Industry Guide · 16 chapters · first chapter coming soon
Google Ads for Auto Repair: Chains Sell the $24.95 Oil Change. Independent Shops Win the Car Once It Needs a Real Repair.
An independent repair shop bids against national chains advertising oil change coupons, franchise owners, tire stores, dealer service departments and marketing platforms that run many shops' ads. Drivers search for a part, a noise or a warning light, and one bad repair review in five says the shop pushed work the car didn't need. These sixteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order we build them, using real searches, websites, ads and customer reviews from one example market, Portland, Oregon. Your numbers will differ. The method works for repair shops anywhere in the US.
A $24.95 Oil Change and a Transmission Repair Share a Shop. They Shouldn't Share an Ad Group.
New account? Chapter 1 comes first. Each chapter uses the setup from the ones before it.
Measure
Count calls, forms and online bookings, then the repair orders they turned into
Count the Booking Widget
Warning Lights vs Shop Searches
Price the Car, Not the Coupon
Build
One ad group per service or make, bids set by hand, and ads written from what drivers say in reviews
Make Ads, Make Pages
Home AC and Other Noise
The Part and the Noise
Transmission vs Tire Bids
Say What Can Wait
Launch
The Google defaults, ad schedule and call hours to set before the first click
After-Hours Ads, Call Hours
Scale
Wider campaigns once Search shows which repairs book
Performance Max Learns What You Count
Repair Shoppers, Not Car Shoppers
Local Services Ads Without the Badge
AI Max and Your Own Website
Auto Repair
Bonus chapters: the dealer warranty myth, diagnostic fees and estimates, and car makes in your ads
Bonus: The Dealer Warranty Myth
Bonus: Diagnostic Fees and Estimates
Bonus: Car Makes and the Dealer Line
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on the brake, diagnostic, oil change and other repair searches you know book cars, plus your shop name in a campaign of its own.
Exploration
Broad match with a target CPA once the account logs about 30 quality conversions a month. Busier shops get there sooner.
Performance Max
The usual pace, not the rule. It waits for about 30 quality conversions a month, held steady, and it learns from the bookings you choose to count.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
Video for drivers Google sees shopping for repair, Local Services Ads tested alongside Search, and AI Max last, once your website says one thing everywhere.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Counting calls, bookings and the repairs they became comes before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Specialize in one make?
Google lets you bid on car makes. Read how your ad has to say you aren't the dealer first.
Chapter 16 →One example market
Examples come from repair shops, chains and dealers around Portland, Oregon, described as we found them. Your numbers will differ; the method is the same.
Chapter 05 →Google Ads for Auto Repair
The Chains Sell the Oil Change. You Sell the Shop That Says What Can Wait.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.