A good half of car owners had their last service or repair carried out by a brand-affiliated garage and 27 percent by an independent garage. Only three percent of vehicle owners drove to a branch of a quick service chain such as A.T.U or Pit-Stop for their last workshop visit. This was the result of the Trend-Tacho survey conducted by the trade magazine "kfz-betrieb" and the expert organization KÜS. 89 percent of drivers have not changed their garage in the past 24 months.



In response to the question "What criteria did you use to choose your garage?", 28 percent said "good experience with the service work". This was followed by the following reasons: "The garage is close to my home" (26%), "I bought my new car there" (21%), "The garage is professionally competent" (17%) and "The garage was recommended to me". What is striking here is that "good value for money" (13%) is only in sixth place.



The loyalty of car drivers to their garage is impressive: 89% of respondents stated that they had not changed their garage in the past 24 months. Of the eleven percent who nevertheless decided to change their garage last year, 23 percent cited "buying a new car" as the reason. Another 23 percent said that "garage prices were too high" and 14 percent switched due to the "poor location of the garage".



Two thirds of drivers believe that independent garages are just as competent as the authorized dealerships of vehicle manufacturers and importers. In addition, every second respondent stated that the service competence of A.T.U was just as high as that of the brand-affiliated car dealerships. However, 43 percent were of a different opinion in this regard and attested to the better work performance and greater expertise of the brand-name workshops.



The complete Trend-Tacho study with all the survey results on service competence and the price image of brand-affiliated and independent garages, as well as on drivers' online use, is available for just 49 euros. E-mail: info@kfz-betrieb.de.



"kfz-betrieb" is the most widely read trade magazine in the automotive industry and has been informing the automotive trade and service sector for 100 years. "kfz-betrieb" is the official organ of the German Motor Vehicle Trade (ZDK), the professional interest group for around 38,000 car dealerships and workshops. Daily news from the entire automotive industry is available at www.kfz-betrieb.de and in the daily newsletter. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of the leading German providers of specialist information with around 100 trade journals and 60 websites as well as numerous international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrates its 120th anniversary in 2011.