What Do You Look For In A Body Shop?

Editor's note: This post was originally published on October 2, 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and relevancy.

What is your top priority when choosing a body shop? The answer to this question varies based on gender and age. The folks at mechanicadvisor.com polled close to 900 visitors of their site to ask simply, “What do you look for in a body shop?” That recent survey weighs reputation versus price, and a few other categories as well.

The top answer overall to the main question was reputation. 54% of respondents said that reputation was the reason they chose the mechanic they did. That number went up when you look specifically at female respondents where close to two thirds, 62%, listed reputation as their deciding factor.

Numbers inside the poll reinforce the main answer about reputation. For example, how was that reputation established? The short answer is by establishing trust with another party. According to Mechanic Advisor, “When asked "Which of the following would be most influential to you when deciding where to repair your vehicle?" the top overall results were "Recommendation from family/friend" (26%) and "Online shop reviews" (24%).”

The numbers behind the online shop reviews are interesting as well. When asked “what is most likely to cause you to distrust a mechanic, “22.7% of respondents named "negative online reviews" Among those above the age of 65, 35.7% said "negative online reviews" were the leading factor.” So, as the average age of the respondent crept up, so did the reliance on the online review.

Conversely, there is a story to be told in the age of the respondents. That story, in short, is that once you’ve been burned, you don’t ever want to be burned again. The second highest priority in choosing a mechanic was price. But, if you look closely at the numbers, the folks at Mechanic Advisor tell us, “75% of people between the ages of 18-24 indicated "price" as the most important factor when choosing a mechanic, which was in stark contrast to people above the age of 65, of whom only 12.5% indicated "price" as the most important factor.”

Another story told in this survey is in the type of shop that is viewed as trustworthy. “When asked "What type of mechanic shop do you tend to trust most?" nearly half of respondents (46.7%) answered "Family-owned shops." "Small one-owner shops" was a relatively close second with 30.7% of respondents. "Mobile (traveling) mechanics" got a 10% response with "Multi-shop chains" and "Nationwide corporate chains" garnering 6% and 4% respectively.”