Consumers prefer neighborhood shops.

Independent neighborhood automotive repair shops rated higher than other service outlets in five out of seven categories in a study commissioned by the Yellow Pages Publishers Association for the Automotive Service Association. They scored higher in the categories of honesty/integrity, pricing fairness, responsiveness, answer questions, and friendliness, receiving scores of 6.74, 6.47, 6.91, 6.81, and 7.24, respectively, on a scale of one to 10, with one being "very unfavorable" and 10 being "very favorable." They trailed in the categories of cleanliness/appearance and management.

The "Automotive Service Advertising & Perceptions Study" surveyed a random sample of consumers and asked them to rate their perceptions of independent neighborhood automotive repair shops, automotive service franchises, new...