Hay Jack Tatty sorry it's taken me an age to reply to your msg - we use Bedford Street Garage in Halifax, our mech @ VW Restorations takes all his buses there so should be quite bus friendly!
For those of you who are in Cardiff and can't get to custom classics in Barry for an MOT. I would highley recommend; Wynnes Motors 5 Pantbach Place Birchgrove Cardiff CF14 1UN tel 02920 692206 Mr Wynne is very friendly and knows the form for the older vehicle, and his son has a 68 bug.
Hackness Garage, Broxa Lane, Hackness, Scarborough. 01723 882366 I'm travelling all the way from North Derbyshire to use them because I think they are that good! Make sure you ask for Stephen, because if you need any welding, he's the man.
Also you could try your local government/council testing station - they are obliged to test private vehicles as well as ambulances, police cars, taxis etc. As they only do tests, they have no incentive to fail your van. The only downsides are that they charge the full MOT fee and don't do free retests. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#hidden
Another shout for Birdy, gave my van the once over this week, sorted some stuff that needed done and just did an oil change service as he found it had a full service last year. Will definitely be putting it back in there in future.
I use this place for my daily and the bus Its a little country village and they love old classics to come in and are very understanding of the difference between a modern vehicle and an old bus when it comes to mots They charge £55 for an mot but if you fail you dont pay untill the re test and you get the full time allowed to repair it before the re test Good old fashioned small country village garage http://www.bilwoodmotors.co.uk/
Acton Motors, streethay Lichfield. Ask for Dave, turns out he has owned several VW camper vans as well as other VW's. He loved chatting about Bob and even said to come back to get my carb tuned free of charge!
Bridge Street Garage in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire - 01442 235 412. Very understanding of old Campers.
Bradley's Garage Caersws SY17 Powys Mid Wales, I've been using them for over 10 years, always very fair and reasonable .
Autoline Garage Services Unit 9, Commercial Centre, Ashdon Rd, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 2NH Been here twice, first time he passed it with no advisories and told me to fix the loose brake line and number plate bulb. Second time straight through with no problems and just an 'it's all good'. When I was worried when waiting the first time they just said no need to worry, they have to be really bad to fail.
DAVID HAY MOTOR ENGINEERS UNIT 3 77 MAUCHLINE ST GLASGOW G5 8HQ they are the original grumpy auld men , but are fair and dont rip you off , or give me a call and il get it done for you at trade price ,and give you a fair price for any repairs .we give all our mots the once over before we take them ,as i was a tester for 15 yrs ,and trust me theres nothing more annoying than an vehicle coming for an mot and nobody bothering to check the basics first lights,tyres ,wipers and washers. 0141 429 6655 is my number
I'd recommend Abridge Autos in Essex - www.abridgeautos.co.uk Not scared of vans and they concentrate on the important bits not the fripperies.
Worcestershire - Mark&Laura on here pointed me at Malvern Motor Services, Spring Lane Malvern - they are not a VW specialist and are quiet a large place but, they do all the transport for the Morgan Motor Company and when I got there they had a couple of TR's in and an Austin Healey 100/6 being restored in the end bay of the garage. They knew their stuff on the Bus and sorted a couple of annoying issues without charge or fuss!! Not cheap but really pleased with the service - gave me a lift home when I left it there and rang 3 or 4 times while work was being done to see if I was happy as "original parts" would need to be changed!
CC Motors is Sheffield 01142433970 sound old guy Bill, failed on a bulb in 2012 he replaced it and passed it, and it's booked in again today for its MOT there, just hope to god it passes again! needs some little bits of fettling here and there but structurally for MOT should be ok......famous last words!! wish me luck!
Top Tread Tyres in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Does a couple of Bays, including mine. Just passed test yesterday.....he told me one of track rod ends had a bit too much play in it....then said....well I know how you camper guys look after your vans, so I won't put it on the advisory. Always had a painless pass.....doesn't stop the nerves before hand though !
