distrust

[jag2]

and they wonder why we go to indy garages. we bought a vauxhall insignia just over a week ago from a well known dealer in the uk. the car now 5years old was bought for a use daily run a round  shopping ect taking mother dogs ect. keep the xk for when i want her. came with service aye right.i had left it with my mate garage owner (very busy good rep) to check over at the weekend . phoned me tonight . him who did you buy this car from charlie. me elvans hallshaw joe, why. him. was ther a service record with it. yes why. him. it maybe had an Oil change but the filters i would say have never been change since that car was new. yer kidding. him .nope. me. give it a full service mate everything please Castrol Oil to. thanks. service manager at them is going to get it big time ive had enough of dealers over the years. 

[knightsmith]

Charlie,

 

 

I couldn't agree more, detest them with a venom. Although a dealership salesman bought my XKR from a dealer's auction for me, i told them I'm not using them for servicing or anything else apart from warranty stuff .

 

They do not like me at all , they don't like their cages rattled or a few home truths; a few manners wouldn't go  amiss either .

 

My XKR is going to be serviced by a reliable honest garage which I had been using for years prior to me dealings with the stealership .

 

I was speaking to a chap who works for Europarts in Tesco the other day, he said the mark up on parts the dealerships have is phenomenal

 

But I hope all is sorted .

ATB,

 

Trevor

 

P,S, Did you see the pics of the XKR in the gallery ?

[Old Peter]

When I retired and the Company car [with all the perks] went I bought a Rover Sterling with every optional extra on it,that was only 8 months old and with 12 months warranty,

 

Part of the negotiation was that the main dealer from whom I bought the car would do the first service at nil cost to me.  Which they did.  While I was there I noticed the price of the annual service for a Rover Sterling ----  £325 + Vat.

 

I few weeks later I found a leaflet on my car with the Rover motif and offering a full service by a Rover Trained Mechanic for £75 including all fluids except engine Oil and filter.

 

When my service was due I rang him and he came,  collected the car and brought it back the next day fully serviced and with a report on the car.  That was in 2002 and he is still servicing/repairing my cars. The price is now £100.

 

He has replaced exhausts 50% cheaper than the local companies  --  plus brake pads, discs when needed etc.

 

Jaguar charges for an engine Oil and filter change are horrendous, but he did mine using Castrol magnetic and a Jaguar filter for £85 and brought two litres of Oil back.

 

Why do I use and independent mechanic?

 

Peter.

[jag2]

hi trevor, i was going to go in to the dealers today and voice my opinion but would be wasting my time. its all serviced now and properly for the price of a bottle of malt whisky. good friend. i only pay for the parts. yes i seen the pics trevor its a beauty love the coulor have fun bet you get loads of looks the car i mean lol regards charlie

[jag2]

thanks peter, i know its very hard to get trust-worthy tradesmen these days. regards charlie

[knightsmith]

Charlie,

 

I give them stick, that's why they don't like me.

 

But I do pay on the dot. I might speak my mind, but they could do with more customers like me . They should treat me decently (as they should do with all customers) from the offset.

 

As I said to the manager, " Just take a step back and work out who pays your wages"

 

ATB,

 

Trevor

[Old Peter]

I had a 'phone cll this afternoon telling me that the main dealer from whom I bought my car one year ago had booked it in for a service and MOT [without me asking] in the next few days.

 

I politely declined telling them I had made other arrangements for both, and they had got the date wrong by three weeks.

 

One thing I do know is that I will save £250 on the service and more if there is any work needed to pass the MOT, which I doubt.

 

One day the message will get through to the main dealers.

 

Peter.

[msmicksmith]

Sadly Peter, I don't think it will. New cars are ever increasingly becoming more and more impossible for the DIY mechanic to work on as a result of manufacturers factoring in the need for a dealership computer in the cars they build.

Many new cars now need dealerships to reset the service light after the service and without the manufacturers software it's increasingly difficult to accurately diagnose faults. On many now, new parts such as injectors have to be programmed to the ecu. A job which can only be performed by stealerships with their specialist equipment.

I've never, and I mean never, used a garage, but then I'm lucky I got taught from an early age (I was 4 when my dad started me off in 1978!) and since then I've pretty much done it all on cars, motorbikes and lorries, but it's extremely difficult on anything newer than around 2003 to accurately diagnose a fault without comprehensive diagnostic equipment. Taking stuff apart and putting it back together is easy. A clutch or cylinder head, even a total engine strip and rebuild is pretty basic stuff but programming a replacement diesel pump to the ecu is beyond my HP laptop or my Samsung smartphone! And this is where the stealerships have you by the gentleman vegetables

[jag2]

hi peter they have a cheek. sounds like you have found a good indy ther. also micks right in a lot of ways. my mate has a snap-on diagnostic machine. snap-on agent wants. £400-500 quid for an upgrade from him. hes refused to pay. we had a chat about this issue facing indys keeping up to date with the dealers diagnostics. he said many small reliable garages will go out the game trying to keep up. he now uses a auto elec guy with laptop for any tricky work but tells the customer their is a £40 charge for this if they want it. hes honest. charlie

[knightsmith]

Mick,

 

My local garage doesn't seem to have any problems with the computerised stuff ,and can reset the service lights and diagnose  easily, they also have all the software which is easily available off the internet .

 

Another friend of mine also has a garage a few miles away, where he specalises in Aston Martins, Ferrari's, Porche, and other high end cars at a fraction of the cost of the stealerships .

 

 

Both garages carry out diagnostics and repairs without any problems. I think it is just the stealerships that think they are indispensable .

 

I shall only be using mine for warranty work, anything else and i'll be using one of the garages mentioned.

 

ATB,

 

Trevor