I hate having work done by garages

Yup. Even worse if you’re female too.

Had to take an ex with me once to the garage insisting they knew the colour/code of my bug better than I did.

Ex came for THEIR security! Grrrr

 

It’s pretty much universally terrible tbh

I took my golf 20 years ago to have the rear pads done at a main dealer, I had to go in and show them the way to bleed them

 

Had a. Vw specialist let me drive away with a clamped front brake hose.... mole grip on it!

Was interesting stopping at the first set of lights down the road!

 

Took our car to a garage for a service then back for MOT a week or so later. It failed the MOT on a worn tyre and the engine management light being on, which had started to happen shortly after the service. They had a look but said we'd have to take it to a main dealer because the fault code was something to do with air fuel mixture and they didn't have the right diagnostic gear to get to the bottom of it. They thought it might need a new throttle body and sensor.
When I got home I flipped up the bonnet and in one minute found that the air filter housing had not been properly re-fitted so that air was getting in round the filter. Sadly their fault code reader didn't have a 'some ***** hasn't clipped the air box in properly' readout...

 

Many years ago I took my Austin Maxi into Quick Fit for a new exhaust, the 'fitter' came into the waiting room and said 'you need new shock absorbers all round'! That's strange I said, it hasn't got any at all its hydrolastic so can you get my car off the ramp. Bloody sharks, don't think they have improved.

 

If they can't plug a computer into it to tell them which module to replace, they can't fix it these days

 

I guess I'm lucky in that my brother owns the local garage that I take my modern cars to... although thinking about it, 9 times out of 10 he tells me to ******* off and do it myself, so that's invariably what I do nowadays.

 

Old school garages are few and far between now, luckily got one near us but you have to give them a few weeks notice nowadays.

I've been under my bus today to check the gear oil level - I hate doing it as it's difficult to get to and undo the filler cap without a ramp, but I don't trust any other local garage to do it.

 

Yeah, I do the same, and then by the time I need the special tool again, I've lost it!

 

I wonder how many garages actually own feeler gauges nowadays ?!!!

 

I changed the steering rack and pump on my Golf this week (Marmite job to do without a lift!) so needed to take it for wheel alignment, stated I’d just changed the rack to the guy on the desk, to be told 20 minutes later - with a printout in his hand - “your wheel alignment is slightly out, do you want us to do it?”

Spoke to friend who knows the owner/manager, and he confirmed this guy had never worked on cars but his family are loaded and set him up in business , seems he’s a better talker than a do’er, I hated putting money in his pocket.

 

I have always done everything myself but recently bought a newish car and didn't have time so put it into a local old school garage for a cambelt and a water pump, well I loved it.

I dropped it off on the way to work and picked up on the way home no problems plus they did a couple of other bits and charged me a sensible amount.