| Product: |
Independent Garages |
| Date: |
28/01/02 (125 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: See opinion
Disadvantages: See opinion
Picking which garage to go to with your car problems is always a bit of a lottery.
I would always recommend having a trustworthy little garage down a backstreet somewhere, but if you go to a man dealer you are guaranteed (at a price), very good service.
Or are you?
A couple of weeks ago I tried to start my car outside my house, and it really didn't sound very well at all. The nearest garage is a Renault dealer, and having a Renault, I didn't want to risk driving it anywhere because it sounded to bad, I nursed it the 500 yards to the dealer.
They told me that it'd cost me 30 quid for a full diagnosis of what was wrong with the car, and that afternoon, they rang me back to explain that it'd cost me about 200 quid, and even then it wouldn't be guaranteed to be fixed. Because the diagnosis charge was refundable if they repaired the car for me, and I didn't know a reliable garage, I told them to go ahead with it.
3 days and 200 quid later, I got my car back, and drove the 500 yards back to my house, happy that at last it was fixed.
2 hours later, I pulled off the kerb, and the suspension broke.
This is not a joke!
My car is old, and I wasn't prepared to pay more for it, and after having forked out 200 pounds earlier that day for engine work, with my wheel hanging off my car and bend bodywork, I assumed that this would be the time that my car gets written off.
A little man from a little garage came and towed my baby away, and the following day I was astounded to find that it'd cost me between 50 and 60 pounds to fix!
That afternoon, and 57 pounds poorer, I go my car back.
My point here is that you assume that the extra money you pay in a main dealer is for better service on your car.
It isn't.
The extra you pay, it seems to me, is for the free cups of tea they give you whilst you recline on the couches made from 5 cow
s.
Certainly, they didn't look over my car fully of they would have noticed the damage to the suspension, and told me. I'm sure they'd have liked to charge me over the odds for that repair too!
Little garages have no overheads, are honest with you, and if you trust them, they trust you. I could tell you the story of my Dad's engine being overhauled at a cost of 4 grand, and the car being stuck in the garage for a month because they went bust. But I won't spoil the illusion.
Little garages are still my favourite, without a shadow of a doubt. But take people's opinions on where's good to go. Don't just go anywhere. Be careful and do your research first.
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 28/01/02 Just a hint I have a Renault and took it to the garage for it's MOT I am also on a basic car maintenance course and it was during my course I discovered a minute oil leak so I asked the Renault garage to have a look at it for me which they did they then quoted me over £600 for the repair, I then asked a question that they were not expecting how much is the part it turned out that the part was only £20 but the labour was just under £600 not including VAT needless to say that I didn't get it done as anyone who owns a car knows every car has a minute oil leak somewhere. |
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- 28/01/02 My hubby has a little back street garage and people keep coming back to him because they know he does a good job and doesn`t charge over the odds. Big garages however can afford to lose customers because of the prices they charge so they`re not really bothered if the odd job goes belly up. |
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- 28/01/02 yep...my local garage is always HONEST with me and gives me choices ;O) |
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