Foreign cars enjoy service of Turkish mechanics

Turks living in Europe, who do not want to pay much for labor and spare parts in the countries they reside in, flock to auto industry sites during their visits to Türkiye.

Mechanics and repair shop owners attribute the extra demand in their services seen this year to the drop in the value of the Turkish Lira against the euro, while customers say that they have had their vehicles serviced in Türkiye at least 50 percent cheaper than in Europe.

Atatürk Auto Industry Site in Istanbul's Maslak district saw a large number of foreign license plate car owners who bought their spare parts from the countries they live in and waited all winter without having their vehicles serviced.

With the arrival of many new customers, the mechanics worked overtime all summer servicing their cars. In the Atatürk Auto Industry Site, there was a car with a foreign license plate in front of almost every shop, although it is mid-September and most Turks living in Europe completed their visits and returned.

"This year, more expats came from countries such as Germany, Austria, Belgium and France compared to the previous years," said Selman Duran, who owns a repair shop in Maslak.

"Generally, they prefer Türkiye to change brake linings, rims, discs and have mechanical failures repaired. They prepare their vehicles to complete the road trip and have all their transactions done here."

Labor costs and some spare parts are very expensive in European countries, according to Duran.

"For example, the previous day, I changed the brake linings of a car with a Belgium license plate," he said.

"When it cost 750 Turkish Liras [41 euros], the owner of the car laughed and said that if it had been done there, it would have cost at least 400 euros," Duran...