Finding The Best Auto Repair Shop For Your Foreign Car

It's a universal and inevitable problem: There will come a time when you will need some type of auto repair. Perhaps the smartest move you can make as the owner of an automobile, especially a foreign vehicle, is to find a repair shop before you need one. Like having a good doctor, dentist, attorney or plumber on hand, establishing who you are going to hire to work on your vehicle is of high importance.

Finding a local repair shop for a foreign car comes with its own set of challenges. Car parts for foreign vehicles can be difficult to find. Depending on the age and make of the vehicle, parts sometimes need to get ordered from out of town, or even out of the country. This could tie up your vehicle for a time. Make sure the shop you select can offer you a loaner, while yours is being worked on. Do they guarantee their work and for how long?

There are certain certifications that you need to look for when determining what shop to take your vehicle to in the future. Foreign auto parts and electronics are quite different from their American counterparts, and you want to make certain that the auto shop's technicians have been trained and meet the minimum standards to work on your car. Something else to look for in a prospective shop is warranties on the parts that it uses, as well as mechanics and technicians who have certification with Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).

When it comes to teaching mechanics to work with foreign vehicles, Audi is one of the leaders, with eight training centers located all over the U.S. Each of their facilities has one person in charge of their technical training and gets mechanics up to speed on Audi repair, working with at least five different models at a time. As Audi launches new models, the center receives an advance model of the car, and training on the new vehicle begins. The technicians will then go to their local Audi repair facilities, assisting their peers in getting familiar with the new model.

There are over 15 different classes that are offered to Audi repair technicians. They last in duration from one day to eight weeks and include subjects like diagnosing climate control, braking, radio and locking systems, all the way to the proper handling of Audi safety systems. Many other import car companies work in a similar fashion to ensure that they provide proper certification programs for mechanics. A bit of online research will help you find out what kinds of programs there are, and if your local shop has mechanics who have completed this certification.

You can also check online reviews of a prospective shop (looking for review trends rather than isolated incidents), as well as your local Better Business Bureau to make sure there have been no major complaints filed on the repair shop of your choice. Knowing how to find a good auto repair facility in advance will pay its dividends to both your vehicle and your wallet.