These are the best panel beaters in every major province across South Africa
Analytics company Lightstone has released a new report ranking the best panel beaters in South Africa.
To determine the best, the analytics group focused on a number of factors including the panel beaters most likely to be recommended for fixing the car right the first time, fixing the car on time, who is the most professional and who rates best for friendliness.
Bayesian statistical methods and multilevel models were applied to the data gathered, and the final results were based on more than 40,000 vehicle repair records – with more than 700 panel beaters considered in the final report.
According to the overall leaderboard, Park Panelbeaters is the best in the country, and is also the only panel beater from Gauteng to feature in the top ten.
Brighton Body & Spray (Western Cape) and Auto Trust Body Repairs (Eastern Cape) round out the top three.
Most likely to ‘fix the car right the first time’
Most likely to be ‘ready on time’
How much it costs
In June, Lightstone Consumer released its Labour Rate Report which focuses on how much motor brands charge for labour when servicing your car.
It found that the labour rates can vary heavily across passenger brands – from as little as R300, to as much R1,195 per hour.
On average premium brands (ie luxury brands) will charge around R810 per hour, while volume brands average R587.
“This isn’t unexpected,” said Lightstone Consumer MD, Paul De Vantier.
“Premium Brands are often packed with advanced technology and the level of expertise needed to maintain and repair these vehicles demands highly skilled technicians, and that can be expensive”.
He added that regional pricing differences are understandable and can also be easily explained.
“The overheads in running a 600 square metre workshop in Sandton are much higher than those for a 400 square metre workshop in, say, Vereeniging.”
This means you should be looking to shop around and negotiate once a vehicle is no longer covered by a maintenance or service plan, said Lightstone.
“You should stay with the franchise dealership if you can and at the very least if the car is out of warranty use a brand specialist. Even if it’s slightly more expensive these workshops have the right training and access to specialist tools and parts and that will pay off in the long run,” it said.
Read: Here’s why it costs so much more to get your car serviced in Sandton vs Vereeniging
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