Which garages can be trusted:- Garages etc site

[jonnyd64]

Have you felt you have done at a garage , not happy ,,,or was it a great job and you would like to tell people,,,well,,,After reading many a post on the ZClub Forum ,,,people often recomend certain garages and individuals that have done excellant work on there cars , and it would be nice to have a place where this could be stated ,,for others and newcomers with no or little (or have not got the time to do the jobs) knowledge of the mechanics needed for the cars ,,,servicing ,,,crash repairs and so on ,,oh and of course the modifications ,,exhausts etc.

Appart from the obvious people we call upon :-MrF (mike),,Luke,,,Ken and others,sorry i don`t know your names ?,,not every one ,when they first join the club/forum know who to talk to and where to go ?

But also the garages etc that do shoddy work , and mess us about,,,,,,,,, this would be the place to air the view, from the owner of the Z and what happened to make him angry etc and to see if others had the same problems with this garage etc ,,,then one would be able to see if it is fair to say the garage is not to be recommended or whether it was a one off problem,,as can happen!!!

I believe that we do need this new site on the forum as there are so many garages starting up now , some will be good and some will be bad and are there for a quick return ,while the boom in Jap cars lasts,,,so lets take care of us in the club,,,and state in the different locations accross the uk which garages we can trust with our cars,after all have you got money and time to waste ??

,,,,,thanks for reading this,,,but your opinion is of more value,,what do you think of this idea?
Could it work ? ,,,,,I think it would and it might lead the way and help us.......My regards z /zx owners,,,,,,,John

 

[SkylineDave]

Good idea, I think we could run our own "Nissan Garages from hell" like on the telly. Put some hidden cameras in your car, take it in asking for an ECU upgrade and boost controller, then see what they get up to! Now, who's ready to donate a car....?

 

[jonnyd64]

Yes,, that would be a good idea,,,but i would like for the site or posts to be about what people have experienced and let us all know about it,,,but camera`s in the car,,,,now that would be good viewing!!!!!!

 

[jonnyd64]

So out of 35 people viewing what i have written , no one has there car serviced anywhere ?
And no one has anything to say ,good or bad,,,,,,,ok this is what i mean for us to do,,,,,,
Club members who have garages etc , this is not meant as competition for you, ,,,it is just for the guyz who can`t always get there cars to you and have to go else where, be as a guide :-

.......Reading / Slough Area.....

[1]
Well the Nissan garage at Slough is good , because we`ve had good reports from" GIO" and other Z owners .
....servicing etc.....
[2]
Nissan at Reading are good too, they are familer with the Z32, and have been helpful to "Flyer" i believe.
.......servicing etc.......
[3]
Grovenor motor company(garage) in Caversham , are good for servicing, reasonable rates ,,have to book in advanced they get very busy.I`ve used this garage when i could not do particular job , cambelt etc an idea of cost was given , they were polite and i`ve had no problems since i collected it .
[4]
And theres a good m.o.t. place in Woking,,Woking MOTs centre by the railway,more info if you need it,,,,ask for Phil and say you have Nissan zx300 etc,,he knows the cars and fair when its borderline,he knows what to look for ,,,which is good [safetywise]and the tolerances on certain parts etc,,,
[5]
Tyres,,,now this is a personal thing and you have to shop around ,,but if you don`t need brand names ,,,just good speed rated tyres ,,,,copys if you like,,,then there is a guy at three mile cross,,just off the M4,,that sells Goodyear pattern tyres for example for £60 ,,,225/50x16...ask me if you want directions.
[6]


Any one else,,get the idea!!!!!
Please back this, it is a good idea and needs its own place on this site.......

 

[Albrecht]

Might be worth thinking about libel laws if anyone wants to start pointing the finger at "Nissan garages from hell". Best to tread carefully there, for the sake of Club / website as well as individual responsibility............

Not wanting to nix your thread before it even gets going, but it also might be worth considering that there are very often two sides to a story. Some of the garages / shops / suppliers might even want to nominate their "Customers from hell"...........

 

[jonnyd64]

Nice one ,,feed back,,,,,,,yes i understand about that side of it ,,and i think skyline dave has a point ,but that would be up to an individual doing that not get the club behind it etc,,,,(nice idea though skylinedave),,,,lets keep this for what it is,,,,SO,,even if we just say where we enjoyed good old fashioned service, and just say the garages that were good !!!
This would just be a guide and a help ,,,,,,,,,,and if the right people get behind this , it could work very well,,,with moderators over seeing peoples posts ,so as not to get the club ,web site etc in trouble,,,cause ,,none of us want that!!!
I`ve put a few garages down with no addresses, or numbers etc appart from one who i know ,,just to give an idea where to go ,in my area,,,, its not committing any of the lible laws, and now gives some people an idea where to go , its just a help thats all!!
,,,,,we have commented on garages before in one off posts ,,,what is the difference...?
Your thoughts.........:-

 

[JEZ 280ZX]

Hi,
Best to tread carefully with regard to subjective experiences of garages.In my experience, what can seem a good garage on one visit, can turn into a nightmare on another day!
Cheerz,
JEZ

 

[STEVE BURNS]

maybe we need a section were members can recommend places that have given them good service with the proviso that printed in the sections discription is something along the lines of what is printed in the club mag along the lines of

"whilst the Z Club has accepted these recomendations in good faith, no liabilty will be accepted by the Club, its officers or moderaters of the website."


Its your club and website whats your thoughts on this

my views on the seperate issue of naming and shaming on the forum are a BIG NO NO as there is a formular in place in the club on the name and shame issue that has been used a few times over the years

this is were the complainence's correspondence is passed on to the other party in an attempt to get both parties discuss the problem and to reach satisfaction of both parties concerned in private

 

[SkylineDave]

hmm can see this is a touchy subject. i definately agree that both garages and customers can have good days and bad days, and that there are usually two sides to every story. While average service across the board is usually 'good', i think it is definately worth highlighting excellent service. but what about if you have been totally and utterly ripped off, lied to etc. this happened to me in the past when i took my old car (a Vaux Cav GSi) in for a clutch replacement, only to find after the 'work had been done' that the orig. clutch was still there, they had just polished it up and messed around with the gear linkage! no names of course!

 

[Flyer]

Definitly a good idea to list garages that have given good service. We could do something similar to Amazon's star rating/ review system? We don't have to slag them off in the comments, just vote on if we would use them again...!!

 

[jonnyd64]

Flyer sometimes you astound me,(the pub idea was good to) that is brilliant,,,,Steve burns thank you , for your comments ,,well what do you think people,,,,, is it the way forward?,,,we have some very clever people in this club,, with ideas ,, and with there help[you] this could work,,,there are ,legal implications,,,but for people like skylinedave example of the past,,,, if they have a problem, do they know that the club can or may be able to help or at least give a guide what to do , (for,its members) ,,and be it another reason to join ,,again i wonder how many of us know this ,,and this could be a heading in the site ,,,, so that it reminds us ,that the site would be solely for recomendations and a guide where to go ,,with a clear star rating, ,,, (if there is a problem with a particular garage ,,it could/would be removed from this site , by the moderators who then see that it was fair etc,),,,it is a responsibility for the club and some may say it is to much and it is easyer not to bother ,but if its done right,there won`t be a problem, and it would work...

If a site could be put together , it would mean a network of garages for us all over England,,,and if people did use this and respect it and comments filtered back ,,servicing and tuning,tyres and exhaust centres,,,,,, might respect us a little more, if they new that alot of people could know about them in a very short while,,it is amazing how some thing like this would spread ,,,,and ,well then that is just a good thing in itself...
They could even display our emblem ,sticker,,,then in there garage as a recommended site by the Z CLUB UK,(for a small charge of course, more income for the club)

......The liability laws are there to protect us,,but,,we should not be scared by them ,as long as we know where the line is, we ,as a club won`t cross it.....

The way forward could be to say how we would set this up - 1/guidelines by the moderators of the site.
2/ do`s and don`ts of the site,liability laws etc.

3/Star rating
...or .....
4/A poll for members to see if they want it .

I think i`ve covered most things and with Steve burns seems to be seeing what i am ,with Flyer ,skylinedave ,,,,,in my mind this could be very useful site,,please air your views ,,after all its for you and your Z/ZX .
If this club is to grow we need reasons for members to be part of it , this i think is a good one .

Please ,,your views:-

 

[jonnyd64]

Out of xxx amount of people reading this post only me and a five other people have bothered to say anything,about what could turn out to be very useful site ,,,,,,christ ,,,people its for you !!!
Help make it happen,,,your views ,,please!!!

 

[BarryD]

Probably worth it. But very hard to judge subjectivly about this. What to one owner might be acceptable service / price will cause another to rant and rave. Indeed the service will vary on a daily basis (as might the price ).

As mentioned the Amazon stars might be the best bet - five categories wide spaced just to give a feel for the place.

I'm currently looking for a garage to do general maintenance, it seems the closest one I can find who doesn't charge £65 per hour is eighty or so miles away - not really handy, but they seem to have a good rep.

 

[STEVE BURNS]

As you all seem to shy to post here are some of the people who have done work on my cars and I have been pleased with are in no specific order

Dave Jarman of DJ ROAD AND RACE SERVICES in the Gloucester area
Kevin Bristow in the Aylesbury area
Ken Chelton of ZXS in the Essex area
Mike Feeney of MJP EASTERN AUTOS in the Essex area for parts and advise

NOTE
this is not an official endorcement of the Z Club just that personally all these guys have been excellent for me and if you use any of them I hope you will be as satisfied as me

 

[impul300]

Had some work done on my z32 including cam belt.
Seemed to know his stuff i.e lots of previous work done on 300s.
Hatches Garage
Littlehampton
01903 718883

Still need to find somewhere local to fit boost controller etc.

 

[SeanDezart]

My personal list of people I would recommend is limited to

Dave Jarman, Mike Feeney and Peter MacDonald

There are plenty of others who provide parts both new and secondhand and who work on cars/engines but these are the three who I have used and have NEVER let me down !

I too have heard (and experienced) horror stories and would like to help new and existing members to avoid these pitfalls.

This is a service the Club should involve itself in, insurance is another, otherwise how can we honestly claim to be supporting/promoting the ownership of these cars ?

The best way to find someone who suits you is to join the club and talk to as many people as possible. One side benefit of being on the committee is geting to know this knowledge quicker and to hear of any problems between owners and 'garages' !

The more you put in - the more you get out !

 

[SkylineDave]

Weaver's Garage, Leicester. Deal with all cars and not particular experts on Nissans but 105% trustworthy. Sorted me out countless times!

 

[jonnyd64]

Hi everyone , i`m back after going into Hospital before christmas for an op.Everything is great but can`t drive.Nice to see this thread / post is still going .You all know what i think .....But we are still not any futher in getting this to its own place in the forum ,,so come on guys its for you , more feed back is needed to make this happen , so please post .

 

[STEVE BURNS]

Hi Jonnyd
glad to hear you have recovered from your op
keep pushing and it will get there but it will take time
tried to help keep the ball rolling but the ball seems to be going up hill
COME ON YOU APATHETIC LOT START SENDING IN SOME INFO

 

[BarryD]

Give me a break Steve. Mine comes out of the garage tomorrow - a weekend thrashing it around and if it don't break then I will tell all. Currently they are looking pretty good.