isn't the case with car repairs (or any other repairs for that matter) that you don't know the exact cause of the problem?

i guess you could just post "typical costs for generic faults" and "cost for examination and diagnostics" and compare those? the customer rating the whole thing might be good though.

monocultured,

yes you are right, most often you have to diagnose the problem first, and the repair shops could bid on maknig the diagnostic too as you said.

Sometimes however you know the problem, and sometime also you had the diagnosis done some place but you estimate that the price asked for the repair is too high and you wanna go somewhere else - actually I had all cases happen to me recently.

The most important part is really the customer feedback, it took me many years to learn about the honest and the no-so-honests repair shops in my area, and I wish I could have resorted to pier advice that would have saved me time and money...

Autobody shops in Calgary have a waiting list for repairs, sometimes taking up to six months to get a spot. Most of these shops do not need to bid on jobs.

A simple consumers forum in your area, could yield the information you need from other customers. It would not involve the shops, but it wouldn't hurt to make them aware of their service rating?

GGG.

Its a great idea to have Repair Centres looking for my custom rather than me ringing around looking for somebody with whom I can book in my vehicle.

A lot of small workshops without a huge marketing budget could establish themselves as reputable and reasonably priced places to get your car fixed.

I could send them an MP3 track of my rattling clutch, perhaps! Perhaps that would help with diagnosis (Only joking - I think!)

( CHECK OUT MY OWN IDEA @ http://www.cambrianh...er/ideas-id/EmAM4rv/ )

There is always work for repair shops why would they take this time to do this?