Garage in Southampton

My brother is at uni in southampton, just phoned us up to say his car's engine is knackered, drinking water like a fish, loads of blue smoke from the exhaust, won't idle, gutless etc,

I've diagnosed a blown head gasket over the phone, i'd been suspecting this for a little while as it's been using water more and more over the past year, and i could never find any leaks.

Anyhoo, we live 250 miles away from him, so he's gonna have to get his car fixed in Southampton, problem is finding a garage that can be trusted not to rip him off.. he is a bit thick when it comes to cars.

His car is a 1994 peugeot 306, 1.9 TD, he swears he's only driven 1 mile since he noticed the smoke and lack of power, so hopefully the head will get away with a light skim.

What i need now is a garage in Southampton who dosen't charge the earth, (so main dealer is out, unless anyone knows of one doing a special fixed price on head gaskets :) and can be trusted, i have a deep rooted hatred of garages my self, even when i was forced to get a trusted engeneering firm in Newark re-condition my van's (2.8 litre TDI) engine after it ate an exhaust valve at 3500 rpm on the A1, they managed to screw the engine up (crank oil seal turned inside out, injector bleed off pipes not connected right, throttle cable dammaged (cost me £65 for a new one.. this is a truck based van) BPE devise on the pump dammaged due to over tightening the banjo bolt, wrong turbo fitted so no boost untill 2500 rpm, then things like a water filler can left in the engine bay, found a socket in the bell housing and so on)

So i can't trust garages at all, but we've got to find one that can be trusted by someone who knows very little about engines, to let them do a pretty big job on his only means of transport.. and him be able to pay for it out of what's left of his student loan.

Help

Reply to
Hairy Arse
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Hairy Arse ( snipped-for-privacy@m.ta) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Now, I don't wanna be a killjoy here... but...

it MIGHT not be the gasket.

IIRC the turdo diseasel XUD is renowned for head cracks...

Reply to
Adrian

Sssshhhh, that was my second suspicion, but i darent tell him that as theres not much chance of him being able to afford a new head,

(mind, to be honnest the only head's i've ever bought vere for large-ish van diesel engines.. a 6 cylinder VW LT engine, where the heads always crack due to the length, cost's £800 for an aftermarket head, and my Iveco needed a new head after the exhaust valve incident, and that was 600 quid.. plus a £250 core charge 'cos my head was 'slightly' mangled)

Maybe a head for a pug diesel is a coulp of hundered quid.. time to check with andy spares, euro car parts and all that i guess.

Reply to
Hairy Arse

Hairy Arse ( snipped-for-privacy@m.ta) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

One way or another, he'll be visiting a scrapper.

Reply to
Adrian

I usually don't trust garages *at all* (I do all my own car work), but when I was at Southampton uni, I used to take my car to a garage for MOTs, and was always impressed by how friendly, helpful and honest they were - I got to know them quite well, and they were a really nice bunch of guys. I moved away from Southampton about 4 years ago, so things may have changed.

The place is Southampton Tyre and Rubber, right by the Highfield campus.

Reply to
Grunff

I've never used them (they've never had quite what I needed, although they have responded quickly to enquiries), but Silverlake Garage in Southampton

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have a 306 1.9 diesel in the breakers section.

Paul

Reply to
Paul

You beat me to it Grunff. STR are an excellent outfit. They might not be able to deal with he whole job but I would trust them to help out and be honest with recommendations. I've known the head man Richard Hickox since the mid 70s. It is a family firm with great integrity. Feel free to mention my name ( might not do any good - but mention it nevertheless!!) They are on the corner of Burgess road and Broadlands road. Good Luck

Reply to
Bob Minchin

MDH Autos, Eastleigh

I've been a regular customer and they've serviced my Pug 306 many times. They're a small independent garage who will be happy to advise and not try to carry out unnecessary work.

Alex

Reply to
Alex

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