Trust is the most important factor for car owners choosing their service outlet.

A survey, conducted with 1,000 respondents by BookMyGarage.com, reveals that 53% said they use a preferred garage because they trust them to resolve the issue with their car, or because they have used the same garage for years.

Only 3% of the UK population selects its garage because it is a well-known brand.

For some the most attractive factor was the business’s speed, efficiency and expertise.

One in five said that the quick diagnosis of their car problem, and knowledgeable help, was their primary motivation for choosing a garage.

One in 10 made the decision to use a garage based on the availability of online booking.

London leads the way in online bookings, with 32% booking car services this way, with the South East showing 28%.

The North West and Wales show 9% of bookings online.

Money worries

UK motorists fear being cheated more than anything else when they book a garage, with three quarters (74%) stating that being oversold or facing hidden costs were their main worries. Then 38% were concerned about being oversold, while 36% feared hidden costs.

Money fears outweighed concerns about poor customer service. Only 9% fear poor service when booking a garage.

Reputation

Reputation came out as the deciding factor for respondents when choosing a suitable garage.

The survey found that just over half of respondents (54%) cited it as the main reason for selecting one garage over another.

A fixed-price promise was also incredibly important to 1 in 4 participants (26%).

Door to door

Businesses offering collection and delivery came out on top according to almost half (46%) of the UK sample.

A drop off service rated well in the overall survey, with 32% selecting this option, making a total of 78% of respondents focusing on logistics of the service as the defining factor when making a booking.

Age differences

Looking at the age of respondents a drop off service is important to just over one in three of 18-24 year olds (37%), whereas only 14% of 65+ respondents value this service highly, preferring collection and delivery (56%).

BookMyGarage.com is an interactive booking directory of garages launched by the Motorist’s Organisation, which allows motorists to get prices for their car’s servicing, MoT, and repair requirements from more than 5,000 UK garages.