DGW

DGW

Originally posted by jimmyboy - Fri May 13, 2005

finally sold my old car on Monday 9th May, so I could now get my Octavia insured and on the road. When I bought the Octavia it was due for a variable service and the timing belt was overdue (car had done 77K and belt was supposed to be changed at 60K!) I had planned to go to T.A. Porter in Copford, but the earliest they could service the car was 20th May if I didn't want a courtesy car and 25th May if I did! I needed to find a place that could service my car quickly. Prestons could either service my car on Thursday 12th or Friday 13th - I opted for the Thursday. He said to bring the car in at 9AM, but it is a 25 mile drive to the place and I turned up at 09:30, so he wasn't too pleased. Prestons Garage is quite a small outfit - they have a petrol filling station, a small showroom and a service/MOT department that has a 2 car capacity. I went to reception and handed over my driving licence so they would give me a courtesy car (they told me in advance to tell my insurance company that I would be using this car for the day). They gave me a Fabia with only 1250 miles on the clock. He had prepared a printout of the work he intended to do on the car, listing the parts to be used and estimated hours (this listed using 5 l of oil). I told the guy on reception that I had 4l of Castol SLX in my boot and I would just need to buy 1l from them (car has a 4.5l oil capacity), so he could put the 0.5l left back in the vinyl holder that is used to carry the 1l oil bottles. I gave the guy my home number and my mobile so he could call me when the car was ready. I hadn't heard anything by 16:45, so I called him to see if the car was ready and it was. I got to the place at 17:45 and the MOT place was already locked up. When I pulled into the forecourt one of the guys from reception raced out to check their courtesy car (to make sure I hadn't bent it!) while I went to pay the bill. I noticed that one of my sidelights was on, so I thought that the Skoda must have the "park lights" like the VW's have if you leave the indicator on and remove the key. I checked the bill and saw that I was billed for 5l of oil at £9.50+Vat per litre. I reminded the guy that I had 4l of my own oil in the car for them to use, so they had overcharged me by £38+VAT. I also noticed that they hadn't changed the brake fluid and it says that it must be done every 2 years regardless of miles. Initially the guy said that they must have done it, but I showed him the service book and the "NO" box had been ticked. The car was 2.5 years old and overdue for this to be done. He checked the previous services to see if they had done it (but they hadn't) so he said I'd need to bring the car in again (a 50 mile round trip!) I wasn't very pleased, as I was paying main dealer prices for their expertise and in the end I was finding they hadn't done the job properly. I was even less pleased when he was wanting to charge me another £35+VAT to do the job! I asked him when this could be done and he was saying the earliest would be the middle of the following week. I don't normally go to Chelmsford and he only reason I took the car there was they could service my car at short notice, but I've now found that they haven't fully completed the work. Another thing I didn't like is they wrote in my service book that my car is next due for a service in 10K or 1 year, rather than "as indicated" like the other variable services. I just hope that they have reset my service indicator to variable servicing and not to the fixed servicing! If my car says it is due in 10K I will not be very pleased - I will probably do 25K this year and was hoping to get 25K before doing another service. I got into my car to find that the sat nav display was dim - I thought that the mechanics must have been playing with it, so I checked the display settings. The display was set to "auto" like I left it, which means it is bright during the day (when not using car lights) and dim at night (or when the lights are on). It turns out that the mechanics left my sidelights on after servicing the car. I had noticed that only 1 sidelight was working on the garage forecourt and I rechecked this when I got home and found the O/S sidelight bulb had popped. I know that bulbs can go at any time, but to have one failing when I actually pick my car up on the forecourt is very frustrating. The laugh is I was billed for a bulb (BLB380), so I'm going to see if this is a front sidelight bulb. If so, it looks like they remembered to bill me for it, but forgot to change it AND forgot to turn my lights off! And I had to pay £508 for this service!! I felt that the labour rate was too much - £50+VAT, so I'm unlikely to go back to this garage (except for the brake fluid change that they should have done in the first place!)

DGW

Originally posted by Theman7 - Sat Jul 23, 2005

Its in the middle of a nice village and is tiny (3 cars in the sales area) I arrived aboyt 20 minutes late, but they were waiting and took the car off me after about 1 minute.


It was amazing that I could see my car being worked on so quickly.


The waiting area is terrible, a couple of chairs in the middle of everything, you feel like all the staff are just looking at you, HOWEVER


My Vrs had a leak from the rear widow washer, and I was in and out in about 20 minutes, its the sort of service you expect.


Very quick, very polite got the job done. Will take the car back for its 12month check, felt like they actually cared.

Chris GB

Having been quoted £160 for a 10,000 non annual service by Hayes (the place I bought my Fabia vRS) I decided to phone around and compare a few prices.

Preston Garages (Writtle in Essex) were able to arrange a short notice quickly carried out service, to be fitted in between driving lessons, for £87 inc. I turned up as arranged at 11am today. The car was taken off me on arrival and work began immediately. I requested to view the car on the ramp to check out tyre scrub and wear and a general look around underneath while they worked on it, which was no problem.

It was nice to see the use of a torque wrench for wheel nuts and the sump bolt. They also checked for fault codes. Oil used was Quantum PD. Tyres needed rotation which was requested at booking and carried out having been asked if I would prefer front to rear or diagonal. They also spotted a hose that was loose underbonnet (obviously incorrectly fitted at the factory).

So service was excellent, the staff were friendly and helpful, the work carried out concientiosly and all at 30 minutes notice. To top it off, they also did not charge for the tyre rotation and bought out the remainder of the 5L Quantum oil for me to use as top up.

I am very pleased and if this is the ongoing level of service here, I will use them for the 4 or 5 services a year I will be having carried out.

Note to any Rover owners out there, they are also taking on the X part servicing in the very near future, so give em a call.

Update: Now had 5 services and some warranty work carried out at Prestons. Always efficient, courteous and care for the car. Highly recommended.

Chris

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Red Fabia vRS. Gone but not forgotten.

Chilli Red / white Mini Cooper Diesel with dual controls.

Silver 53 MR2. Mods: PPE 4>1 manifold | PPE Mangnaflow high flow cat | Blueflame catback exhaust | Pikey inlet mod | 3.0 Racing Chassis stiffening brace kit | BC Racing fully adjustable coilovers | TF loud. Details here My MR2 Page

KJB

I have had good service from them for the last 3 years. With my OCty TDI & Fabia VRS on fixed service I'm in 2 or 3 times a year !. I work in Chelmsford which is about 3 miles away & they give me a lift into town. Never had to go back or complain. Dont know about charges - seems fair, but its the most convenient for me. Cant comment about purchases, but re the "servicing service" I have no complaints. Richard is the manager - very curteous & helpful.

carefree

I have been to Prestons now for last two services and find them first class. If only other garages were as efficient and polite.

I am taking my car to them on fri 17th for them to look at a couple of warranty items (alloy wheel corrosion and rear passenger door lining has come away slightly) and usually I'd be a tad concerned as warranty repairs are nearly always at the discretion of the dealer BUT from experience I know them to be fair, and my car is pristine and not one alloy has been kerbed or is in anyway scratched so they will know it is not down to abuse.

They are also very fair with pricing, and whilst I have a skoda car they will have me as a customer, simple as that.

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'54' Black Magic Fabia vRS

Yo Adrien I DID IT!!!

Matty_N

I had my 1st service done here. Found them polite, helpful and by far the cheapest compared to other dealers. Have just booked in for my 20k service. They were again by far the cheapest and worked around my plans to fit me in. I would highly reccomend this place.

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Matty

2006 Black Magic Fabia VRS, currently standard.
Warranty expires soon though...

mtwalton

Had a second variable service done here today.
Very efficient and helpful.

Will be going back!