Supporting Local Garage

[Lee Young]

Hi Amigos,
Went to my local garage today and said I wanted to book my Zed in for some jobs as follows as I would be doing a 2,000 mile trip to Southern Spain in 3 weeks time.

1. Flush coolant and refill;
2. Brake fluid renewal;
3. Drain and refill gearbox oil;
4. Ditto the diff;
5. Renew front lower wishbone bushes - I've already bought these so just fitting.
6. General inspection to make sure all ok as far as they could see.

Response ... (A) Why do you want to flush and refill all above and (b) we only fit parts that we've supplied.

Tried saying that it's a BMW Z4 and these things are recommended at set intervals. Response was that is what manufactures say but it's all rubbish.

In summary will be doing it all myself.

Crisis, what crisis?

 

[Xiaxio]

Well on the bright side its a good learning experience and you get to see more of it than most people see. And at least you don't have anybody else to blame if something goes wrong. :rofl:

 

[Zeddicus]

I am currently trying to find a garage down here to do such jobs you mentioned, or help for changing springs/struts for example. But I have the feeling it's going to be difficult.
It's like other people don't care about their cars until they crash or the red light for servicing force them to go to a random service center/dealer... Howerver this ain't my vision of "maintaining" and "taking care" of my property!
So hopefully I can rely on the help of friends former mechanics and who can help when they have the time, but you can't obvioulsy do everything on the pavement in the front of the house :roll:
Can only wish you good luck, or maybe someone here can recommend a garage in your area...

 

[ben g]

Sounds like the guys who work in that garage are unappreciative dicks who don't deserve your hard earned cash.

Find a local bmw specialist who's recommended on here. I'm sure they'll do what you ask of them.

 

[Bing]

Sounds like the guys who work in that garage are unappreciative dicks who don't deserve your hard earned cash.

Find a local bmw specialist who's recommended on here. I'm sure they'll do what you ask of them.

i

+1

Only fitting parts they've supplied = greedy feckers wanting to make a margin on parts. My local indie is more than happy for me to supply parts... Though often they can get them cheaper than me. And its your car, you're paying, do why wouldn't they do it ? As Ben says, find another place, even if it's a bit of a journey.

 

[mad4slalom]

it is hard to get anyone to do good old fashioned preventative maintainence nowadays :headbang: they want to just look around check the levels , do a 5 min suction oilchange and then give you a bill for many hundreds of pounds to stamp the service history.i use paddock motors in exeter , specialist indy. good luck in finding one in your area,

 

[RickRob]

Agree with all of the above. I would 't want a garage with that attitude doing any work on my car, even if every warning light was flashing!

Have you looked at this:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38928

If there's no garage near you then post a thread for suggestions. I did that earlier in the year and found a brilliant indie BMW specialist literally within a mile from my house. I never knew they were there and they don't advertise their presence.

Good luck!

 

[Lee Young]

Thanks folks, appreciate your support. Having looked at some of sites suggested have decided - for better or worse - to do everything myself. Not sure I could trust any garage after reading some of the comments posted. Used to do everything myself years (and years) ago, time to get down and dirty again. Might need some assistance from you folks mind!

Cheers and enjoy.

 

[Dewi]

Having been around cars all my life - my old Dad had his own car repair business for a number of years so I grew up around them as a kid - I've seen both the good and bad side of the trade. Sadly these days, gone is the mechanic who can think a problem through, come up with a solution and fix it. Now, they just plug it into a computer which spews out numeric codes and if none of them cover the fault you've got, you're screwed! Some of the worst offenders for bad customer service in my experience over the years have been the main dealers who always charged (and still do) top dollar for what they do just because they have a big sign over the door and posh carpet, I've always found them to be the least knowledgable people when it comes to the cars thay deal with. Even some of the smaller indy garages these days "cherry pick" the good jobs and will over estimate prices for jobs they don't want to do - or can't be bothered with.

I'll not let any garage near my car for servicing, I do all that myself so I'm content in the knowledge that it's been done properly using the correct parts and consumables - and at intervals a lot less than the manufacturers recommend. At one time I did all my own repairs as well, and would think nothing of taking out an engine or dropping a gearbox, but alas age is making me a lot more creaky now so when it breaks with something I can't physically do anymore I tend to take it to a little trusted indy garage locally which a few friends have used for years and who do my MOTs. When the BMW breaks I'll try a couple of the nearby dedicated indies who come recommended on here and hope they know what they're doing!

More power to you Lee for having a go yourself, I'm sure you'll do a better job and feel better for it

 

[ben g]

If only all mechanics were like Edd China.

We'd get things fixed for 20p and a packet of haribo :lol: his labour charges seem a little low for his knowledge and technical skills also.

 

[Zeddicus]

If only all mechanics were like Edd China.

We'd get things fixed for 20p and a packet of haribo :lol: his labour charges seem a little low for his knowledge and technical skills also.

I'm making the same comment at each Wheeler dealers episodes :wink:
Could hardly see him sitting in my coupé though, the guy is tall...

 

[sammysquid]

I agree that if I could find a good garage I wouldn't be doing everything myself. Sadly I come across a garage I think is alright but then they seem almost to resent you having a nice car and things start to drop off in service and cost. I don't deny anyone a good living but I think some of the labour charges are a little high.

My car is old and has not really got a residual and I'm so glad, if I had a car worth good money and needed a service history I would be in more of a dilemma. I also find it odd that people see a service history and assume all is ok even when the garage could be a fool....

 

[JakeGT]

The problem is if you supply your own parts and they turn out to be terrible and break the next day/week most people will blame the garage. It's just not worth the hassle for them.