How much trust?

I was in the motor trade for 30 odd years and left because I got fed with the arm chair experts knowing it all ,if you call the gas man to service your central heating boiler and he says there's a fault with it ,do you question that ????

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

Having had a garage tell me my brake pads needed changing when they were almost new, no, I don’t trust many of them.

The answer, Husky, is that I question everything.

I bought a used Mercedes from a main dealer earlier this year, that had allegedly had an eleven-teen point health check before it was sold. About 500 miles later I put the car into AN Other Mercedes dealer for a minor warranty job where they also did a 'health check'. The 2nd dealer told me that my front discs & pads were worn & advised that they needed replacing at a price of over £500 Mmm!? Not that either dealer had a financial interest in not changing them or quoting to change them.

I have used my same franchised garage for about 18 years.  My latest vehicle is 2 years old, and I've had it for 1 year.  It has done around 10,000 miles and, when it went in for its annual service at the beginning of May, they serviced the air con, including a new air cleaner, at a cost of just over £49.  We then spent nearly 7 weeks in France and, during the recent heatwave both in France and here in the UK, there was a distinct improvement in the efficiency of the air conditioning system.

The integrity of garages covers a wide spectrum, and it isn't surprising to hear of "rip-off" stories. My previous car - 9 years old and 55,000 miles on the clock - never required new disc pads or discs; in fact, nothing except fluid and filter changes during annual servicing. 

We have built up a good relationship with a couple of local garages. They are knowledgeable across a range of vehicle ages, from 1970’s classics, to our recently purchased 4x4, and our motorhome. Proper mechanics, not just plug into a computer fixers. It pays to have a bit of mechanical etc... knowledge as well. My OH is very knowledgeable luckily, and I try to pick up a few things from him about what might be wrong etc.... 

I used to get seriously cheap 2nd hand car loans via my employer, however only on the understanding that the workshop mechanics looked over a prospective purchase. We were buying a Range Rover one time, took it in and workshop decide to put it on one of those front or back axle rolling road things. We had to explain to them that it would seriously damage it as it was in permanent four wheel drive! So no, they are not all to be trusted.

The automatic car we changed to last year had 23000 on the clock when it was serviced and MOT this year 28000 mls i was advised that the front discs and pads were very near their limit and do i want them changed   while they had the car,when i queried how it was so,they said our that manual cars brakes unless "badly" driven normally last far longer than automatics on which brakes get a lot more use,and as we tow several thousands  miles a year i decided to have them changed ,they did show me the ones they had taken off (when i returned the branch managers car he had let me have as a loan car)

I generally trust local garages, they have a reputation to protect. In rural areas like mine with small communities, ripping people off is a fast route to ruin. If there’s a bloke on the desk who isn’t wearing a suit, smelling of aftershave and with oil under his nails, so much the better!

I don’t trust large national chain garages, particularly the ones who’ve graduated from tyre and exhaust fitting into more complex work, generally employing the same semi-skilled fitters from their earlier incarnation. This is the group who tend to invent problems in my experience,

I use main franchised dealers only because I have to in order to protect the warranty. However, in my opinion they are the worst of all, high charges, customer charters etc that mean absolutely nothing and front desk staff who know naff all about cars.

Depends what kind of rolling road the garage has. My ML is permanent 4 wheel drive as was the R Class before it and my MOT tester uses a rolling road for the brakes however ..... the rollers spin in opposite directions. 👍

I left school in 76 and started my Apprenticeship with a Rootes dealer.

Made redundant when they shut down in in 83 and went to work in the Bus & Coach industry until 2012 when I took early retirement.

My Oh My, could I tell you some stories...........

Unless you know the individuals personally, as friends, trust your choice of  garage as far as you could throw them is my advice.