- Joined
- Mar 1, 2010
- Messages
- 5,524
Fortunately I don't have to rely on garages apart from MOT's. I always service my cars myself but date the book and sign it. Also I keep a diary of eveything I do for avery car. Having taken motor bikes and cars to pieces to see how they worked from 1962 onwards I have a big advantage. I keep my cars for a long time so lack of a dealer stamped book does not affect the value.
I've only used a garage once and that was when my 80 climate control ecu burned out. The garage burned another 5 out before they found a problem with a slave motor.
What amazed me most with TOYOTA CROYDON was that they had chiselled the front hub ends off rather than first releasing the 6 self locking cones. This is even worse than basic mechanical ignorance. A layman would not even do this. And then instead of filing off the mushroom ended hubs to get the front wheels on they had pulled the wheels onto the oversized hubs with the wheel nuts damaging the wheels and making them almost impossible to remove. The problem then is that when you complain you are explaining to someone who has as much mechanical knowledge as a blind nun.
Anyway my insurance came through today SAGA £272 for 5000 miles limited.
A friend of the family used to run a Volvo agency in Angelsey just over the bridge in Llanfair P G ; short for................etc . We used to go and stay for a holiday in late 50's and I used to help out in the garage undoing stubborn nuts and other repetitive jobs. The owner, our friend, was the mechanic, sales rep, parts manager and office manager. There was no complaints department. When the phone rang he used to put his tools down, wipe his hands and answer it. He always knew who was calling what they wanted, how to deal with it etc etc. There was no paperwork it was all in his head. He was always polite and everyone seemed to know him. What you would describe as a one stop phonecall man. This was how garages were run back in the day. Now £ is king and the only thing wrong with being in the garage trade is the customers.
Frank
I've only used a garage once and that was when my 80 climate control ecu burned out. The garage burned another 5 out before they found a problem with a slave motor.
What amazed me most with TOYOTA CROYDON was that they had chiselled the front hub ends off rather than first releasing the 6 self locking cones. This is even worse than basic mechanical ignorance. A layman would not even do this. And then instead of filing off the mushroom ended hubs to get the front wheels on they had pulled the wheels onto the oversized hubs with the wheel nuts damaging the wheels and making them almost impossible to remove. The problem then is that when you complain you are explaining to someone who has as much mechanical knowledge as a blind nun.
Anyway my insurance came through today SAGA £272 for 5000 miles limited.
A friend of the family used to run a Volvo agency in Angelsey just over the bridge in Llanfair P G ; short for................etc . We used to go and stay for a holiday in late 50's and I used to help out in the garage undoing stubborn nuts and other repetitive jobs. The owner, our friend, was the mechanic, sales rep, parts manager and office manager. There was no complaints department. When the phone rang he used to put his tools down, wipe his hands and answer it. He always knew who was calling what they wanted, how to deal with it etc etc. There was no paperwork it was all in his head. He was always polite and everyone seemed to know him. What you would describe as a one stop phonecall man. This was how garages were run back in the day. Now £ is king and the only thing wrong with being in the garage trade is the customers.
Frank
