No, you don’t have to take it to the dealership (Toyota, Ford, Hyundai). HOWEVER, IF you bought a brand-new vehicle, usually they come with a free inspection and factory warranty for a certain number of miles and months. Use it if it is free. These warranties don’t cover, usually, things that wear out for regular use, like batteries or brakes. And they will charge a lot of money for the labor and for the parts.
Usually, if the car is over 3 years old, the warranties and free services expire. For instance, if you are in 2022 and you are driving a 2019 vehicle, your warranty may be expired, or it will expire soon.
After that, take your car to your local favorite mechanic shop. If they are trustworthy, they will charge you a fair price and will not oversell services that you don’t need. If, for instance, you changed the brakes not too long ago and they want to change them, tell them that they are new brakes, and ask them to tell you how much life they have.
We, at the Minivan Store, don’t push for services you don’t need, usually give you the old parts so that you know they were changed, and even make videos so that you can see what is wrong. The way we see it, the most important asset of any mechanic shop is being trustworthy. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is good business. If you oversell services the customer doesn’t need, you may make a quick buck, once. If the customer trust you, you have a customer who will be coming back for many years and will recommend us.
We invite you to be aware of all services we offer for maintenance and major repairs at TMS Repair Services.
