An honest garage!

[chrisd]

I took my car for its first mot this morning to the Local Vauxhall dealership as they had a £35 deal on. They failed it on a faulty headlight and, reluctantly, I agreed to bring it back to be fixed as they said the bumper might need partial removal and that beyond my diy capabilities and I wanted the car roadworthy ASAP. They said it could take an hour and cost £100 extra

So I took it back and they duly did the job, only to say that the bulb had been incorrectly fitted and they wouldn't charge as it was obviously wrong when I bought the car 10 months ago. Now, they could have blagged it and said that it was faulty or whatever, so, a happy customer who will speak well of them!

Customer relations at its best!

 

[SocketRocket]

It makes you wonder why they design cars that need a bumper removal to change a headlight!

 

[chrisd]

It makes you wonder why they design cars that need a bumper removal to change a headlight!

That was my first question!

 

[bladeplayer]

Same with some tail light bulbs for the last few years , instead of popping a cover in the boot you had to take off the whole lamp .

Some cars are stupid hard to change bulbs on , Toyota Avensis is a pain

Fair play to the garage tho , u would have have been none the wiser

 

[Imurg]

Some cars are better than others.
Had a few experiences with blown bulbs at Tests.
Sometimes the Examiner wants to check the headlights are working - if there's a blown bulb they give you 10 minutes to change it before the test is terminated.
If the bulb can only be replaced by taking the bumper off there's no chance!
Seen several people "fail" their tests because of the manufacturer's design fault. One time, I know the instructors car's lights were working as they turned into the test centre in front of me and both lights were on. When the pupil switched on the lights, one bulb blew......

 

[Bigfoot]

I have always thought that, as it is a legal requirement that lights work on a car, the manufacturer should produce fittings that allow a bulb change in under 5 minutes for any car owner.

 

[Blue in Munich]

It makes you wonder why they design cars that need a bumper removal to change a headlight!

A mate of mine works for Ford on the design side. I had a similar issue with a Ford (four wheel drive, exhaust over the rear axle, exhaust goes so drop the rear axle to change it!) I had and asked the question. The response was basically we'll do anything to get it down the line quicker; the shorter time it takes to build, the more units we make, the more profit we make and once you've bought it, it's your problem. In my case the engine and exhaust went in before the transmission, hence the exhaust was designed to be out of the way when it came to bolting up the transmission.

Now you know!

 

[ColchesterFC]

I recently tried to change the headlight bulb on a Renault Grand Scenic. For that you need Jeremy Beadle's little hand and the skills of a proctologist to stand any chance. I failed and had to get Mrs Colch to do it.

 

[GreiginFife]

I find the "discount" MOTs interesting. Local garage chain, that had a good reputation when they were fairly small, did a £10 MOT "offer" so I took my Alfa GT to see what they said.
Now I do all my own repair work (was am apprentice as a youngster) and had just fitted two new upper suspension arms in July last year just before it went off the road when I got my A Class.
They failed it on 7 items and excess play in the upper suspension arm ball joints was one of them. Along with warped bead rim on two brand new tyres that they fitted a week before it was last driven.
Total cost gor them to "repair" and make fit... £560!!

Took it to my mate who I 'prenticed with and now has his own place... ssiled through the test. Not even an advisory.
Went back and challenged the other place, making it clear I know my stuff... manager blamed the tester who had gone home already... nice to see a manager take ownership.
A scam and sadly becoming too much the norm at many garages lookimg to prey on people who a) don't know better and b) rely so much on their cars that its like being over a barrel.

 

[chrisd]

Txt

I find the "discount" MOTs interesting. Local garage chain, that had a good reputation when they were fairly small, did a £10 MOT "offer" so I took my Alfa GT to see what they said.
Now I do all my own repair work (was am apprentice as a youngster) and had just fitted two new upper suspension arms in July last year just before it went off the road when I got my A Class.
They failed it on 7 items and excess play in the upper suspension arm ball joints was one of them. Along with warped bead rim on two brand new tyres that they fitted a week before it was last driven.
Total cost gor them to "repair" and make fit... £560!!

Took it to my mate who I 'prenticed with and now has his own place... ssiled through the test. Not even an advisory.
Went back and challenged the other place, making it clear I know my stuff... manager blamed the tester who had gone home already... nice to see a manager take ownership.
A scam and sadly becoming too much the norm at many garages lookimg to prey on people who a) don't know better and b) rely so much on their cars that its like being over a barrel.

They did say that I needed all round pads and disks and the sums were adding up towards £1000 but it wouldn't fail on the brakes. I took it to a local back street garage who quoted half the price, so I will give them my business as I know they will do a proper job

 

[Face breaker]

It's quite comical to walk into a garage and listen to all the bull they try to baffle the average punter with, the face says a thousand words when I tell em I used to be in the trade !...

 

[Doh]

The Garage I take my car to are very good even came out and rescued me once and would not take any money.

 

[Rooter]

I have found a good one, took the mrs car to have the aircon regassed, turns out the compressor is broken, guys says buy one off ebay, come back in with it and i'll fit it for 20 quid.

 

[Break90]

I drive a company car, but my wife has found a local garage that have looked after her and her cars since we moved to the area nine years ago.

Has never been ripped off, always does her a deal, and has on numerous occasions done little jobs (bulb changes etc) for nothing.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Txt

They did say that I needed all round pads and disks and the sums were adding up towards £1000 but it wouldn't fail on the brakes. I took it to a local back street garage who quoted half the price, so I will give them my business as I know they will do a proper job

On an Astra? I'd halve it again & do it myself.

 

[palindromicbob]

Don't know how I'd feel on the main land. Always feel reassured when testing over here because the DVLA do the test and aren't linked to a garage that can offer "repairs". Hope it stays that way.

 

[mchacker]

^^^^^^^^^
similar to this, and I'm not sure if it still applies, a tip I was given was to find a council workshop that does MOTs. Never seen one up here but may help someone

 

[JustOne]

Mine passed last year with an advisory about corroded brake lines....

this year it passed at the same garage with no advisorys at all.... so the corrosion fixed itself!!!! Happy days! :whoo:

 

[Khamelion]

There's a really good garage close to us, part of the good garage scheme, I used to take my Laguna there and there did plenty of work, cheaper than a main dealer but using main dealer parts and when I had a recurring fault they stuck with it until we got it fixed and all through that process they didn't charge me at all. I think because they couldn't find the fault or fix they used my car as an education, as hey said once it was sorted that they had learned something as well.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

That was my first question!

So that you have to take it to a garage for something as simple as a light bulb change.