Can you trust your local garage?

Unfortunately the retail sector of the motor industry, due to the opportunities presented by transactions involving relatively large amounts of money, is riven through with “Del Boy” types with seriously challenged honesty and a keen eye for the main chance.

The situation is just as bad in franchised dealerships as in back-street operations.

The going-in position in all negotiations always seems to be “The Customer is basically stupid”.

Even with my extensive experience in the motor industry I have to take extreme care in any dealings I undertake with the retail sector of my industry.

I take solace in the fact that the manufacturer I am employed by enjoys outstanding satisfaction ratings in most surveys of its retail and after-service operations, which shows that things do not have to be the way they are currently.

I used to use a local garage but that one always gave me my car back with something wrong with ignition or carburettor that wasn’t there before. It was fixed FOC but I became fed up of the imposed faults.

Changed to Main Dealer with “new” car – the service is far better though more expensive – but not perfect. As far as I can tell it has virtually nothing to do qualifications but all to do with conscientiousness in doing the work as is normally described in the Garage Repair Manual). Nor does qualifications stop “rip offs”

One problem now is cars are controlled or monitored by ‘computers’ making DIY repairs far more difficult.

One example of over price is a new key for my car – they charge £60 for the key and “validating” the key. Validating is just turning the new key three times in the ignition. Yet I can’t buy the key cheaper on it’s own.

But there are no guarantees that other sorts of work is done competently as there are many cowboys – Again nothing to do with qualifications.

I used to teach Electrical Craft Practice – the difference between those that scraped a pass and those that could pass well was staggering – Many of those “competent” ones I wouldn’t trust to do a good job for me. A good number of the “scrapers” I would trust without question.
[b]??[/b]

Hi,

Last time I took my car to a garage for an MOT the guy blown the engine after taking it for a joy ride, and then wanted to fix it for me.

I am dreading taking my new car for it’s first MOT.

I service my car myself, and car becomes more reliable and runs better.

Can anybody tell me whether the garages tested include those affiliated to, or part of the official dealers? By that I mean the garages at official car dealers like Kia, Ford, Fiat etc.

Thank you

I go to a local independant garage which specialises in my make of car. Having used them for quite a while, I feel confident they do a reasonable job and prices are reasonable too. Their reputation is on the line and they have an interest in maintaining it.

I have used various Bosch affiliated garages around the country and have had no end of problems. Filler plugs left out on the rear transfer box, which lead it to seize ( I took it back to the garage in Stafford and told them there was a oil leak and they did nothing), the front prop shaft dropping off within 200 miles of a service as I was doing 70MPH on the M6, the power steering pump leaking oil within 1 day of the old one being replaced and went back for the seals to be replaced and then started leaking within 1 day.
I have no confidence in these garages but driving a lease car the lease company uses them to save money!
I think not

Within the last 9 months purchased my first BMW, an 8 year old 3 series convertible. It needed some work on it when I got it which I took to local independent garage. Only because I asked on the phone prior to it going in did I know the prices, payng the bill I had to prompt for the correct price.. Come the routine service decided to take to BMW main dealerand was surprised. Fixed price service, no extra’s and got 3-4 miles per gallon after service. It also went in with an oil leak which they advised was no more than a old washer that had been replaced in the last service. Fixing this was part of the fixed price service. Next time it is going back to BMW main dealer!

I have been reading the comments posted by i assume which subscribers as to their poor experiences dealing with a small ammount of un-professional garages, i feel it is important to try and redress these points by offering evidence to the contray, i am a subscriber to which and i welcome the comments but also i am proud to say that i also subsribe to the Motor codes for service and repair.
Whilst some of the statements made are true it can appear that all garages that subscribe to a code are not fullfilling their responsibilites, I own and run a independent garage in Bolton Lancashire for 18 years and i can say that integity, honesty,and a traditional approach to our customers works! I would add if you are not happy with the garage then TELL THEM otherwise how will they ever know how to improve their services .

When i purchased my Corsa auto second hand at end of three year warranty i immediately took it to a Vauxhall dealership for its MOT. i found the experience an expensive one. Some time later i had it serviced and again was charged hundreds of £’s without really knowing if they were trying it on with a female.

I found their customer service shoddy and they did not even just give the car a clean on return
even though the car was not ready for collection when they said it would be and i had to wait 3 days before i could collect it and even then wait.

They did not put ensure tyre pressure was done either – i would have thought this was a basic courtesy – even though i requested this in light of the wait etc. My impression was that they were tired and no one was leading with a ‘can do’ approach to customer service. A few months ago, surprise, surprise, they contacted me (had not done that before) with regard to my MOT this year.

So this year i took the car to a Nationwide, where the mechanic proved to be very responsible and checked a lot of details: lights, tyre pressure, etc before i took it in for the official MOT a few days later. He also checked the timing belt warranty and made me aware of the forthcoming work that i should get done. I felt very reassured and safe with their attitute and response and will be going back to them this month

My recent experience with garages is not only with the poor car service but also the attitude they have towards towards the clients. This particular garage in Isleworth the manager was pushy, rude and obnoxious. When I caught them not fixing one of the issues with the car the manager hit the roof and I was on the receiving end of it even though I was the customer.
When I complained to the insurance the insurance just openly took his side the garage side. It seems that what ever the garages do or not do the insurance always back them up and they are never in the wrong.
I wonder what happened to good old service and being polite to the customers no matter if they are female or male.

I’ve had two Volvo estates over the past 17 years: a 740, and a 940 which I bought from the Volvo dealership. (The Sales Manager kept my old one to tow his cars to the race track.) I used this local Volvo garage and built up a good relationship with them. I could chat to the Service Manager, Steven, was (almost) on first name terms with Emma, the front desk lady, and felt that I was valued. Ninety percent of the time, I was happy with their work, and when I wasn’t, they got it right second time round. Repairs and servicing were expensive, but, until the end, the cars did what I asked of them during the year, and I never once broke down on the road. (The flat battery was my fault and the A.A. got me going once more as they did when another gave up the ghost on my front drive. )

When a number of expensive red lights appeared on the dashboard, within a couple of months, I made the calculation that it was time for a change. I also needed something more economical for regular 50 mile journeys that now became necessary. My current Jaguar estate has given me an extra thirteen m.p.g. and a new garage to work with. I felt bad enough about the change, to visit the Volvo garage and thank them for their long service. There was just nothing on their forecourt to keep me there.

That was 2008. The Jag is brilliant, but I’m not so impressed with the garage. (The salesman was very good; no complaints there.) The ladies on the desk don’t really know much about what goes on inside a car (Emma did) and the Service Manager is kept locked away. The ladies wander out to consult and come back almost as clueless. At the last service, the tyres were inflated wrongly, none of them were the same pressure, and the oil was overfilled in the sump (Not dangerously so in each case). Little things perhaps, but extrapolating those, what else had been botched? They charged me £25 for changing a wheel nut that had been mangled by the tyre garage (last time I go there). Given the nut I’d have done it in about a minute. They were going to ask sixty something pounds for s******g in a new retaining clip in the spare wheel bay. Eventually after a consultation ‘out the back’ the lady decided that £15 might be more reasonable for this. I don’t think it was a deliberate rip off, more a case of making a stab at what had been done and tossing in a price that seemed to fit.

On the plus side, they diagnosed and changed a leaking rear tailgate seal and it’s now watertight. The car has performed without a hitch all year except for the reversing sensors which will have to be repaired. So, I’m booked in again next month for an MOT and service and I’ll then decide what to do next time. I do get a courtesy car and they have offered to collect and return mine to the house. I declined. I need to be there to check things on the spot. Oh, and it gets a wash and vac. as well.

Part of me says “It’s a Jag, and they’re a Jag garage, so pay up and let them know I understand the oily bits”, from the times (long ago) when a garage was just for petrol and spares. (Happy days and scuffed knuckles.) The other part complains that I haven’t got the bottle to take it to the one man, in his shed down the road, who keeps my sister’s Nissan going. Does he, or those like him, really know what all those little black boxes do inside the bonnet?

I suppose there’s only one way to find out….next year perhaps.

as to tim pitts post above all toyota technicians are ata certificated this is the first line of training toyota give to its technicians and is constantly updated,
there are loads of garages out there that do a good job considering the high targets set upon them to do the job on or under the times given, what anoys me is there is to much wrong with the trade to put right you have garages that have high over heads so quantity over quality,
then there is the attitude of the technician do they care about the vehicle they are working on and are they trained to diagnose and fix the car correctly,
then there are the types of garage that are dodgy and have not done hardly any work at all to the vehicle or have fixed it wrong or mised a mojor item,
then there are the types of garages that say work is reqired on the vehicle when its not,
then you’ve got the issue that technicians are paid a very low wage for the skills and work they have to under take and stress put upon them,
in the air craft industry every thing is double checked with saftey in mind in the car industry its mostly profit led i can’t see how ever much these governing bodys are introduced into these garages ie good garage scheme etc it will resolve these issues as they are not in the garages on a daily basis to monitor or set quality control, pehaps if they do you will see better quality of work with labour times going up and the labour rate coimng down.

I have used Jemco Croydon many times but will not be using them again-except for warranty work FOC.
I think they are rip off merchants and give lousy service.

[This comment has been moderated.]

i also run a small independent garage in bolton where quality and customer satisfaction counts, my advise to any customer for any purchase is ask friends and family if they can recomend anywhere as this is the best way of avoiding cowboys , and ask if you can see the mechanic or technician so they can explain to you what they have found , and people resent paying for work on their cars when the tools and training costs thousands of pounds but dont begrudge paying for clothes or hair styles where the tools and training for that costs hundreds

I was in a depot of national chain of tyre /exhaust suppliers recently and over heard.

Customer – ‘How did my free safety check go on?

Mechanic:
‘Well love ,all your four tyres are borderline and your windscreen wipers are duff. We’re looking after your safety and while the tyres would pass an MOT, they will need replacing, and if you’ve got kids in the back – you can’t be too careful can you?’

Customer: ‘ Well i suppose I better have them done then’ ……………………

Done …she was.

I have not been very impressed by official VW servicing. I have no real horror stories and most of my disappointment relates to work overlooked and material paid for but not used. I am not saying that all VW dealerships are poor, but reporting on my own limited experience.

To be positive, I have discovered an independent garage that has never given me any cause for concern and has charged reasonable prices. I was impressed how carefully they did an MOT (some garages don’t do a thorough job) and now I use this garage for any jobs that I cannot do myself.

If I had not done a lot of work on cars in my younger days I would probably have no idea of the quality of work.

I own and run an independent garage in West Yorkshire and have done for almost 26 years. We are part of the Bosch franchise which means we are approved by the Office of Fair Trading.

We are, and always have been, very honest with our customers. In fact 80% of our customer base is returning customers. My reception staff are female so other females feel okay to come to us without worrying that they’re being ripped off. We rely on our reputation and word of mouth. If you have a problem with your garage – tell them!! We give you the opportunity to look at your old parts before we dispose of them. We also take you into the workshop and show you where the problem is on your car.

Main dealers are the worst culprits – we have had so many customers coming for second opinions after seeing the main dealer and being told they need work for things when it’s complete rubbish. This tars all garages with the same brush, main dealer or independent and is not fair on the garages that work hard and are honest.

Also, beware of ‘offers’ – this is more than likely just to get you through the door – as we say in Yorkshire ‘you don’t get owt for nowt’!!

Having spent a number of years in the motor trade as a mechanic I have now quit and taken up another occupation. It has been my experience that most small garages are not interested in quality..only quantity.Owing to the complexity of modern cars and the unwillingness of my last employer to fund even basic training I found myself lacking the skills to do the job properly.
It is about time the trade was regulated and a minimum skill level established along with ongoing training made compulsory.

Hi with the new law on L.E.Z. and having to put a new exhaust system on my campervan, i got a few quotes these range from £2000.00 to £4000.00 + V.A.T. + £45.00 for the smoke test; this almost gave me a heart attack, it’s seems that garages doing the fittings are ripping us off ( the units can be purchased for about £600 ) but can only be fitted by certified garages. Transport For London / The Mayors Office / or V.O.S.P.A. did not seem to know the price or wish to comment on this subject. Why is it only within the M25, if a law is passed surely it should include the entire country? I feel this will cause a lot of small buisnesses to close; putting more people out of work. The bigger companies will pass this on to the consumer along with the public transport with a price rise to pay for this new L.E.Z law ( does the tax payer pay for re-fit to public transport vehicles )? Why is there no help, in the form of reducing petrol / car tax / mot’s / even insurance as the roads are in a dreadful state that causes us to have our vehicles repaired all too often.