car service

wildlifeboy

anyone know the best value location to get my car serviced in D15..it has to be ona saturday.

James.

discount tyres

http://www.discounttyres.ie/servicing.html

basic service from € 65 it says

they only charged me 62 and they did it while i waited - great value

jack presley

James. wrote: »

discount tyres

http://www.discounttyres.ie/servicing.html

basic service from € 65 it says

they only charged me 62 and they did it while i waited - great value

Anyone else recommend these? Mine is due a service soon too and their prices look reasonable but I just want to make sure they do a good job.

athtrasna

Absolutely recommend them..have used them since we moved to Blanch 6 years ago. Services, repairs, tyres. Great guys, they don't try to rip you off and don't patronise either. Highly recommend! (no connection, just a happy customer)

Arciphel

Another +1 for Discount Tyres, anytime I get a service there they even wash my car for me afterwards. They also once fixed my exhaust for me for nothing when I thought I had broken the catalytic converter and it turned out only a bit of the pipe had come loose.

jack presley

Might give them a shout then.

How long does a service take by the way? It's just that they're in the middle of an industrial estate with nothing else nearby and I'll have no way of going anywhere so I'll have to stick around. Is there a place I can sit and wait while they do it?

jeffk

jack presley wrote: »

Might give them a shout then.

How long does a service take by the way? It's just that they're in the middle of an industrial estate with nothing else nearby and I'll have no way of going anywhere so I'll have to stick around. Is there a place I can sit and wait while they do it?

They are just inside the main entrance to rosemount business park, theres a seated area with tea/coffee and a tv(or there was when i was in there years ago), after that the dreamcatcher cafe is 10 minutes walk(you need to check if they are open on Saturdays to be sure)

Gaspode

Sorry Chuck & jefk, I had to delete your posts as the post from sweetcheeks was removed. We are always wary of users who sign up simply to rant about a local business.

jeffk

I thought as much when I seen a 2009 sign up with one as a post count .

My reply was fair criticism .

dickwod1

Just be careful as to what a "service" is -

Oil and oil filter and air filter you could do yourself so easily in 30 mins (google it)
Spark plugs and fuel filter are a little more difficult

But if your getting one done compare like with like - how many things they are going to do in your service.

Gate Automation

I can confirm, good service, i get over there new exhaust, tyres, shock absorbers

Larbre34

+1 on the Discount Tyres recommendation. Book way in advance if you want a good Saturday time. They are great for deals on if you need a few jobs done like multiple tyres, brake sets, filters etc outside of the routine minor service items. Dont be afraid to ask!

amtc

My whole family just got all our cars (like we have a fleet - only 3!) in Atlas, on a Saturday - where the Renault garage used to be in Coolmine. Dropped us all home, and picked us up when finished. Also can walk to the Centre. Great value. All 3 passed the NCT last week. What I liked was they rang - I needed new wipers and they offered me a) branded and (b)a cheaper option...I do tiny mileage.

I also use a local guy in Blanchardstown Village - Aidan English and have dircted lots there, but he doesn't do SAturdays.

The Big Red Button

amtc wrote: »

My whole family just got all our cars (like we have a fleet - only 3!) in Atlas, on a Saturday - where the Renault garage used to be in Coolmine. Dropped us all home, and picked us up when finished. Also can walk to the Centre. Great value. All 3 passed the NCT last week. What I liked was they rang - I needed new wipers and they offered me a) branded and (b)a cheaper option...I do tiny mileage.

I also use a local guy in Blanchardstown Village - Aidan English and have dircted lots there, but he doesn't do SAturdays.

I had to bring my car for a pre-NCT check today, had to get it towed to the garage from my house as the tyres were all flat (was off the road for a while.) The tow-truck driver was a local man, I mentioned Atlas but said that I'd be open to other recommendations ... he said he used to suggest Atlas to his customers but stopped because there were a few incidences when his customers got back to him afterwards, to say that Atlas had gone ahead and done a load of expensive work without telling them in advance, then landed them with a massive bill afterwards.

He suggested Coolmine Motors, he said he brings cars there regularly and most people he knows do too (he's a local man, and used to run a garage in Blanchardstown himself.) I got a good impression when we left the car off - the mechanic was very polite and friendly, said that they'd do a pre-NCT for €40 and he outlined exactly what was included for that price, and he said he'd ring me then to discuss any further work that needed to be done - and he stressed that they wouldn't do anything without checking with me in advance.

They're open Saturdays too.

jeffk

Coolmine motors rings a bell

Heres a post I put up on them back in 2011
“I went out this morning and priced the servicing.
Coolmine Motors wanted €130 and had to be pushed to give me a small piece of information on what they do.”

For me if your a potential customer you should be made feel your business matters and they want the work off you. Maybe they do great work, but if its hard to get served/find out what they do and at what price and then told leave the car and it should be ready in x time, then I walk away and go somewhere they want the business.

All peoples opinion and im sure we all have recommended once place or another until we had a bad experience or felt we where hard done by.

The Big Red Button

jeffk wrote: »

Coolmine motors rings a bell

Heres a post I put up on them back in 2011
“I went out this morning and priced the servicing.
Coolmine Motors wanted €130 and had to be pushed to give me a small piece of information on what they do.”

For me if your a potential customer you should be made feel your business matters and they want the work off you. Maybe they do great work, but if its hard to get served/find out what they do and at what price and then told leave the car and it should be ready in x time, then I walk away and go somewhere they want the business.

All peoples opinion and im sure we all have recommended once place or another until we had a bad experience or felt we where hard done by.

And, you know, I actually came across that same post by you when I was looking for a garage in the area, several months ago!

What put me at ease was that, straight away, without me asking, he listed out exactly what was included in the cost, and told me that if other work was necessary, he'd ring in advance.

Who knows - I may well be back here b*tching about what a shoddy job was done by them. Initial impressions were very very good, though.

Perhaps they've improved since when you were there.

jeffk

Fluffy Bunny Rabid wrote: »

And, you know, I actually came across that same post by you when I was looking for a garage in the area, several months ago!

What put me at ease was that, straight away, without me asking, he listed out exactly what was included in the cost, and told me that if other work was necessary, he'd ring in advance.

Who knows - I may well be back here b*tching about what a shoddy job was done by them. Initial impressions were very very good, though.

Perhaps they've improved since when you were there.

There has been a few threads on the issue, such a large area we live in and so many car places, but people have yet to ever really agree on one or two places.

Maybe he seen my post and changed his ways

If that’s what he does now then that’s good and it puts peoples mind at ease, especially with a service, which is a great mystery as to what is and isn’t done.

Hopefully you wont be and we can add them to the list of places to go for car work

not yet

I can 100% stand over AG autos, ballaycollin industrial estate...

087-6688979

Toto Wolfcastle

I've been using Coolmine Motors for a few years. I was doing a massive amount of driving for a couple of years so my car was serviced twice a year. I've never had an issue with them. They always call if something needs to be done and they're nice people. I've never had an issue with finding out what they were going to do for my money.

jeffk

In discount tyre this morning , a fiver to supply and change a bulb , in and out in five minutes

BostonB

Fluffy Bunny Rabid wrote: »

I had to bring my car for a pre-NCT check today, ...

You shouldn't need to do something called a Pre-NCT check. How much was it? vs letting the NCT find the faults.

jeffk wrote: »

In discount tyre this morning , a fiver to change a bulb , in and out in five minutes

Why would you need someone to change a bulb. It wasn't a megane was it?

jeffk

BostonB wrote: »

You shouldn't need to do something called a Pre-NCT check. How much was it? vs letting the NCT find the faults.



Why would you need someone to change a bulb. It wasn't a megane was it?

No its a Toyota Corolla and sure for the price or why not get someone to do it?

As someone says I have shovel hands and that doesn’t go well with modern cars, then on the back of the head light there is two clips to hold on a sealing cap and the last time it was a nightmare as one of them came off.

I looked up changing the reg plate bulb and it said about taking off some cover on the boot, so I said im not messing with possible clips etc

BostonB

Why. Because there's a general trend for people not to do the simplest of jobs, and be unaware of basic maintenance which is leading to manufacturers making it harder for people to do DIY and be charged small fortunes for jobs which should be simple. The Megane is famous for its light bulbs for example.

http://www.infobarrel.com/How_to_Replace_a_Headlight_bulb_in_a_Renault_Megane

Also it leads to things like the Pre NCT which shouldn't be needed, as people should be aware of most of the walkaround items, and everything else should be caught by their usual service. Of course people don't know what a "service" is or the schedule in their cars handbook. Which is follows on my first point about people not being aware of basic maintenance of a car.

If you're Wreck it Ralf then fair enough.
http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/wreck-it-ralph-box-office.jpg

jeffk

I agree when people go into halfords a pay a fiver for someone to do it or do a pre nct , put it through and let them tell you whats wrong.

I got the a bulb changed in headlight and the mechanic had to do something as the connector had burned out. Now you imagine that on your own , I wouldn't know how to fix a connector.

I used to change all the bulbs on my punto , that was a piece of piss to change. The light units came out , you changed the bulb and screwed the unit back in.

As I said the last time I changed a light on the Corolla , one of the clips came off and I spent ages and had to dig it into my finger to clip it back in.

So its not like i couldn't be arsed or never done it before. Infact id rather people paid someone than didn't do it at all.

jeffk

Oh and if you havent seen it , check out wreck it Ralph , a great film full of game references

BostonB

Yes Felix.

jeffk

BostonB wrote: »

Yes Felix.

?

BostonB

jeffk wrote: »

?

http://good-wallpapers.com/cartoons/22873

jeffk

BostonB wrote: »

http://good-wallpapers.com/cartoons/22873

ah right

now im lost what thats got to do with me ?

Gaspode

What's it got to do with car servicing for that matter? Try to keep it on topic please.

The Big Red Button

BostonB wrote: »

You shouldn't need to do something called a Pre-NCT check. How much was it? vs letting the NCT find the faults.

It would've cost me €99 for an NCT. €55 for the test, and €22 x 2 because I'd cancelled two previous tests at the last minute.

It cost €40 for the pre-NCT service. As well as doing all the basics, he did up a comprehensive list of everything that would be needed for the car to pass the NCT, along with prices. He spent time going through it with me in detail when I went to collect the car today - even though I'd already made it clear to him that I wasn't going to get anything done. He even advised me not to, said I'd be better off to sell it (which I'd already decided on, anyways, as it happens.)

I ended up selling the car today for a few hundred euro.

So, in my case, it was well worth my money to have the garage check it rather than sending it for the test. Saved a few euro!

If I do get another car, would definitely go there again. They seem very honest and trustworthy, and they're not over-priced.

jeffk

BostonB did you have a bad experience with cars or mechanics or the like?

Just that you got on a soap box when I told you I paid more or less the cost of the bulb to be supplied and fitted and then couldn't send a proper reply.

BohsCeltic

I got my car serviced from coolmine motors for a good price. However whilst i was there two people came up complaining of not having filters and spark plugs changed despite getting billed for it.
I thought nothing of it really though untill i went and got an alloy repaired.

A few weeks after i had the work done there was a lot of vibration so i brought it up to discount tyres to get the wheels balanced and i was told that the wheel was highly dangerous as there was three welds on it :eek:
I only left the alloy in to get a small crack and buckled fixed.

I couldn't find the receipt either to bring it back up, for something as important as a wheel being left in a dangerous condition i'll not be using coolmine motors again

athtrasna

Am a long time fan of Discount in Ballycoolin and have repeatedly recommended them. No more.

Significant car part needs replacing - got quote from Discount. Several people said it sounded high so I got 4 more quotes. 3 were €75+ less than Discount, and the other was €150 more. I researched the parts used by the cheaper ones and was satisfied they were good quality and probably the same brand.

Contacted Discount to see if they could do anything on their quote seeing as I've been a customer for 9 years (as has housemate) and have given them thousands over the years. Was asked to fax in a cheaper quote (I sent the middle one with the garage details blocked out) which I did. No reply that day, next day I rang twice, first time was on hold for 10 minutes and next time left a number. No call back. Day 3 I was told they'd look into it and call me back later. That was Friday. Almost Wednesday now and no contact.

Car part needs replacing, it will be replaced elsewhere. Servicing will also move elsewhere, as will any other work that needs doing on the car. Disappointed doesn't come close, I gave them every opportunity to retain my custom. They were €80 more expensive than the quote I faxed, a gesture towards that would have kept me, but not to even phone me back. That's poor. In this day and age €80 is a reasonably significant sum of money (especially when repair was unscheduled) - and it's better in my pocket than in the account of a company that used to epitomise customer service but not any more.

jeffk

Like I said in other threads, x mechanic is great till they do you wrong, then you find another one thats great, until they do you wrong.

I am driving almost nine years now and have used so many different mechanics/places, not by choice, but because of the above.

Tails142

Just chiming in for coolmine motors, I needed some work done to get it through the NCT and he changed my oil as well for an extra €70 - I was more than happy with the work and the guy was very nice and cheerful, he rang me back an hour after dropping the car in to let me know the prices for the parts before he started and then rang me back as soon as the work was done to let me know I could pick it up. Some garages seem to barely be able to manage this.

Have been using a few other garages around the place, Dave McCann, Atlas etc, but based on this encounter I'll be using Coolmine Motors from now on.

dodzy

Tails142 wrote: »

Just chiming in for coolmine motors, I needed some work done to get it through the NCT and he changed my oil as well for an extra €70 - I was more than happy with the work and the guy was very nice and cheerful, he rang me back an hour after dropping the car in to let me know the prices for the parts before he started and then rang me back as soon as the work was done to let me know I could pick it up. Some garages seem to barely be able to manage this.

Have been using a few other garages around the place, Dave McCann, Atlas etc, but based on this encounter I'll be using Coolmine Motors from now on.

He may not have done you any favours with €70 for an oil change.

inforfun

using D&C Auto in Rosemount for a few years now.
Gent of a guy.

Might or might not be the cheapest but does what is needed and explains the reason when something out of the ordinary needs replacing.
And this is of course due to my personal situation: Drop my car off in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. I work close by so i never have to take a day off or waste a saturday on waiting.

Marcin_diy

There is one lad working in discount tyres, who worked as Honda mechanic for few years. Can't remember his name unfortunately.
He gave me few good tips on my car about service and parts replacement.

I did free pre nct test with them, and changed tyres on my car 3 times already and will return to them again to get another set of tyres.
If you are returning customer you can always get a discount

Never did a full service however.

jeffk

an update on discount .

Got new tyres and brakes fitted , the brakes squeaked , so i brought them back and had them look at them .
I was told four or five different reasons and that it will go away in time .

It hasn't gone away and is in fact worse , i now have them in with a mechanic and hes saying €50 or so to take all of them off and then clean them .

Wasn't going back to discount again and likely wont go back again in the future , big money for tyres and brakes and have to get a mechanic to look at their work .

jeffk

while i am @ it , would €180 be expensive for a service ?

There is a garage asking that and then there is a polish fella with a garage doing it for €130 ish .

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

an update on discount .

Got new tyres and brakes fitted , the brakes squeaked , so i brought them back and had them look at them .
I was told four or five different reasons and that it will go away in time .

It hasn't gone away and is in fact worse , i now have them in with a mechanic and hes saying €50 or so to take all of them off and then clean them .

Wasn't going back to discount again and likely wont go back again in the future , big money for tyres and breaks and have to get a mechanic to look at their work .

I always used to use them (over the past 4 years I went quite a bit). I found them good, but had issues with them not contacting me about a job (They had done part of the job, and needed to get a part to finish it) and they never got back to me after numerous attempts to contact them on the matter (they kept pushing the date back and where supposed to contact me countless times and never did). Anyway I ended up going to a main dealer and getting the part fitted - to finish the job.

Car is due a service and I don't really want to go to the main dealer. I might just have to bring it back to discount.

Anyone have any other recommendations?

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

while i am @ it , would €180 be expensive for a service ?

There is a garage asking that and then there is a polish fella with a garage doing it for €130 ish .

Depends on the engine size and car make. Also whether they are using OEM specified parts/oil.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

Depends on the engine size and car make. Also whether they are using OEM specified parts/oil.

toyota corolla , 2002 model , all i could get out of the garage for €180 was he gives it a good service

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

toyota corolla , 2002 model , all i could get out of the garage for €180 was he gives it a good service

I presume that's a 1.4 so?

It seems average/slightly above average to me. The usual service will be oil change, new oil filter, new air filter and spark plugs. I expect he is doing at least that for 180. In most places a 1.4 would be 140-200 approx (that's a bit of a rough guess)

Then you have all the usual checks they do on top of that.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

I presume that's a 1.4 so?

It seems average/slightly above average to me. The usual service will be oil change, new oil filter, new air filter and spark plugs. I expect he is doing at least that for 180. In most places a 1.4 would be 140-200 approx (that's a bit of a rough guess)

Then you have all the usual checks they do on top of that.

Yeh sorry it is 1.4 .

Grand thanks , once i have an idea of what the price range is , i get it done every year , so i wouldn't say paying €50 extra will make much of a difference .

jeffk

One of the lads and the owner from Discount got in touch and we have sorted something out with the work I had to get done.

Sending the car in for a service next week, no problems with the service last year, so I expect much the same this year. Price is €140 so the same as the polish garage and well cheaper than the other garage at €180.

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

One of the lads and the owner from Discount got in touch and we have sorted something out with the work I had to get done.

Sending the car in for a service next week, no problems with the service last year, so I expect much the same this year. Price is €140 so the same as the polish garage and well cheaper than the other garage at €180.

Good Result for you there.

My issue was some time ago (approx 9 months) but one of the lads from discount also got in touch with me to try and address this. In fairness to them my issue was due to not getting a part so never had anything to do with the quality of there work.

Although I now have a new car they have sorted something out, and more to the point dealt with my concern. Fair play to them, I've always been happy with there work so I will be going again for my next service.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

Good Result for you there.

My issue was some time ago (approx 9 months) but one of the lads from discount also got in touch with me to try and address this. In fairness to them my issue was due to not getting a part so never had anything to do with the quality of there work.

Although I now have a new car they have sorted something out, and more to the point dealt with my concern. Fair play to them, I've always been happy with there work so I will be going again for my next service.

Sure was, all I ever wanted was brakes that stopped the car and didn't do it while making a squeaking noise.

Glad to see they where in touch with you also , its good to see a company keeping up on online feedback and not ignoring it(good or bad).

Good to hear you got something sorted out as well

Instead of going to garage I spent money on buying tools to service the car myself.

Parts and tools for service cost around €100. Not bad considering I have the tools for next time.

There are a mass of tutorials online on how to change plugs (I has never done mechanics before, and was able to change plugs in 20mins), oil/oil filter, air and cabin (not commonly done for a service) filters.

Just spend some time researching, and you should have no probleming servicing a car. Take you time servicing, and you should be fine.

Here is a great post about how to do an oil change on an Astra, but idea should apply to most cars. http://www.astraownersnetwork.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-39740.html