I personally do all my servicing myself as I don't find it a problem. I also carry out whatever repairs I am capable of doing but have, after 20 years, found a garage I can finally trust to not rip me off to carry out any jobs I can't do.
My Fiat is 13 years old and sailed through it's MOT 2 weeks ago with only the headlamps needing slight adjustment.
The best way to find a reptuable garage is still by word of mouth. I take internet reviews with a pinch of salt, as ther's nothing stopping the garage themselves going on the site and giving themselves rave reviews to make them sound appealing. So ask friends, family and forum members (as long as they're not dodgy mechanics themselves ;-) ).
First garage ever to put my car through MOT without some extra work being needed was Kings Highway in Plumstead, been back there ever since.
What used to be BMWise but is now called something else, however, totally different story. They tried to charge me nearly £400 for brakes I apparently needed replacing when they'd fitted themselves only 9 months earlier. Never been back and would advise anyone to avoid them like the plague.
Back in the day my dad had a Nissan Bluebird (dont laugh), when he bought it he haggled and got a 5 year warranty covering all parts and labour. Anyway the MOT came up after 3 years so he booked it in at his local Nissan dealer, you guessed it they put on new shocks, new brake discs, new alternator and numerous other parts, which seeing as the car had done less than 20k miles none was needed. He picked the car up, the service manager presented him with a ludicrous bill, cant remember how much. My dad said he was shocked that all this work needed doing, the chap said it did, then my dad remembered the 5 year warranty. The service chap was none to happy! Cue one smug father! One nil, back of the net to the consumer!! Happy days!
Take your car here for an MOT , they only do MOT not anything else so it's not in their benfit to fail it for no real reason. Place is full of car dealers , I've had mine done here both times and no probs at all . All they did was mention a couple of things to keep an eye on
Yes, that is the main difference - Our mecahnic (Hertfordshire) will say - you might need to change front nearside tower within 1.0000 miles or something similar but won't fail you unless it is a fail and you know it is genuine and have an idea what needs doing. I know of some garages that people bring their cars in for the MOT and without contacting them they do £700 worth of work that for the most part doesn't need doing.
I think that main dealers are making there profits from servicing these days, and the manufacturers warranty even on a brand new car is open to uncertainty.
I bought a fiesta St from my garage in Bexley, and like all fords had a three year warranty. Providing you got it serviced.
So after 1 year the car did 5,000 and I took it to SMC as they had closed the Mill garage. £225 for an oil change, so £200 profit there and I mentioned that the tracking was out and causing uneven wear to the tyres, Oh we do not include that in the warranty, and the tyres are not part of the warranty!. So got the tracking checked, and got a report on the tyres which got sent back to the manufacturer. ( Pirelli) The report confirmed uneven wear, and 2mm tread depth more than the reading 3 months earlier. End result was a voucher from Ford's for a service?. So along to Dagenham's for it 2nd service at 13,000 miles. 1 hour later the car is 'serviced'...... an oil change, I waited and the mechanic took 25 minutes to get the car parked. Still the service book was stamped and I thought oh well at least I am covered till this February. Wrong ?..... Mechanism on the seat broke, plastic handle came away from the spool, which happened to my previous Fiesta, 2 week wait and a bill for £49. Interior parts are only up to a year!. But it is part of the seat mechanism, is not broken , just the spring has jumped the sprocket!. Call to Ford customer service . No luck..... This by the way is not specified in the handbook that they give you!. The new car warranty seems worthless to me now the car is over a year old?. They have NOT oiled the hinges or checked the water levels?lubricants etc. I would not mind but the wife uses the car most of the time that does a trip of 4 miles a day, so hardly being thrashed. In the past I have always received a decent response to legitimate claims. I always get my cars serviced, and get cars properly repaired. I certainly will not buy a Ford again, and wether a BMW is any better that I have driven remains an open question?. To me it is a question of mileage and driving reasonably. I appreciate that Ford like other manufacturer's are probably making low margins on there cars, but the price of repairs seems unjustified . I use a local garage in Bexley which is an independent, not cheap, but run by a couple of guys who do the work properly and will NOT rip you off. They rely on repeat business, do not advertise, and will advise you of work that needs to be kept an eye on, like Tyres, brakes etc. As I say they are NOT cheap, but do a honest repair and MOT. I do less and less work on cars these days, partly due to the complexity of the management systems, but not all garages are rip off merchants like all businesses, word gets around about the cowboys?
I tell you something. If anyone ever opens a garage that is 100% honest with the customer they will be a very rich man when word gets around because I know dozens of people who would immediately go there for any work that needed doing.
Yes, our garage is always busy where as a garage that ripped us off in the past sent us a letter a week ago along the lines of - we noted you were previously a customer of ours but have not been back..... You wouldn't have thought it was rocket science but both me and the wife nearly wet ourselves laughing- rubbish service, unreasonable delay, over priced ...I wonder why we haven't returned!
I tell you something. If anyone ever opens a garage that is 100% honest with the customer they will be a very rich man when word gets around because I know dozens of people who would immediately go there for any work that needed doing.
it'll open up the same time as an honest builder turns up
I tell you something. If anyone ever opens a garage that is 100% honest with the customer they will be a very rich man when word gets around because I know dozens of people who would immediately go there for any work that needed doing.
it'll open up the same time as an honest builder turns up
I was actually going to mention builders in my post. Funny how certain trades seem to have a reputation.
Maybe we should start a thread on here where those of us who are happy could recommend their Garage. I'm not going to start it because I don't want them to get too busy.
I decided my car needs some door sill guards. Basically they are foot long bits of stainless steel with some self-adhesive strips on the back. Price of the parts in the UK an eye-watering £262.50 for a pair. Total rip-off.
The price on the manufacturer's .com site (that is the US one rather than the .co.uk version): $69.60 - around £47 at current exchange rates. Although to be fair they have a sale on which has reduced them from $85.00!
I'm hoping my sister-law-law is bringing some over in her suitcase in June.
Sorry if there's a more relevant thread, but couldn't find it?
I was quoted £300 for the front two brake pads to be replaced. Is that the going rate now? I was under the impression they were for less?!?
Well, it depends there are brake pads and then there are brake pads. A set of discs and pads for the front of an Audi RS4 will set you back a grand before fitting. But for a regular vehicle, I'd have thought around £100 plus an hour's labour just for the pads.
Although don't forget that the discs are almost equally vulnerable to needing replacement - they're not doing those as well are they?
My mum had a brake light out recently - she called the guy who does her MOTs etc who came to her house that evening, changed the bulb, gave the car a quick once over while he was there and charged her a tenner.
I'm a pretty reliable and honest mechanic. Only last week I changed an older birds light bulb and quickly checked for any faults. Only charged her a tenner. Mind you, I hope her son doesn't find out about what happened afterwards. Saw his picture on her bedside table, he looks a right nutter.
My girlfriend took her car in for a service yesterday and they wanted £300+ to replace two tyres and change the brake fluid and wouldn't let her leave without paying it (the car's on a lease from Ford) plus £145 for a 'frayed' seatbelt. Got them down to under £200 for the tyres etc in the end and refused to pay for the seatblet. Con artists.
Large family car front pads shouldn't be much more than £60 for the whole set. You were probably quoted for changing discs as well which cost about the same as the pads. Garages double up the parts costs to get to labour costs so £300 not unusual.
Manufacturers recommend changing discs every second set of pads which is probably minimising their potential liability by halving the realistic life of discs. Garage will ALWAYS say you need new discs.
Ideal sort of job for a mobile mechanic I'd have thought.
At the end of the day, if it keeps the car safe, money isn't the issue. Like I'm sure everyone who's commented above is the same. But out of principle, hate people taking liberties as they know, some aren't clued up on how cars work etc
My main complaint about garages is how many of them seem to target women customers. My wife took her car in for a tyre to be repaired, only to be told that the puncture "was too close to the wall" of the tyre. When she rang me I told her to get the tyre renewed but I wanted to keep the old tyre to inspect it. The mechanic then came back to say he had just re-measured the puncture and could in fact repair it as we requested in the first place. Many years ago I drove a female work colleague to collect her car from a local garage. While waiting at the service desk with her I noticed that a 30 minute labour time shown on a mechanics docket was charged for 2 hours on her invoice. I pointed out the error and the service manager was coughing and spluttering and trying to find excuses for the mistake. Do not let your wife, daughter, sister or mother deal with these ripoff merchants alone.
Comments
My Fiat is 13 years old and sailed through it's MOT 2 weeks ago with only the headlamps needing slight adjustment.
The best way to find a reptuable garage is still by word of mouth. I take internet reviews with a pinch of salt, as ther's nothing stopping the garage themselves going on the site and giving themselves rave reviews to make them sound appealing. So ask friends, family and forum members (as long as they're not dodgy mechanics themselves ;-) ).
First garage ever to put my car through MOT without some extra work being needed was Kings Highway in Plumstead, been back there ever since.
What used to be BMWise but is now called something else, however, totally different story. They tried to charge me nearly £400 for brakes I apparently needed replacing when they'd fitted themselves only 9 months earlier. Never been back and would advise anyone to avoid them like the plague.
He picked the car up, the service manager presented him with a ludicrous bill, cant remember how much. My dad said he was shocked that all this work needed doing, the chap said it did, then my dad remembered the 5 year warranty. The service chap was none to happy! Cue one smug father!
One nil, back of the net to the consumer!! Happy days!
it'll open up the same time as an honest builder turns up
I was quoted £300 for the front two brake pads to be replaced. Is that the going rate now? I was under the impression they were for less?!?
The price on the manufacturer's .com site (that is the US one rather than the .co.uk version): $69.60 - around £47 at current exchange rates. Although to be fair they have a sale on which has reduced them from $85.00!
I'm hoping my sister-law-law is bringing some over in her suitcase in June.
Although don't forget that the discs are almost equally vulnerable to needing replacement - they're not doing those as well are they?
Seems there are some decent mechanics out there.
She might be banging him I suppose?
Manufacturers recommend changing discs every second set of pads which is probably minimising their potential liability by halving the realistic life of discs. Garage will ALWAYS say you need new discs.
Ideal sort of job for a mobile mechanic I'd have thought.
Many years ago I drove a female work colleague to collect her car from a local garage. While waiting at the service desk with her I noticed that a 30 minute labour time shown on a mechanics docket was charged for 2 hours on her invoice. I pointed out the error and the service manager was coughing and spluttering and trying to find excuses for the mistake.
Do not let your wife, daughter, sister or mother deal with these ripoff merchants alone.