Oil Change - Let down by mechanic!!

fred246

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it. If you employ a mobile mechanic you know exactly who they are. The people I know who use them have had them recommended to them. They come to your house, do a great job and then you phone them up next time. You know exactly who it is and how long they have spent on your car. With a main dealer you might have a good service but next time they have employed a dodgy mechanic or they are short on time so cut corners. All the independent reports on car servicing have always had the same conclusion "main dealers are no better than independents".

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fred246 said:

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it. If you employ a mobile mechanic you know exactly who they are. The people I know who use them have had them recommended to them. They come to your house, do a great job and then you phone them up next time. You know exactly who it is and how long they have spent on your car. With a main dealer you might have a good service but next time they have employed a dodgy mechanic or they are short on time so cut corners. All the independent reports on car servicing have always had the same conclusion "main dealers are no better than independents".

Post some links to back it up then. 

motorguy

fred246 said:

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it. If you employ a mobile mechanic you know exactly who they are. 

How did that pan out for the O/P?

motorguy

fred246 said:

With a main dealer you might have a good service but next time they have employed a dodgy mechanic or they are short on time so cut corners. All the independent reports on car servicing have always had the same conclusion "main dealers are no better than independents".

Again, you're never able to back any of this nonsense up.

All mechanics employed by a main dealer will have to do the work to the same standard.  They will be checked against that, both internally and via the manufacturers own checks and mystery shoppers.  They will also be managed within small teams within the dealership and certainly not left to their own devices and to randomly cut corners so they can nip out the back for a smoke break.

Your views are wholly based on stereotypes from the 1970s.  

Your broad brush "use a mobile mechanic as you will know who he is and he'll do a better job" statement is not the "one size fits all" answer that you have always said it was, as borne out here by the O/Ps experience.  Your REVISED advice now of "The people I know who use them have had them recommended to them." is simple common sense to apply to a main dealer or any mechanic - go by local recommendations by friends or family.

Was reading this this morning about how tradesmen are having to pick up the pieces after many botched DIY jobs by newfound "experts" simply following youtube videos but havent a clue what they're doing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52905571

No doubt the car dealers on Monday morning will be queued out when they reopen with people who did some DIY on their cars or inadvertently had hired a driveway amateur and now need a professional to sort it out.

AdrianC

fred246 said:

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it.

True, you don't know his name.

But you do know he's qualified enough to be employed by the dealer chain, and will have gone through manufacturer-specific training. He'll have access to the manufacturer's diagnostics and documentation, and escalation through senior techs and up to the manufacturer themselves.

If you employ a mobile mechanic you know exactly who they are.

Yep. They're somebody who's either unemployable, unable to raise the funds to open their own garage, or actively prefers grovelling in gravel in the rain.

The people I know who use them have had them recommended to them.

Yet, strangely, you give zero credence to personal recommendation of garages...

Fredworld:
Joe Mechanic. Works for himself.
Works out the back of a van - good.
Finds his own premises and opens garage - instantly bad.

shaun_from_Africa

AdrianC said:

fred246 said:

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it.

True, you don't know his name.

But you do know he's qualified enough to be employed by the dealer chain, and will have gone through manufacturer-specific training. He'll have access to the manufacturer's diagnostics and documentation, and escalation through senior techs and up to the manufacturer themselves.

And a few more plus points for using a main dealer.
If anything does go wrong, you know exactly who to chase to get the problem resolved, you have a valid business premises to send any legal paperwork to and you know that should the matter go to court, the business concerned will have more than enough money to pay out anything awarded against them.

A mobile mechanic on the other hand could be a sole trader with little or no personal assets  and someone who is almost impossible to tie to a fixed address for the serving of documents.

onlyfoolsandparking

I agree with your quote "main dealers are no better than independents" It all comes down to who you know, what you know yourself and what your objectives are. I have just paid £150!!!!! for a first service on my bike which is basically oil and filter, retorque headstock, take off rev limiter, fit coding plug (basically plug it in, about 4 seconds I reckon)  and check fluids so a fortune in reality BUT its a brand new BMW so the ink they used for the service stamp is worth the £150 IMO.


On the flip side I have just had timing belt, fan belt and water pump fitted on my Citroen C4 for £250, I don't know where people are getting quotes of £1200 from!!!! The work was carried out by my very good friend who happens to have been a mechanic for 30+ years and happy to say friend of 30 years too, its an old car now bit battered and scratched (I don't have much interest in flashy or expensive cars these days, been there done that, prefer nice bikes) but mechanically brand new as I look after it with regular services, I would never dream of taking it to Citroen dealer though example being recently replaced power steering pump, Citroen wanted £400!!!!! got it from scrappers off a LATER model £80 perfect working order and so in conclusion main dealers are useful for somethings and not others exactly the same as independents.        

motorguy

shaun_from_Africa said:

AdrianC said:

fred246 said:

If you take your car to a main dealer you have no idea who is working on it.

True, you don't know his name.

But you do know he's qualified enough to be employed by the dealer chain, and will have gone through manufacturer-specific training. He'll have access to the manufacturer's diagnostics and documentation, and escalation through senior techs and up to the manufacturer themselves.

And a few more plus points for using a main dealer.
If anything does go wrong, you know exactly who to chase to get the problem resolved, you have a valid business premises to send any legal paperwork to and you know that should the matter go to court, the business concerned will have more than enough money to pay out anything awarded against them.

A mobile mechanic on the other hand could be a sole trader with little or no personal assets  and someone who is almost impossible to tie to a fixed address for the serving of documents.

Again borne out by the O/P's experience.  The mobile mechanic just legged it.  No doubt either operating with a burner phone or from a "facebook page".

motorguy

onlyfoolsandparking said:

I agree with your quote "main dealers are no better than independents" It all comes down to who you know, what you know yourself and what your objectives are. I have just paid £150!!!!! for a first service on my bike which is basically oil and filter, retorque headstock, take off rev limiter, fit coding plug (basically plug it in, about 4 seconds I reckon)  and check fluids so a fortune in reality BUT its a brand new BMW so the ink they used for the service stamp is worth the £150 IMO.

I totally agree.  Theres a balance can be found though.

Firstly, if my car is under manufacturers warranty and theres multiple dealer options, i'll ring them all for a quote.  There is often a variance between them.  

Secondly, where there is a "requirement" to get the servicing done by the main dealer and there is a benefit to having a main dealer stamp on the service book, i'll generally bite the bullet and do that.  BUT what i wont do is take the car there for any general maintenance, tyres, etc.  Our BMW (car) is only a year old.  It goes to the main dealer for its main service, but we will use our local indy to maintain it as and when.  No point in paying dealer prices to get brake pads, etc fitted.  Also many very good tyre fitters about rather than let the dealer fit them (which many people do).

Like yourself i dont particularly mind paying the dealer the price of a standard service particularly as it helps ensure the warranty is kept intact.

onlyfoolsandparking

Just to clarify when I say independents I definitely don't mean mobile mechanics I'm sure there are plenty of competent ones out there but I wouldn't use one unless I knew them or they were recommended to me, too many chancers nowadays advertising on "friendface" luckily for me I don't use that social media garbage so I'm unlikely to come across any of the ones fred promotes lol