Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?

Simon.

On Saturday, 9 March 2019 12:42:13 UTC, sm_jamieson wrote:
2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of
cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable
value).
So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not
currently up to it ?

A mechanic from (2) doing the job for cash on your drive, assuming the job doesn't need workshop-only tools.

Owain

On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?

Simon.

try my car needs or similar....

--
I believe in a better world where Chickens can cross the road without
having their motives questioned
Ask your doctor if medical advice from a TV advert or brian reay is
right for you
What if the hokey cokey IS what it is all about ?
Life is too short to wait for windows 10 updates

On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?

3 after you have asked for recommendations (not from the owners!).

--
F

In article ,
sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do
standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled
mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of
cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems
reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am
not currently up to it ?

Changing a fan is the sort of job any fitter should be able to do. Not
usually at the difficult end of the spectrum. But if an electric one, it
may not be the fan motor which has failed. You then move on to needing
electrical/electronic skills. Often rather lacking in garages.

--
*Half the people in the world are below average.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?

Simon.

For a radiator fan? Anyone, TBH. My favoured garage is a small
independent VAG specialist that I've used and trusted for over 10 years.
Generally skilled, know the cars well, don't rip me off, don't bodge things.

In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundings if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.
--
Bill

In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundings if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.

My favourite - not - was my local BMW main dealer. Now closed down.

Car went in for an oil service and to have a leak on the power steering
fixed. Which had left the front of the engine covered in fluid.

On picking it up, the car had been valeted as usual. So I looked under the
bonnet expecting to see a nice clean engine. Not so. Wondering if there
had been some mistake I checked the oil level too - car on level ground,
their car park. That was well below max without the engine having been
started by me - and was cold.

Went back to reception. Was told If I'd wanted the engine cleaned I should
have asked. (and paid for it) I didn't ask for the car to be valeted. And
that I didn't know how to check the oil level as it was measured out by a
computer for each model. So invited the service supervisor to show me
where I'd gone wrong. Even gave him a tissue to wipe the dipstick with.

I also asked him how you could check a leak had been fixed without
cleaning off the old fluid.

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.

As soon as it was out of warranty, I found a good independent.

--
*Indian Driver - Smoke signals only*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 9 Mar 2019 04:42:11 -0800 (PST)
sm_jamieson wrote:

Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These
do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee
semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of
cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems
reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you
trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I
am not currently up to it ?

I hate letting anyone else work on my cars because for a long time I
did all my own stuff, but bad backs and knees being what they are, and
lack of a covered work area, I've had to pay to get stuff done recently.
My first car I used to take to a back-street guy that my dad used.

I'd trust the backstreet guy to fit a fan as long as it's really just
the fan motor that's the problem, although you may find it comes back
with broken or missing trim clips/screws - that's going to a problem no
matter who does it IME.
For more advanced diagnostics I once used a mobile guy who was really
on the ball, told me how to do the repair and was very reasonably
priced.
Halfords I'd avoid OTW, although we do get MOTs done there because it's
near and you can book online. I've found my local National Tyres
pretty good for brakes, exhausts etc, shame they don't do MOTs, but IME
all the chains will vary from branch to branch. I used to know someone
who worked at Kwik Fit, and the stories he would tell ...
I've never used a main dealer - always had older low-value cars or
classics.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundings if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.

My favourite - not - was my local BMW main dealer. Now closed down.

Car went in for an oil service and to have a leak on the power steering
fixed. Which had left the front of the engine covered in fluid.

On picking it up, the car had been valeted as usual. So I looked under the
bonnet expecting to see a nice clean engine. Not so. Wondering if there
had been some mistake I checked the oil level too - car on level ground,
their car park. That was well below max without the engine having been
started by me - and was cold.

Went back to reception. Was told If I'd wanted the engine cleaned I should
have asked. (and paid for it) I didn't ask for the car to be valeted. And
that I didn't know how to check the oil level as it was measured out by a
computer for each model. So invited the service supervisor to show me
where I'd gone wrong. Even gave him a tissue to wipe the dipstick with.

I also asked him how you could check a leak had been fixed without
cleaning off the old fluid.

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.

As soon as it was out of warranty, I found a good independent.

Oh, I forgot my favourite!

We had a Hillman Hunter - quite high profile with a mast etc. - and took
it to the main dealer for something or other. I took a colleague to
collect it and the receptionist asked us to wait on the forecourt while
he drove it round from the workshop.

He drove up, opened the bonnet and started to say they had replaced a
front shock absorber as well. As we chatted he leant on the front spring
turret and all three of us saw the nuts turning loosely under his hand.
No-one said a word, but he said something about Oh there's something I
wanted to check with the mechanics, and drove it round the back again.
--
Bill

On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly bird
receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother, a bit
of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and my
Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.



--
Adam

On 09/03/2019 18:13, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly bird
receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother, a bit
of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and my
Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.


Just being curious, how accurate was your mother's slapper detection system?

Bill wrote:

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundings if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.

My favourite - not - was my local BMW main dealer. Now closed down.

Car went in for an oil service and to have a leak on the power steering
fixed. Which had left the front of the engine covered in fluid.

On picking it up, the car had been valeted as usual. So I looked under the
bonnet expecting to see a nice clean engine. Not so. Wondering if there
had been some mistake I checked the oil level too - car on level ground,
their car park. That was well below max without the engine having been
started by me - and was cold.

Went back to reception. Was told If I'd wanted the engine cleaned I should
have asked. (and paid for it) I didn't ask for the car to be valeted. And
that I didn't know how to check the oil level as it was measured out by a
computer for each model. So invited the service supervisor to show me
where I'd gone wrong. Even gave him a tissue to wipe the dipstick with.

I also asked him how you could check a leak had been fixed without
cleaning off the old fluid.

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.

As soon as it was out of warranty, I found a good independent.

Oh, I forgot my favourite!

We had a Hillman Hunter - quite high profile with a mast etc. - and took
it to the main dealer for something or other. I took a colleague to
collect it and the receptionist asked us to wait on the forecourt while
he drove it round from the workshop.

He drove up, opened the bonnet and started to say they had replaced a
front shock absorber as well. As we chatted he leant on the front spring
turret and all three of us saw the nuts turning loosely under his hand.
No-one said a word, but he said something about Oh there's something I
wanted to check with the mechanics, and drove it round the back again.

Seeing we're doing main dealer stories, mine is a Ford main dealer who
replaced the clutch on my Mondeo. They forgot to put a bracket holding
the rigid power steering pipes in position at the back of the engine, so
one of the pipes rubbed on the sump and developed a pinhole leak which
revealed itself about a month later. I was pretty certain they'd deny
it and say the bracket fell of later (which it didn't, because the nut
it was supposed to be under was tightened up on another componet that
shared the same stud but I guess they would say I was mistaken.) Also
it was a biggish job to replace the pipe as it needed a subframe
removing for topological reasons so they would have charged me as much
labour as for the clutch if I had given it back to them. I don't think
I could have won the argument without paying an expert, and I really
needed the car for work. In the end I silver soldered the pinhole in
situ and somehow got the rear bracket in place and it ran for another
100,000 miles. But it was pretty crass incompetence for a main dealer.

--

Roger Hayter

On Sat, 09 Mar 2019 14:15:25 +0000 (GMT), Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Changing a fan is the sort of job any fitter should be able to do. Not
usually at the difficult end of the spectrum.

With modern cars I wouldn't like to bet that you can get access to
all the fixings without having to dismantle the front end of the car
to at one of them.

But if an electric one, it may not be the fan motor which has failed.
You then move on to needing electrical/electronic skills. Often rather
lacking in garages.

Assuming the fan only has two wires any fitter ought to be able to
feed it some volts and see if it goes round. If the control system
has gone up it, then you'll probably need the makers diagnostics
computer to find out what it's not happy about.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 09/03/2019 15:16, Bill wrote:
In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundingsÂ* if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.

I do most work myself, but have used main dealers three times (warranty
work twice and a new key once) all three times were bloody awful. Long
delays, failures to meet deadlines, repeated visits to do something that
they'd supposed to have already done. In once case, they did so much
wrong that I didn't feel safe in the car afterwards and got rid of it!

I have used a backstreet garage for a bit of welding on my wife's car, a
mid-winter cambelt change before going away, a dual-mass flywheel and
clutch and an injector problem. I have found them to be excellent,
timely, well priced and very, very honest.

SteveW

On 09/03/2019 20:40, Roger Hayter wrote:
Bill wrote:

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
Bill wrote:
In message ,
sm_jamieson writes
3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

Depends on the car. For my Skoda, I'm happy with the main dealer who
always seems reliable and sensibly priced. Pleasant surroundings if
it's a while you wait job.

For the Rangie, either a recommended back street LR specialist, or my
normal back street garage. For the latter, unless it's something pretty
standard, I go online and try to find a descriptive post detailing how
to diy. My backstreet man has never been insulted by this and, on one
occasion, looked at it and came up with a better approach.

As I'm sure everyone knows, some main dealers have to be experienced to
be believed. Locally, Jeep stands out. "We threw out all the tools for
that model when we moved", " If it's 4 wheel drive, we can't do the
tracking", "You will have to wait until we can borrow the Jeep
diagnostics tool from Jeep HQ". I never actually got as far as putting
my vehicle in, but online Jeep forum posts indicated that not letting
them get their hands on mine was a very good move.

My favourite - not - was my local BMW main dealer. Now closed down.

Car went in for an oil service and to have a leak on the power steering
fixed. Which had left the front of the engine covered in fluid.

On picking it up, the car had been valeted as usual. So I looked under the
bonnet expecting to see a nice clean engine. Not so. Wondering if there
had been some mistake I checked the oil level too - car on level ground,
their car park. That was well below max without the engine having been
started by me - and was cold.

Went back to reception. Was told If I'd wanted the engine cleaned I should
have asked. (and paid for it) I didn't ask for the car to be valeted. And
that I didn't know how to check the oil level as it was measured out by a
computer for each model. So invited the service supervisor to show me
where I'd gone wrong. Even gave him a tissue to wipe the dipstick with.

I also asked him how you could check a leak had been fixed without
cleaning off the old fluid.

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.

As soon as it was out of warranty, I found a good independent.

Oh, I forgot my favourite!

We had a Hillman Hunter - quite high profile with a mast etc. - and took
it to the main dealer for something or other. I took a colleague to
collect it and the receptionist asked us to wait on the forecourt while
he drove it round from the workshop.

He drove up, opened the bonnet and started to say they had replaced a
front shock absorber as well. As we chatted he leant on the front spring
turret and all three of us saw the nuts turning loosely under his hand.
No-one said a word, but he said something about Oh there's something I
wanted to check with the mechanics, and drove it round the back again.

Seeing we're doing main dealer stories, mine is a Ford main dealer who
replaced the clutch on my Mondeo. They forgot to put a bracket holding
the rigid power steering pipes in position at the back of the engine, so
one of the pipes rubbed on the sump and developed a pinhole leak which
revealed itself about a month later. I was pretty certain they'd deny
it and say the bracket fell of later (which it didn't, because the nut
it was supposed to be under was tightened up on another componet that
shared the same stud but I guess they would say I was mistaken.) Also
it was a biggish job to replace the pipe as it needed a subframe
removing for topological reasons so they would have charged me as much
labour as for the clutch if I had given it back to them. I don't think
I could have won the argument without paying an expert, and I really
needed the car for work. In the end I silver soldered the pinhole in
situ and somehow got the rear bracket in place and it ran for another
100,000 miles. But it was pretty crass incompetence for a main dealer.

Westway Nissan had my 2004 Primera 2.2 DCI for a turbo replacement and
diesel pump replacement. The latter was an engine out job, as the pump
was a mechanically driven, electrically timed thing on the back of the
engine and up against the bulkhead.

I was told that they needed it for a week, dropped it in on a Monday
morning and picked up a courtesy car.

On Friday, they told me that it wouldn't be available 'til Monday, but
they needed the courtesy car back and would replace it with a hire car.
That cost me three hours off work with travelling, to them; them getting
me to the hire place; paperwork and delays there and then getting going.

On Monday I'd booked the afternoon off work to return the hire car and
pick mine up. Only to be told after I'd left that it'd not be ready 'til
Tuesday. Same thing happened on Tuesday. They promised it would be ready
Wednesday.

Wednesday, they thought 16:30, but I needed to be picking my son up from
nursery then. I could not do Thursday as I was due on a business trip.
So we agreed Friday.

Friday afternoon off again. Returned hire car, waited for lift back to
garage, got there and my car wasn't there, it was still being valeted!
Considering it was due to be ready on Wednesday, why leave it 'til then?

Anyway, it eventually came back and I had a journey home on wet seats

Arriving home I started discovering problems:

1) broken driver's door mirror surround - Westway would not admit to this.
2) Exhaust reattached to manifold with a twist, so that reversing uphill
at low revs into my drive caused it to knock on the body.
3) One of my set of four mats missing and replaced with a non-matching one.
4) During valetting, they'd slammed the rear seat back up onto the seat
belt, punching a hole through it on the seat catch.
5) Odd noise from power steering - they said it was air and would soon
clear. It wasn't, they'd wrecked the power steering pump and it had to
be replaced.

The piece-de-resistance though was that to remove the engine and
gearbox, they'd had the driveshafts off. A month later, I came to change
the front brake pads and found that they'd re-used the split pins in the
hub nuts - one had broken and had only one remaining piece holding it
in, while the other had broken totally, had fallen out and was rolling
round the inside of the hub cover!

I felt totally unsafe driving that car again and even though I insisted
on an independent examination, I got rid of the car soon after.

SteveW

sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

There's a variation of 3 which is a classic car garage. They're people who
know how to improvise and actually fix stuff. Some backstreet garages are
part number jockeys - they just phone up the wholesaler for a price for the
part, go to autodata for the hours, slap a quote together. If anything
doesn't fit this process (eg the part is out of stock at the wholesaler they
use) they don't want to know.

A classic garage might know they haven't made the part since 1953 but can
drill a couple of holes in a bit of scrap metal to mount a generic one from
their parts bin. Even if I don't have a classic I'd trust that sort of
garage rather more that they know what they're doing.

(OTOH they're probably not the best people to reprogram your ECUs)

Theo

On 10/03/2019 03:00, Bill Wright wrote:

My relative runs such a garage, Central Garage Carcroft.

PS: The garage also takes in work from main dealers who can't figure out
what the problem is.

Bill

On 09/03/2019 19:13, Richard wrote:
On 09/03/2019 18:13, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly
bird receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother,
a bit of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and
my Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.


Just being curious, how accurate was your mother's slapper detection
system?


Not very good. That gf dressed to impress at work as per expected with
the job description.

When not at work without the slap on she was just a pretty girl with a
nice smile and fun to be with.

--
Adam

"sm_jamieson" wrote in message
...
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do
standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled
mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars,
but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable
value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust
them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am
not currently up to it ?

Anywhere you like with something as simple as that.

On Sun, 10 Mar 2019 20:19:53 +1100, cantankerous trolling senile geezer Rot
Speed blabbered, again:



Anywhere you like with something as simple as that.

Can't be as simple as your simple-minded trolling, senile troll.

--
dennis@home to know-it-all Rot Speed:
"You really should stop commenting on things you know nothing about."
Message-ID:

On 10/03/2019 04:30, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 19:13, Richard wrote:
On 09/03/2019 18:13, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong.
But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly
bird receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother,
a bit of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and
my Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.


Just being curious, how accurate was your mother's slapper detection
system?


Not very good. That gf dressed to impress at work as per expected with
the job description.

I'm curious to know what job description would mandate an employee
looking like a slapper?

When not at work without the slap on she was just a pretty girl with a
nice smile and fun to be with.

In article ,
Bill Wright wrote:
You find a good independent garage. A proper business that issues proper
invoices, charges VAT, has decent premises, does MOTs, has all the gear,
and is operated by the owner.

In larger towns, you may even find one who specialises in your make of
car. Often has factory trained mechanics - and the better ones as they
will often pay them more than a main dealer despite charging you far less.

I had a super BMW one in London. Never found fault with them at all - as
opposed to every time I used the main dealer. Sadly the owner retired and
they closed down.

--
*Reality? Is that where the pizza delivery guy comes from?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"ARW" wrote in message
...
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly bird
receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother, a bit of
a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and my
Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.

****ing, not dating.

On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:


So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?


Fan , sensor or fuse?
On a modern car the fan doesn't operate unless required to stop the
engine overheating and/or air con is required. In this cold weather, and
for short journeys, the fan may not come on.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Mon, 11 Mar 2019 05:59:02 +1100, cantankerous trolling senile geezer Rot
Speed blabbered, again:


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly bird
receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother, a bit of
a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and my
Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.

****ing, not dating.

Trolling for you, neither ****ing nor dating, you senile pest!

--
Bill Wright to Rot Speed:
"That confirms my opinion that you are a despicable little ****."
MID:

In article , ARW adamwadsworth@blueyon
der.co.uk scribeth thus
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly bird
receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my Mother, a bit
of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and my
Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.




Some tasty bint's at a local VAG garage round these parts;!..

There some time ago now i bought a second-hand car only a year old, it
had one rather annoying problem tho. Drivers seat had a big depression
on the right hand side where the previous owner must have had an arse
bigger than mine. Took it back and we agreed that we'd pay for the parts
and they'd throw in the labour.

Went to collect it from their car park and Hello! Bump changed a bit but
still there

Parts that were supposed to be changed were in the back of the car and
very clean they were too, looked like they'd never been used. And they
hadn't been used in fact they had dates stamped on them after the car
was first on the road. The sods hadn't changed them at all, all they had
done was to farm the car out to a local car upholster who pulled the
seat squab around a bit and never bothered to change the new parts.

Took it back in there on a crowed Saturday morning they tied to hush me
up a bit but the contents of the garage heard the tale and shortly
afterwards my missus came into some decent money and that cost them the
sale of a brand new car, went an got a Volvo many good years of motoring
that provided too

--
Tony Sayer

On 10/03/2019 12:40, Fredxx wrote:
On 10/03/2019 04:30, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 19:13, Richard wrote:
On 09/03/2019 18:13, ARW wrote:
On 09/03/2019 16:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

One thing was clear. A BMW customer at service time is always
wrong. But
all most of them want is dolly birds in reception and free coffee.


Going back a couple of decades my Mother complained about the dolly
bird receptionist at the VW dealers. She was, according to my
Mother, a bit of a slapper.

About 2 weeks later I took her to my Mothers 60th Birthday party and
my Mother found out who I had been dating for the last 4 months.


Just being curious, how accurate was your mother's slapper detection
system?


Not very good. That gf dressed to impress at work as per expected with
the job description.

I'm curious to know what job description would mandate an employee
looking like a slapper?

I suppose these have the dress code you asked about

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ho5xl


But please don't consider my mothers opinion that a dress code of a
dolly bird makes them a slapper. I believe that it was only recently
that the trolley dolly on Virgin Airlines are now allowed to wear less
slap than the average tart on Wakefield Westgate on a Saturday night.




--
Adam

On Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 7:18:54 PM UTC, alan_m wrote:
On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:


So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?


Fan , sensor or fuse?
On a modern car the fan doesn't operate unless required to stop the
engine overheating and/or air con is required. In this cold weather, and
for short journeys, the fan may not come on.


Having other servicing done it was reported that the fan was not coming on when engine hot. Dealer wanted 200 quid to replace the fan - I declined at the time.
Also fitted with air con only working when driving along.

The new fans can be had for 50 quid. The original fans on the fiestas were very poor quality with cheap brushes.

I have checked the fuse and the relay which are OK. I have not checked the fan itself since I'd have to jack up and crawl under to access the plug.
But these fans often fail, so less likely to be the control system.
I was not in a rush to fix but needs to be done before weather heats up.

I would do it myself but SWMBO is not keen (her car). You can get the radiator out from above if you disconnect some water hoses, but if jacked up properly is easy to change from below (according to YouTube).

There is some wiring loom clipped across the fan housing and all those clips will probably break so need replacing.

But I would expect part 50 quid, fitting, 1/2 hour, 50 quid, total 100 quid.

But I might just take it back to the dealer and pay the 200 quid.

Simon.

On Wednesday, 13 March 2019 11:06:43 UTC, sm_jamieson wrote:
On Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 7:18:54 PM UTC, alan_m wrote:
On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:


So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?


Fan , sensor or fuse?
On a modern car the fan doesn't operate unless required to stop the
engine overheating and/or air con is required. In this cold weather, and
for short journeys, the fan may not come on.


Having other servicing done it was reported that the fan was not coming on when engine hot. Dealer wanted 200 quid to replace the fan - I declined at the time.
Also fitted with air con only working when driving along.

The new fans can be had for 50 quid. The original fans on the fiestas were very poor quality with cheap brushes.

I have checked the fuse and the relay which are OK. I have not checked the fan itself since I'd have to jack up and crawl under to access the plug.
But these fans often fail, so less likely to be the control system.
I was not in a rush to fix but needs to be done before weather heats up.

I would do it myself but SWMBO is not keen (her car). You can get the radiator out from above if you disconnect some water hoses, but if jacked up properly is easy to change from below (according to YouTube).

There is some wiring loom clipped across the fan housing and all those clips will probably break so need replacing.

But I would expect part 50 quid, fitting, 1/2 hour, 50 quid, total 100 quid.

But I might just take it back to the dealer and pay the 200 quid.

Simon.

If it's an old clunker you don't need an engine fan, if it gets too hot in hot weather just put the interior heater on max temp max speed. IME it's only an issue when stuck in traffic in heatwave weather.


NT

In article ,
wrote:
If it's an old clunker you don't need an engine fan, if it gets too hot
in hot weather just put the interior heater on max temp max speed. IME
it's only an issue when stuck in traffic in heatwave weather.

It's going to be a real issue if you can't use the aircon when in a
traffic jam on a hot day?

--
*Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wednesday, 13 March 2019 15:16:12 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
tabbypurr wrote:

If it's an old clunker you don't need an engine fan, if it gets too hot
in hot weather just put the interior heater on max temp max speed. IME
it's only an issue when stuck in traffic in heatwave weather.

It's going to be a real issue if you can't use the aircon when in a
traffic jam on a hot day?

I daresay there are some that throw a wobbly when they don't get every little thing they'd like.


NT

On Wed, 13 Mar 2019 15:06:13 +0000 (GMT)
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

In article ,
wrote:
If it's an old clunker you don't need an engine fan, if it gets too
hot in hot weather just put the interior heater on max temp max
speed. IME it's only an issue when stuck in traffic in heatwave
weather.

It's going to be a real issue if you can't use the aircon when in a
traffic jam on a hot day?

I once had a car in which it was not possible to turn the heater off
- we got by just fine with the windows open when needed, it never
seemed such a big issue that I had to bite the bullet and sort it out
(it was one of those jobs that you just knew you'd regret starting
before it was finished).

Rob Morley wrote:

I once had a car in which it was not possible to turn the heater off
- we got by just fine with the windows open when needed, it never
seemed such a big issue that I had to bite the bullet and sort it out
(it was one of those jobs that you just knew you'd regret starting
before it was finished).

Memories of my first car, a VW Beetle, come flooding back.

I picked this up at trade. It had been imported from South
Africa, and was a bit behind the European model changes. IIRC
the greasing interval was 1500 miles. It was OK as a first car,
but not after driving anything else. Motorway trips in a cross
wind were very interesting, as the steering, even with new king
pins, was incredibly soggy.

M62 eastbound was fun. If I didn't get a good run at it I had to
change down before the summit.

A fun job was changing the spark plugs - on the 1500 engine
you needed a plug spanner that would take the tommy bar at 45
degrees.

Then there was the heater designed so that, if it was going to
stick, it would do so fully on. As it was a waterless system, the
air could get pretty hot, and a passenger once had a pair of
shoes ruined. It was just some flaps and a lever, but once it had
seized you had to get underneath to free it off.

It had an interesting screenwash system. The water reservoir was
connected to, and pressurised by, the spare wheel. You simply
pushed the control and water squirted.

Only when it eventually stopped working did it become clear that
there was a pressure limiter to make sure that you didn't run the
tyre flat.

My only success was once getting an exhaust fitted free - almost
all the free fit exhaust firms wouldn't touch it without an extra
charge. They took all day and had to change a stud.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

In article ,
says...


It's going to be a real issue if you can't use the aircon when in a
traffic jam on a hot day?

But would an 'old clunker' even be fitted with aircon?

(And if it was, would still be working at maximum efficiency -
if at all?)

--

Terry

---
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com

In article ,
Terry Casey wrote:
It's going to be a real issue if you can't use the aircon when in a
traffic jam on a hot day?

But would an 'old clunker' even be fitted with aircon?

(And if it was, would still be working at maximum efficiency -
if at all?)

Check the follow up post from the OP.

--
*To err is human. To forgive is against company policy.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 09/03/2019 12:42, sm_jamieson wrote:
Well there a

1. Chain garages like Formula 1, ATS, Halfords, Quickfit, etc. These do standard jobs (brakes, MOT, service, etc.) They employee semi-skilled mechanics.

2. Dealers, who will obviously do everything for particular range of cars, but are expensive for most jobs (although servicing seems reasonable value).

3. Backstreet garages who will do almost anything, but would you trust them ? I would, if I was friends with someone there.

4. DIY. Well, my back is not so good.

So where do I get my radiator fan changed for a reasonable price if I am not currently up to it ?

I got fed up with Ford main dealer servicing being incompetent about 20
years ago, and switched to back street garage 100 yards up the road, and
they've been excellent. I still say I want genuine manufacturer's parts
but I could ask for cheap compatibles - the point is it's up to me. When
I needed a new exhaust, they warned me the manufacturer's spare was
complete crap (and not the same as original fit) - that's the benefit
you get by knowing the mechanic. It's been the same staff doing the
servicing for 20 years.

Apparently, a key problem with the main dealers at the time was they
couldn't get good service staff to stay. No idea if that's still the
case today.

--
Andrew

In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Apparently, a key problem with the main dealers at the time was they
couldn't get good service staff to stay. No idea if that's still the
case today.

The owner of my local specialist make independent - now closed - said he
paid more for decent factory trained mechanics than the local main dealer,
despite having an hourly rate to the customer of well under half. And they
were more fulfilled at work too since they often got a chance to fix
things rather than just fit new parts. And to interact direct with the
customer if needed.

--
*I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" Wrote in message:
In article ,
Andrew Gabriel wrote:
Apparently, a key problem with the main dealers at the time was they
couldn't get good service staff to stay. No idea if that's still the
case today.

The owner of my local specialist make independent - now closed - said he
paid more for decent factory trained mechanics than the local main dealer,
despite having an hourly rate to the customer of well under half. And they
were more fulfilled at work too since they often got a chance to fix
things rather than just fit new parts. And to interact direct with the
customer if needed.


No wonder he closed down...
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On 16/03/2019 12:43, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
The owner of my local specialist make independent - now closed - said he
paid more for decent factory trained mechanics than the local main dealer,
despite having an hourly rate to the customer of well under half. And they
were more fulfilled at work too since they often got a chance to fix
things rather than just fit new parts. And to interact direct with the
customer if needed.

The garage near me - the guys on the floor don't want to interact with
me, and I suspect I'm not _that_ bad a customer.

OTOH I work in software, and I know loads of people like that. Technical
wizards, and social misfits. Not everyone, but enough to make you
realise why there is the myth of the antisocial geek.

Andy