Confused on the Price of Independent vs Dealer. How can it be cheaper?

The Independent is cheaper for several reasons: 1) less over head, cheaper building rent etc. 2) most dealerships are owned and run by car sales people who often use a 'gotcha' attitude, in that they pray people';s fear that 'only the dealer can work on my car, no one knows how' 3) the service writers are commission who can basically charge what ever they can get, don't think that a 2 service writers standing next to one another will give you the same quote! Shall I keep going? I started out in huge Dealerships, but i like the one to one interaction with the customer, which is almost unheard of with a dealership technician. Independent shops only have their work to generate service revenue, there is no guaranteed factory warranty flow, recalls etc.

they dont have all the overhead like parts in stock that a lot of money to have on hand plus there build payments or rent

Oh, Dan, you're killin' me here... A shop is only as good as its leadership...you would agree, yeah? I agree with the comment about being in a smaller shop and having great interaction to be sure, and I do agree that some facilities have inappropriate leadership styles that lose sight of taking care of a customer -- instead focusing on the almighty dollar. However, my operations are more about relationship building, understanding a client's car, being informative and gaining a customer for life. It is true that you must be wary. But this is also true for many independent shops, who in some cases do not have the resources to support the training and equipment needed to keep on the edge of evoloving technologies... Ah, my two cents. For me, it's all about relationships and rappore and you can find that both at many indpendents as well as dealerships.