We immediately need to tell you that there is no clear answer on this one. Both of these have advantages and disadvantages and, depending on your preferences and the type of car you are driving, one or the other might be a better option.

What are they?

A general workshop is just that. It gives almost any kind of service that your car might need. In most cases they will also deal with procuring parts along with diagnostics and servicing.

Specialty workshops can greatly differ in kinds. They can be specialized in dealing with one particular kind of repairs. For example, they can deal with brakes, performance improvements exhausts, automatic gearboxes, body repairs, air conditioning or glass repairs. On the other hand, they can also be specialized in a particular car brand, or even model.

Going To General Workshops

They have a wide knowledge and their wide spread knowledge allows them to often diagnose more complicated issues. This makes them better at diagnosis than specialty workshops who specialize in one kind of repairs, but not better than those who specialize in a particular brand.

However, the greatest advantage of putting your trust in a general workshop is the fact that you develop a relationship with the people who work there. You’ll be visiting them for each and every thing you need assistance with, and you can use their services even when you change your car and go for another brand. Anyone who has visited workshops many times knows how important it is to have complete trust in your mechanic. Add to this the fact that you will be using the same mechanic for almost everything on your car and this trust becomes even more important. Moreover, they are often noticeably cheaper than specialty workshops.

On the other hand, there is no way a general workshop can have in-depth knowledge about every car brand and particular kind of repairs.

Visiting Specialty Workshops

As you can probably guess by now, a specialty workshop should be well-equipped, have in-depth knowledge and all the required tools – for one kind of a repair or brand. They should do that one particular thing far better than any general workshop. Basically, the only downside to using specialty workshops is the fact that vast majority of them you will see very few times, or just once. For example, you’ll fix your transmission once and never enter the transmission workshop again. Moreover, you’ll have to do research for every single issue to find the best specialty option.

On the other hand, if you are loyal to one particular brand, a specialty workshop that specializes in that brand might be the best option. You will be able to test them and develop a relationship that lasts over several models of cars and they are sure to have proper expertise and equipment.

The Verdict

We’ve told you in the beginning that there is no definite answer to which one is better. However, some things seem obvious.

Generally speaking, if you are driving a common car, a general workshop should work just fine. They should have the equipment for common cars, as they are mostly dealing with them anyway. This also gives them enough experience with such models.

If you are driving less common cars, vastly expensive sports or luxury cars, or some special edition models, specialty workshops should be your choice. Moreover, if you own such cars, paying more for a specialty workshop service should not be a problem.