Tag Archives: garage

garage services

A garage in Pontefract lets Anita down

freelanderClub member Anita is a single Mum who works for a business in West Yorkshire that’s open all hours. It’s a 20 minute drive from home and clearly she needs a reliable car to get there in all weathers. She has twin daughters and uses her cherished Land Rover Freelander to tow her daughter’s horsebox to and from events.

Propshaft failings

When her car started playing up this time last year, a friend recommended White Cat Garage in Pontefract when her usual garage was unable to do the work at the time. Anita isn’t a mechanical expert, she trusted this recommendation and the business website looked professional (as it happened, ALL the logos purporting to be memberships of respectable organisations were fake, including our female friendly garage network).

So she left her car with White Cat Garage for a couple of days (no courtesy car was available which was a logistical problem of course…) whilst they diagnosed the problem as the propshaft. Anita told them to do this work and paid a bill for £935.81 including tyres of which £568.55 was for repairs to the propshaft.

About four months later her car started to play up again…

Her usual garage diagnosed a front propshaft bearing problem this time and told her to go back to White Cat as this was likely an associated problem.

White Cat did some remedial work for free.

Some four months later, the same thing happened again. “You have to go back to White Cat” her usual garage told her. Again White Car repaired this for free.

A few months on, the final straw for Anita was a worrying whining noise underneath the car AGAIN. Was this a safety problem too?

A second propshaft repair opinion

Her father suggested she take the Freelander to FourPlus4, a Land Rover specialist in Leeds, for a second opinion.

Earlier this year they confirmed that:
+ Anita’s car had been repaired using secondhand parts
+ her diesel powered Freelander should have had a propshaft with an integrated damper fitted; White Cat had fitted one without ie for a petrol engine
+ the car was effectively in two wheel drive all the time, when she needed four wheel drive as well
+ the offside brake lines were corroded; a significant safety concern
+ they (FourPlus4) would charge some £1000 to rectify this.

Anita’s financial dilemma

Could White Cat’s work have caused these ongoing problems, Anita wondered?

Did White Cat fit used parts that had originally been fitted to a petrol powered Freelander? That would certainly explain the ‘missing’ damper.

Reluctantly, Anita went back to White Cat Garage yet again.

This time she explained to their mechanic what FourPlus4 had told her, that she was worried about the whirring noise, that she needed a safe and reliable car for her job and that she couldn’t afford £1000 to put this work right.

They both went for a short drive during which the mechanic said everything sounded and seemed fine. According to him, the car didn’t need a damper fitted, he’d used new parts but he couldn’t quite place the receipt to prove this (and still hasn’t) and claimed that the car drove perfectly alright.

His verdict was simple.

“Listen luv, get in your car, forget all about any problems and just drive it.”

So Anita turned to us for advice.

Our advice was that this recommended course of action would almost certainly have led to the destruction of an extremely expensive engine unit ie the intermediate reduction drive. And that would then have led to the car being scrapped due to the high cost of that replacement unit.

This was further complicated by White Cat being unable to prove the authenticity of the ‘new’ parts they claimed to have fitted. Whilst they couldn’t remember the name of the supplier, or find the bill, remarkably, they could remember the approximate location of their premises…??

Our advice to Anita was to get the problem fixed by someone who will use the right (new) parts and knows what they are doing ie FourPlus4 in Leeds.

So Anita had no option but to pay nearly £1000 to rectify the work that White Cat Garage had carried out.

Misleading business logos

whitre_catWhilst our helpdesk was advising Anita about her rights and the best way forward we noticed that the garage was claiming to be a member of FOXY’s female friendly garage network.

It wasn’t then and never had been.

It was also advertising membership of the Trading Standards Institute Motor Codes Service & Repair scheme. A quick phone call confirmed it had been a member but was no longer.

The same was true of the AA, RAC and Check-a-Trade approved logo schemes – nobody knew of White Cat.

As we always do, we wrote to White Cat to give them the opportunity to defend themselves. They have not replied. We were not surprised.

We are therefore telling Anita’s story here so that other FOXY Lady Drivers in Pontefract can learn from her experience.

White Cat’s Liability

In this instance Anita dealt with all this on her own and freely admits she is not mechanically-minded. Seeing how stressed she had become, her father got involved. This added to his stress whilst undergoing cancer treatment.

Anita then joined the Club and we are helping her sort this out.

In our recent letter to White Cat Garage we held them responsible for her remedial bill of £999.87 for propshaft related repairs plus an added £250 towards her stress.

Anyone who knows their stuff will know that a damper needs to be fitted to a prop shaft on a diesel Freelander. This caused all the problems Anita experienced, hence the fault and financial responsibility here lies fairly and squarely with White Cat Garage.
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We hope this blog will encourage them to do the right thing for Anita. Otherwise this post will remain online, hashtagged ‘garage’ and ‘Pontefract’ and on our internal blacklist for Club members.

Just for the record, it seems that the logos used claiming to be members of the schemes I’ve mentioned have now been removed from White Cat’s website. Their very presence suggested that this business was prepared to pass themselves off as an approved garage, which they never were. This spoke volumes about their ethics.

All that remains now, for them to do the decent thing here, is to refund Anita as stated in our letter dated 22 April 2015.

We continue to await their contact on Anita’s behalf.

FOXY

PS To comment on this story please EITHER email info@foxyladydrivers.com OR use Twitter @FOXYTweets.

female friendly, garage services

PK Automotive Solutions gets it right in Lincoln

I pride myself in sensing a naturally female friendly business when I walk into one. When this is part of a business compliance check (for FOXY Lady Approved garages or car dealers) there are a lot of clues to help me here. I’ll have had a look at their website in advance to look for details of their staff team, evidence of a commitment to quality standards, clean looking/functional customer facilities and an absence of unnecessary jargon.

I’ll have checked for membership of a Trading Standards Institute scheme, to see if there are licensed staff on the IMI’s Professional Register, evidence of other training courses/qualifications or local awards and any special customer services.

pk_exteriorI found all this and more at PK Automotive Solutions in Lincoln owned and run by Paul Killingsworth. Female staff, a smart business park environment (many garages are in off-putting industrial estates), modern premises, an enlightened and enthusiastic boss, time-saving tablet-based technology and a commitment to giving back to the motor industry.

The last bit is rare. Both PK Automotive and FOXY share an agenda for a licensed motor industry in future.

Our paths first crossed when I was doing some research about female apprentices. My client asked me to talk to a sample of young females including PK Automotive Solution’s Lois Lane. Since then PK has joined our FOXY Lady Approved garage network and is the only female friendly approved independent garage in Lincoln.

I met and interviewed Lois, an Apprentice Technician who is currently working towards her Level 2 in Light Vehicle Automotive Engineering. She is very keen and motivated and certainly well on the road to being a top technician. Watch this space.

Another two females can be found in the reception area of the business.

Rachel Henry is PK’s Administration Assistant (pictured behind the reception desk below) who was initially employed as an office apprentice but has since achieved her NVQ level 2 & 3 in Customer Service.

pk_receptionAmy Kent is the Office Manager who, after taking her initial apprenticeship, then took an advanced apprenticeship in Business Administration and NVQ levels 2 & 3. She has since completed her NVQ level 3 in Business Management.

And knowing this business’ hunger for knowledge and staying ahead of the rest, there will surely be more courses on offer for all who want and need them.

So I wasn’t at all surprised to see that PK Automotive has achieved the IMI Recognised Employer status and was recently presented with the plaque by Michelle Barrett from the IMI and the local MP for Lincoln, Karl McCartney. This scheme ensures that PK’s customers can have the confidence that their car is in safe hands, and that any technician working on their car has the skills, knowledge and expertise to be able to complete the job to the highest standard.

pk_IMI_group

The photograph marks the occasion of PK Automotive being presented with the IMI Recognised Employer status. From left to right; John Forrest (PK), David Holloway (PK), Lois Lane (PK), Paul Killingsworth (PK), Elaine Killingsworth (PK), Karl McCartney (Conservative MP, Lincoln),  Michelle Barrett (Business Development Manager, IMI), Amy Kent (PK), Rachel Henry (PK).

As I mentioned earlier, PK Automotive Solutions and FOXY are each pro-actively backing the IMI campaign to introduce licensing in the automotive sector. This means, if this is successful, that only professionals with relevant and sufficient qualifications, expertise and skills  will be able to undertake repairs on vehicles in future, ensuring customers safety and guaranteeing their peace of mind.

Karl McCartney, MP for Lincoln, also supports the IMI’s move for the automotive sector to be more regulated.

“I was very pleased to present the IMI plaque to Paul Killingsworth of PK Automotive as a result of the team’s 100% attainment of the IMI Employer Recognition Scheme.

“I am a proud champion of consumer safety and customer satisfaction and can foresee that, with the advent of ever more technically complex vehicles, and eventually driver-less cars, it is of the utmost importance that customers can trust their lives to the work done in all garages, whether large or small, both now and in the future.”
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We are proud to be working with and promoting PK Automotive Solutions to local women drivers as well as ‘leaning in’ to the licensing debate together. This is the only way forward for our industry to be seen as professional, so motorists receive the service levels they deserve with a view to their road safety and wallet.

FOXY

accident repairs

Choosing a female friendly car repairer

photo ack: carbumperrepairscardiff.co.uk
photo ack: carbumperrepairscardiff.co.uk

Women drivers need to know who to trust and where to take their cars for repairs to everyday motoring bumps, dents, scuffs and dings. This is why we operate the UK’s only female friendly approved garage and accident repairer network under the FOXY Choice banner.

These are typical cosmetic car damage we ALL collect.

When we’re parking, for example, but just as often (or so it seems to me) caused by careless and short-sighted others wielding trolleys, buggies, opening car doors and reversing recklessly in busy car parks.

Just like the garages women visit for MOTs, car servicing and mechanical repairs we all want to know where the genuinely female friendly accident and cosmetic repairers are in our area.

What are cosmetic car repairs?

Cosmetic car repairs affect the look of your car, your perceived status sometimes and ultimately your driving pleasure. If your car LOOKS good it’s no secret that you FEEL good and it seems to drive better too. Funny that!

photo ack: bradleysmartsolutions.co.uk
photo ack: bradleysmartsolutions.co.uk
Cosmetic repairs are also known within the motor industry as SMART repairs (as in Small to Medium Area Repair Techniques). Few females know of this acronym so perhaps that’s the first point to make here. A SMART* vehicle repairer is therefore a specialist cosmetic car repairer…

*not to be confused with the SMaRT Garage Group that does service and repair work in South London and Salford… and who are part of the #FOXYLadyApproved garage network. Sorry to confuse you!

We all need cosmetic vehicle repairs at some stage.

By that I mean
+ Alloy wheel refurbishment
+ Car interior repairs
+ Car valeting
+ Cosmetic car park dings
+ Paintless dent removal
+ Pre sale tidy up
+ Scuffs and scratches
+ Vehicle recovery service
+ Wheel alignment

Remember that a pristine looking car will sell ahead of one that’s evidently been in a few supermarkets too many. My mother in law had her car tidied up before selling it recently and it flew off the shelf – she sold it to the first caller at the asking price.

What surprised me most, looking at prices recently, is that cosmetic repairs cost less than I imagined, and this price list from the Just Car Clinics group will give you an idea of the costs to budget for….

How to find a good accident or cosmetic car repairer

It isn’t easy to find a good cosmetic car repairer online.

Even Google doesn’t know the difference between a ‘service and mechanical repair’ garage and an ‘accident and cosmetic repairer’. To see what I mean, search for ‘cosmetic car repairs’ and you’ll find loads of ‘service and (mechanical) repair’ garages.

That’s such a waste of our shopping time and very misleading, especially when we might end up handing our car over to a garage that might have a go (but has no skills or license to do the work) or charge us a handling fee to simply pass the work on to one of their chums who may or may not be any better.

Even the motor industry lumps ‘repairs’ into one category when motorists are likely to be searching for ‘repairs’ yet looking for the best ‘mechanical’, ‘accident’ and/or ‘cosmetic’ repairer to suit the job in hand.

When all women want to know is who and where are the best local approved repairers we can trust not to rip us off.

In short, we want a repairer that’s best qualified to do this specialist job, but few women (or men) know what the best standard is.

We might choose a national network like FOXY Lady Approved Just Car Clinics or favour a specialist repairer for a make of car, like Ford Accident Repair Centres (a handful are FOXY Lady Approved to date). Or a specialist in a particular field such as upholstery or alloy wheel repairers.

When it comes to more major car accident repairs, FOXY looks for the Kitemark specification (known as BS10125) in bodywork repairs. Most of the leading insurers require this for their repairer networks.

Another sign of measurable quality is membership of the VBRA (Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association) that operates the only Trading Standards Code of Practice scheme. And if you can find an expert for the work you require listed at the IMI’s Professional Register at least you know that person is licensed to do the job.

When it comes to cosmetic repairs some say a mobile resource (one that might assemble a tent outside your home or office to complete the likes of spray paint repairs there) is less able to achieve the same consistent paint finish because of the outdoor/weather variant. But it might suit you better and be a quicker solution?

Needless to say, after an accident and all the stress this brings, you want a business that has invested in quality standards first and is female friendly to boot – an accident can be very unsettling.

Remember that the motor industry doesn’t require individuals to be licensed to carry out bodywork repairs so, whatever your foxy choice, go for a business that has clearly invested in licensed/trained staff who are more likely to provide higher standards than others.

Very often a good accident repairer will be a good cosmetic repairer because of the synergy in skills. They are likely to be experts in panel sourcing/beating, paint spraying and/or the economic supply of the best value (NB: be wary of the cheapest…) replacement parts.

You’ll also find networks of specialist often franchised services offering car valeting, alloy wheel repairs, windscreen replacements and such like. Needless to say perhaps, it’s the same old jungle out there for females so choose a female friendly approved one, where given the choice.

Here’s the list of the latest FOXY Lady Approved garages (for MOT, servicing and mechanical repairs) and REPAIRERS (as in bodywork, accident and cosmetic car repairs).

Here’s how to provide female feedback about any local accident repairer (good or bad)

Here’s how to provide female feedback about any local cosmetic car repairer (good or bad)

We can then share your feedback re local accident repairs within the Club for the benefit of local women drivers.

FOXY’s final advice when shopping for car repairs?

We say

1 Always look for/ask about signs of measurable quality whatever the car repair you require.
2 As tempting as a cheap price is, don’t decide on the basis of price alone – this is an unlicensed industry remember.
3 Don’t put up with excessive repair delays after an accident and poor, patronising or overcharged work of course.
4 Where you can, choose a FOXY Lady Approved repairer in your area.
5 Tell us if you have cause to complain about any UK repairer via the Feedback area of the top righthand menu area of the foxychoice.com website.

If we can help sort things out, we’ll add our voice to the female cause.

By choosing a FOXY Lady Approved ie female friendly accident repairer and/or cosmetic car repairer everybody wins in the end, just as soon as women realise they have a female friendly choice and don’t make do with repairers that clearly aren’t.

Please help us spread the word by telling your friends…

FOXY

NB: Sadly cars that were accident write offs are allowed back on our roads without an insurance bill of health (see eBay for examples of this). Whilst that’s a subject for a different blog I couldn’t live with myself if a repairer I chose to repair my car did the job SO BADLY that this caused a serious accident to the person I next sold my car to…

How about you?

female friendly, garage services

Swindon’s Manathome Garage becomes A1 Autos for the day

manathome
We weren’t at all surprised to hear that Manathome Garage had been selected as the most photogenic garage in Swindon for a promotional film commissioned by a nationwide engine oil distributor.

Photo caption:
Owner Gemma McCracken and technician John Horgan.

A film producer’s ideal garage choice

From a producer’s perspective, you’d want a garage that was measurably better than others, impressively clean and with good looking staff where possible. Not as easy to find in the UK motor industry as some might think.

So last week Noha Agency homed in on Manathome Garage in Sheppard Street to meet Gemma McCracken and husband Gavin before filming the video in the workshop.

Gemma said: “There were lots of actors, cameramen and lights. It wasn’t what I was expecting but it’s great to think that a top agency like this was happy to use a local independent garage, even if we did have to pretend to be A1 Autos for the day.”

Sadly the DVD calls the garage A1 Autos, a made up name in this instance. But now we all know it’s Manathome Garage in Swindon…

And the perfect female friendly garage choice…

The garage, which is the only female friendly approved service and repair garage in Swindon regularly holds workshops for women drivers to learn more about how their cars work. Manathome Garage holds FOXY Lady Approved status because of these garage evenings coupled with Gemma’s presence, the evident cleanliness of this garage and that it operates to a Trading Standards Institute approved Code of Practice.

What a shame they can’t be promoted in their real name in this DVD – hence this blog of course, so more women (and men) in Swindon know where their best female garage choice is and what it’s really called…

female friendly

Wise up with winter coming says Monaco VW

Monaco Entrance landscapeTracing back to its business origins in 1954 Monaco VW is not only the oldest VW garage on the UK network but we think it’s one of London’s most beautiful too.

And a member of FOXY’s female friendly car dealer network to boot!

We all know that with age comes wisdom of course which is why Monaco VW knows to offer its customers a comprehensive Winter Car Care Check at this time of year.

Theirs costs £29.99 and includes a technical inspection of tyres, battery, brakes, lights and fluid levels. If repairs are needed, Monaco technicians are on hand to assist and any looming concerns will be noted for future attention as part of Monaco’s unique vehicle management service.

Recent figures from the Department for Transport showed that treacherous winter conditions caused over 6,000 road incidents last year. With that in mind Monaco VW is also recommending VW-approved snow chains and snow socks to help drivers keep a tighter grip on the road in snowy and icy conditions. For those new to chains and “socks” a full demonstration will be provided by Monaco VW’s friendly team.

“Our Winter Vehicle Check gives drivers the confidence that they’re not going to feel unprepared when the inevitable hard frosts and poor weather affects the capital over the next few months” said Dealer Principal Anthony Barrell.

We’re happy to promote this for Monaco VW as this is a responsible thing to do at this time of year. We’d also like to remind members that many of our FOXY Lady Approved garages offer a similar service, often free but requiring payment for any expensive engine oil top ups that are usually involved.

NB: This year, all their female customers who provide feedback following a recent visit to Monaco VW will be offered a gift membership of FOXY Lady Drivers Club worth £23. What’s not to like?