Your original car dealership may have a garage for servicing and repairs, but if they don’t it is best to go online to find a garage suitable to undertake the work. You’ll still end up making some phone calls to establish what makes and models they deal with and which parts they hold in stock, particularly if your car is older or even a vintage model. Some garage franchises even offer printable coupons, giving discounts for regular maintenance, oil change and tire purchases.

Choosing the Right Garage

Many garages will only look after particular manufacturers’ car types. Some repair garages handle only luxury automobiles or the service repair garage will merely stock parts for cars which originated in other countries. Whatever the type of your car, you are bound to find a garage dealing with your model, unless your car is a classic or vintage car, in which case you really will need to contact a specialist. A modern service repair garage should be equipped with diagnostic technology for tuning engines, finding problems with brakes or faulty exhausts.

The service repair garage you opt for should have been trading for a number of years, so you can take up references with a number of the garage’s regular customers, if your car is an expensive one and you are worried about the quality of the repairs or security on the premises.

Only fully qualified mechanics should undertake the servicing and repairs. The service repair garage owners are responsible for their workforce’s wellbeing and safety during working hours, so they must display relevant insurance details to that effect.

A reputable service repair garage should have a written complaints procedure and typically will be a member of a trade body representing their industry. This membership is usually displayed alongside the service repair garage’s own logo and you can ask them for contact details and check, if the trade body the service repair garage is a member offers a mediation service, should a future dispute occur.

For the money you pay you expect an excellent job – if the service wasn’t done satisfactorily or the new parts turn out to be faulty, you need to know you will be able to get compensation or the faulty parts are going to be replaced. Only genuine, manufacturers’ warranty parts should be used for repair jobs. Be sure to ask how much labour will cost before booking in your car for service.

Keeping your Head when Disputes Arise

Mistakes happen and your service repair garage employs humans, not robots, so bear that in mind before blowing your top. If you are unhappy with the work or the lack of progress, ask what their complaints procedure is and stick to it. Get everything in writing, follow up telephone conversations with letters or emails detailing what was discussed.

After a major accident the insurance company’s loss adjuster will determine if your car is repairable or has to be totalled. Apart from the immediate monetary considerations, there are other factors, such as the eventual resale value of the vehicle, which need to be taken into account.

The psychological effect of a major accident is often that traumatised drivers feel unable or uncomfortable getting into their repaired car again, even though the vehicle is now fully roadworthy and safe to drive. Many drivers have quite an emotional attachment to their car and feel bereaved to a certain extent when the car is totalled and lost to them.

Totalled Cars

Deciding if after a major accident your car is repairable or to be totalled will depend on the extent of damage that the major accident caused and the value your car had before the accident. A totalled car will have suffered considerable damage, such as 65% damage to the front part containing the engine combined with 10% damage to the sides and 25% damage to the rear of the car. The extent of the damage will be determined by the speed of the vehicles involved in the major accident, the angle of collision, road condition and weather, as well as the make and model of the cars involved.

If your car was a modern, well-designed and regularly maintained vehicle, then damage suffered in a major accident is likely to be less than that involving an older model or less well maintained car.

You may consider selling the car to salvage or scrap yards but you will not recoup much of your costs. Selling off the undamaged spare parts may be a way to recover some money, particularly if your car was a classic or vintage car, where spare parts are always sought after by collectors.

Repairable Cars

Depending on the amount of damaged caused by the accident, it may be worth to repair the car, even though it will have lost in resale value. Buying a new car may not be possible, if you are still paying off a large loan on the current one. You may be fond of that particular model and prefer a repaired car to a new one.

Your repair garage will have equipment for pulling and aligning heavy major frame and body work jobs. The vehicle will typically end up on a portable pulling frame before repairs can be carried out. The body repair shop may take quite some time before your car is roadworthy again and if upon a thorough inspection concealed damage reveals further repairs are needed, you may be looking at a huge repair bill exceeding the value your insurers have put on the job.

You will have to take into account that your insurance company may increase your policy payments, if they think you caused the accident. In extreme cases they may refuse to insure you completely. If you are not at fault, your insurers will be able to get reimbursement from the other motorist’s insurers and you will not be penalised financially.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Criteria for Damage Investigation

When you’ve been involved in a major accident, the effect on your car can be considerable. Hopefully, you and the other driver will have walked away unscathed, but the major accident may have spelt total disaster for your car.

Degree of Damage

Major accidents and their effect on your car will depend on a number of factors, such as the angle of the impact during collision, the speed you were driving at and the general road conditions at the time.

Direct or primary damage will be determined by the direction of the primary impact. For example, in a side to side collision between two cars substantial damage is likely to be caused along the full length of each vehicle, damaging wings, rear quarter panels and doors in the process. Indirect or secondary damage may end in damaged dash panels, broken seat frames and twisted steering wheels.

Visible damage can easily be inspected, as this will be the area of direct contact between the car and the other object, be it another vehicle, wall or fence. There is likely to be damage to the bumper, the bonnet, the grille or the front wings.

Concealed damage is far more difficult to inspect and typically involves a detailed investigation by an expert. The most common damage areas are the boot lid, the rear panel, the quarter panels and the bumper. Other damage may have occurred to the frame of the vehicle or even the engine.

Roll-over damage occurs when a car rolls over completely ending up straight back on its wheels at the end of the roll-over. Although much has been done in the last decade to re-enforce roofs and overall frames, protecting the life of the driver and passengers, this type of major accident is likely to cause damage to all the panels.

A major accident effect on your car may well end up in a total write-off. Insurers will determine the extent of the damage, before they will tell you how much, if anything, will be paid out to you under your insurance cover. Typically, a total write-off is declared when your vehicle has suffered 5% damage to each door or side panels, 65% damage to the front containing the engine and 25% damage to the rear boot or trunk.

Angle of Collision

The angle of collision in major accidents will have an effect on your car, too. Insurers typically differentiate between direct side damage, front-end damage, three-quarter frontal damage and parallel side damage. Insurers and police are likely to use the angle of the collision to determine who caused the accident and why.

Psychological Effects

Many people who have been involved in a major accident feel that, even though their car was fully repaired and made roadworthy again, their car is “not the same” as it was before and they feel uncomfortable driving it.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Damage as a Result of an Accident

Owning your own business is a dream for many people and the current wave of unemployment across the world forces many former employees to consider how best to use their redundancy package. If you are interested in the business of owning a repair garage, you should prepare yourself for long hours, stress and having to deal with difficult customers. However, the financial rewards can be considerable, so if you do have the financial means and the mechanical knowhow and qualifications, setting up in the repair garage business can be a smart move.

Opportunities on your Doorstep

Rather than starting up from scratch, you should first consider buying an established business. The customer base will already be there and you can only improve on the previous owner’s reputation and customer service.

A business with an established and proven cash flow will be more expensive to buy, but you can start trading the moment you set foot into the garage. If you have to search for business premises, hire staff, buy equipment and market a start-up business, you are looking at some considerable financial outlay without any guarantee it will succeed. The location might be wrong, the staff might not be well trained but all you can afford, the bank loan may only cover you for the first six month and then you are likely to go under.

As with all business opportunities, if it’s too good to be true – then it usually is! Do your homework, perhaps there’s a café opposite your local repair garage? Sit down for a few hours and make notes of how many people drop off their cars to this particular repair garage and repeat this exercise for a week. This entirely legal industrial espionage should give you a pretty good idea, how much trade there is in a particular area. If a seller of a garage in that area subsequently shows you inflated turnover figures – you know you’ll either have to walk away or start haggling.

Hiring Qualified Staff

The success of your business will largely depend on the qualifications, friendliness and commitment of your staff, so choose well and don’t think that offering slave labour will do you any good in the long run. Mechanical engineers and good auto mechanics come at a price and paying peanuts, as the saying goes, will only get you monkeys.

The mechanical engineering job market has been on the up and as a result wages have somewhat increased thanks to greater competition between employers and better qualifications gained by employees. Don’t talk bad about your competition during an interview, this could backfire, when word gets round to your competitors. You may at first rely on the “big boys” to pass on trade to you when they have a glut of work they cannot handle.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > The Ups and Downs of Owning a Repair Shop

You thought you did your research, you followed up references, but unfortunately the service carried out at your garage left a lot to be desired. What remedy do you have?

The Legal Framework Protecting You

The law governing goods and services requires a supplier to ensure that any goods supplied to you are of satisfactory quality and any services you pay for must be carried out with reasonable care and skill by a qualified person working for that supplier. The work must also be carried out within a reasonable period of time and at a reasonable charge within the frame of pre-agreed costing or quotation.

The definition of ‘reasonable’ may be different in each case; in case of a dispute arising you should seek advice from a solicitor, what the term ‘reasonable’ refers to in your particular situation. You can check your consumer rights in the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Car mechanics are supplying a service to you by carrying out repairs to your vehicle and they sell goods to you by fitting new parts.

In the UK a trade association such as the Motor Vehicles Repairers Association can give advice and guidance. Before booking a service for your luxury automobile you should check your chosen garage belongs to a trade body or association forcing its members to adhere to a code of conduct. That way you will have a degree of safety that repairs to your car will be undertaken in a satisfactory way.

Complaints Procedure

As with all complaints about services or goods, you should in the first instance contact the supplier, in this case your garage, as soon as possible. If you are still unhappy after discussing the matter with the manager of the garage and they belong to a trade association, you can take your complaint to the trade body. They usually have an independent dispute procedure or mediation service. Consumer Direct is a governmental department set up to give free legal advice and you can contact them via their website.

If the dispute arose over work on a new car still under warranty, your luxury car manufacturer should be able to advise you. The majority of new car purchases in Britain are covered by a conciliation service as part of the Motor Codes New Cars Code regulating new car sales. You dealership will supply you with the details when you purchase your luxury car.

If you are unhappy that a fault was not correctly dealt with or not even spotted at your garage or repairs were not carried out satisfactorily, the garage should be allowed time to set the matter right. If the garage fails to deal with your complaint in a mutually satisfactory manner, you may be entitled to let another garage carry out the work and recover the cost from the first garage. You should get legal advice either from Consumer Direct or your solicitor before you charge another garage with the work.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Luxury Car Repairs: Protecting your Rights as a Consumer

Whilst the garage down the road might deal with every sort of vehicle, used or new, it is usually more cumbersome having to look for a garage dealing with the service and repairs of your classic or luxury car.

Specialists for Classic Cars

You may have to travel for quite some distance before you can book your classic car in for a service or repair job, since, depending on the make and age of your classic car, you will undoubtedly need a specialist to handle the work.

Many specialists collect and deal in classic cars from the post-war era including, but not limited to, brands such as Alvis, Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar and Morgan. They not only carry out service and repairs but can acquire good quality cars for their clients. When you are ready to move on to a new car and they usually welcome part-exchange of such vehicles for any of their existing collection.

A good garage will deal with anything from the complete service and restoration of your vehicle, from bodywork, paintwork, electrics, mechanics, hydraulics and trim work to just a simple oil change and lubrication. They should be well stocked with part numbers for the brands they deal with and should have the ability to quickly deliver almost all parts needed to keep the classic cars they deal with in good working order and repair. They should provide sales, service, restoration, performance modification, advice and support as their overall package.

Specialists for Top of the Range Contemporary Cars

Some garages deal exclusively with a particular brand or in some cases, a country of origin, such as German or Italian cars for example. You should look out for a garage which has built up a reputation for high quality servicing and repairs for all the top range cars dealing with the country of your own car’s origin. An independent garage, with fully qualified mechanics and engineers, will usually only employ people who are passionate about what they do. If their mechanics love working on Audis, mending Mercedes and running diagnostics on BMWs for example, then they will treat your own car with all the respect and due care that the consumer could wish for.

Whoever carries out your service should have the latest in diagnostic technology, so they can tune your engine, replace your exhaust, fix your brakes – in other words, enable your car to run the way a top quality, luxury car is supposed to run.

A reputable specialist garage will make it their business to build on recommendations and repeat customers. They want their satisfied clients to come back time and again, and if customers tell their friends about the amazing service and competitive pricing then so much the better. Don’t be afraid to lodge a complaint, if you feel you have not been treated fairly or if the work wasn’t carried out to your satisfaction.

The garage should only use genuine parts and their mechanics must be fully trained and qualified, if your chosen garage is independent instead of being affiliated with the top end manufacturers they can charge independent garage prices. This in turn enables you to get a top quality service for your car, but you won’t have to pay the top dealer prices for your service.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Specializing in Paramount Service for your Luxury Automobile

Standard garages deal with your standard family car, the mid-range company or even a student’s old rust bucket providing the run of the mill MOT and regular service. But where do you take your luxury or classic car for a service?

Specialists for your Vintage or Classic Car

The internet has to be your first choice when starting your search. Unfortunately, you may have to travel for quite some distance for a service or repair job, as specialists can be few and far between depending on the make and age of your vehicle.

A specialist garage will obviously only take on certain models, as they stock only the part number for those cars they specialize in. They are usually not only a garage dealing with the complete service but will also offer restoration of your vehicle, undertaking jobs such as looking after the bodywork, repairing paintwork, checking the electrics, mechanics, hydraulics and trim work not to mention checking the tire pressure or do a simple oil change. They should be able to quickly deliver most of the parts needed to maintain and repair the classic cars they deal.

With most specialists you can expect sales, service, restoration, performance modification, advice and support all under one roof. Precisely because most of them deal with buying and selling cars as well as the service of them, it is often quicker to get a spare part for a vintage car than having to wait for the manufacturer of a brand new luxury vehicle to import a spare part to the country where you are desperately waiting for the part to be fitted to your car.

Specialists for Top Quality, High Value Modern Cars

Dealerships usually provide repair and service facilities through their affiliates and their own branches. You will find many garages deal exclusively with a particular brand or limit themselves to just a handful of manufacturers they wish to represent. These garages should have the latest in diagnostic technology, being able to tune your engine or replace your exhaust, fix your brakes or replace your shattered windscreen.

If you are particularly fond of a brand or model, you will probably have established a long standing relationship with your local dealer and servicing your car will come as part and parcel of that relationship, however, you should demand that the garage uses only genuine parts when carrying out repairs and that they hand over old parts when requested, after they have carried out the works. Their mechanics should be fully trained and qualified, and if delays occur because a part needs to be ordered, you should be told how long you can reasonably be expected to wait before you can reclaim your car.

In addition to advertising in the local papers, you will often see their advertisements on your regional TV channel, especially if the dealership is a large one and wishes to promote a new model or special offer. The disadvantage with this type of garage is that they can often charge rather inflated prices for their labour costs and parts. If you own a foreign car and parts need to be imported, costs can soon mount up.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Luxury Car Servicing

Here are some tips what should be included in the overall package of your interim or major service at your specialist or dealer garage. Each service should have an extensive list of checks, with at least two service options to be made available to the consumer, an interim and major health check respectively.

Will they provide me with a quote first?

Essential maintenance work and customer service, indeed no work however vital should be carried out before providing a quotation and without seeking your approval.

Are parts and labour guaranteed?

Make sure your package includes a 12 month labour and parts guarantee.

Is the Warranty Protected?

Your specialist or dealer garage should only use genuine or original equipment quality parts and always follow the manufacturers’ service schedules so that any outstanding warranty is not affected. In fact, the maintenance checks your quality garage carries out should be far more comprehensive than many of the manufacturers’ guidelines. A simple check today can save the customer a big check in the near future – repairs and maintenance are not just to keep on the right side of the law, they also protect your life and limb from accidents and keep the resale value of your car as high as possible.

How long will the Job Take?

If your garage has the right number of experienced technicians, the latest diagnostics, and can get all the parts required within 48 hours your vehicle should be serviced within a timely and reasonable amount of time. Delays may occur if parts are not in stock.

What if Any Additional Work is required?

Your garage should not carry out any other additional work without your permission, and one of their technicians must advise you beforehand on any additional work that may be necessary and the costs involved in such a repair job including labour costs. Only once the costs and work has been agreed with the customer should the additional work commence. The customer should be kept up-to-date at all times throughout the time the car is at the garage.

Do they have any Courtesy Cars Available?

You should explain your requirement when you book in, so the garage can ensure a courtesy car is available for you on the day requested.

Checking the Basics

The garage should collect and deliver to and from your home and office and give you a complimentary full written health check with every visit.

What does a Free Health Check include?

The garage should carry out an interior inspection, examining seatbelts/mountings, ABS warning system, fault diagnosis trouble codes, instruments operation, instruments illumination, switches and controls, heater blower, air con operation, heating/ventilation operation, rear view mirrors, seat belt condition and operation.

Don’t trust just any garage service. Ensure that you will be receiving the best service and professionalism for your luxury automobile.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Getting the Top of the Line Service from your Luxury Service Repair Garage

When we take our luxury car for service at our local garage, we expect to be served in a polite manner and with exemplary service. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. What do you do when your Aston Martin comes back with burn marks on the passenger seat or a scratch on the door? What happens then?

Your Rights as a Consumer:

When you take your car to a garage for servicing or repairs, you are entering into a contract with the garage and the laws offering you protection are the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002. Both laws guarantee your statutory rights and you can demand that the work be carried out in accordance with the law.

Therefore, your garage must carry out the work with reasonable care and skill, in other words the garage should complete the job competently and to a standard expected of a garage of that type. The work must be carried out within a reasonable period of time. Unless a specific time was agreed beforehand, any delays must be discussed with you and agreed upon in writing. The work must be carried out at a reasonable price. Unless a fixed charge was agreed beforehand, the garage must stick to the original quote for the work.

If the garage fits a new part during the service or repair, you are entitled to expect that it be of satisfactory quality – this means that the part should be in working order and also be free from minor defects. It must be fit for its intended purpose, namely the part should perform as it is intended to do.

The part or work must be as described. This means that any description given prior to work commencing has to be correct. If a part was described as being made by a particular manufacturer in a specific country, that is what it should be – it should not be an inferior make made elsewhere.

If a fault or error has not been repaired properly or the garage failed to spot a fault, you should allow the garage the chance to put it right. If the garage refuses or fails to do so, you may be entitled to get the work done at another garage and recover the cost from the original garage. If you have paid for the servicing or repairs by credit card, and if the work cost more than £100, the consumer is protected by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In section 75 of this Act you’ll see that it makes the credit card company as responsible as the garage for a breach of contract or a misrepresentation of the contract.

If you have reason to suspect that a garage is charging you for work it claims to have carried out but has not actually done, or if the garage has fitted inferior or used parts when you only agreed to have a particular manufacturer’s parts or new parts, a criminal offence may have been committed and you should report it to Consumer Direct.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Luxury Car Service: Legal Support for Inappropriate Service

When deciding upon which garage should carry out the regular service and maintenance of your executive car, it is important to make a “wish list” of all the items you feel should be included. Apart from the vehicle and road safety features demanded by law, there are regular checks to be done which cut down on wear and tear expenses and increase the life span of your vehicle.

Choosing a Garage:

Whether you are new to driving or not, it’s important to shop around for the best quotes for parts and labor. Ask your colleagues, friends and family if they have any recommendations. Within the scope of garages which deal with your particular brand of car, there are different types of garages dealing with general servicing and mechanical repair, “fast-fit” services, body repairs or even engine specialists. Choose the garage which is best suited to your needs.

A good garage should deal with your vehicle in a fairly and timely manner. They will have personnel who know their customer service standards and are mindful of your rights as a consumer; they only carry out works they are qualified to do; they will comply with a code of practice if they belong to a trade association; give all details of repair options and costs when you telephone them; agree any work with you and confirm it in writing.

A reputable garage will give fixed-price, written quotes (including Value Added Tax), or provide written estimates if quotes aren’t possible; the garage will explain why any diagnostic work is needed to identify a potential problem and get your permission to any follow-on work and costs.

What should I expect from the Service?

At a basic level your garage should tell you in advance if they don’t take certain types of payment (such as checks, credit or debit cards) or if they charge for these. Naturally, they should seek your permission to go ahead if the cost is likely to go over the written quote or estimate; they should also explain why any replacement parts are needed and how long it will take to fit them, if they are not in stock and have to be ordered. If you are dependent on your car for work or family commitments, ask if the garage will provide you with a courtesy car whilst your car is being serviced.

Your garage should advise you whether your MOT is due and if it is needed you can often add it to your chosen service for half price. A standard MOT costs around £54. Repairs carried out to your vehicle should leave warranties unaffected. You should be able to ask for interim and/or major service checks to be made.

The garage should let you inspect any replaced parts or return them to you upon request. Unless otherwise specified by you, they should only use new replacements and provide full details of labour and parts on invoices and receipts with the total cost including VAT. Ideally, the garage should have a written complaints procedure.

If the garage will not provide you with this level of service, you might like to look elsewhere. Remember, the law says that any services you pay for must be undertaken with reasonable care and skill; they must be carried out within a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable charge (if no charge is agreed in advance); and that any goods supplied must be of satisfactory quality.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Questions you should ask your Luxury Service Repair Garage