The Woman Who risked her life for £10 - Stories from the Garage

This is still one of the most shocking stories of recent times in the garage. A woman came into reception for her MOT. It failed on the fact that two of her tyres were completely bald and exposing the cords!

 



We explained that the car was dangerous to drive and gave her a reasonable quote for replacing the two budget tyres at £56.28 (inc. VAT, fitting, tyre reclaim and balance for each tyre sized at 195/55/15).

The customer was shocked that she needed tires in the first place and she said she would ring back in 10 minutes with a decision whether we would be the ones to replace the tyres or not. She arrived back onsite 30 mins later explaining that she had to pick her children up from school, we asked whether she wanted us to fit the tyres for her and she said that she had managed to find another garage in Maidstone (about 6 miles away) that would do it for £10 cheaper.

We were astounded that she was prepared to drive 6 miles after picking up her children in a car deemed dangerous to drive... Just to save £10.


We usually find that our tyre prices are extremely competitive due to the fact that the price you are quoted with us includes all of the hidden charges many other dealers add on afterwards.#

If you're worried about your tyres at all, give us a quick ring on 01634 405757 to arrange a free tyre check.

Free Tips for YOU to Save Money! - Tips for You

Free tips revealed to you! Our valued customers.

‘How To Save Unnecessary Costs On Your Vehicle, Keeping More Money In Your Own Pocket... Guaranteed’

Let’s face it, no-one likes to spend money on transport. The following information could allow you to keep more of your hard earned money in your own pocket.

Carry out your own simple checks

The simplest way to save money is to carry out regular checks on your vehicle. Checking your water and oil levels at least once a month takes only a couple of minutes but could save you hundreds of pounds in unnecessary repair bills. You'll be surprised how quickly things can go from bad to worse under your bonnet.

The knock on effects can be even more expensive

The majority of Engine Management Light faults are originally due to low water and oil levels. If an engine is low on either water or oil the engine begins to run at a higher temperature. Engine sensors can easily be affected by heat and their life span can be shortened considerably once exposed to overheating. Meaning you'll have to pay for an engine sensor as well as everything else!

Extra savings: Guaranteed!

Include a Full Service when you have an MOT with PMC and you will save a further £10 off of your final bill.

When an MOT and Full Service is carried out together through PMC, some checks carried out in a service are duplicated in an MOT. This means that we can save time and hence money and we pass that saving back to the customer.

So remember keep checking those levels and book your car for a Full Service with PMC when your next MOT is due. Simple steps to save you money!

Tax Disc Updates and the Scrapping of the VIC Scheme - 21st June 2014

From October 1st 2014, you will no longer have to display your paper tax disc on your windscreen. This is due to the advancements in police technology - meaning that they can check if your car is taxed by just running your number plate through their scanners. You can also apply online to get your vehicle taxed using a 16 digit reference number from your vehicle tax renewal reminder (V11) or your 11 digit reference number from your log book (V5C). In addition to all of this, you can check the tax status of any vehicle online - this can be used for rental cars as well as privately owned cars.

In other news, the vehicle identity check (VIC) scheme for all cars written off, that are of roadworthy condition, has been scrapped. This was announced by the Transport Minister: Stephen Hammond. These checks were introduced in 2003 to reduce the amount of car theft in the UK.

For the vast majority of people that don't know about these, basically if you had fixed a car that had been previously written off, it had to pass a VIC to be legally driven on public roads. This was due to criminals taking cars that had been written off, stealing another car and switching the number plates, so that they could sell the written off car and the roadworthy car wouldn't show up as being written off, so could also be sold. The VIC scheme was introduced to try and prevent this from happening, but according to Hammond, there hasn't been enough success to warrant the amount of money spent on the scheme.

Hopefully car crime won't rise due to this and there will be some other prevention tactics being implemented ASAP.

Manufacturer Warranty - 14th June 2014

There are many misconceptions nowadays concerning the manufacturer warranty on cars. Most people think that when they buy a brand new car from a main dealer (and that car has a warranty of however many years) they have to get it serviced by the main dealer that supplied them with the car. This is simply not the case and never has been. Independent workshops are more than able to service your car while it is still under warranty - they will simply contact the dealer for the parts needed (if necessary), carry out an MOT as usual and the warranty will still be intact. This is usually more convenient for customers as they can go to their regular, local workshop and get everything tested as normal. The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) is heavily involved in the 'Right 2 Choose' campaign which is a campaign aiming to make consumers aware that under EU rules, any workshop can offer servicing when a vehicle is under warranty.

Phil Seymour, Network Manager for Approved Garages, highlighted this issue when he was discussing the Motor Codes report in early 2014: "Having achieved this consistent high scoring performance [in customer choice over franchised dealers] over a prolonged period, the only question is why so many vehicles continue to be serviced by franchised dealers during their warranty period?" With 17.4 million cars over 6 years old on the road, and manufacturers adding extended warranty periods, it is essential that customers and independent garages keep in mind that their warranty shouldn't be a barrier to the service.

Sourced from http://www.aftermarketonline.net/#ad-image-0

For more information on independent workshops, follow this link http://www.iaaf.co.uk/

Modernisation Notice - June 2014

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) are implementing a change in the way we log and test cars. Currently planned for September 2015, a new web-based MOT testing system will be deemed a mandatory upgrade for all testing stations. This system will replace the existing vehicle testing station device network and these devices will be decommissioned and removed following the upgrade. The new system will require vehicle testing stations (VTS) to have internet-connected IT equipment online and available for use at their premises.

Very basically, the old computer systems we use are from the DVSA, they are going to be changed up for our own computers that we will purchase at some point in the coming months. No change for customers, but a faster and easier system for us to use... When we finish changing the computer systems around.

Motoring News - 7th June 2014

We received our MOT Special Notice a little while ago and there were a couple of changes beginning to come through at the beginning of 2014.

The Driving and Standards Agency (DSA) and Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA) merged at the beginning of the year to form the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). Of course, this doesn't affect customers, or even our company too much. It simply means the name on the top of letters and e-mails has changed and all letters and e-mails will be sent/received by one company, rather than the two separate ones.

Quite an interesting change that has been announced is the fact that the garages removed from the MOT Scheme will be made public. This means that the DVSA will be publishing details of different vehicle testing stations (VTS) who have been removed from the MOT Scheme - this will be due to the company failing inspection. A monthly e-mail alert will inform us of the VTS name, location, reason for their cessation and the cessation period. Very basically they'll send out a 'bad boy list' to MOT Stations that are on the mailing list in the form of an e-mail alert.