Auto repair: Learn to get car repair quotes, costs, cheap spare parts and accessories

Admit it, like small kids you only love your car when it drives smoothly but when everything breaks, you feel like you don’t want to see it anymore for fear of the repair costs. The best way to solve your problem with minimal costs is to seek out expert help and get quotes and estimates for repair yourself! This way you’ll know what to do and can therefore manage your budget . Follow these:

1.  Ask a friend or your neighbors for a referral. Reputation counts much as going to a place that’s popular will save you from overcharging, scams and unnecessary repairs or charges.

2.  Visit a repair center (maybe you can get a free estimate) and ask for a summary of what is wrong with your car. This way you’ll know what is wrong with your car and whenever you’re in doubt you can contact other repair centers and compare costs on estimates.

3.  Contacting more repair centers in your area will certainly help you see if the quote you got is fair. Here on, you can compare summarized estimates (repair, parts, labor costs, miscellaneous charges etc.) generally, labor cost is the number of hours spent in the repair multiplied by the hourly charge of the car service.

4.  Ask for a written estimate. It helps to have the estimate as reference even Though the final cost may vary when other hidden problems are revealed when you bring your car in. If however your charges end up way higher than your quote, never hesitate to ask or complain to the shop manager and together sort out a satisfactory solution.
As a last note to save more on your car repair budget, it will greatly help if you also know where to get quality spare parts at a price that’s just right or get discounts when you buy.

Before setting off on a hunt, take note of the following essential information.

Know your car basics (year, make, model, engine etc.) and transmission (manual, automatic) and air conditioning. Try to scour as many dealerships as you can and have web access ready in case you want to conduct price comparisons online.

Once you’ve had these things noted, then you can follow these:

1. Learn to look the other way. Though it might seem convenient that your car dealer is the source for quality auto parts, be open that you’ll save like say a dollar at a parts department dealership.  Even if it is true that dealers are the only place around where you can get hard to find spare parts and accessories, you will certainly chance upon a good supply for less at a small auto parts store!

2. Browse and order online! The internet is a very good source of top quality spare parts and accessories and with the fierce competition among dealerships you can get greater value for your money. All you need to do by the way is to browse and compare prices as to which suits you best.

3. Take a look at Specialty web sites. Specialty websites are another option in your search as they provide a large inventory of parts and accessories and they also offer shipping and handling. Most often, specialty sites offer big discounts and promos.

4. There are still usable parts in the junk! Junkyards and recycling facilities can save you hundreds of dollars on some parts where getting a brand new one at a dealership would have cost you higher.
5. Ask friends or other drivers. Remember that nothing beats word of mouth, so it is also good to ask around for the best place to go.  

Follow these tips and you’ll be heaving a sigh of relief over normally costly car repairs.


Drive safely.

Jovir Amatong
jamatong@ibcjapan.co.jp