servicing in the north east

[mbu10]

well can accept service charges for serviceing the car
but anyway
HHC wants 700 quid plus vat for a minor service (yeah right)
and hundred quid more for a major one
anyway
any one know of decent garages in the north east aka middlesbough
that could do this for me but not have my eyes out

[threespins]

Would you travel to Doncaster if you were loaned a car? or would it be too far for you?

[mbu10]

well ideally some where close to middlesbrough(so my dad could take in)
as do not want to take anytime off work to get car serviced
and i work in newcastle thats why went to HHC but not for that price i am not
so doncaster is a good 2 hour drive from middlesbrough
so prob not best location

[andy-w]

Try Falcon Engineering/Performance 01642469732...they said they would service my chim for £260 and that included parts oil etc...!

They have a good rep, the workshops are spotless and normally have Ferrari's, Porsche, Aston Martins and TVR's in there.

I might be taking mine down there soon for a pre MOT service!

[tvrbob]

I had wondered about making the change to non-dealer service. There isn't the value in these cars to warrant such exorbitant service pricing anymore. I'm due a major service in a couple of months and had considered Falcon Performance. They do claim to 'have the knowledge' but having asked around I think this may be good advertising rather than fact. They do have a clean and tidy workshop and appear 'professional'. £700 versus £260 it looks like a gamble that may be worth taking.

Tony (HHC) are you reading this?

[andy-w]

When i was last down there they had a cerb up on the ramps and another chim in there. They said they had quite a few years experiencce of TVR's but like you say this might be to build a false reputation.

But how wrong can you get a service on a chim or griff?

My chim has not got the service history (long story)and i would take it to a main dealer but to be honest i cant warrant it, like you say £700 V's £260 for oil changes and replacing/checking worn parts?

You could miss out on 10 services and buy another chim!!!!!!!

[ray_von]

Interesting one this I agree with Bob about the value of the cars however the parts alone on a service must come to about £120-£130??? so an all in service for £260 is it too cheap (not wanting to cast aspersions about anyone of course just thinking out loud).I know it has been said before but HHC are top class my car has been looked after by them from day one and for the sake of getting 2 or maybe 3 more services I think I will stick with them, but cars that haven't been looked after by them then I can see the attraction.Please no replies like just cos its full of main dealer stamps doesn't add value blah blah blah.wasting money etc this is all just IMO

[ray_von]

andy-w said:

You could miss out on 10 services and buy another chim!!!!!!!

Or have your brakes seize on you sorry mate

[dingg]

not too cheap IMO just a realistic labour rate instead of the £75/hr HHC are forced to charge - you pays ya money and takes ya choice - I shall be giving falcon a go when mines due for service - re parts I can only get a max of about £80 on my calcs, new plugs , oil , oil filter ,diff and g/box oil, and thats about it isn't it ? I beieve the air filter is just cleaned of junk and reoiled or have I got this wrong ?

>> Edited by dingg on Wednesday 26th April 11:35

[LOCKHART FLAWSE]

If you can nip down to Boroughbridge I think you'll find T.J.Motors look after a few TVRs on here including mine.

L.F.

[harry1972m]

R&P Woods in High Heaton Newcastle - quite a lot of N.E. TVR owners use them including myself and a workmate with Griff 500 - Paul really knows his stuff and they specialize in all sorts of high performance motors allways been a few TVR's there when I have dropped mine in for work done - they have rolling road facilties also.

Telephone No 0191 2810748

[andy-w]

ray_von said:

andy-w said: You could miss out on 10 services and buy another chim!!!!!!! Or have your brakes seize on you sorry mate

Wheres your chim just been??? and it has full tvr history?
Not having a dig darren!!! Honest!!!


Anyway whats wrong with automatic breaks???
I could'nt justify getting a tvr dealer to change my pads/discs and charge a small fortune for something that takes a couple of hours maximum, to do yourself???

I do agree, there are some very nice chims out there and they probably will sell better with the full TVR history...but at some point you will have to bite the bullet and say enough is another...especially when there are unrepaired crashed ones going for sale on ebay for 6K...there is no way a running, roadworthy chim is going to sell for less than that just because it has not been serviced by TVR dealers.

What if the car was serviced by a TVR dealer every 6k miles but the owner decided to 'have a go' at changing the cam himself...??? would that make it a car with full service history but possible bodged cam fitting???

Again not having a go at anyone at all!!! Just my humble opinion!!!

Would also like to add:
If i had brought my chim and it did have full tvr history, then i would have probably kept it up. As it hasnt i cant see the point of getting it now!!!

>> Edited by andy-w on Wednesday 26th April 13:18

[fergusg]

I had my Chim serviced by a well known specialist. They failed to spot that the susension geometry was wrong because someone had fitted the wrong size shims in the front wishbones. Consequence, I scrubbed the inside of my front tyres bald in 6,000 miles. HHC spotted this the first time I servcied with them.

I had another locally well respected 'sportscar expert' fit a new thermostat. I then ended up by the side of the road with steam comign out of the bonnet vents because the thermostat hadn't been seated properly when fitted. I've subseqently replaced it myself as I was concerned they had not put the right part in. They hadn't. they fitted an 88C Land Rover unit which has a smaller orifice and so would almost certainly have overheated in summer.

I had a 6,000 mile service on my car at HHC in October last year and for a change I didn't need anything else on top and that (except a fuse replacement) came to £496-14. So I'm surprised that they've quoted you £700.

I can also confirm that the parts for a 6,000 mile service are about £110+VAT.

I have also been tempted by lower price servicing, but I keep asking myself what aren't they doing for that cheaper price. Perhaps I'm a mug, but I'd rather pay up front to know my car is well maintained than have to pay more after something has gone wrong and have a car that's slowly deteriorating.

[fergusg]

fergusg said:

I had my Chim serviced by a well known specialist. They failed to spot that the susension geometry was wrong because someone had fitted the wrong size shims in the front wishbones. Consequence, I scrubbed the inside of my front tyres bald in 6,000 miles. HHC spotted this the first time I servcied with them. I had another locally well respected 'sportscar expert' fit a new thermostat. I then ended up by the side of the road with steam comign out of the bonnet vents because the thermostat hadn't been seated properly when fitted. I've subseqently replaced it myself as I was concerned they had not put the right part in. They hadn't. they fitted an 88C Land Rover unit which has a smaller orifice and so would almost certainly have overheated in summer. I had a 6,000 mile service on my car at HHC in October last year and for a change I didn't need anything else on top and that (except a fuse replacement) came to £496-14. So I'm surprised that they've quoted you £700. I can also confirm that the parts for a 6,000 mile service are about £110+VAT. P.S. my £496-14 was inclusive of VAT, so it would be the same as £422+VAT. I have also been tempted by lower price servicing, but I keep asking myself what aren't they doing for that cheaper price. Perhaps I'm a mug, but I'd rather pay up front to know my car is well maintained than have to pay more after something has gone wrong and have a car that's slowly deteriorating.

[tvrbob]

fergusg said:

I keep asking myself what aren't they doing for that cheaper price.

They're not charging you £75/hr for a start. Say they charge £40/hr, that's a saving of £280

>> Edited by tvrbob on Thursday 27th April 07:17

[trackcar]

One of the reasons I stopped servicing TVRs was that every man and his dog are now doing it, all undercutting each other to the point where I can't afford to do the job properly anymore and compete, so I don't.

There's about 120 pounds of parts at retail price, plus environmental charges for disposing of old waste oil/filters/fluids etc. It takes a day to service a Chim/griff properly, I don't care what anyone else says! Compared to tuning work I lost out on every service I did .. it's virtually impossible to make a living off servicing TVRs and do it properly. Warranty companies are a blo*dy nightmare aswell.

Service a TVR for 260 pounds? they're welcome to it!

[prtvr]

I went into Falcon and was quoted £340 for a full service.
what did you have to do andy to get a price of £260
I bet you had your low cut dress on
on the plus side they had a tvr in the workshop and the guy appeared to know what he was taking about,
we talked about chassis rust and weak points on the car.
plus the work shop was clean and tidy
My thoughts are that the car is not complex, ford running gear and a rover hart make it simple to sevice.
so I will give them a try,if I can get the price down (now were are my high heels)
the things some people will do to save money

[ray_von]

dingg said:

re parts I can only get a max of about £80 on my calcs, new plugs , oil , oil filter ,diff and g/box oil, and thats about it isn't it ?

All that for £80 where do you get your gear from how much do you pay for your oil I think you need 6.5 litresThat must be £60 ish alone

andy-w said:

wheres your car just been

could any dealer main or independent stop a cam from wearing also my rear discs and pads were changed during a service ,admittedly,at a cost of £26.40 labour and this is my point the fact that during the service the brakes are stripped and cleaned and copper slipped this may be something that could be left out by others

>> Edited by ray_von on Thursday 27th April 08:01

[tvrbob]

ray_von said:

......l this may be something that could be left out by others......

So main dealers never fail?

During a resent major suspension rebuild a dealer failed to notice a machining fault on a rear hub carrier. (Actually did notice something was wrong but failed to act on it). Result was that the bearing was destroyed after three months and a new hub needed fitting. The dealer was very helpful and supportive but I did have to pay again.

Main dealer replaced both steering column UJ's. The upper UJ was fitted with the connecting shaft spline not fully inserted. i.e. the securing bolt was fitted at the end of the shaft and not through the spline cut out. Result was bad steering play and damaged 'new' upper UJ six months after installation. Dealer refused to accept responsibility and would not replace damaged parts. They did offer lots of advice though.

I know anyone can make mistakes but I thought the extra money (£75/hr versus £40/hr) was because dealers did spot and act on things and didn't install components badly.

I still have a lot of respect for my local dealer, I consider them friends, but I think I'm justified in questioning the value they offer versus the local less expensive independent.

[andy-w]

prtvr said:

I went into Falcon and was quoted £340 for a full service. what did you have to do andy to get a price of £260 I bet you had your low cut dress on ... ...so I will give them a try,if I can get the price down (now were are my high heels) the things some people will do to save money

I think it was just the fact that i offered to do their website for them when they had finished expanding the workshop and got settled down again!!!