Garages. A Word of Warning.

[demag]

I recently took my car to the local garage up the road whom I have used for a few years.
I wanted cambelt, water pump, service and checkover.
I noticed the old mechanic (absolutely ace) had left and there was a new scruffy looking bloke there.
I left the car with them for the day but he couldn't get it all done so I arranged to take it back the next day to finish off.
When I went out the next morning I noticed a large pool of oil on the drive which surprised me because this car has always been dry. When I mentioned it the scruffy bloke got quite defensive and said they all did that cos the turbos pass oil. When I complained he said he'd have a look.
When I got back to pick the car up he said it was all done and he'd blown the turbo pipes out (?). The price? £402, well and truly stung!
The next day the oil pool was bigger, back again, lost the car for a third day. Result? The same.
Then I noticed the exhaust rattling, something else that hadn't happened before. Then the temp gauge wasn't reading correctly, I had to put 2 pints of water in. The oil pool still grew. My drive (and everywhere else I parked) was a right mess.
When we finally had a nice bit of weather (about a month later) I checked the oil leak, and found a cambox bolt missing! Replaced said bolt, no oil leak!
The exhaust rattle was getting worse and then I started getting a loud banging noise under the car. I was getting worried now. I took the car to a garage I have used a few times, he is a one man band, but its awkward to get to him. However his work is excellent, and his prices reasonable.
He found the offside engine mounting ripped apart (the one you remove for the cambelt!) and the exhaust mid section rotten and collapsing. He replaced these parts, welded a bracket that mysteriously broke when the cambelt was changed and refitted the intercooler to airbox pipes that he found hanging off! Price £110, well worth it. It is definitely like driving a different car now.
Dave.
So be warned, go to people you can trust

[fastandfurryous]

bugger! 402 for a cambelt and water pump!! that's just rude. I'd have been inclined to have gone to trading standards about that. Or at least threatened the guy with it and looked for your money back on that.

[demag]

Trading Standards are a joke. I was once unfortunate enough (or stupid enough!) to own a Rover 800 that shed its cambelt. I went to a guy for a recon engine which turned out to be a scrapyard engine which snapped its belt 3 days later. I approached Trading Standards and was told I would have to employ a registered automobile engineer. Have the car transported to him. He would then strip the engine and produce a detailed report as evidence to the court. There was absolutely NO guarantee I would win the case and if I lost (even on a technicality) I would have to pay all costs, damages, etc, etc. Including the engineers charges and this could well run into thousands of pounds.
In this case its cheaper to pay the 400 quid and learn.
The law is definitely on the side of the criminal!
I recently heard a good one. If you find a burglar on your premises, drag him off your property. Kick the sh*t out of him, break his arms and fingers but DON'T report it. The chances of him reporting you to the police for beating him up while he burgled you are remote!

[David Hallworth1]

I just had a Crank Shaft Pulley, a cambelt changed and a waterpump on a 306 HDi done at my local dealer for £360.
£402 sounds like a lot of money!
David.

[kpanchev]

Hi guys,
I have a 306 that has been in a garage for a timing belt change last year november, they did the job, charged me, but recently I noticed that the car does not behave as it used to.(I'm driving a 406 now, my wife drives the 306). It also started losing water, I was afraid of the HG gone. I took it to a friend of mine, who is a mechanic today, the first thing that he said was it's 99% water pump, as it sounded terrible. He opened it and what he found? The timing belt being the cheapest possible rubbish, the tensioner never changed and actually almost broken, the water pump completely gone and the timing belt actually being put wrongly(which explains the lack of performance and the increased fuel consumption that my wife noticed). What my friend said was that these faults do not develop for the 4000 miles that the car has had since last year and they should have definitely seen this in the garage (which has been one of the most respected ones on our town). I just wonder if they wanted to make sure that I will be needing them again in the near future, or they were just bone stupid and incompetent and ignorant?

[ACTIVE8]

Hi kpanchev. The garage that you took your car into, is it a main stealer or an independent ?

[Gnerk]

Are we a bit stoopid? Why not post a thread listsing ANY garage that we have not had a good experiences with? Alternatively, post a thread listing garages we trust?

The latter is possibly more fair on the garages.

I do some work on our cars myself, but use a local garage in Hathern, Leics, called RM Services for bigger jobs. They charge £30/hr, and I think they're a fair bunch. IMO, we've not been ripped off there yet.

[demag]

I did ask on the old Andyspares forum about naming and shaming and was advised that it could get a bit messy with legals.

However I'm all for helping the good guys out.

If no ones done it already I'll start a thread tomorrow (er, later today! )
To give the good guys a boost.

[demag]

Ok done it.

Its in Useful Links.

[Quinny]

Had the timing belt and water pump replaced on my 406 HDi,about October last year,by a guy local to me that I had never used before,as I normally use another local about a mile away,but they couldn't get me in.

He also did the rear brake discs,handbrake shoes,and pads which I supplied,and the total bill was only £180.

Very reasonable I thought.

The best thing about it is,that this new guy is only about 400 yards from my house,so getting to and from his premises,isn't a problem,and he was telling me his dad has a 406 HDi as well,so it's not as though he won't know the model of car.

Ken.