Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[clan chieftain]

I still visit the garages I used to go to and they are quieter now than they have ever been. By early afternnon they have no work in. Its the same all over. My neighbour 2 doors down is the bodyshop manager in a main dealer in Glasow and he said they have hardly any work in and may have to lay off workers.
The motor factor I used to work with are down a couple of grand a day in sales.
Would the reason be that cars are serviced less frequently or that people cant afford to get their cars fixed.
There doesnt seen to be an upturn in the near future.
What are the garages like where you live.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[Ellis]

I cannot name him or his garage here but I take the "moderns" to a privately owned independent garage in a nearby town. I've known the proprietor for well over 20 years and apart from that he is also honest, diligent and will go out of his way to help someone. He's also a very good mechanic, Ford trained originally.

I'll give you just one example. Three years ago I bought a very low mileage Jaguar X Type from an elderly gentleman which I also used infrequently. The battery went flat and when changed for a new one, many of the systems failed to work - heater, a/c, heated rear window, fans and all manner of fault codes appeared. It still drove.

The local Jaguar specialist wanted it in for "at least a day or two" and the official local Jaguar dealer is about £100 per hour.......!

I took it to my friend's garage and he agreed to deal with it on a "spare or slack time basis". He eventually traced the problem to a burnt out alarm back up module, sourced me a warranted second hand part for £30 instead of £170 for a new one. The part was fitted, the fault codes erased and he even MOT'd it because that was due soon for a total of £150.

If that isn't service, then I really don't know what is.

Motor factors ARE having a hard time of it at the moment and it may be individuals sourcing parts from the Internet themselves. I don't know.

What I have noticed is the number of new and two or three year old cars on the road with unrepaired paint or body damage. Perhaps owners just part exchange the vehicles with the damage declared.

However, one young enterprising body and paint man locally has set himself up as a mobile car body and paintwork repairer in a very well equipped Transit van. He's also got a franchise for mobile dent repairs and he is very busy. He's good too and a lot of his work comes from the agricultural community, parcel couriers, taxi firms as well as private customers.
_________________
Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Riley Blue]

Having had my Audi driven into and finally got some money from the culprit I went to my local bodyshop for a price. They're so quiet they said 'Drop it in any day, we'll have it ready for you within two days'.

I have no other first hand experience but would imagine that with so much pressure on the domestic purse people may be skimping on servicing hence quiet workshops. If true, it makes a full service history backed up with receipts (not just stamps in the book) even more vital when buying a used car.

[ukdave2002]

The main challenge is that modern cars don't need as much servicing and don't go wrong as frequently as cars of past years....my modern has done 70k, only just had its 2nd oil change and its 1st plug change , its had 2 rear tyres, a couple of filters, couple of brake fluid changes..and thats it.

That said our local independent is always busy, simply because they have a trusted reputation and far better pricing than dealers.

BMW dealers will charge £160 for an oil and filter change, the local independent about £40 (using BMW filters) guess which one I use!!

Dave

[peppiB]

I have been renting the spray shop at my local garage all week. A grand total of 2 cars have been in for repair. The owner has been working on 1 of his own cars inserting an evo engine and making it 4 wheel drive (he uses it on track days.) In the spray bay, I have had several enquiries for resprays! I am knackerd after working on my own car so no chance and the garage owner cannot spray.
The spray bay is located beside a used tyre bay and that has been busy all week. It is run independently from the garage by the owners brother.

[clan chieftain]

The guys that sell part worn tyres are always busy. There is at least half a dozen of them in my area alone. Sign of the times I suppose.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[V8 Nutter]

When I worked at the engine recoditioners from the 70's to the 90's we were always busy. I know some one who owns a similar but much smaller business and it's mainly work on competition engines that keeps him going.

[Geoffp]

How many cars are being scrapped rather than repaired because of the costs even at independents and using pattern parts? Among my friends' cars alone that includes a Scorpio with dead gearbox, a Mark 3 Golf which failed the MOT on brakes and front suspension, and a Polo which was written off with only a slightly dented rear wing and bumper and a broken rear light. Secondhand cars, especially larger petrol one are so cheap now that quite a few people will buy one, run it until something major breaks and cut their losses rather than have it repaired. That must be affecting garages?

Geoff

[clan chieftain]

Very true Geoff. If your Vectra for example needs a Dual Mass Flywheel costing about £600 you would wonder if it was worth it, and if you couldnt afford it you would just weigh it in. It does happen.
A lot of cars are scrapped and there is not a lot wrong with them.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[Ironhead]

my modern-ish Citreon needs a few bits doing to it for the MOT.i can't afford garage bills so i'm buying a cheapo motor and parking the Citreon up until i can summon up the interest to do the repairs myself.

[ukdave2002]

Its the ratio of car value verses labour rates that has changed over the last 20 years:

Take a look at these damaged repairable cars, many have just a tad more than cosmetic damage, for a few hundred quid could be driven away and sorted with a weekends work at home

Dave

[pogo]

My brother used to buy and repair, then sell cheapish cars, under £1000 generally. He was getting 20 calls per car a couple of years ago, but lucky if he gets a couple now. Hes given up, and got a job out of the motor trade.
He has a friend who has a body repair shop, and he and his partner are discussing shutting it, they havent had work for a couple of weeks.
This is based not far from London.
I live in France, where cars are very expensive, and was amazed that when I was last back in the uk, I saw a new BMW 1 seried parked on a roundabout with a sign saying that it could be bought for £299 per month (it may have even been £199 pm, cant remember) but the point is, why save your cash, buy a used car, when for that money, you can impress the neighbours ( ) with a brand new BMW on the drive?

Paul
_________________
http://www.centralfrancestorage.com/index.html

[clan chieftain]

Very true what you say Dave about damaged repairables. Where I used to live I had a neighbour and thats all he fixed. Some cars were written off because the central locking was too expensive to repair.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[47Jag]

The labour rates charged nowadays are OTT. I got a cold call last week from my Jaguar dealer to tell me that if I wanted a service done I could have it done for £170 instead of over £300. I was also told that as the labour rate was currently £105 an hour this was a good deal. Now, back in the 70's I ran a small BL service department for a short while and we charged $10 an hour. This rate would run for two years and in the first year the mechanics got $4.30 an hour (43%) and the second year they got $4.50 an hour (45%). Using this formula, I rather doubt that there are any mechanics making £44 an hour or even remotely close to that figure.

Art

[clan chieftain]

Garages average £30 to £40 an hour but its usually apprentices doing the work who are only getting about £6 an hour where fully qualified mechanics can earn up to £15 an hour .So thats another saving.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain