Tag Archives: VBRA

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

FOXY Lady Approved accident repair centres are the GOOD NEWS to celebrate

Last night Channel 4’s Dispatches programme broadcast a report about car insurance and what happens when you need it most, at claims time and following an accident.

During it the OFT described the industry as dysfunctional and Malcolm Tagg, the CEO of VBRA (the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association), said that some insurer practices were immoral which gives you a clue about the tone of the programme.

We were looking at a purported culture that puts insurer profits ahead of doing the right thing in many cases and if some of the examples of cavalier management dismissing safety concerns are in any way typical, I’d be very very depressed indeed.

But they aren’t of course; they’re simply exceptions to do with the very small percentage of bad businesses (insurers and repairers alike) that are allowed to survive in their respective industries.

And we must now leave the Competition Commission to do its job re the all too common, short term and highly unsavoury mutual back scratching referral practices that are never in the long term best interests of the motorist – we who are expected to foot the bill for such folly.

Coincidentally this programme was aired on the same day as we launched our new FOXY Lady Approved© Accident Repair Centre network at the FOXY Choice website. Rest assured there are some fabulous and caring bodyshop and SMART repairer businesses out there who deserve more support on the basis of their investment in quality and processes to improve customer service.

We’re promoting them to women drivers and members of the Club of course via the FOXY Lady Drivers Club website as well. Accredited technicians, Kitemark licensees, manufacturer approval and those that operate to an OFT Approved Code are the standards we see as a cut above the rest.

We also welcome the sight of women in customer facing roles and, whilst quality is no guarantee of a genuinely female friendly business we’ve found, all FOXY Lady Approved© businesses have to sign a promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need’ before we’ll consider any application to join us.

Yes, I can hear some of you thinking… ‘none of this should be necessary’ but the problem is that the perception it will is there in the female mind. Too many women think the motor industry is out to get them by baffling them with jargon and ripping them off. A perception based on the scattergun promotion of industry complaints schemes we’re not used to seeing elsewhere perhaps but regularly topped up by real life negative (but well-intentioned) programmes like Dispatches…

Instead, I’d like to see more good news about the motor industry making it onto the public radar on occasion. How about some publicity about FOXY Choice giving motorists a female friendly choice so that all motorists, not just female ones, can rely on higher, more ethical and caring standards from tried and tested repairers after an accident that inevitably leaves them out of pocket, inconvenienced, considerably stressed and sometimes with very serious injuries and consequences to cope with afterwards.

Now that would be welcome news to hear for a change.

FOXY

women

With or without the OFT?

The Office of Fair Trading’s future is uncertain and may affect Consumer Codes Approval Schemes.

A cost cutting proposal in a Government Green Paper is to suggest the merger of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and The Competition Commission. Consumer protection will pass to the busy local Trading Standards and Citizens Advice departments.

What will this mean to existing OFT Consumer Code Approval Schemes like the ones sponsored by Bosch Car Service and/or VBRA? Will they lose their relevance and quality teeth for women drivers if the OFT is not there to police them?

The CCAS website confirms this uncertainty re new schemes so perhaps the Motor Codes service and repair scheme may not now reach Stage Two to gain full approval?

Fortunately most of their subscribers are dealerships who can be expected to perform to higher standards than the undemanding ‘honest and fair services’ ‘open and transparent pricing’ and ‘work completed as agreed’ Motor Code standards.  I never really understood why the likes of Ford garages needed this when most are ATA employers already and they get rigorously inspected by the RAC. A waste of money even?

Either way, after c60 years of attempting to put its garages in order, the motor industry has done little of note because bad garages don’t join industry code schemes and still exist. And woman are most likely to be the ones overcharged, patronised and sold things we don’t need.

Despite Trading Standards efforts here (including a few Motor Trade Partnership schemes FOXY likes) these are regional not national bodies.

What is surely needed, with or without the OFT, is a fully regulated garage industry, to include independents, fastfits, bodyshops and franchised dealerships, because shoddy work can mean dangerous cars and compromise our road safety.

But garages’ll still need FOXY Choice’s marketing services to identify the genuinely female friendly businesses because even regulation won’t guarantee a business that understands what we women want!

FOXY

Find out about FOXY Choice approved female friendly UK garages

car dealerships, garage services, marketing to women, women drivers

Does the Motor Codes garage scheme encourage women drivers to pay over the odds in car dealerships?

Does the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code/garage market itself to women and encourage them to pay over the odds in car dealerships? Yes I think it does.

For starters the Motor Codes website,  blog and recent press releases state….

“Don’t risk a rip-off, you can trust a Motor Codes garage.”

“Consumers, why go anywhere else? Don’t risk a rip off, look for the logo and have confidence in your choice of garage by using the Garage Finder facility on the Motor Codes website.”

[Click here to find out] ‘How the Service and Repair Code solves your cowboy garage concerns….’

“Franchised and independent garages who subscribe to the Code surely have the edge over those that don’t – or won’t.”

“Businesses that commit to the Code are demonstrating their willingness to provide consistent levels of customer satisfaction and the more that subscribe, the easier it is for consumers to find the good guys.”

Yet these marketing statements, intended to influence men and women drivers alike are misleading because…

1   the likes of the ATA, BSI Kitemark and OFT approved Stage Two schemes operated by Bosch Car Service and VBRA are higher standards than the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code

2   the majority of manufacturers expect higher service and repair standards of workmanship from their franchised dealers than the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code states

3   only a small percentage of subscribers to the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code have been inspected (142 compliance checks in Q1 2009 gives you an idea of how many of the 5500 subscribers have been vetted during the full year…) so this is an EXTREMELY CHEAP promotion at just £75 a year for any business to get on the quality bandwagon and claim to be better than others without having to prove anything…

4   most of the businesses listed (iro 80% I estimate, probably more) are franchised car dealerships. Check out your nearest town via the Motor Codes website for starters. Is it a coincidence that this scheme is run by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders who exist to represent the best interests of the main manufacturers? How can they put the best interests of motorists first (but someone must)…

5   female motorists on a budget (ie most of us in a recession) choosing a Motor Codes subscriber are likely to feel tricked into paying more than we need to because the website suggests Motor Code subscribers are better…

For example and as at today…

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Glasgow only 2 out of 50 are independent garages…

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Newcastle upon Tyne only 1 out of 42 businesses is an independent garage

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Manchester only 3 out of 33 are independents

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Birmingham only 3 out of 35 are independents

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in London only 6 out of 46 are independents

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Shoreham-by-Sea (my nearest town in Sussex) only 3 out of 33 are independents

If you wanted to choose a Motor Codes subscriber in Exeter only 2 out of 23 are independents

and so on…it’s the same skew across the UK. Draw your own conclusions.

As I see it, this means that many men and women drivers, choosing a Motor Codes subscriber (as a result of lavish marketing budgets) could end up paying over the odds in car dealerships without realising they could have had an informed choice of a good independent garage…

AND that the majority of Motor Codes subscribers have neither had a welcome visit or a Compliance Check yet. The fact is that these subscribers don’t have to be good garages, they just have to say they are.

If it was me and I found this out, I’d feel cheated by the very industry and OFT- backed code that is promising me and other women drivers like me better car servicing, MOT and repair value for money services.

And isn’t this the very reputation that the motor industry wishes to change – for overcharging motorists?

Undoubtedly manufacturers jumped on board because Ford signed up first and told its dealers to subscribe a year ago… but I remain amazed that so many manufacturers ever thought that their authorised dealers needed to subscribe to such a basic Motor Code… have they read it?  Their dealers MUST have been doing more than this in the aftersales department…

Of course I support attempts to raise standards in the motor industry, but this code is not the salve to all garage problems yet. It isn’t ready for consumer marketing and it could mislead and increase industry complaints not reduce them as it set out to do.

And many, many garages and dealerships are offering much higher and female friendly standards  – let’s set the quality bar much higher in future.

FOXY

garage services, women drivers

Smart women drivers at car repair time

Until recently I hadn’t a clue what SMART car repairs were.

I now understand that they are specialist car repairs to put right minor damage caused to car exteriors and interiors. This skill is different to major bodywork repairs after a car accident, for example.

Apparently some 70% of all cars on the road today have a requirement for at least one SMART repair costing an average of £70 per repair.

Good to know this when your insurance excess is in the £00s or where you could lose your no claims bonus for want of some knowledge here.

And reassuring to know that someone can make our cars look nearly new again without costing a fortune, adding to the reselling price we’d hope.

How many of us know that there are industry professionals who specialise in repairing the following and for relatively little money…

  • vinyl, plastic and leather upholstery
  • dashboards
  • door and trim panels
  • roof linings
  • alloy wheels
  • in-car cigarette burns
  • windscreen chips
  • unused telephone holes
  • minor bodywork scuffs and scratches
  • paintwork dents

For a gender with an appreciation for aesthetics (and an occasional tendency to suffer car park, shopping trolley and kerb bashes) I can see that women drivers would be glad to have a tried and tested local specialist in their address book.

As always, the important thing is to find a business/individual with the skills and the knowledge to do this for you. Visit  FOXY Choice for a good female friendly repairer for starters.

Otherwise, try googling for ‘smart car repairs’ (and ignore out the ones selling Smart cars).  Signs of reassurance are if the garage repairer is a member of trade associations MVRA or VBRA, tells you that their technician is Thatcham trained or if they hold the BSI Kitemark in Bodywork Repairs.

By all means add your experience or expertise to help others.

FOXY