I've phoned every local garage I could find in the Yellow Pages. That's
16 in all. For almost half, there was no answer, or I ended up talking to a machine. 5 were either unable to help, or unable to provide any service (including quotes) until monday. One is going to check parts prices and ring me back. Leaving just three, that were prepared to give quotes. All
3 of which sounded unreasonable and excessive. I also have a very broad range of different quotes now...
Quote #1: £500 - £600! (Peugeot garage yesterday). Quote #2: £240. Quote #3: £250 - £300. Qoute #4 £330 - £350
All 3 incidentally insisted that skimming would _have_ to be done, each of them citing a different excuse. One said that not skimming was just shoddy workmanship. Another said that not skimming often means the job doesn't last long, and has to be redone, and the third didn't seem to know why he advocated it. I mentioned in every case, that the car (to the best of my knowledge) had not overheated. None of them seemed to care. Interesting too they should insist on doing a job that is very tricky to check up on. I think I can be roughly certain, I'll be charged for it whether the skimming is performed or not : (
2 of the 3 giving quotes were also charging for an oil change, which if I understand correctly
_must_ be done anyway, as part of the gasket head replacement. Same with the coolant. I think I'll leave my own oil and cool
-ant in the boot when I take the car in, and tell them to use that, rather than overcharge me for something I already own.
Can anyone recomment an honest garage, near central Manchester?
-Mark