As you consider where to take your car for maintenance and repairs, it is important that you first understand what difference there is between auto repair and auto maintenance. The routine maintenance guidelines are those recommended maintenance items that you will often have in your vehicle’s owner’s manual which are your vehicle’s model’s service plan or schedule. These are generally aimed at ensuring that your vehicle is operating at its top most condition. As for repairs, these are the services that you will have performed on your vehicle as a means to help fix some issue that the vehicle may have developed. From these, we see the fact that where you will be taking your vehicle will be a factor to be determined by what it is that you want to be fixed or done on your car.
By and large, the routine maintenance as given in your operator’s manual can be performed at any dealership out there. As such, you will not necessarily have to go to the shop from where you had the car bought for the scheduled maintenance services. Alternatively, there are the independent auto repair shops or franchises which can offer you these necessary services to your car and they have generally been found to be far less expensive as compared to what you would have from the dealerships. And as per the provisions under federal law, you are at liberty to take your car for such services from any auto repair shop of your choice without such an action affecting your warranty anyway. Though, you would be highly advised to look at your contract for these may give some stipulations as far as the need to fix such issues and ensure that your car is well maintained goes. Some contracts may demand that lessees have their services done at some specific dealership.
The mechanics at your dealership will typically be trained and as well have the requisite certifications in all the service aspects of the model that you own and the given shop will as well be equipped with the necessary equipment for diagnosis. But all said and done, looking at the fact that the maintenance items are often rather basic, any professional auto shop would be in a position to perform the necessary tasks for maintenance for your vehicle. You however need to make sure that the auto shop to which you take your vehicle for repairs and maintenance indeed have the latest technical service bulletins which are basically the necessary resources containing the instructions on the way to fix some of the common problems that your model may develop from time to time.
Repairs can be quite wide ranging, from such basic tasks as brake jobs or auto body repairs to the more complicated services like you may have in doing an overhaul to a transmission system and diagnosing the ECS. In case your car is still covered under the original warranty and you want your manufacturer to cover or pay for the fixes, then you may be advised to get these done from a dealership near you.