Good independent garage in Chelmsford?

[gmtfd]

Hi all

Any recommendations for a good independent garage in or near Chelmsford? New to the area and no idea who is good and who isn't.

Thanks!

Gareth

[TCEvo]

I've used this chap, who's based at Oyster Place (which is on the Dukes Park Industrial Estate to the north of the city centre), in the past; seemed OK:

http://www.johntinham.co.uk/

Depending on what car you have there are a few specialists (VW/Audi, BMW, Land Rover etc) in the city.

[Squiggs]

https://www.sanismotors.com/

It looks like the sort of place that have never heard of HSE but they do good work at a reasonable price

[StevieBee]

Paul Bailey in Bicknacre is very good. Ex-rallycrosser too!

[Denis O]

These guys have a good rep amongst the BMW community. I have not used them myself but have heard good comments.

https://www.pmwltd.co.uk/

[gmtfd]

Many thanks for the help chaps. To change rear pads and discs using OE parts, I was quoted £260 by PMW and £250 by John Tindal. The main dealer quoted £195, so I am going with them.

Strange that independents should charge more than the Ford dealer???

Cheers

Gareth

[Eddieslofart]

StevieBee said:

Paul Bailey in Bicknacre is very good. Ex-rallycrosser too!

No he’s not. His fat tt of a son came close to a clump last month, after his prick of an MOT tester decided to put a cut in a driveshaft gaiter to fail it on an MOT.

Forgot he’d done the same last year, and i checked them this year.

[Jaguar steve]

Eddieslofart said:

StevieBee said:

Paul Bailey in Bicknacre is very good. Ex-rallycrosser too!

No he’s not. His fat tt of a son came close to a clump last month, after his prick of an MOT tester decided to put a cut in a driveshaft gaiter to fail it on an MOT.

Forgot he’d done the same last year, and i checked them this year.

Paul Bailey - although almost certainly the dad or even grandad now was universally known as "Tuppence" among Spanner Monkeys and traders in the Chelmsford area in the late 70s and early 80s for his petty meanness and penny pinching.

I think it must be friends of ours who wander round his forecourt and end up buying another car from him whenever they've got nothing else to do on a Saturday afternoon helping to keep him in business.

Alan who runs Trinity Motors in Springfield Road in Chelmsford is a nice bloke and pretty good for routine stuff if you CBA to do it yourself. His MOT tester is a reasonable enough guy on older cars too.

[leginigel]

Jaguar steve said:

Paul Bailey - although almost certainly the dad or even grandad now was universally known as "Tuppence" among Spanner Monkeys and traders in the Chelmsford area in the late 70s and early 80s for his petty meanness and penny pinching.

I think it must be friends of ours who wander round his forecourt and end up buying another car from him whenever they've got nothing else to do on a Saturday afternoon helping to keep him in business.

Alan who runs Trinity Motors in Springfield Road in Chelmsford is a nice bloke and pretty good for routine stuff if you CBA to do it yourself. His MOT tester is a reasonable enough guy on older cars too.

I've know Paul for many years and he has stood back from the garage in the last few years and let his son take the lead ,this son is a racer and very good and not fat ,I would not think for any amount of money they would want or need to rip some one off.You must have a lot of friends as he turns over a lot of stock. As for the late 70s we where all just starting out and penny pinching when buying and selling cars was a must as that's all we had in them.I also know Alan from Trinity Motors before he turned the garage in Springfield Road into the workshop and MOT centre as it is today he to used to sell cars some of which were mine again a nice man to deal with just like those at Paul Baileys Motors.

[ant man]

gmtfd said:

Many thanks for the help chaps. To change rear pads and discs using OE parts, I was quoted £260 by PMW and £250 by John Tindal. The main dealer quoted £195, so I am going with them.

Strange that independents should charge more than the Ford dealer???

Cheers

Gareth

I've used PMW for over 10 years for my BMW work and highly recommend them. I trust only a few people when it comes to my M3.

If your car is a Ford, I'd suggest Trinity down Springfield Road in Chelmsford as they seem to get good reviews. I certainly wouldn't trust Fords to do a competent job from my previous experiences unless you know the person working on your car.