Servicing Nightmare

Well, it's MOT time again and I kept getting adverts for a company called Servicing Stop who will do a full annual service plus an MOT, they said, for £118. They have a list of garages they use and they find the one most local to you. The main attraction was that they pick up and deliver the car. I should have smelled a rat when the pick-up guy stood around and let me de-ice the car for him, in my slippers, in the freezing cold. I mentioned that the tail pipe on the exhaust was missing. I only noticed this yesterday. Anyhow, the main company bloke phoned me at about 2pm and reeled off a list of extra things he thought needed doing, such as the fuel filter, brake fluid change, etc. I asked how much all of this would cost and he coolly announced that the total bill would come to £460!!!! Even new spark plugs were counted as an "extra". I declined all this extra work, and so all they have done is one new bulb, an oil change with new filter, and an MOT test, and the total was £135. They even charge a £1 admin fee if you pay with a debit card, a lot more for a credit card, when these are the ONLY ways you can pay, as it is an online bill you pay before they will return the car. And get this - they have passed the car for its MOT with the exhaust tail pipe totally missing, quoting it only as an advisory! So in theory I could drive it around for 12 months with the engine growling like a Maserati. I wouldn't be surprised if when I look at the oil tomorrow it's still as black as treacle. Why do people set up a new company with a new idea which could be really great if they got it right, and then just use it as a way to rip people off. They even ask you to pay a £25 "deposit" on next year's service, which is really difficult to delete from your final invoice. Complete and utter w**kers!

Thank god for my local garage. Well, ok, I also do some work there, especially on the classic cars. But the boss is probably the most honest person I've ever met and we usually do loads of little things on top without charge (a bulb here, a little hose there).
Customers are happy, always tip and keep coming back. Some of them ever since he opened his little garage back in 1989.

Well Annie it's clear you won't be revisiting this outfit. But the bill doesn't sound too outrageous when you include the filter, oil, and time + around £55/60 for the MOT test.

It makes you wonder what they consider is a full service.......

The exhaust issue is puzzling though?

I've found that a good service center or garage never needs to advertise the way these have.
Good ones are always busy from good reputation/word of mouth,
I stay away from chain or corporate companies thay are there to make money,and most times customer service is crap,go to a small local or family one,how can they make any profit on £118 it's a price to tempt you in,mot is £50 oil say £30 filter £5 then they have to pay the bloke who picks car up.a lot of places pay staff commission for upselling other service items,I can understand a new fuel filter,but a brake fluid change! Now that is fishy,How often does anyone change brake fluid really not every year that's for sure,I've been driving 10 years and owned 4 cars in that time and never needed to change brake fluid.
My mum always said if it's to cheap it's to good to be true,just learn from this and try not to get burned again.

That does sound like a bit of a rip off! Thanks for the warning!

Just regarding Brake Fluid change, I'm glad you guys are on the same page as me! BMW require me to change the brake fluid on my 5 series every 2 years if I want to maintain a complete service history! I always thought this was a bit of a rip off!

That's normal to change brake fluid every 2 years: Pretty well every manufacturers service schedule will show it.

It's hydroscopic so the water it absorbs will damage the insides of the brake cylinders and calipers and may boil with the heat generated under heavy braking. Steam is compressible - brake fluid is not.

On my cars I never had to change brake fluid as a seperate item. Pads are usually worn after two years anyway and I will bleed the system after a pad change - just in case. So brake fluid is basically fresh all the time anyway.

On these cars if you can - I'd only use a specialist thats known on here. I'd never let anyone work on my car that didn't know what it was ..... (which has happened once before with something else!)

I don't have a coupe anymore but I was bored so......... i would agree with others find a specialist used by others on here or a good local garage that you can trust. Never take it to one of those fast fit places you know the ones - three or 4 bays and signs outside offering Free brake check, Free battery check etc. £118.00 isn't a bad price for a service though. What would put most people on here off is the fact that they drive your car would be most peoples response

I wouldn't let anyone I don't know drive my coupe!

Do people really pay £50 to £60 for an mot test??!!
Most garages round my way charge £30-£40.

Blimey that's expensive!

It comes with free potholes

We get those free down 'ere too

My mot station charges £50 too, but there's no retest fee if you bring it back within a certain time period.
Cheap mot stations often charge a retest fee.

My mot place only does mot's too, so nothing to gain from a failure

I stumbled across servicing stop whilst looking for a cheap local garage near to my new-at-the-time house. I do a lot of miles in my weekday car (45k/year) and consequently, service it 3-4-5 times a year. I have read lots of bad things about them, but I have had nothing but excellent service from them, as you say, pick up / drop off, cleaned, and usually only around £80-100 for a full service and specialist oil.


there are a few horror stories out there if you search online, but I suppose the moral is that this nationwide brand is only as good as the individual member brands that sign up to it. I have had 2 different garages represent SS so far, and must just live in a lucky area as they've all been equally good.

during the week I drive a Laguna, albeit the 175GT model so not an everyday one. that said, I wouldn't trust them with anything remotely specialist such as my coupe.

sorry to learn of your experiences - they seem to have a decent complaint process (read into that what you will!) have you thought of this / got the energy for it?

My 20VT passed with a missing tailpipe (end tube) at my super strict garage that I used to use.
I asked why it didnt fail (on this) and the examiner said that as the silencing effectiveness wasnt impaired he couldnt 'not pass it' under the regulations that examiners have to follow.
I would have thought at the very least it would have brought up the issue of exhaust gasses leaching back into the car for the occupants to breath but apparently not?.

Nah, that's not a problem. My Iveco van's exhaust pipe ends half a meter or so behind the actual cabin underneath the floor (and the van is 7m long).

Unfortunately my local garage are numpties. When I asked how much they charge to change the coolant they asked "Why would you want to do that?" I replied "because it needs to be done periodically" to which they replied "no it doesn't, you never need to change the coolant".

Oh dear. They shouldn't be allowed near a car!

You are right, of course, I should have gone to Solo Italia, but with Iain so poorly (he has cancer) I don't like to leave him on his own even for an hour. When he is in pain it helps him to have company. I have even today cancelled the opportunity to meet Jeremy Corbyn, who is at my son's University doing a talk about "The Future of Working Class Education", and we were on the guest list.

You got your priorities right Annie a coop is a car at the end of the day. It's our loved ones and people that matter. Best wishes with everything.