Jump to content

Car Garage Recommendations


BuddyHolly9

Recommended Posts

Looking for some advice from fellow buds on a good / honest car garage in town to have a look at a bit of rattling developed on the clutch (when in gear / disapears when the clutch is fully down or I lightly tap it when driving). I'm worrying it's the bearings that are out and I'm pretty sure that is a big job, its on an ageing Peugeot so really not wanting to go near the official Peugeot garage and pay their labor charge.

Cheers in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I recently used this garage:

http://www.bestfitonline.co.uk/Diagnostics.php

Based in the Gorbals area, so not handy, but I was attracted to their low cost diagnostics offer.

I had been to a local garage when the window wipers on my Citroen had chucked it, and they charged me £40 to tell me that it was an electrical fault and they couldn't do anything with it, saying I'd have to take it to an authorised Citroen repair outfit. Nah, they would charge me over £100 just to tell me what was wrong (I'd already, correctly as it turned out, guessed that it was a goosed motor). The good thing about Best Fit is that they wouldn't take anything off me if they were unable to diagnose the problem.

They quickly sussed out that it was the motor, ordered the part and fitted it later that week. They didn't charge me for the diagnosis, and were very courteous throughout. I'd also found good reviews online (though, in fairness, they could have arranged for their friends and family to complete those, so best taken with a pinch of salt).

I'd certainly use them again.

Edited by Drew
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the old RR needs a little TLC I tend to deploy this strategy to ensure I get the best deal from the best people.

  • take your car to a recommended repairer as listed above
  • get them to identify the problem and to call you with a price before any work is undertaken
  • ask them to break the price down by telling you what parts are required, and what the cost of those parts will be
  • they will also give you their estimated labour price and the VAT @20%
  • then tell them you need a wee minute to think about it and you'll call back ASAP
  • then go to this website www.onlineautomotive.co.uk
  • type in your registration, and tell them what part/s you need (they match your VIN to the right part)
  • you'll get a very good price, compare this to what your repairer quoted
  • if there's a big difference call your repairer back and tell them you can get the part for £££ less so can they check their suppliers for a better deal
  • if they can't get near the price you got from www.onlineautomotive.co.uk ask your repairer if you order the part and send it to them, will they fit it and charge labour etc as quoted
  • if yes, order away, make delivery address your repairer and billing address your own... saving ££££
  • if your repairer won't do the job with the much cheaper parts you've sourced... maybe you should try a different repairer???

The thing about independent garages is they tend to tie themselves for the right reasons(credit line) to one or two parts suppliers, who take advantage of the fact the garage is getting parts on account and artificially inflate the price to the garage as some kind of extra bunce to themselves.

You need to get the exact part names from your repairer, get him to email if possible. you can call www.onlineautomotive.co.uk and they'll help you get the right part. you can even email your repairer what you are buying before you purchase so they can give you the nod it's the right part/s.

Any good gararge will be happy to do this, and may start sourcing their parts from this supplier themselves!

I just reduced a repair bill for a fuel pump replacement from the £480 (incl Vat and labour) to £180 by using this strategy, and you don't need to know SFA about cars to be able to do it.

that said if your repairer is more or less the same price as sourcing in this way then use them, treasure them and recommend them!

If not..?

Lord P invests the power in you to go save a bundle!

N.B. the above strategy is for cars out of warranty, where you don't mind the part being a non original (i.e. not from ford,vw, vauxhall etc0

Edited by Lord Pityme
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the old RR needs a little TLC I tend to deploy this strategy to ensure I get the best deal from the best people.

  • take your car to a recommended repairer as listed above
  • get them to identify the problem and to call you with a price before any work is undertaken
  • ask them to break the price down by telling you what parts are required, and what the cost of those parts will be
  • they will also give you their estimated labour price and the VAT @20%
  • then tell them you need a wee minute to think about it and you'll call back ASAP
  • then go to this website www.onlineautomotive.co.uk
  • type in your registration, and tell them what part/s you need (they match your VIN to the right part)
  • you'll get a very good price, compare this to what your repairer quoted
  • if there's a big difference call your repairer back and tell them you can get the part for £££ less so can they check their suppliers for a better deal
  • if they can't get near the price you got from www.onlineautomotive.co.uk ask your repairer if you order the part and send it to them, will they fit it and charge labour etc as quoted
  • if yes, order away, make delivery address your repairer and billing address your own... saving ££££
  • if your repairer won't do the job with the much cheaper parts you've sourced... maybe you should try a different repairer???

The thing about independent garages is they tend to tie themselves for the right reasons(credit line) to one or two parts suppliers, who take advantage of the fact the garage is getting parts on account and artificially inflate the price to the garage as some kind of extra bunce to themselves.

You need to get the exact part names from your repairer, get him to email if possible. you can call www.onlineautomotive.co.uk and they'll help you get the right part. you can even email your repairer what you are buying before you purchase so they can give you the nod it's the right part/s.

Any good gararge will be happy to do this, and may start sourcing their parts from this supplier themselves!

I just reduced a repair bill for a fuel pump replacement from the £480 (incl Vat and labour) to £180 by using this strategy, and you don't need to know SFA about cars to be able to do it.

that said if your repairer is more or less the same price as sourcing in this way then use them, treasure them and recommend them!

If not..?

Lord P invests the power in you to go save a bundle!

N.B. the above strategy is for cars out of warranty, where you don't mind the part being a non original (i.e. not from ford,vw, vauxhall etc0

Makes not a jot of difference if your car is under warranty or not. You can fit whatever parts you wish as long as they are of equilvalent quality of the parts fitted as original equipment .

& by the way , you have to be careful taking your own parts. If the parts fail you will almost certainly have to pay the full cost of replacement & labour to get them changed. The garage will not be liable for cost of replacing parts they didnt source.

Edited by Callum Gilhooley
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...