Nottingham Servicing

[bora23]

Hello,
I have two Vw's (bora and golf) and would like to know if anyone can recommend a good honest garage in Nottingham? I have only lived here for 3 years and i used to travel back to my homeland (Warwickshire) to get my cars serviced by my local garage who always did a sound job. Sadly he died recently and his son didnt take it over, he simply closed the garage and netted the cash.

I get the car serviced every 10,000 miles and change the oil midway. (5,000) I get the Coolant and Brake Fluid done every 20k.

I have looked into all the following garages.

Nationwide Auto Centres
Nottingham Volkswagen West Bridgford
Nottingham Volkswagen Arnold
Newbolds Mansfield
KAM Servicing
Autotechz, Stapleford

I used to work for a main dealer and i was always impressed by them, but has anyone any dealings with my local one? (Nottingham VW W/B)

[shark_90]

Crasher is your man in Nottingham. Drop him a PM on here or see http://www.candrenterprises.co.uk/

[FastFerret]

Hi,
who did you choose in the end and how were they?
my 130pd tdi bora is also due for a 80k service and cambelts again so i am looking around.

[bigmedsi]

I've used a guy called David Evans for my VW needs in the last few years. He's an independent garage but advertises as a VW specialist. Very reliable and quick.

155 Carlton Hill, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 1GZ, 0115 9874457

If you've already had them done where did you go out of interest?

Si

[FastFerret]

Hi Si,
I bit the bullet and went to Nottingham Volkswagen in West Bridgford.
In one respect I am glad I did as I know that they are thorough but a couple of incidents made me think twice about going back there.

They phoned to tell me that I need a new sump for sum £250 or a Helicoil at £96 as the sump bung was stripped.
I am not the brightest match in the box but I'm no **** either. they did the last two services on the car so if the threads are stripped they did it, I told them that and they said that it may be a design fault. I said that still does not make it my problem and the service woman said that after 5 yrs, vw will not entertain any warranty or support on a vehicle. I argued that it was a VW approved used car bought from a VW dealer (themselves) 18 months ago and either they stripped the threads and must replace it at their cost or it was a design fault and VW must replace at their cost.

When it was time to collect they told me they had helicoiled it at their cost.

The point is, they tried to ******** me and make me pay for something that was not my fault and I am sure they get away with it with less argumentive clients.

I had two new front tyres fitted a while ago and got a nail through one after a week so i've been driving on my spare. Notts VW fitted a new tyre for me on the flat tyre in my boot but did not bother to swap it with the spare steel rim tyre that I had on the front, little things like this make me want to spend my money elsewhere.

There is a thread on here about why we should not call dealers S T E A L E R S Here is a perfect example why they often deserve the bad press.

Next service may be at C&R enterprises. it will not be at Nottingham VW.

More and more I see that the customer and his money are treated with little respect or regard and if someone can get away with duping the unsuspecting client then they will.

Notts VW will NOT get the chance to try and pull the wool over my eyes again.

[Crasher]

The thread in the ally sump is a constant problem and I understand your position as to it being their problem and their position as to it being yours, a difficult situation for both sides. Unfortunately, the helicoil solution is not one I like, they tend to come out when the sump plug is removed or leak in service as it is extremely hard to install the helicoil square to the seal face with the sump on the car. Please warn us about it if you do book it is with us. The way to avoid sump pain is to always use a new bung and tighten it to 30Nm but that takes a few minutes to do and with the time bonus system dealer mechanics are on, the temptation to “spanner it” is very high, for a dealer mechanic where literally every second counts. They don’t even give the car a full systems scan as this takes about ten minutes, even though this is specifically listed on the VAG tick sheet. We don’t work on that basis and the torque wrench is always used and a full systems scan, save, print and clear carried out.

[FastFerret]

Hi Crasher,
thanks for the reply, I got a quote from John but I chose VWNotts as it is 1 mile from my house on the bus route and I did not want the hassle of arranging lifts etc. I'll think twice next time.
My car has FSH showing each 20k at a dealer, six in total.

After six refittings of a sump plug the bung should not shed it's threads and that is something VW must be aware of but as to why they choose not to recall and replace or why they allow dealers to make the client pay for their design fault is just not right.

I also detest helicoils and prefer time-serts if needed and unavoidable. I've had spark plug helicoils screw OUT into the head of my 750 Turbo scratching the piston to heck and damaging the valve seats and will not go down that path again.

As a result, in an attempt to save/make some money at my expense this dealer has not only lost a client but also many more who read this thread and choose to avoid them. Was it worth it? I think not.

I wish more people would argue the point or at least get a second opinion when faced with situations like this as it would force more honesty in the industry.

[Crasher]

Personally I don’t feel it is a design fault, it actually takes a lot of force to strip the thread, well in excess of double the factory torque of 30Nm, but we find the main reason is people not following the Volkswagen instruction of replacing the bung each time.

I too prefer Würth Timeserts but there is still the problem of getting them square to the sealing face.

Thankfully stripped sump threads are not a big problem these days as I think people are getting more used to them. In the old days of British Leyland front wheel drive products a stripped sump thread was a mjor issue as the thread was in the gearbox casing.