How important is a local garage to your car choice?
Discussion
Maybe I'm getting old and lazy...
We have a great little VAG Inde at the bottom of the hill near the train station. He looks after one of our cars and does a good job for an honest price. Bottom line, I trust him. And I can leave the car there and walk 300 yds to the train station or a mile home.
So I'm on the hunt for a new daily and find myself hunting down a VAG of suitable size and shape.
Just because I can't be bothered adjusting my working day to drive across the county when work needs doing / using my weekends driving across the county / leaving the cars with a jack-of-all-trades.
Didn't plan it to work out like this, but it has.
Anyone else?
We have a great little VAG Inde at the bottom of the hill near the train station. He looks after one of our cars and does a good job for an honest price. Bottom line, I trust him. And I can leave the car there and walk 300 yds to the train station or a mile home.
So I'm on the hunt for a new daily and find myself hunting down a VAG of suitable size and shape.
Just because I can't be bothered adjusting my working day to drive across the county when work needs doing / using my weekends driving across the county / leaving the cars with a jack-of-all-trades.
Didn't plan it to work out like this, but it has.
Anyone else?
Edited by Matt UK on Tuesday 23 December 17:22
I reckon a lot of people do this, maybe a garage that's close to work.
My Dad once considered buying a (pre VAG) Skoda because of a garage in the village, thankfully Mum made him see sense and a Mazda (next village) was purchased.
Reality is that unless it's warranty work you can use any garage to do the work, and most franchises will do C&D or CC.
My Dad once considered buying a (pre VAG) Skoda because of a garage in the village, thankfully Mum made him see sense and a Mazda (next village) was purchased.
Reality is that unless it's warranty work you can use any garage to do the work, and most franchises will do C&D or CC.
It is a factor, knowing there is someone decent and trustworthy nearby who can look after the car for you. To be fair pretty much anyone can look after a run of the mill VAG group car though, I'm always somewhat surprised that VAG specialist exist whereas Vauxhall/Ford/Hoover/Electrolux specialists don't. Probably comes from a time where they were quite rare.
Touch wood I've not yet had to have work done on a car that requires specialist knowledge. New brake pads tomorrow, oil and filters change, and swapping out my chav backbox for the OEM one.
Garage I go to regularly is capable of that. If it needed a timing chain and tensioner though.... slightly different.
Garage I go to regularly is capable of that. If it needed a timing chain and tensioner though.... slightly different.
I'm exactly the same as the OP. I've got a very good independent VAG garage close by me. They also have another branch that the son runs a few miles away. I trust them implicitly with my car. Never a fear of them ripping me off. They've managed to fit me in at very short notice for urgent work and MOTs. It's one of the main reasons why Ive gone VAG again for my recently purchased car...a V10 S6 Avant.
PositronicRay said:
lufbramatt said:
kambites said:
Not remotely because I service and repair my own cars. 
^ same here
Not in the slightest.
I'd no sooner buy a soul devouring car just because there was a garage nearby than I would buy a soul devouring car based upon miles per gallon or litres of bootspace.
I seek out what I actually want then establish the best way to run it. I would have thought most car enthusiasts, and thus about 5% of the Pistonheads membership would think a similar way - whatever their tastes in cars.
I'd no sooner buy a soul devouring car just because there was a garage nearby than I would buy a soul devouring car based upon miles per gallon or litres of bootspace.
I seek out what I actually want then establish the best way to run it. I would have thought most car enthusiasts, and thus about 5% of the Pistonheads membership would think a similar way - whatever their tastes in cars.
I'm pretty sure it makes a big impact in terms of sales. For example, you do notice more than normal numbers of a particular brand in areas where they have dealers.
It's never crossed my mind to base a purchase on where the servicing is as they come and get the car and return it after so it don't see that it matters that much?
It's never crossed my mind to base a purchase on where the servicing is as they come and get the car and return it after so it don't see that it matters that much?
Jasandjules said:
No, I am fortunate to have a chap whom I trust and who can turn his hand to just about any vehicle going. Just finding a car to suit my needs is hard enough.
This. A mate who happens to be a good mechanic and has worked on pretty much anything I'm likely to buy is a handy person to know. L
Or perhaps that is why there are so many ?
dme123 said:
It is a factor, knowing there is someone decent and trustworthy nearby who can look after the car for you. To be fair pretty much anyone can look after a run of the mill VAG group car though, I'm always somewhat surprised that VAG specialist exist whereas Vauxhall/Ford/Hoover/Electrolux specialists don't. Probably comes from a time where they were quite rare.
Apart from the RS stuff I never really understand VAG specialists, they are perhaps the easiest and most documented cars to work on.Or perhaps that is why there are so many ?
jamieduff1981 said:
Not in the slightest.
I'd no sooner buy a soul devouring car just because there was a garage nearby than I would buy a soul devouring car based upon miles per gallon or litres of bootspace.
I seek out what I actually want then establish the best way to run it. I would have thought most car enthusiasts, and thus about 5% of the Pistonheads membership would think a similar way - whatever their tastes in cars.
We're not talking just about Mr and Mrs Smith down the road buying their Qashqai because the nearest dealer is a Nissan outlet.I'd no sooner buy a soul devouring car just because there was a garage nearby than I would buy a soul devouring car based upon miles per gallon or litres of bootspace.
I seek out what I actually want then establish the best way to run it. I would have thought most car enthusiasts, and thus about 5% of the Pistonheads membership would think a similar way - whatever their tastes in cars.
There's a guy who I use for my Subarus who isn't actually that close (an hour away), but charges very low hourly rates and no VAT, who is exceptionally competent and offers excellent advice.
I see him 3-4 times a year not only for routine servicing but for mods and upgrades. His involvement has improved my car and helped to keep my costs down.
It isn't by far the only criterion, but it's certainly one reason why I'll continue to consider Subarus.
In the same way that an owners' club or a good online community can enrich your ownership experience, so can a decent specialist.
Benbay001 said:
Nope.
Its because there is alot of demand for people who can fix volkswagens.
As a boy I an aside, in North London over the summer, VW ran a billboard campaign to put local indys out of business. Essentially their ads were aimed at going to get a quote from an indy and VW/Audi would do it cheaper. Plus, the tag line about using professionals instead of dubious backstreet operators. Its because there is alot of demand for people who can fix volkswagens.
It was actually something that really quite repulsed me, to see one of the world's largest companies actively and openly seeking to destroy small local business.
It is a minor thing in the grand scheme of things but on principal I will never own a VWG product or use their service because of that. I just found it repellent and I can't support a global entity that so actively wants to destroy local and family businesses.
Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 24th December 10:08
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