You move house and so have to take your car somewhere new for service and repair.
You turn up to book it in and speak to the service manager.
How do you judge if the new place is any good? Is there a question or two you can ask the service manager to help you judge?
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No use asking the service manager if his place is any good....you never hear a fishmonger shouting stinking fish as my fil says. Better to ask the new neighbours about their experiences of local garages.
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You can only judge by their initial attitude, condition of the building and perhaps ask to see the workshop. Being new to the area I guess you will not be able to get any trusted word of mouth feedback which is usually the best.
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Maybe rephrase the question here and on make specific fora, this is assuming your are meaning to use a main dealer, but you may find recommends for a diamond specialist indy at the same time which could be a bonus.
Maybe ask along the lines of....i have just moved to Stony Bottom and i would like some recommendations of where to get competent servicing/repair of my PeuToyCheVaux please?
By nonreferrals for the seemingly obvious local main dealer you could draw your own conclusions.
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Try this....Turn up in your best suit and affect a pair of expensive sunglasses with it. Go to the service manager and say......
" Good morning, I've just moved to the area. We have been living in Sicily, my....um....employers are based there. I'm going to need a good garage to look after my car....you do do a good job don't you ?"
;-)
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Try posting on here, giving your new location, and asking BR members whether they can recommend anywhere.
Try posting on somewhere like Digital Spy (Advice Forum) asking the same question!
www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=150
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Try posting on here ... and asking BR members whether they can recommend anywhere.
Why not just try the Good Garages tab above?
If the place you visit has a tariff of service charges on the wall, try somewhere else ...
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See how busy they are - try phoning and saying "can I bring it in tomorrow?".
The independent guy (one man operation) I use normally has at least a few days of work before he can squeeze a booking in, although he will try to make time for small jobs for his regulars.
If they don't have much work in you can draw your own conclusion.
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See how busy they are>>
The indy I use usually needs 48 hours notice for a MOT, and 3 days for a service and MOT. He does not need to advertise and is always busy. Must be like cafés and restaurants, always go for the busy one with many local customers.
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The make of car you own probably has some sort of owners' club - I posted a message on such a site when I moved to the area and got told about a guy who was brilliant. I'd never have found him otherwise.
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Ask a couple of local Taxi drivers. After that trip to the airport recently, I know the places locally - on a sort of graduated scale. Priceless.
Edited by oilrag on 10/11/2009 at 15:02
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Andrew-T why would a list of menu servicing prices put one off? I like to know the prices of good and services I am buying and a price list seems to be a good way of doing this.
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AS - no doubt an unrepresentative sample, but I have felt that I have had better service at those places without displayed prices than those with. No rational theory behind it, just an impression.
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