When you can't trust your garage.

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Jun 20, 2005
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We travel that route regularly and still recall that accident. It killed a young girl coming out of school, and people in a car passing. Not only was the large fixed bed truck poorly maintained but it’s weight limit was well above the limit for what is a very steep hill. There’s now a 20 mph limit, speed camera and speed reducing measures. But you can’t turn the block back.
Looking at Thingy’s discs and the Bath incident makes it more clear someones head should roll, in prison.
 
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Nov 16, 2015
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I tend to buy my pads and disks from Euro Parts, and you can get a good discount, if Disks and pads required at the same time, go for the sintered pads, a better braking power, but will wear out the discs quicker,but I am talking about 2 sets of pads to a disc. All depends on mileage of course.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Many years ago I needed a fuel injector changed on my vehicle. No issue with the local mechanic changing it however they never had the software to update the system so an error message continued to display. Had to go to the main dealer and pay them to update the system. I suspect many modern cars many have similar issues where you are forced to usea main dealer for that brand.
 
Mar 29, 2021
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I've been using the same small independent garage for plus 30 years.
All my cars have gone there, Jags, Audi, RCZ etc.
I can give an example of the exact opposite.
I gave instructions to them to change the pads on one occasion because they in my eyes looked through the wheels low, he phoned me up and said "No need, plenty of life left in them'. The bill was zero pounds.
My current car an Audi A4 Avant Black edition 2018, first service Audi wanted £420, down my local garage £130, and a more thorough inspection too!
Moral is, once you find a decent garage hold on to them.
 
Feb 23, 2018
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I am loathe to go back to my main dealer. They failed to tell me work I had requested them to do (with 1 months notice) could not be done on the day the car was in for service until I collected the car as 'the tech wasn't in', then 1 year later (at the next service, due to lockdowns) the price quoted increased by a factor of 3! The price to do another job was 4 times that of the independent who did the work.
 
May 24, 2014
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UPDATE.
The garage in question has accepted that the situation is unacceptable and say the technician is being dealt with.
They are to refund the cost of the brakes, and also 25% of the initial cost of the service, which was around £650. The extra cost of the tappets taking it to £1048 isnt included.

Still not impressed, the situation from a safety aspect alone should not have arisen.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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UPDATE.
The garage in question has accepted that the situation is unacceptable and say the technician is being dealt with.
They are to refund the cost of the brakes, and also 25% of the initial cost of the service, which was around £650. The extra cost of the tappets taking it to £1048 isnt included.

Still not impressed, the situation from a safety aspect alone should not have arisen.
This is their first offer? If you wanted you could try squeezing further but how far do you want to go? The tappets are different. Have they completed that job satisfactorily? How does their pricing compare elsewhere for this job?
 
May 24, 2014
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Not their first offer. They wanted to give me a discount off my next service, but i told them to go take a flying chuckle at themselves, as i would not trust them with a Matchbox car. Said he was quite offended by my attitude till I explained how much more offended I could make him.
 
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Jan 3, 2012
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Not their first offer. They wanted to give me a discount off my next service, but i told them to go take a flying chuckle at themselves, as i would not trust them with a Matchbox car. Said he was quite offended by my attitude till I explained how much more offended I could make him.
if it me i would try and get more of the price for customer satisfaction
 
Jan 3, 2012
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I've been using the same small independent garage for plus 30 years.
All my cars have gone there, Jags, Audi, RCZ etc.
I can give an example of the exact opposite.
I gave instructions to them to change the pads on one occasion because they in my eyes looked through the wheels low, he phoned me up and said "No need, plenty of life left in them'. The bill was zero pounds.
My current car an Audi A4 Avant Black edition 2018, first service Audi wanted £420, down my local garage £130, and a more thorough inspection too!
Moral is, once you find a decent garage hold on to them.
Where i take my wife car for past 10 years he is trustworthy ,thorough and provides a personal service .
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Well Thingy our Prof will no doubt explain about your Rights under the CRA 2015Act. A very important piece of legislation. Did you pay the original bill on a credit card?
Servicing is included in the CRA. May I ask what your own expectations are before we start the usual Lawyer banter😉😉
 
Jan 3, 2012
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Im happy enough TBH. Not going to get into a massive legal argument with them, have more than enough on my plate the the moment.

Beachball said


Oh really? :LOL:
Glad to say there are still people who you can rely on giving a service unsure why this should be commented on? Our mechanic is a one man band who we have been seeing for a number of years and come away with a car which is reliable, any concerns he will check it out to relieve any concerns.......that is what I call a reliable service and one I would recommend to friends and family.............
 
Jun 16, 2020
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Glad to say there are still people who you can rely on giving a service unsure why this should be commented on? Our mechanic is a one man band who we have been seeing for a number of years and come away with a car which is reliable, any concerns he will check it out to relieve any concerns.......that is what I call a reliable service and one I would recommend to friends and family.............

I think Thingy’s comment was tongue in cheek and referring to this Julie Walters film. Or similar.

😁
 
Nov 16, 2015
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Unsure what this means did not appreciate it
Ignore it then, I would not trust a one man servicing company anymore, with modern cars.
The technology might not be up to standard, unless he concentrates on one type of vechile
Tell us more about him.
 
Jan 3, 2012
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Ignore it then, I would not trust a one man servicing company anymore, with modern cars.
The technology might not be up to standard, unless he concentrates on one type of vechile
Tell us more about him.
That your opinion we are very happy with him and never let us down over 10years that the end of this matter
 
Nov 16, 2015
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That your opinion we are very happy with him and never let us down over 10years that the end of this matter
Thant not what I am saying, Mr Kerbside Is great at changing oils , but when you have a real problem they can struggle. That why I never offer to help with friends cars.
 
Jul 8, 2020
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I find with buying any parts is go for middle of the road prices, keep away from the cheapest and why pay for the top end parts when you get plenty service from the in between parts , as previously said you would be surprised what parts are the very same but badged differently.
 
Sep 16, 2018
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The mitsubishi main dealer who serviced our car went to the opposite extreme, told us all four pads and discs needed replacing urgently at a cost of £1100. Seemed odd after 30k miles so got two other opinions. In the end the discs were hardly worn but the front pads 75%.

Certain words were had about trying to rip people off. Sadly certain things can't be done by a non franchised dealer otherwise we'd not be going back.
 
Jul 8, 2020
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I know that from full main dealer workshops to small one man band garages they all still rely on outside assistance , even the big players still seek outside help from the specialists i.e auto electricians .

so no matter what modern up to date workshops the big boys have they still cant do everything.
 
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