Should I be worried?
- Thread starter pauljmcnulty
- Start date
ORIGINAL: ChasR
The problem with independants (for normal cars) is that only a few can be trusted. Most of the indies near me tend to give the car 4 more faults than when it went in! Even the specialists can cause issues (as I found out on two cars.
Indeed, the chap who I bought a Dolly Sprint off spent £6k in two years going to various garages (one who dealt in E-Types (where I guess there is cash to made), yet like Mr McNulters the work did not seem to be done when I checked the car over (8mm Toe Out vs. factory spec of 1mm Toe in anyone yet billing the owner for adjusting the suspension)? That is before I get to balljoint boots which looked to have been careless cut etc). You wonder whether the garages use the reputation of cars to charge as they wish.
The truth I guess is that a grand or two does not buy that much work on a car these days. This is probably why I persist on being foolish and working on my cars where I can (or that I am simply tight and cynical all in one measure).
Anyway, back on topic, I reckon it is nothing too serious
when you talk about the telephone numbers involved in some of these servicing bills, no way are you tight or cynical.
as the old adage says, you want a job doing properly, you do it yourself. £2k is a heck of a lot of money in anyone's book
the only thing i give my car into (my mates garage it has to be said) is for an oil change so the books get stamped, everything else i try and do myself or at the very least, diagnose myself and then ask for the work to be done specifically.
I have no faith in XYZ specialist/approved/dealer garages - they are human beings like everyone else. you just need to find someone you trust
my 2 penneth FWIW
Surely they can't still have the car?
For anyone in Yorkshire the RPM that Paul talks about is not our own RPM who more like the southern RPM may have started out as, and have maintained this for the last 10 years. As nice as Nick and Andy are they are not that attractive. They have maintained standards and check every car, only they test drive them and they tell every customer about everything they have found. Each car gets a full function check.
Their rates have slowly increased but still way below everyone else and worth it for the quality. As much as I want them to succeed, I don't want them to grow to much as the quality will suffer.
For anyone in Yorkshire the RPM that Paul talks about is not our own RPM who more like the southern RPM may have started out as, and have maintained this for the last 10 years. As nice as Nick and Andy are they are not that attractive. They have maintained standards and check every car, only they test drive them and they tell every customer about everything they have found. Each car gets a full function check.
Their rates have slowly increased but still way below everyone else and worth it for the quality. As much as I want them to succeed, I don't want them to grow to much as the quality will suffer.
TTM
Well-known member
Currently doing some work on a friend's 944T. He is a nice chap but not much technically-minded, and I am beginning to understand why established indies tend to charge more than what would cost the "few" things initially reported by a customer owner - once you have had your eyes cover all aspects of the car, there are parts that would make sense to replace even if they are still functional and if the owner did not notice them - in the case of this car I have here, corroded brake hoses, leaky engines seals and dying engine mounts.
I have been asked to replace all 4 shock absorbers (Koni inserts, etc), replace the turbo and fit a full 3" exhaust. Obviously he wants his car to go a bit faster, and should the worst happen I would not want anyone to say or even think that "he crashed his car on the local track last weekend because of a burst front brake hose, even if the car had been thoroughly checked over by TTM", if you see what I mean. So in my case I will bill him new brake hoses and replace them first before proceeding with the go-fast bits. Or he will come over and get his car back untouched.
I feel it may be a bit more difficult for an indie with a need to cash in to tell potential customers to go away when such a situation occurs, so I can understand a trend in possibly overcharging customers.
I have been asked to replace all 4 shock absorbers (Koni inserts, etc), replace the turbo and fit a full 3" exhaust. Obviously he wants his car to go a bit faster, and should the worst happen I would not want anyone to say or even think that "he crashed his car on the local track last weekend because of a burst front brake hose, even if the car had been thoroughly checked over by TTM", if you see what I mean. So in my case I will bill him new brake hoses and replace them first before proceeding with the go-fast bits. Or he will come over and get his car back untouched.
I feel it may be a bit more difficult for an indie with a need to cash in to tell potential customers to go away when such a situation occurs, so I can understand a trend in possibly overcharging customers.
pauljmcnulty
Active member
ORIGINAL: simkin911
10pm news tonight.... '944 and owner disappear at MOT time'. [
We're still here!
Strange call today. Main guy is away until Monday, but there is a note that my car's been serviced and a little list made. They're waiting for the short wiper link to be delivered (I currently have the single-wiper option), so it's not finished.
Totally unimpressed by the lack of communication, but I'd rather that in some ways. If they are busy working on the cars they're making money. Spending hours on the phone to me and they need to up the bill dramatically.
Given that every service on my S2 has ended up at 10 times (or more) the "fixed" price before, I'm just sitting with my credit card in my hand, weeping gently, and pessimistically, in to a glass of white. [&:]
pauljmcnulty
Active member
At last!
Picked the car up today, with a pretty reasonable bill for the list of work done. Serviced, MOT, a wiper linkage and ARB bushes, and some advisories for what's needed over the next couple of years.
It was with Chelsea Carrera in High Wycombe. All in all it seems a great little outfit, and being ten minutes down the road is a huge advantage to me. Communication is lousy, but now I know that I'll just keep ringing them next time, instead of waiting for the call. []
They seem incredibly busy, but it's a couple of ramps in a small unit, with the experienced guys under the cars. That does inspire more confidence.
Picked the car up today, with a pretty reasonable bill for the list of work done. Serviced, MOT, a wiper linkage and ARB bushes, and some advisories for what's needed over the next couple of years.
It was with Chelsea Carrera in High Wycombe. All in all it seems a great little outfit, and being ten minutes down the road is a huge advantage to me. Communication is lousy, but now I know that I'll just keep ringing them next time, instead of waiting for the call. [
]They seem incredibly busy, but it's a couple of ramps in a small unit, with the experienced guys under the cars. That does inspire more confidence.
andy watson
Moderator
That's good news then, being 10 mins down the Rd an unannounced call in will keep them on there toes []
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Diver944
Active member
IMHO that is always the best way, but yes it can lead to communication breakdown because they are busy working on the cars rather than downing tools to call you and keep organised
Ideally they could take on an 'Office manager' to do all the telephone calls, booking in, parts ordering etc but instantly that means the business now needs to suddenly make an extra £30k a year to cover the wages, NI etc that an employee suddenly costs
(arbitrary figures I plucked out of the air, but you get what I mean [
] )
Ex Skyline
New member
Yes, it does, doesn't it [].
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OLD_ian
New member
Years ago, when i had my BMW 2002 with a lovely Alpina engine, I was in my local BMW specialist hoping the bill wouldn't bankrupt me when one of the mechanics came in to speak to the owner of the shop. He said "that guy who wants the fancy exhaust and fat tires - phone him and tell him I'm not touching his car until he fixes the brakes. They're fucked.". That was one of the best garages i've ever had the pleasure of using. Not the cheapest, but Rudy and Pious Duss ran the best BMW shop in Ontario. Even the local BMW main dealer admitted they were good. Duss Brothers BMW -should you ever find yourself in Ottawa with a BMW needing fixing or souping up.
ETA: it wasn't me who wanted the fancy exhaust and fat tires. Well i would have wanted them, but i was a starving student at the time- mainly by virtue of running a BMW - so couldn't have afforded them.
ETA: it wasn't me who wanted the fancy exhaust and fat tires. Well i would have wanted them, but i was a starving student at the time- mainly by virtue of running a BMW - so couldn't have afforded them.
pauljmcnulty
Active member
Price is pretty irrelevant, isn't it? It'll always seem expensive to the Northern contingent who seem to be able to find Porsche experts who will do a clutch for £2.50.....[][]
I guess it's 50% cheaper overall than I would have paid at RPM. Took it out tonight, and it feels better than before, but I think a lot of that is me knowing I was going to be disappointed with the service last year.
One thing: they've cleaned it well, inside and out, including the glass. It's only ever had a quick hose-down before. A nice touch.
Looking at the fixed-price menu for a small (6K) service, Chelsea Carrera are £192 and RPM £210, so not that far apart. It's the extras they always found that just escalated out of control, whereas this year I have a list of advisories/recommendations, and some idea of the time frame in which they need to be dealt with. Being so much closer, it's possible to spread work, and not have to do it all in one visit regardless of the immediate need.
Total was under £600, for the service, ARB bushes, a couple of little bits like the wiper linkage, the MOT, and including VAT. I'm well happy with that: I've been paying 3 or 4 times that in recent years, and not at all sure that work was needed immediately, or was done economically. []
][]I guess it's 50% cheaper overall than I would have paid at RPM. Took it out tonight, and it feels better than before, but I think a lot of that is me knowing I was going to be disappointed with the service last year.
One thing: they've cleaned it well, inside and out, including the glass. It's only ever had a quick hose-down before. A nice touch.
Looking at the fixed-price menu for a small (6K) service, Chelsea Carrera are £192 and RPM £210, so not that far apart. It's the extras they always found that just escalated out of control, whereas this year I have a list of advisories/recommendations, and some idea of the time frame in which they need to be dealt with. Being so much closer, it's possible to spread work, and not have to do it all in one visit regardless of the immediate need.
Total was under £600, for the service, ARB bushes, a couple of little bits like the wiper linkage, the MOT, and including VAT. I'm well happy with that: I've been paying 3 or 4 times that in recent years, and not at all sure that work was needed immediately, or was done economically. [
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