Guide to getting a good garage

Cars are a necessity for the majority of people nowadays to get to work, to get the children to school, or to do the weekly trip to the supermarket. To keep legal on the roads, you must have motor insurance, car tax, and MOT, as well as ensuring your car is regularly serviced. Most people don't want to spend more than they have to on their car, so sensible car owners do their best to keep the cost of their car to a minimum by buying cheap car insurance, keeping their fuel usage down, and keeping their car well maintained. However, when it comes to servicing, most car owners could be paying well over the odds for the work that is being carried out (or even for work that isn't carried out at all). Many motorists do not have any mechanical knowledge, and entrust their cars to the garage in good faith that the necessary work will be carried out at a reasonable price. In a Which? survey of 2004, the failings of many English garages were brought to light, with the majority given a "poor" rating. In the research, it was found that 67% of garages failed to spot common faults, whilst 23% carried out unnecessary work on vehicles. So how should you go about finding a good garage? Here are some tips for getting a good service from a good garage: get friends who are knowledge about cars and servicing to recommend a garage check the local press for any garages that have received praise or awards ask several garages for a free inspection and free written quotation inclusive of VAT, and compare prices (remember that a quotation will give you the exact amount it will cost, whereas an estimate is just a rough guide and can change) remember that a cheap garage might look good in the short term, but if they are using low quality parts, they are likely to wear out quicker and need replacing again consider that high labour rates might look bad, but it is better to be sure your car has proper attention paid to it than someone who does a cheap but poor job visit garage premises and check that they are neat and tidy, and that it is an established business make sure the garage are happy to show you any parts they have replaced after the sevice make sure the garage will call you if any extra work that will cost you more needs to be carried out The Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) is a leading trade organisation that has membership of many garages across the UK. If a garage is a member of the RMI it means that they should be working to the Code of Practice laid down by the RMI. Find out more about their Code of Practice at www.rmif.co.uk. However, the Which? study found that membership of the RMI did not mean that the customer would necessarily get a good service, but one which was on par with a service at a franchise garage and on average better than at an independent garage without RMI membership. Also, the cost of servicing was around