Auto Repair Shops

The Spanish fleet is one of the oldest in Europe: 35% of the 19 million passenger cars on our roads are over a decade old, and 10% over 20 years. Motorists spend an average of 433 per year on car maintenance, which have a workshop on average 2.4 times a year. And even though the vehicles are getting better, motorists spend 34% more visits to the workshop five years ago and come to them only a little less than before. Have increased work associated with vehicle air conditioning, electronics and compressors have decreased while more traditional tasks such as changing spark plugs, brake pads and exhaust pipes.

Another Spanish peculiarity is the atomization of the sector: nearly 52,000 shops operating various types (premium small) rather than in Germany and France combined. And it only takes the car to a garage official representative of your brand while it is under warranty: During its first year of life for almost 80% of cars seen only official repairers for its brand, but the proportion drops precipitously over time, staying in a bare 38% in the fourth year. Since 1986, the legislation requires repair and maintenance of vehicles to meet certain requirements, including the obligation to prepare a written estimate before repairs and to show the rates for labor.

CONSUMER Technical Eroski, posing as customers, recently visited 200 of these workshops in 13 cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Malaga, Bilbao, A Coruña, Oviedo, Pamplona, Vitoria, San Sebastian, Murcia and Zaragoza), 78 of them were independent or traditional (not linked to any other label), 60 were official dealer workshops and the remaining 62 marks were fast mechanical or franchise.

Although the law requires them to do so, more than half of the 200 workshops studied exhibited no charges for labor and 35% refused to prepare a written estimate

It was found in all the information provided to the user (both verbally and displayed on posters or panels) and in compliance with the rule governing, among other things, exposure of plates and identification numbers, and information warranty repair and labor charges. 13 cars were used, all of medium or low range, one for each city, and asked in the workshops the price of a basic check (oil levels, windshield wipers and antifreeze, state and belt tension, condition of tires, pads and discs, dust and slacks, shock absorbers and exhaust line) unchanged liquids or replacement of parts or components, and also the cost of battery replacement. In all the workshops are asked for a written estimate.
However, the report's main conclusion is that often the information received by the customer in the workshops is insufficient and violates the rule to not have plate-mark on the outside (18% of the workshops), exhibit no charges for labor (55%) did not show the hours of the workshop (40%) and not reporting the existence of the book of complaints (62%), or the right to receive a written estimate (70%) or warranty of at least three months or 3,000 miles which have all repairs (64% of shops surveyed.)

Another observation: one in three shops refused to give a written estimate EROSKI CONSUMER technician (who introduced himself as another client), although they are by law obliged to do so and that they reiterated several times this requirement. Among the reasons adduced employees of the workshops were recorded more or less reasonable excuses ("is not in charge of preparing the budget," or "we have to do a deeper review of the vehicle), but others were just as unacceptable as do not usually written estimate, "" never asked us, "does not work the computer" or "I walk with a lot of work and I have time." But only 3% of the workshops that the workshops that made the written estimate charged for the preparation of that (the price was from 10 to 25 euros).