Car Garages - Is it time for regulation and closure of no compliant ones?

You make some excellent points here. I currently drive a Toyota lease car that goes in every 10,000 miles for a service. And they always manage to find those little jobs, in the past under warranty, that need attention. This must cost Toyota a fortune in warranty claims alone, many of which I suspect are simply unfounded. I worked as an AA Patrol back in the 1970s and still have enough knowledge to be able to talk to service managers. Admittedly car technology has risen dramatically in the last 30-40 years to the point where opening a bonnet can lead to basic identification of where to check the oil, washer fluid and coolant levels and that is about all. Dealerships have massive overheads and with trained staff to pay they simply have to make money every day. That means the customer will always be a target for maximising income, and sad to say, I don't believe that there are any more scruples in a big, shiny dealership as compared to a small independent. The problem , as you so rightly say, is that the customer often has little knowledge on which to base any argument. The garages know this and react accordingly. I have even seen a quick fit centre scrape marks on track rods to simulate adjustment for which they charged. Yes, you are right, there needs to be some policing of the trade, like everything else, it's just a question of who takes responsibility and pays for it. I remember some years ago, I took my own car in for an MOT and was charged for a broken exhaust box bracket to be rewelded, where in fact all they had done was to spray the bracket with silver paint to make it look like a fresh repair. Okay, only a few pounds to pay extra but it was a con and I suspect every customer gets the same treatment.
And with a marked recession in the motor repair industry right now, I think things will only get worse.

Absolutely, Omendata, I couldn't agree with you more, particularly as regards your comments about how women are treated.

I remember Which doing a major survey years ago about how badly garages treated women and they also produced evidence that garages were charging women far higher prices, presumably on the assumption that women wouldn't have a clue that they were being overcharged. Sadly, nothing much has changed since then.

I think your idea of a garage review website is excellent, particularly as I also agree with Snoopy that with recession this situation will only get worse!

Hi Omendata - Which one was the good one ? How more expensive was it?

Hi again Omendata, yes you are spot on with your observations.
I think I am more suspicious of garages when it comes to underhand dealings than I am of any other industry.

I think they should be more stringently watched and mointored and possibly graded by the local council but quite how this would work I don't know and the councils would probably cry poverty and lack of resources yet again.

Still yes go ahead and create your website,I for one would be very interested in your findings.

I agree with you Omendata - there should be some form of legal consequence for deliberately ripping off customers.

However, the difficulty comes when you have to distinguish between poor/incompetent service and fraudulent service. The 2 need to be treated differently, imho. The first should (hopefully) result in the company going out of business, but when a consumer is deliberately ripped off that's a different matter and should be treated as such.

... and this applies to all industries, not just garages.

There was talk for a number of years from the previous Labour government that they would get tough with all garages and make them all comply with the Financial Ombudsman. It never happened unfortunately even though car dealers like Ford, Vauxhall,Renault etc have for many many years now had to comply with the Financial Ombudsman.

The one good garage came recommended by a friend - its a one/two man outfit in East Kilbride - John Taylor Cars.

Approximately near double sometimes what you would pay elsewhere but the job is done properly and the guy uses new parts and never rips people off!!!

Lots of garages use 2nd user / junkyard refurbished parts to save even more money - sometimes dont even replace the damaged part if its a fiddle either.

You have to pay through the nose sometimes.
But I suppose it saves in petrol and working hours when having to return a car 5 times until its done properly.

A few tips for you.

Always carry a digital camera in your car - useful for photographing damage caused by speedbumps , holes or accidents.

If you are told or suspect a part in you car is damaged then take some tippex and mark the bolts and engine in a line so you can see if the garage have actually removed and replaced the part. If the tippex is out of line or gone you know they have actually done somthing with the part!

Buy a fake police uniform and wear it when you take your car to the garage for an MOT or repair. lol

If you are female always take a male (hopefully technically minded friend) with you when you take your car in!!!
>;o)

Yes indeed I was charged £1500 for a new exhaust for my 20 year old Lotus and it turned out that wasnt even the problem.
Being female doesnt help I should have taken my husband.
So called Lotus garage in Glasgow couldnt find the problem after 3 times putting it in and getting it home to find it still wasnt right - do they not take the car for a test drive?
Disgraceful but where and who do we go to when we are ripped off.

Hi Omendata

I read you discussion with great interest, but the one thing that comes straight to mind is.......Are you really a Policeman?

Now on to serious things - I totally agree that there should be some regulation on garages - I hate going to garages and I generally have some idea of what to say because the other half primes me with what to ask - he worked in the service industry of quite a few car dealerships and is very handy with our motors - he generally knows what is wrong and can tell whether the work has been done.

For mechanical work we use a friend of ours who owns a car garage - very handy. We trust him obviously and he takes care of repairs and MOT's.

But for any problems that require specialised work (like bodywork) I do the leg work and find that it can be a bit of minefield with quite varing prices - my hubby always makes me ring a few places though.