car service

jeffk

BostonB did you have a bad experience with cars or mechanics or the like?

Just that you got on a soap box when I told you I paid more or less the cost of the bulb to be supplied and fitted and then couldn't send a proper reply.

BohsCeltic

I got my car serviced from coolmine motors for a good price. However whilst i was there two people came up complaining of not having filters and spark plugs changed despite getting billed for it.
I thought nothing of it really though untill i went and got an alloy repaired.

A few weeks after i had the work done there was a lot of vibration so i brought it up to discount tyres to get the wheels balanced and i was told that the wheel was highly dangerous as there was three welds on it :eek:
I only left the alloy in to get a small crack and buckled fixed.

I couldn't find the receipt either to bring it back up, for something as important as a wheel being left in a dangerous condition i'll not be using coolmine motors again

athtrasna

Am a long time fan of Discount in Ballycoolin and have repeatedly recommended them. No more.

Significant car part needs replacing - got quote from Discount. Several people said it sounded high so I got 4 more quotes. 3 were €75+ less than Discount, and the other was €150 more. I researched the parts used by the cheaper ones and was satisfied they were good quality and probably the same brand.

Contacted Discount to see if they could do anything on their quote seeing as I've been a customer for 9 years (as has housemate) and have given them thousands over the years. Was asked to fax in a cheaper quote (I sent the middle one with the garage details blocked out) which I did. No reply that day, next day I rang twice, first time was on hold for 10 minutes and next time left a number. No call back. Day 3 I was told they'd look into it and call me back later. That was Friday. Almost Wednesday now and no contact.

Car part needs replacing, it will be replaced elsewhere. Servicing will also move elsewhere, as will any other work that needs doing on the car. Disappointed doesn't come close, I gave them every opportunity to retain my custom. They were €80 more expensive than the quote I faxed, a gesture towards that would have kept me, but not to even phone me back. That's poor. In this day and age €80 is a reasonably significant sum of money (especially when repair was unscheduled) - and it's better in my pocket than in the account of a company that used to epitomise customer service but not any more.

jeffk

Like I said in other threads, x mechanic is great till they do you wrong, then you find another one thats great, until they do you wrong.

I am driving almost nine years now and have used so many different mechanics/places, not by choice, but because of the above.

Tails142

Just chiming in for coolmine motors, I needed some work done to get it through the NCT and he changed my oil as well for an extra €70 - I was more than happy with the work and the guy was very nice and cheerful, he rang me back an hour after dropping the car in to let me know the prices for the parts before he started and then rang me back as soon as the work was done to let me know I could pick it up. Some garages seem to barely be able to manage this.

Have been using a few other garages around the place, Dave McCann, Atlas etc, but based on this encounter I'll be using Coolmine Motors from now on.

dodzy

Tails142 wrote: »

Just chiming in for coolmine motors, I needed some work done to get it through the NCT and he changed my oil as well for an extra €70 - I was more than happy with the work and the guy was very nice and cheerful, he rang me back an hour after dropping the car in to let me know the prices for the parts before he started and then rang me back as soon as the work was done to let me know I could pick it up. Some garages seem to barely be able to manage this.

Have been using a few other garages around the place, Dave McCann, Atlas etc, but based on this encounter I'll be using Coolmine Motors from now on.

He may not have done you any favours with €70 for an oil change.

inforfun

using D&C Auto in Rosemount for a few years now.
Gent of a guy.

Might or might not be the cheapest but does what is needed and explains the reason when something out of the ordinary needs replacing.
And this is of course due to my personal situation: Drop my car off in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon. I work close by so i never have to take a day off or waste a saturday on waiting.

Marcin_diy

There is one lad working in discount tyres, who worked as Honda mechanic for few years. Can't remember his name unfortunately.
He gave me few good tips on my car about service and parts replacement.

I did free pre nct test with them, and changed tyres on my car 3 times already and will return to them again to get another set of tyres.
If you are returning customer you can always get a discount

Never did a full service however.

jeffk

an update on discount .

Got new tyres and brakes fitted , the brakes squeaked , so i brought them back and had them look at them .
I was told four or five different reasons and that it will go away in time .

It hasn't gone away and is in fact worse , i now have them in with a mechanic and hes saying €50 or so to take all of them off and then clean them .

Wasn't going back to discount again and likely wont go back again in the future , big money for tyres and brakes and have to get a mechanic to look at their work .

jeffk

while i am @ it , would €180 be expensive for a service ?

There is a garage asking that and then there is a polish fella with a garage doing it for €130 ish .

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

an update on discount .

Got new tyres and brakes fitted , the brakes squeaked , so i brought them back and had them look at them .
I was told four or five different reasons and that it will go away in time .

It hasn't gone away and is in fact worse , i now have them in with a mechanic and hes saying €50 or so to take all of them off and then clean them .

Wasn't going back to discount again and likely wont go back again in the future , big money for tyres and breaks and have to get a mechanic to look at their work .

I always used to use them (over the past 4 years I went quite a bit). I found them good, but had issues with them not contacting me about a job (They had done part of the job, and needed to get a part to finish it) and they never got back to me after numerous attempts to contact them on the matter (they kept pushing the date back and where supposed to contact me countless times and never did). Anyway I ended up going to a main dealer and getting the part fitted - to finish the job.

Car is due a service and I don't really want to go to the main dealer. I might just have to bring it back to discount.

Anyone have any other recommendations?

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

while i am @ it , would €180 be expensive for a service ?

There is a garage asking that and then there is a polish fella with a garage doing it for €130 ish .

Depends on the engine size and car make. Also whether they are using OEM specified parts/oil.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

Depends on the engine size and car make. Also whether they are using OEM specified parts/oil.

toyota corolla , 2002 model , all i could get out of the garage for €180 was he gives it a good service

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

toyota corolla , 2002 model , all i could get out of the garage for €180 was he gives it a good service

I presume that's a 1.4 so?

It seems average/slightly above average to me. The usual service will be oil change, new oil filter, new air filter and spark plugs. I expect he is doing at least that for 180. In most places a 1.4 would be 140-200 approx (that's a bit of a rough guess)

Then you have all the usual checks they do on top of that.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

I presume that's a 1.4 so?

It seems average/slightly above average to me. The usual service will be oil change, new oil filter, new air filter and spark plugs. I expect he is doing at least that for 180. In most places a 1.4 would be 140-200 approx (that's a bit of a rough guess)

Then you have all the usual checks they do on top of that.

Yeh sorry it is 1.4 .

Grand thanks , once i have an idea of what the price range is , i get it done every year , so i wouldn't say paying €50 extra will make much of a difference .

jeffk

One of the lads and the owner from Discount got in touch and we have sorted something out with the work I had to get done.

Sending the car in for a service next week, no problems with the service last year, so I expect much the same this year. Price is €140 so the same as the polish garage and well cheaper than the other garage at €180.

BGozIE

jeffk wrote: »

One of the lads and the owner from Discount got in touch and we have sorted something out with the work I had to get done.

Sending the car in for a service next week, no problems with the service last year, so I expect much the same this year. Price is €140 so the same as the polish garage and well cheaper than the other garage at €180.

Good Result for you there.

My issue was some time ago (approx 9 months) but one of the lads from discount also got in touch with me to try and address this. In fairness to them my issue was due to not getting a part so never had anything to do with the quality of there work.

Although I now have a new car they have sorted something out, and more to the point dealt with my concern. Fair play to them, I've always been happy with there work so I will be going again for my next service.

jeffk

BGozIE wrote: »

Good Result for you there.

My issue was some time ago (approx 9 months) but one of the lads from discount also got in touch with me to try and address this. In fairness to them my issue was due to not getting a part so never had anything to do with the quality of there work.

Although I now have a new car they have sorted something out, and more to the point dealt with my concern. Fair play to them, I've always been happy with there work so I will be going again for my next service.

Sure was, all I ever wanted was brakes that stopped the car and didn't do it while making a squeaking noise.

Glad to see they where in touch with you also , its good to see a company keeping up on online feedback and not ignoring it(good or bad).

Good to hear you got something sorted out as well

Instead of going to garage I spent money on buying tools to service the car myself.

Parts and tools for service cost around €100. Not bad considering I have the tools for next time.

There are a mass of tutorials online on how to change plugs (I has never done mechanics before, and was able to change plugs in 20mins), oil/oil filter, air and cabin (not commonly done for a service) filters.

Just spend some time researching, and you should have no probleming servicing a car. Take you time servicing, and you should be fine.

Here is a great post about how to do an oil change on an Astra, but idea should apply to most cars. http://www.astraownersnetwork.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-39740.html