Car servicing, who to trust?

zzfh

i'm having issues lately with mechanics.

have a 09 passat 2.0 tdi,got a full service with advance pitstop last week,was told everything was grand but needed new tyres because the tracking has been way off for ages..etc etc

1 week on and i have 2 engine management lights on the dash,so now i'm sceptical..
maybe its just coincidence,maybe not.
also it just occured to me they were also the last ones to track my car not 6 months ago,when i left it in pre-nct.

i always assumed they were a repuatible brand,but now i'm having doubts..

i'm probably going to have to go to a main dealer to get a diagnostic on the engine faults,god knows what thats going to cost.

sound dodgy or no?

colm_mcm

Not a lot of love for APS round here

Tails142

Whereabouts are you OP?

I would always be wary of recommendations here as most are probably from staff working in the garages or friends of. Have tried a few garages in my area based on comments here and have been left wondering why they get such glowing reviews some times.

zzfh

Tails142 wrote: »

Whereabouts are you OP?

I would always be wary of recommendations here as most are probably from staff working in the garages or friends of. Have tried a few garages in my area based on comments here and have been left wondering why they get such glowing reviews some times.

i'm down the country,in west wicklow..prob out of your jurisdiction ha

colm_mcm

Probably worth the spin to Daltons in Portlaoise.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Main VW dealer diagnostic was €99 when I went a year or so ago. Some main dealers are actually quite ok for servicing.

zzfh

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly wrote: »

Main VW dealer diagnostic was €99 when I went a year or so ago. Some main dealers are actually quite ok for servicing.

99 just to put it on the computer,or 99 to diagnose and fix?

Stheno

I've an indy who operates out of the back of his house, and by god does he hate my brand of car, which is alfa. You'd drive past the house, see all the cars parked up (in fairness he's piles of space)

Going to the likes of advanced with a car like mine is a complete non starter, so I went to this guy on a recommendation of someone with something like a yaris, so it was a fairly innocuous start.

First thing I went to him with, my cars driver window wouldn't go up.

Instead of replacing the part, he repaired it, he's old school.

He might dislike my marque of car, but he's a super mechanic to his customers.

I have never felt like he has overcharged me (usually I'm arguing the bill is too low, but most stuff I need dealt with is not urgent, and I tend not to be too demanding, but when I have an issue he'll look at it asap)

I trust him, and he after a while trusted me enough that he will get me to get parts, tell him what's up with the car, what I think is needed.

As someone lazy and with not much time, it's as close as I'll get to servicing my car myself. He and I now make fun of my OH, as often times I'll notice something odd the odd time I drive the OHs car and shunt it into him. He even slagged me a few months ago for not telling him the wiper on the OHs car was a pita. OH looks at us in wonder at what we are talking about.

My point if that's too long?

Find a mechanic you can talk to , in language you understand, who talks the same way to you, and you'll never look back.

If you are in North County Dublin, and can cope with an ornery bugger who loves a chat, I'll give you a recommendation.

I've always had mechanics like this, but my current one is the best I've had by far, no "I'm the mechanic, I know better" ****e, just interested in what's wrong, what I might know, and willing to consider it.

And I'm female, I've met plenty of ****e mechanics

zzfh

Stheno wrote: »

I've an indy who operates out of the back of his house, and by god does he hate my brand of car, which is alfa. You'd drive past the house, see all the cars parked up (in fairness he's piles of space)

Going to the likes of advanced with a car like mine is a complete non starter, so I went to this guy on a recommendation of someone with something like a yaris, so it was a fairly innocuous start.

First thing I went to him with, my cars driver window wouldn't go up.

Instead of replacing the part, he repaired it, he's old school.

He might dislike my marque of car, but he's a super mechanic to his customers.

I have never felt like he has overcharged me (usually I'm arguing the bill is too low, but most stuff I need dealt with is not urgent, and I tend not to be too demanding, but when I have an issue he'll look at it asap)

I trust him, and he after a while trusted me enough that he will get me to get parts, tell him what's up with the car, what I think is needed.

As someone lazy and with not much time, it's as close as I'll get to servicing my car myself. He and I now make fun of my OH, as often times I'll notice something odd the odd time I drive the OHs car and shunt it into him. He even slagged me a few months ago for not telling him the wiper on the OHs car was a pita. OH looks at us in wonder at what we are talking about.

My point if that's too long?

Find a mechanic you can talk to , in language you understand, who talks the same way to you, and you'll never look back.

If you are in North County Dublin, and can cope with an ornery bugger who loves a chat, I'll give you a recommendation.

I've always had mechanics like this, but my current one is the best I've had by far, no "I'm the mechanic, I know better" ****e, just interested in what's wrong, what I might know, and willing to consider it.

And I'm female, I've met plenty of ****e mechanics

i did have one of them but he left me hanging 3 times too many years ago,was fine in the downtime then as soon as something more important came i was pushed back in line,left without a car etc..and the words mule and stubborn have been used to describe me..so i never went back,so now i'm between mechanics.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

zzfh wrote: »

99 just to put it on the computer,or 99 to diagnose and fix?

€99 for diagnosis. They'd go out of business swiftly if they charged €99 to fix all issues.

greasepalm

volkswagons are the type of cars garages like always have issues with warning lights at least 1 a week,suspensions do give a lot of problems and with sports wheels even more so,roads now are crap potholes and speed ramps and kerb banging will effect tracking and if they have those crappy a frame rear bushings could be gone also or is it with twin lower suspension arms.

Stheno

zzfh wrote: »

i did have one of them but he left me hanging 3 times too many years ago,was fine in the downtime then as soon as something more important came i was pushed back in line,left without a car etc..and the words mule and stubborn have been used to describe me..so i never went back,so now i'm between mechanics.

That imo is where the relationship you build up comes in, I went into my chap last Thursday with an issue with the exhaust, not urgent, but bad enough that I didn't feel good driving the car.

Went back Friday asking if he could check it out Sat.

Not only did he check it out, he put in a temp fix as he doesn't do exhaust work, but it's meant I'm driving to work all week, feel comfortable doing so and have a bit of time to get it fixed fixed. And as he hadn't fixed it, he refused to charge me, his answer "I've just diagnosed it, you're a regular, and you never hassle me if it's not urgent, and you're considerate if I can't do something as I've something else (personal or business) going on"
I've referred a couple of people on here to him, and always told them how he likes them is the most important thing, he's a hugely popular mechanic, and having a good relationship is two ways with him.

I know I gave him a month or more for non essential work on my car as he was both up to his eyes and had family priorities, and recognising that made a huge difference to him, no difference to me, but he really appreciated it.

Sometimes, these days I wonder if we are not a bit too selfish

To me, I'd prefer to work with his schedule/left hanging if it's not important, or in the case of my guy, drive the ancient Micra he has if I have to, than go to anyone else.

visual

Before you get tracking done again there may be under lying problem with bushings or sususpension.

Many alignment shop will align the wheels a few time before the obvious questions get asked.
Why is the alignment going off so frequently.
After the pothole roads gets ruled out (rarely the cause) then it will be discovered that wishbone bushings are worn.

As for your tyres they are obviously prematurely worn and will need replacement.

Lights on dash could be related to same fault
I.e. faulty sensor or coilpack if its misfire. Fully serviced or not the engine management has detected a fault. Need to get the fault codes read to know what the problem is.
A cheap code reader would be sufficient to point you in right direction.

Sam Kade

Stheno wrote: »

That imo is where the relationship you build up comes in, I went into my chap last Thursday with an issue with the exhaust, not urgent, but bad enough that I didn't feel good driving the car.

Went back Friday asking if he could check it out Sat.

Not only did he check it out, he put in a temp fix as he doesn't do exhaust work, but it's meant I'm driving to work all week, feel comfortable doing so and have a bit of time to get it fixed fixed. And as he hadn't fixed it, he refused to charge me, his answer "I've just diagnosed it, you're a regular, and you never hassle me if it's not urgent, and you're considerate if I can't do something as I've something else (personal or business) going on"
I've referred a couple of people on here to him, and always told them how he likes them is the most important thing, he's a hugely popular mechanic, and having a good relationship is two ways with him.

I know I gave him a month or more for non essential work on my car as he was both up to his eyes and had family priorities, and recognising that made a huge difference to him, no difference to me, but he really appreciated it.

Sometimes, these days I wonder if we are not a bit too selfish

To me, I'd prefer to work with his schedule/left hanging if it's not important, or in the case of my guy, drive the ancient Micra he has if I have to, than go to anyone else.

Maybe he fancies you

zzfh

visual wrote: »

Before you get tracking done again there may be under lying problem with bushings or sususpension.

Many alignment shop will align the wheels a few time before the obvious questions get asked.
Why is the alignment going off so frequently.
After the pothole roads gets ruled out (rarely the cause) then it will be discovered that wishbone bushings are worn.

As for your tyres they are obviously prematurely worn and will need replacement.

Lights on dash could be related to same fault
I.e. faulty sensor or coilpack if its misfire. Fully serviced or not the engine management has detected a fault. Need to get the fault codes read to know what the problem is.
A cheap code reader would be sufficient to point you in right direction.

this is it,i got new shocks,bushings done along with 2 new tyres and tracking before n.c.t in march,been honest the tyres dont look bad,i think they were just trying to get more money out of me..it all just seems very suspicious..

what sort of money am i looking just to get it put on a code reader just too see what the engine management fault is??without any work done?

Sam Kade

visual wrote: »

Before you get tracking done again there may be under lying problem with bushings or sususpension.

Many alignment shop will align the wheels a few time before the obvious questions get asked.
Why is the alignment going off so frequently.
After the pothole roads gets ruled out (rarely the cause) then it will be discovered that wishbone bushings are worn.

As for your tyres they are obviously prematurely worn and will need replacement.

Lights on dash could be related to same fault
I.e. faulty sensor or coilpack if its misfire. Fully serviced or not the engine management has detected a fault. Need to get the fault codes read to know what the problem is.
A cheap code reader would be sufficient to point you in right direction.

I never leave advance mess with my cars tracking any time the tracking was done on my previous cars they messed it up :mad: I have my present car since new in 07 it was never tracked and doesn't wear tyres uneven

greasepalm

do well to find a coil pack on a tdi as its diesel.
run a scan think 20-30 euro

zzfh

greasepalm wrote: »

do well to find a coil pack on a tdi as its diesel.
run a scan think 20-30 euro

is it common for most independant mechanics to have epuip to do the scan yea??

greasepalm

yes some places might have a number of different scanners all doing different makes with garages.mechanics cant work on cars without needing one of these as it takes the guesswork out and guides you to the problem.

Stheno

Sam Kade wrote: »

Maybe he fancies you

Afraid not, we get on great, but no question of that, most times I am down with him the OH is in attendance We just get on well, might be a shock to you?

He's repeatedly said that he admires women who make an effort to learn a bit about cars, and whilst I don't know much, first thing I'll ask him is what's going on with whatever car he is working on and have a chat about it. Ive never ever felt that he is anyway lecherous at all, and working in a male dominated industry (I'm the only woman on my current team) I'm quick to pick up on that.

zzfh wrote: »

this is it,i got new shocks,bushings done along with 2 new tyres and tracking before n.c.t in march,been honest the tyres dont look bad,i think they were just trying to get more money out of me..it all just seems very suspicious..

what sort of money am i looking just to get it put on a code reader just too see what the engine management fault is??without any work done?

You can download the reader yourself for most cars to be honest, or post where you are and someone will have it. Most important thing is the right cable

Sam Kade wrote: »

I never leave advance mess with my cars tracking any time the tracking was done on my previous cars they messed it up :mad: I have my present car since new in 07 it was never tracked and doesn't wear tyres uneven

Ah your silly post above makes sense now, you've been driving a car since 2007 and never checked the tracking. How often do you check your oil and tyre pressure?

zzfh wrote: »

is it common for most independant mechanics to have epuip to do the scan yea??

Yup, mine has equipment that does my car, and there are only 20 of them in the country, if they don't they have mates that do.

Funny story last time I had a big service done on my car, I had a note on the passenger seat with a number. I assumed that was the cost of service, and was a bit bemused as my mechanic doesn't normally communicate by stealth.

Mentioned to him I owed the number, and he went "ah no that was the error code from the diags, it's the cam sensor!

zzfh

k cheers guys,i think i'll keep clear of advance,i would like to go to vw dealer to scan it,but it will probably end up costing an arm and a leg.hopefully its something simple.

Stheno - do remember tracking is checked at nct time, also the chap has mentioned he has no symptoms of alignment issues through tyre wear etc....

Sam Kade

Stheno wrote: »

Afraid not, we get on great, but no question of that, most times I am down with him the OH is in attendance We just get on well, might be a shock to you?

Ah your silly post above makes sense now, you've been driving a car since 2007 and never checked the tracking. How often do you check your oil and tyre pressure?

Silly it was meant as a joke

I do all the servicing myself everything from oil change to brake pads and discs. I check the oil daily as I drive a mazda 6 and they use a lot of engine oil

Augeo wrote: »

Stheno - do remember tracking is checked at nct time, also the chap has mentioned he has no symptoms of alignment issues through tyre wear etc....

Exactly

zzfh

update:
decided to go to main dealers,rang to book in.
appointment for fri for diagnostics.cost 80yoyo

after i booked in,went to drive back to work,both lights....gone..
and haven't came back since.

hopefully this doesnt jinx it.ha