Tag Archives: independent garages

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

female friendly

Brunswick Garage sets the foxy standard

Readers of my blog will know that I have firm views about garage quality standards and that even I find the industry’s competing schemes to be confusing from a motorists point of view.

But in an industry with such a poor reputation in so many female minds FOXY Choice’s criteria for female friendly garages includes identifying all evidence of quality wherever we find it because otherwise bad garages line up all too easily alongside good garages without any easy way for women (our target audience) to see which garages they can trust and then recommend to their family and friends.

We then promote female friendly garages to women via FOXY Choice and FOXY Lady Drivers Club websites and in blog mentions like this one as well as at Facebook and Twitter, where applicable.

And to complete the process, we encourage good garage feedback which we share online with other local women drivers.

So, when I meet a garage proprietor with equally strong views as mine, who agrees with me about garage regulation being the holy grail, and who is clearly ploughing his own quality furrow, I have a great deal of respect for his opinions about quality standards in the garage industry.

I am talking about Brunswick Garage in New Southgate, London N11  which is owned and run by Andy Savva. Who tells me he doesn’t join any of the industry badged schemes because his training regime is better than them all…

And I was reminded about this conversation by reading a feature about Brunswick Garage in a motor industry magazine this week so I thought it was about time that we looked at how Andy and his female friendly garage are doing things, for local women drivers in the Friern Barnet, New Southgate and Barns Green areas of North London.

For starters, female customers are in for a very pleasant surprise walking into Brunswick Garage’s spacious and stylish reception area with designer sofas, flatscreen TVs, homemade cakes, free WiFi and a coffee machine.

The business says it specialises in BMW, Audi, VW and Mini makes of cars but the staff are sufficiently well trained, with the latest diagnostic equipment to handle most makes of vehicles imaginable. Their expertise is down to Andy’s commitment to the best staff training; he doesn’t believe that a technician can ever be fully qualified ‘because there’s always more to be learned in an industry where technology marches forward regardless’. Very true.

Both Andy and I agree that the people who know cars better than anyone else are likely to include the manufacturers so that’s where Andy chooses to send his staff for training, who are then trained alongside franchised dealership staff.

Finally I’d like to make a few observations about the efficiency of the garage business so you can see how well thought through the whole operation has been. For starters, Andy’s garage building includes a part which is occupied by a Motor Parts supplier he gets his parts from. So when your car needs replacement car parts the purchasing staff just nip next door rather than wait for a distributor to put the part on their next delivery. And very soon they won’t need to do that because the part will be automatically ordered via a computer link and brought to the guy doing the job.

The size of the workshop area means a better than normal choice of car tyres to hand and no fewer than 8 of the latest vehicle lifts, each with essential equipment such as airguns and ratchets to hand of course, so that the business is as efficient as it can be coping with high volume and offering speedy repair slots.

But you won’t find trade membership or industry scheme certificates up on the wall remember, other than the FOXY Choice Female Friendly approved one that is, and I hope you now understand why. And you can be reassured that Brunswick Garage is one of the best and most female friendly garages in North London.

Quality, value for money, cleanliness and a genuine warm welcome. We think it ticks all the boxes that women like to see before they start to trust a garage, look forward to visiting it and refer it to their friends. Which is why Female Friendly garages are so successful of course.

FOXY

garage services, women drivers

Female fog factor re garage choices

Car maintenance, including MOTs, car repairs and all aspects of their routine servicing is a £9bn sector of the UK motor industry which is dominated by independent players. The older the car the more likely it is maintained where overheads are less and prices therefore lower.

Understandably the battle for this valuable business is intense because car dealerships have been used to maintaining most new and nearly new cars within their warranty and, in the light of fewer garage services following fewer new car sales in 2008/9/10 they will be looking to replace this lost garage income by finding new customers to look after, those driving older cars who would otherwise use independent garages…

This has become more interesting following new EU rules concerning the repair and maintenance of cars which came into effect on 1 June 2010. The intention was to benefit motorists by making it easier for independent garages to get access to technical support from car manufacturers – who had previously been known to encourage women (and men) drivers to have their cars maintained, serviced and repaired by their franchised dealerships whilst within warranty. This often resulted in the customer paying more than she could have done because typical franchised hourly rates are higher than in most independent garages.

If you end up paying more than you need to, without having been given a choice, you do feel ripped off and you may well complain about this which may have something to do with the level of complaints about dealership services (on a par when I last looked with independent garages…).

So all in all, anything that gives the customer more choice of value for money and quality garage Who is best to repair your car?services is a good thing?

Yes, of course but I believe there is still a grey area here from the female motorist’s point of view…

On the one hand car manufacturers can no longer make a warranty conditional on having oil changed or other services carried out in authorised garages. That’s the good news.

But car manufacturers can still ‘request’ repairs that are covered by the warranty and to be paid for by the manufacturer be carried out within the authorised manufacturer’s network.

Of course this is understandable as it is in the best interest of manufacturers that their franchised dealers do well in this area. I THINK this means that all oil and routine car services can now be carried out where the customer wants the work done but that when there is a necessary repair (examples invited to help me understand some circumstances here) and the manufacturer is clearly liable, that the manufacturer should be able to ‘dictate’ where the work is done.

But who is to define what happens if the manufacturer ‘requests’ an authorised repairer which isn’t as convenient for the customer as another? Isn’t the word ‘dictate’ a more honest representation of what is likely to be the case?

And isn’t it also likely that dealerships have a vested interest in muddying the waters here a tad by suggesting to female motorists (who are likely to be confused here) that the definition of ‘repairs’ within a warranty period includes servicing to maintain that warranty. This would be an easy message to convey even though the easiest way is for them to compete with independent garages would be on the basis of

  • ATA qualifications
  • high customer service levels/facilities
  • female friendly garage standards (FOXY Choice plug but definitely relevant here)

I’d also like to know who in the UK motor industry is responsible for telling women drivers about this change to their car servicing rights?

And how are we expected to find out? I haven’t read anything about this in the sort of publications I read 😉 although if it was titled ‘Block Exemption’ (its catchy EU nom de plume) I wouldn’t read on any further…

FOXY

Find out about genuinely good and female friendly garages for your MOT, car servicing and repair work.

garage services, motoring, women drivers

Garages compete for the female purse

Car servicing is very valuable business for independent garages, fastfits and franchised car dealerships. By keeping in touch with local women drivers who have been or might become future customers garages are more likely to see us more often, for women drivers to trust them and for us to recommend them to our family and friends.

Whilst it has been true and easy of old to say that independent garages are much cheaper than dealerships, the recession has to a certain degree bridged this value gap with more offers, discounts and services than ever before. Certainly this is what FOXY Choice is finding across the UK (that dealerships are getting more competitive in the search for more business).

Our advice to female motorists is to always start with an open mind and by doing your garage services shopping homework online, you’ll be better prepared in terms of knowing the local experts each occasion plus measurable quality factors and probable prices before simply going to the same old garage as before…

In terms of customer loyalty levels when it comes to car servicing I read that Honda drivers are most likely to revisit their franchised car dealerships (39.5% business retained for cars of all ages for servicing in 2009 BUT how do they know this after the car is sold I wonder? ) whereas the likes of Rover and MG, Nissan and Fiat languish towards the bottom of this Trend Tracker 2008 loyalty league survey (which surprises me about Nissan).

No surprises about MG Rover picking up after the XPart network took on that motoring responsibility.

All in all, across all brands and ages of cars surveyed, independent garages accounted for c38.4% of all services carried out. The future therefore brings interesting times ahead with the likes of Toyota leading the field (who will follow) by lengthening their warranty to 5 years in an obvious move to keep dealership contact with their customers for longer.

Providing female friendly marketing services to garages FOXY Choice’s experience is that some independents are doing brilliantly and others are struggling to stay alive. With little in between. The difference seems to be location (near competition vs niche wealthy area), perceived quality (and dare I say a commitment to female friendly standards as a minimum…) and therefore perceived value for money.

Most of us know that ‘too cheap’ is bad news in the garage industry but you have to know that garages aren’t licensed and too many mechanics aren’t qualified to understand why this could reflect in your being ripped off; or worse, left with an unsafe car. Few of our younger drivers understand this and I think the UK motor industry could do more to get this message across.

You also need to know which garages/fastfits/dealerships will sell you products you don’t need because they are encouraged to do so to earn commission as part of their income. More than we realise I suspect…

It’s a competitive world and the best and ethical garages need to stand out in a crowd of sometime mediocrity. Have a look at the FOXY Choice website to read which are the genuinely good and best garages near you in our FOXY Good Garage Guide. Then search for ‘female friendly garages’ and your nearest postal town to see which businesses have signed the female friendly FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need’. Imho this simple promise matters to women much more than the industry seems to appreciate.

And whilst this is early days for our reasonably new female friendly marketing service for garages, it’s telling to see those that can and can’t sign the FOXY Promise.

Find out about female friendly garages near you…

FOXY

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” Steve Jobs

garage services, marketing to women, women drivers

Do women drivers haggle in garages?

I have just read an interesting article claiming that independent garages are better equipped to cope wth the effects of the recession than main franchised dealers.

According to Colin Bruder of Network Automotive, independent garages are more flexible and more likely to react to women drivers haggling for a lower price.

And if the business wants to introduce a discount to target a seasonal offer, for example, the Service Manager in a new car dealership is less likely to have the authority to do this whereas the independent garage is more likely to be run by the business owner who can make her/his mind up there and then.

I found this interesting for two reasons; firstly because the industry has been encouraged to work to a fixed price menu (what irony if they are now expected to better this…) and secondly I can’t think of a woman driver who would haggle in a garage with a fixed price – we’d rather shop around and then pick the best value deal based on a range of choices.

I don’t imagine that many female motorists will haggle in this situation,  so perhaps Colin’s theory is based on male experience?

But I do agree that the independent garage is in a better situation to market/promote seasonal deals in the local media and online. I speak to many staff in main dealers, often part of a dealership group, who are not interested in any marketing opportunity that might work for them if it costs them money regardless of the outcome. Either they haven’t got the budget or the interest in doing something different even if this means scoring over their local competitors.  It’s a form of blinkered complacency which is misplaced in a recession, especially when their neighbours are seeing the opportunity and grabbing it ahead of them.

I also know this is true because FOXY Choice subscribers are invited to make an offer to members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and many more independents than franchised dealerships have taken this up.

Needless to say there is much that can be done rather than dropping the price – added value services can be marketed more effectively such as local car collection and delivery and a free wash and vac with every car servicing/repair. I have just been talking to Falkland Performance in Glenrothes and they have a deal with the local gym for their women drivers – that’s something different and to be celebrated.

I’d add to Colin’s theory that FOXY finds that flexibility is in the mind of the business owner and/or the Dealer Principal. Those who are fearful of the current climate and doing nothing are letting their competitors steal an advantage whereas those realists that know there will be a buoyant business tomorrow, are planning to be ahead of the game when tomorrow arrives. Good on the creative business thinkers – I wish them the success that will surely come their way!

And as I keep on saying, there is a place for independents and franchised dealerships to carry out MOT, car servicing and repair work because as long as the female customer has choice, she can choose which one she prefers based on her car, budget and expected service levels.

Long live both the independents and the franchised dealers and may competition prevail to keep prices down for all customers and add value for women drivers in particular.

FOXY

“My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil.” JP Getty.