good garage experience..

[joey]

Martins Motor Works in Banstead, recommended by my mate Greg with 4 audi's that martin also looks after..

rocked up at 8.45 for my 9am appt as arranged and got chatting to a gent with a Merc who told me he has been taking the car there for the last ten years, it's currently got 165k on it and runs like the day he bought it , said martin was honest reliable and reasonably priced, as did my mate Greg..a good start.

was greeted by martin at 9am sharp who quickly found my details in the book(note not the computer!) and took the keys and told me it will ready by lunchtime.

got back at 12, car was ready and work done was..

new wipers
oil, filter and engine flush
new set rear brake pads
short on rear brake bulb chased found and fixed,new bulbs
coolant changed
brake fluid and washer fluid topped up
new air filter
general check of the engine and inspection of underside of car and exhaust.
service indicator reset.


parts £95
labour £70
vat £33 but rounded down..to make the invoice £195

told me it was a "rock solid little car" see you in a year or so!

for my neck of the woods that is a fantastic price and good old school service..

martin was friendly knowledgeable and runs a BMW himself so knows them inside out.

mrs civic will also be going there from now on, no more of honda's ridiculous service charges..

 

[Mint]

Great to hear a good news story about a garage. Makes a change.

 

[joey]

doesn't it just!

I think the moral of the story here is what ever car you have, once its older than 5 yrs or so take it to an indy garage, at this point there is no reason to worry about having that BMW service stamp or honda or who ever..and most of the time the servicing you get at an indy is superior because they have a vested interest in keeping you on the road and coming back to them year on year, where as a main dealer has one eye on selling you a new car every time you go in.

perfect example, when I had just bought the Z3 I went to a local BMW dealer, after quoting me £££s for an inspection 1and oil service he tried to sell me a used Z4 they had on the forecourt saying my Z was a "sweet little car" but surely I would want something a bit more "current"...


I replied if I wanted to look like a towie cast member I would have spent the other £3000 I had in my pocket and bought a boxster...!

(no offence to Z4 owners it is a fine car but just not my cuppa) a Z8 though now we are talking!

anyone in the surrey area though, I cannot recommend martin highly enough.

 

[hard top]

This is a strange one. My Dad has got a Honda 'something' (I don't like Jap cars) its a big thing and only about three years old.
Long story short, last week, after visiting my brother, when he left to go home, he could not find his car.
Turned out that it was at the bottom of a hill in a hedge and a ditch. Hand break was on.
He was told by the garage, after they had done some research, as they could not understand how this happened....wait for it.........
You have to put your foot on the break pedal and then pull on the hand break to "double lock it"
You cant make this up. I will stick with German engineering thank you very much.
He was very happy with how the dealer helped him out. So there are some good ones.