Tag Archives: Good Garage Scheme

garage services

When is a fixed price not a fixed price?

The ASA upheld a complaint about a recent Toyota advert which claimed that its fixed price car servicing offer meant what it said, whereas some garages were more likely to add extras to theirs.

We knew what Toyota meant and I definitely sympathise with their sales tactic. The problem is that we are talking about an unregulated garage industry with quality workmanship and occasionally ethical problems so nothing is as straightforward as it seems…

For example, in this industry there is no agreed definition of car servicing types or tasks and there is no requirement that the staff carrying out these services should be qualified. Yes, we are told that garages subscribing to The Good Garage Scheme follow an industry standard service but their checklist isn’t the same as the one supplied by Halfords Autocentres or Toyota’s, for example.

So how is a foxy lady going to compare long lists using different jargon before she knows which one is best value for her and her car? She probably won’t; this is a such minefield for motorists.

For example, here are some variations on a type of servicing called an ‘interim service.’
* Buy one from a Good Garage Scheme (GGS) subscriber and it includes 28 items/checks.
* Buy one from Toyota (it’s called an intermediate service) and it includes 30 items/checks which don’t seem to be the same as the GGS…
* Buy one from Halfords Autocentres and it includes 35 items/checks…

And so on… with similar discrepancies when it comes to servicing options such as ‘oil servicing’ ‘full servicing’ and ‘major servicing’…

One thing is for certain – no FOXY Lady has the time to compare and contrast different servicing lists that contain items/checks she isn’t used to and may not understand.

Car servicing differences…

But there are other important differences too, for example…

1 Toyota’s servicing prices (from £99) include manufacturer qualified staff (mostly to Automotive Technician Accreditation ATA standards which means they have demonstrated that they can repair all makes) and car collection/delivery service in addition to dealership standards in terms of waiting areas and washrooms.

2 Halfords Autocentres servicing prices (from £119) are also carried out by ATA accredited staff with the Halfords brand to live up to; but they don’t collect or deliver your car.

3 Good Garage Scheme members are all individual garages who can set their own prices, which may or may not be fixed and who may or may not follow the industry standard service schedule supplied by the scheme owner Forte Lubricants. More importantly, Good Garage Scheme members don’t need to demonstrate any minimum quality standards to join the network – all they have to do is promise to use their so called industry standard checklist and sell Forte Lubricant products to order.

And then there’s the question of the best (not just cheapest) car parts…

NB: Some garages/dealerships discount the cost of an MOT that is done at the same time as a car servicing and others don’t. FOXY advice – always ask for and expect a discount when buying car servicing and an MOT together.

Garage brokers…

And if this isn’t complicated enough you then have schemes run by third party garage brokers like NSN, servicingstop.co.uk and service4service.co.uk where the motorist deals direct with these brokers but doesn’t know which garage will be servicing their car or what their credentials are. Needless to say (but this is a significant factor) if a garage is paying a broker commission and is expected to perform to keen car servicing prices as well, this suggests that the garage will be looking to shave its costs to turn a small profit at the end of the day.

But back to the title of this blog…

Q: When is a fixed price (car servicing) not a fixed price?

FOXY answer: When the work reveals a problem that could not have been predicted. Which is fair enough providing the customer is told or shown the problem and given a quotation for the new work.

Fortunately this exercise has taught us a few important lessons…

1 Car servicing is a very competitive arena with franchised dealers, independent garages and fastfits jostling for position. So shop around for price AND measurable evidence of quality.

2 Dealerships aren’t always the most expensive car servicing solution but at least their work is carried out by manufacturer approved/trained staff and will normally include a car collection service.

3 The same old quality concerns arise because this is an industry that isn’t regulated.

What other industries treat a ‘straightforward, swift complaints procedure’ as a selling point?

And what is the point in any quality garage initiative if it’s a voluntary standard that only the good guys belong to and the rest don’t have to join?

Finally, if I struggle to get my head around all this (and garage quality is supposed to be my specialist subject) how will Joanna Public fare, thinking that all garages and car servicing options are the same?

No wonder so few women enjoy their garage visits… This is all far too confusing.

FOXY

garage services

Which? garages vs car dealerships

The recent Which? undercover garage investigation turned up a few surprises for me, mainly to do with the cost of servicing cars.

Not the findings that some 90% of garages missed at least one of the potentially dangerous faults on the cars submitted, or that nearly 40% charged for something they didn’t provide – we talk to women and garages everyday and the stories we hear confirm this sort of thing is happening everyday.

But I was surprised to see the prices charged by the different categories of garages.

Most expensive in the performance league was OFT fully approved network Bosch Car Service whose average servicing price came in at £218.56.

Next came subscribers of the recent Motor Codes scheme (88% dealerships; yet to gain full OFT approval) where the average charge was £217.11.

Members of the Good Garage Scheme came in at £177.72 but no measurable signs of quality promoted here – the business simply pays £23.50 a month to be listed as a good garage ;-).

And least expensive of all were garages that aren’t members of any association and didn’t seem to have any notable attributes according to Which? – they charged £148.20.

So arguably you get what you pay for. A cheap price with no frills or safety guarantee, up to the Bosch garages and Motor Codes dealerships where you pay more but have the reassurance of varying stages of OFT approval.

But what I thought was interesting is the much publicised statistic that independent garages are some 30% (sometimes the percentage quoted is more) more expensive than dealerships. Not so in this case where the dealerships in the Motor Codes average were actually cheaper than the Bosch franchised garages.

Forget competing with garages that can’t demonstrate measurable quality like ATA technician accreditation, they will be cheaper because that’s their competitive advantage in the absence of quality. The point I am making is that measurably good garages like Bosch and measurably good dealerships like Motor Codes and ATA employers seem to be charging much the same for car servicing.

So how do some of the increasing number of garage brokers justify their sales claims that they work with qualified garages (they often say Bosch) and that their prices are c35% cheaper than dealers? I’d like to see the evidence.

But the dealerships need to be totally honest at all times and remember their ATA ethical Code of Conduct. In the Which? investigation 11 out of 17 Motor Codes subscribers (ie mostly dealerships) charged for screenwash when the wash bottle was full and didn’t need topping up.

Not a lot of money but it’s the principle that we women remember and dislike.  If they can do it to overcharge us a couple of quid, what else are they charging us for and not doing…

Mind you Bosch also charged 5 times out of 14, whereas members of the Good Garage Scheme and individual garages (only?) did it in 3 out of 13 cases.

None of this is good enough remember. It’s still a quality lottery for confused motorists to find a measurably good UK garage. The industry isn’t doing its bit to explain this to motorists and the whole thing is far too confusing.

To have safe cars on our roads we need ONE SCHEME CALLED REGULATION and all mechanics to be qualified to ATA standards. Never mind the bureaucracy the industry dreads, regulation could save lives.

That will fix it for once and for all. Nothing more and nothing less will do. Then the businesses can all compete for customer share on an equal footing by differentiating themselves by price and service levels.

In the meantime, I think it makes sense to choose an ATA employer whether an independent garage or dealership.

FOXY