For many motorists, getting their car repaired creates another problem:
How are they going to get around while their car is in the workshop?
A customer may be perfectly happy with your quote and trust your garage, but if they need their car for work, the school run or everyday life, leaving it with you for the day isn't always straightforward.
That's why some independent garages offer courtesy cars, vehicle collection and delivery, or both.
But these services aren't free for the garage to provide.
Courtesy cars need to be purchased, maintained and managed. Collection and delivery requires staff time and careful scheduling.
So, are they actually worth offering?
From our conversations with independent garages across East Sussex, Kent, Essex and London, we've seen that convenience can be an important part of why customers choose one garage over another.
But the right solution will depend on your customers, location and workshop.
Here's what to consider.
Price isn't the only thing motorists consider when choosing a garage.
Imagine a customer needs a full service.
Garage A charges £220 but the customer needs to arrange a taxi home and another one to collect the car.
Garage B charges £235 but can collect the vehicle from the customer's home and return it when the work is finished.
For some customers, Garage B immediately becomes the more attractive option.
That's because customers aren't simply comparing the cost of the service.
They're comparing the whole experience.
Making life easier for the customer can therefore become a genuine competitive advantage.
Being the cheapest isn't always what wins the booking. Read Should Your Garage Compete on Price Alone? to see why value, trust and convenience can matter just as much.
Courtesy cars are particularly useful when customers need to leave their vehicle with you for several hours or longer.
They can work well for:
For customers who depend heavily on their vehicle, knowing they'll still have transport can remove one of the biggest barriers to booking.
Courtesy cars may also help you attract customers who would otherwise choose a main dealer or larger garage offering similar facilities.
Courtesy vehicles come with costs and administration.
Depending on how your garage operates, you'll need to consider things such as:
You also need a clear process for recording the condition of the vehicle before and after each loan.
For a small independent garage, maintaining several courtesy cars may simply not make commercial sense.
That's where collection and delivery can become interesting.
Instead of giving the customer another vehicle, you collect theirs.
For example, a customer in Brighton could have their car collected from home in the morning, serviced during the day and returned that afternoon.
Or a garage in Essex might collect vehicles from customers' workplaces within a defined local area.
For motorists working from home, retired customers or households with another vehicle available, this can be extremely convenient.
It can also require less capital than maintaining a fleet of courtesy cars.
But it still isn't free.
Someone needs to collect and return those vehicles.
One of the easiest mistakes is offering collection and delivery across too large an area.
A 15-minute collection might be worthwhile.
A 45-minute journey through London traffic could tie up a member of staff for a considerable amount of time.
Think about setting a defined radius or collection area.
A garage in East Sussex might cover a handful of nearby towns, while a business operating in London may need a much smaller geographical radius because journey times are longer.
The important thing is understanding the actual cost to your business.
When calculating whether collection and delivery is worthwhile, garages sometimes focus only on collecting the vehicle.
But somebody needs to:
That's potentially four journeys.
If two employees are required for collection, the labour cost can increase further.
Before offering the service widely, calculate how much staff time each collection genuinely requires.
Possibly.
Customers don't necessarily expect every convenience to be free.
You might choose to:
What matters is making the terms clear before the customer books.
Don't advertise “free collection” and then surprise somebody with restrictions afterwards.
This is where the idea becomes particularly interesting.
Suppose Tuesday is regularly quieter than Friday.
You could potentially offer local collection and delivery on selected quieter days.
That gives customers an additional reason to choose an appointment when your workshop has greater availability.
Rather than discounting your labour rate to fill the diary, you're adding convenience.
That can protect your margins while still giving customers a reason to book.
If quieter periods are a wider challenge for your business, read How Can Your Garage Fill Empty Workshop Slots? for more practical ways to improve workshop utilisation.
Not every customer needs a courtesy car.
Not every customer wants collection and delivery either.
But these services can be particularly valuable to:
Understanding your customer base matters.
A garage near a railway station may have very different requirements from one serving rural parts of Kent or East Sussex.
Independent garages often think they have to beat larger competitors primarily on price.
They don't.
Main dealers frequently sell an entire customer experience: online booking, vehicle collection, courtesy cars, comfortable waiting areas and regular updates.
Independent garages don't need to copy everything they do.
But removing some of the inconvenience associated with having a car repaired can make your business considerably more attractive.
You can still offer the things independent garages are particularly good at, personal service, local knowledge, flexibility and direct communication, while making the booking experience easier.
A convenient first experience can also encourage motorists to use you again. Read How Can Your Garage Get More Repeat Customers? for more ways to build long-term customer relationships.
You don't need to buy five courtesy cars tomorrow.
Test demand.
Ask customers:
“Would collection and delivery make things easier for you?”
Track how often customers request courtesy vehicles.
Experiment with offering local collection on one or two days each week.
You may discover there's substantial demand.
Or you may find that very few customers need it.
Either answer is useful because you're making the decision based on your customers rather than assumptions.
Whichever booking options you offer, protecting those appointments matters too. Read How Can Your Garage Reduce No-Shows and Last-Minute Cancellations? for practical ways to reduce wasted workshop time.
There's no universal answer.
Courtesy cars may work particularly well for customers who need transport throughout the day and for garages regularly carrying out longer repairs.
Collection and delivery can work well when customers simply need the inconvenience of getting their vehicle to the workshop removed.
Some garages may benefit from offering both.
Others may decide neither is financially worthwhile.
The important question isn't:
“What do other garages offer?”
It's:
“What would make it easier for our customers to book with us?”
That's the question worth answering.
Garages naturally spend a lot of time thinking about prices, labour rates and competitors.
But motorists don't make decisions based on price alone.
They also think about trust, location, availability, reviews and convenience.
If two garages have similar reputations and similar prices, something as simple as collecting the customer's vehicle could be what wins the booking.
For independent garages across East Sussex, Kent, Essex and London, that makes convenience worth thinking about as part of the overall customer experience.
You don't necessarily need expensive facilities or a fleet of vehicles.
Sometimes, simply removing one inconvenience from the customer's day can be enough to make your garage easier to choose.
Should independent garages offer courtesy cars?
It depends on customer demand and whether the cost and administration make commercial sense. Courtesy cars can be particularly useful for longer repairs and customers who rely heavily on their vehicle.
Is vehicle collection and delivery worth offering?
It can be, particularly within a defined local area. Garages should calculate the staff time and travel involved before deciding whether to offer the service free or charge for it.
Should garages charge customers for courtesy cars?
The approach varies between businesses. Whatever you decide, make any charges, insurance requirements and conditions clear to the customer before the booking.
How far should a garage travel to collect a customer's car?
There's no ideal distance. Base the decision on journey times rather than mileage alone, particularly in congested areas such as London. The service needs to remain commercially viable.
Can collection and delivery help garages get more bookings?
Potentially. Removing the inconvenience of getting a vehicle to and from the workshop may make your garage more attractive, particularly to customers with limited transport options.
Convenience only helps if customers know your garage is there.
Compare Repair connects independent garages with motorists actively searching for MOTs, servicing and repairs across East Sussex, Kent, Essex and London.
There are no joining fees, no monthly subscriptions and no long-term contracts. You simply pay when a customer books through the platform.
Bring the customer through the door, give them a great experience, and you've got the opportunity to build a relationship that lasts far beyond their first booking.
Join Compare Repair and start reaching more local motorists today.
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