Dealers offer expertise, but factories should help them stay competitive on repairs

Even though my car is long out of warranty, I still look to the dealer first for service. If I am not going to fix the car myself, I am willing to pay more for genuine factory parts installed by a pair of factory-trained hands, especially if the repair involves a nonregular, nonmaintenance job that requires deep surgery.

Knowing that job is going to be done properly the first time by a technician who knows my car inside and out is, to me, worth paying a premium.

But of the three repairs my 2010 Mini Cooper S needed recently, the dealer won just one. I did the front brake job myself in my driveway using high-quality aftermarket Bosch pads and sensors I purchased for $90, or about 20 percent less than the local Mini dealer's parts department charges. I could have bought those same replacement parts on Amazon for even less, around $70, but I didn't want to wait for them to be delivered. I also saved the roughly $154-per-hour labor rate that most dealers charge.

A leaky thermostat housing is a common issue on Mini Coopers of that era. When mine began dripping in December, the first thing I did was check the do-it-yourself repair videos on YouTube to see if this was a job that fell within my decent repair skill set and one that I had the proper tools to carry out. The part could be purchased for as little as $34 on eBay. But the thermostat housing is buried in the engine bay, requiring the removal of many components, several of which have multiple electrical connections. That combined with cold weather — I have an unheated garage — convinced me to let the Mini dealer tackle this one. Even though the total bill was $620, there was good value there, and I was happy with the service and price. Let me explain.

To get a taxi ride home from the dealership and back again (I don't use Uber or Lyft) would have cost about $50. The dealer's shuttle saved me from spending that. The new, genuine BMW thermostat housing has a 2-year/unlimited-mileage warranty. If it breaks, BMW replaces it and covers the entire repair. If an aftermarket thermostat housing fails within a year, you might be able to return it for a replacement, but you'll pay again for the labor to install it. Finally, as with many dealers, my Mini store treated my car to a free full inspection.

The dealer uses the Hunter Quick Check system, so as the car was driven into the bay, the alignment and tire depth were checked. It was disappointing to learn that three of the four new Michelin tires I had installed in 2018 were wearing out after just 16,000 miles. I never would have thought of checking the tread so soon after installing new tires, but after this winter, they'll be replaced.

Since I bought the car used, I had concerns about the health of the battery, but it checked out. So did all the other fluids and, of course, the brakes. That inspection added value to the repair. So did a coupon for $50 off an oil service, another job I am loath to do in the driveway during a Detroit winter. Even though I could have done the thermostat housing job myself or paid an independent garage to do it for less, this experience shows how the dollar figure on the repair order doesn't always tell the whole story.

But a replacement windshield is where my Mini dealer didn't come close to winning my business. Henderson Glass, a national chain, charges $252 to replace the windshield on a 2010 Cooper. My dealer quoted $740. I am willing to pay a little extra for a Mini-branded windshield, but not close to $500 more. It's an expense I can't justify. On common repairs such as windshield replacements, the factory needs to help dealers be more competitive with aftermarket shops.

My colleague Larry P. Vellequette was quoted $600 for the purchase and installation of two small electrical switches into the tailgate of his wife's 2014 Fiat 500. But that tailgate was damaged in an accident and needed bodywork and paint. Today, the car is fixed, but Larry's dealer got nothing. Larry found a tailgate the same color in a local junkyard and had it shipped to a body shop and installed for $675. The dealer would have been given the repair job if the switches cost less, Larry says. Moral of the story: Amazon, eBay, scrapyards are a just a few of the places people are shopping and saving money.

I think it's time automakers do more to help dealers compete on price with independent garages, especially for 6- to 10-year-old cars. The factory markup on parts is often 40 percent or more. Could the automakers lower that margin as vehicles age and use these lower prices as well as the spiffs the service department provides — such as inspections, shuttle service and discount coupons — to boost retention of out-of-warranty cars?