a bit cynical. It kind of goes with the territory. Especially when someone releases a so-called research study with data that either makes themselves or their product look good. Those types of reports are naturally looked at with a very skeptical eye.

Back in late February, AutoMD.com — a wholly-owned subsidiary of US Auto Parts Network Inc. based in Carson, CA, and self-designated “unbiased free online auto repair resource” — sent forth results of its Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report. For the report, AutoMD.com used mystery shoppers who conducted a “fairness check” of more than 600 shops in the Top 50 Designated Market Areas (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. [Editor’s Note: Pep Boys is not a franchise. It is AutoMD that refers to Pep Boys as a franchise.]

AutoMD.com sought to measure what it terms “pricing integrity,” calling the shops back two weeks later with an industry standard price estimate, defining for the report: the repair affordability, defined as the average cost-per-job for each city; the price disparity range, defined as the percentage variance between the lowest price quoted and the highest price quoted within each DMA; and the shop integrity factor, defined as the percentage of shops that changed the original quoted price by more than 5 percent when presented with the industry standard pricing.

According to the report, Memphis ranked as the best city for fairness and consistency of prices quoted in auto repair, while Chicago ranked as the worst. Even in the report’s top-ranked city, there was a 135-percent price quote disparity — with one in four of the Memphis repair shops tested changing its quote when presented with an industry standard price. And, based on a previous AutoMD.com survey of car owners that showed that 88 percent of car owners have felt overcharged at the repair shop — with 74 percent reporting the shop either suggested or charged them for repairs not needed — the Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report rankings just reinforces the notion that consumers are generally taken advantage of or ripped off when it comes to auto repairs.

“If you are one of the 88 percent 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 percent — with more than two-thirds of the shops overall changing their price quote when presented with an industry standard price.”

So, what is the automotive service consumer to do in such a treacherous environment? Obviously, armed with the knowledge that AutoMD.com offers, consumers can protect themselves against all the unscrupulous repair professionals that are out there waiting to rip them off.

“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,” Evangelist said. “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.”

Well, that all sounds simple, straight-forward and direct, but even someone like me who has never earned a dollar turning a wrench or running a repair facility knows that there is plenty of money to be earned being honest and upfront. Therefore, there is little incentive to deceive customers. At the same, simple logic tells me that, depending on the varied estimating systems employed in shops, how each shop approaches a job, and how thorough the service and repair will be done can create a great variance in the price estimate for a simple job like a front brake replacement on a Ford Focus.

I don’t deny there are problems related to the perception of honesty concerning our industry, but I don’t believe reports like this really help the situation in any way. Such overly-simplified analysis can only falsely reinforce in the minds of the public the misconception that auto repair is a license to steal. And, that helps no one associated with our industry.

Gary A. Molinaro
Editor/Publisher