Yeah, I can see what you mean - however, there are some pretty high barriers to entry with a 3′rd party rating system - there is a lot of legwork involved and a couple of problems with the revenue model:

1) Consumers are not going to be willing to spend a significant amount of money for this information. I really doubt that the model could be profitable for all of the fixed costs involved with getting reviews on a lot of mechanics.

2) If the revenue comes from the mechanics in the form of a finder’s fee, the information is naturally biased and would cause some brand damage with consumers looking for reliable information.

I agree that such a model would be ideal, but without adequate funding, I think this model would be doomed to fail. Also, I’m not sure that people care so much about getting their car fixed by the same person who does a diagnosis - personally I would be willing to pay a certain fee for an independent diagnostic, but then again I am a very skeptical person.

Thanks for your comments, John.

Preston