Car Servicing and Repair - Which Large Garage

Hi,

Just wondered who was the best in respect of work quality and value amongst the big national garages.

I have used Nationwide (was Lex) for servicing the wifes Clio, they did a decent job very good price!

Kwikfit - had tyres, brakes and exhausts and been pretty happy decent price

AA Service Centre - Wheel bearings - Good work but pricey.

What are people like ATS and National like and who else is nationally based with good range of services/price.

I'd love to go with a small garage but I don't have anyone who has used one locally so no idea how good they are. (all my friends have newish cars and use main dealers).

I run an old Rover and the wife an old clio so dealer prices are not a serious option.

There isn't much competition so I'm keen to see what other options there are.

Reply to
Marcus
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I think its entirely down to the local management. I've had some really good experiences with Kwikfit, but I've also seen my local branch do some outrageous things.

Reply to
TimM

I have two Nationwide (Lex) branches near me, one I used for a while then fell out with (after they changed a clutch for me and only did the nuts up finger-tight), the other I've used for years and am very happy with. They're my MoT testing station of choice, fair and not too 'inventive'. Their prices are competitive, you can get excellent deals on servicing and MoTs if you're a Civil Service Motoring Association (CSMA) member, and stupidly good deals with Tesco Clubcard Deals if that's where you shop (e.g. £100 worth of servicing for £25 worth of clubcard vouchers that you got for nowt in the first place).

Obviously it will depend on the local staff and management. Look for somewhere where they don't seem to have much staff turnover and do not specialise in employing thick 17-year-olds...

Reply to
Nick Dobb

Hello,

Kwik Fit broke my rear light bulbs on one side and never said anything about it. They kept insisting I buy shock absorbers even though the car had just passed an MOT. They refused to give me a letter to take to the MOT test centre. Then they insisted I had a card to pay for the shock absorbers I didn't want. Terrible place. National Tyres messed up my tracking. I took the car in and it pulled to the left, then when I left it pulled to the right! They refused to put it right. Interesting place, I could have bought a portable CD player and CDs to order by some junkie that appeared to know the people in there. I wouldn't go near my Ford dealer as I had to keep taking the car back for them to complete the work. They also left black marks over my seats, introduced an oil leak and took 2 days to change a thermostat. They even put springs on the front of a relatives car UPSIDE DOWN !

Reply to
v155

Amazing - do their prices vary on a per-shop basis, because around here ( Herts ) ,I always reckon on paying 1/2 their tyre price by going to a small outfit that dont advertise on prime time TV etc etc Of course, you dont get the satisfaction of knowing that the owner has a knighthood, but I can live with that :-)

Steve

Reply to
sro

2 Nationwides near me. Both pretty good. Reasonable prices (the manager at one even says things like "I won't charge you labour for that because it's silly spending so much on an old car") and only ever had a problem once which they refunded without an argument. Just be careful if you get the tracking done there - some do it in-house and it's great, some sub-contract (this was my problem the sub-cons didn't have a clue).

Kwikfit usually pretty crap. Had exhaust off them a few years ago that was never fitted properly. Once took car back 6 times to get the tracking adjusted properly before giving up and going elsewhere. I usually avoid Kwikfit like the plague, but was stuck in deepest gloucestershire in desparate need of an oil change (long story) and was very pleasantly surprised by the Stroud branch

I've got an L Escort Zetec and there's no way I'd take it to the dealers. I do most of it myself now. Just get a garage to change oil cos it's messy, and check underneath for leaking brake cylinders etc once a year.

Ford Rapid-Fit are quite good IME. Did a wheel bearing for me that another garage had messed up twice already. Instead of just banging another bearing in they actually took time to identify the problem (someone had burred the hub when chiselling out the old bearings) and fix it. Yes, they filed off the burrs rather than try and sell me a new hub/drum!

Robert

Reply to
Robert Richards

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