I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially when it involves my fellow Illinoisans, but the truth is, according to AutoMD.com’s Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report, Chicago ranked dead last overall in the very first study ever to analyze how the top-50 most populated cities in the United States stack up when it comes to providing consumers with fair quotes for auto repair.

Sadly, Chicago ranked 46th for Affordability, 30th for Price Disparity Range, and 50th for Shop Integrity. 

Ouch.  That really hurts.

Here’s how it went down:

AutoMD.com mystery shoppers conducted a fairness check of over 600 shops in the top-50 cities, which included a wide range of dealers, independent shops, and franchises like Pep Boys, where they requested quotes on a typical auto repair job:  a front brake replacement job for a Ford Focus.  In order to measure pricing integrity, the mystery shoppers called back two weeks later with an industry standard price estimate.  The best and worst list was then calculated based on each city’s rankings for three critical factors, Repair Affordability, Price Disparity and Shop Integrity. 

1. Repair Affordability:  Chicago ranked 46th among the top 50 US markets for the average price/cost-per-job – with an average quote of $226.00 for the repair.  Miami took the number 1 spot for affordability, with an average quote of $127.00 for the job.

2. Price Disparity Range:  Chicago ranked #30 when it came to the market’s variance in quotes for the same job.  For Chicago, quotes ranged from $150.00 to $425.00, representing a 183% variance. Long Beach, California ranked #1, with the lowest Price Disparity Range of the 50 cities tested.

3. Shop Integrity Factor:  Chicago ranked 50th for Shop Integrity, a measure of the percentage of shops that shifted their original quoted price by more than 5% when presented with an industry standard price estimate. 100% of Chicago shops tested shifted their price. 

With Chicago’s poor marks in affordability, price disparity, and shop integrity, AutoMD.com recommends that Chicago residents compare shops to make sure they receive the best possible repair shop quote before trusting the price quoted for repairs. As always, research is key when it comes to getting a fair price for repairs, so be sure to compare costs, go online for information and to compare repair shops in your area so you can get a fair estimate.

Come on Chicago – we can do better!

For the complete AutoMD.com Advocacy for Repair Shop Fairness Report rankings, click here. (opens in PDF).

Tags: Advice, Automobile Safety, General, Maintenance and Repair // Add Comment »