ethical mechanic?

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:38 pm

is there even such a thing? i'm so tired of being ripped off by garages, so was wondering if anyone knows of a reliable garage / mechanic in the Cardiff area willing to work on a Bongo?

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:15 pm

Are you willing to make the journey over the mountain to Caerphilly.
If so I (and many others) can recommend Andy at A&S repairs Tel 02920 859191. But please dont overload him with too much work as I have a couple of Bongos to get serviced and waxoiled plus he is replacing a radiator on my subaru forester.

To be honest, having used several garages for my trade work over the past 5 or 6 years he is head and shoulders above the others and very trustworthy.
The fact that his rates are reasonable is a bonus (dont tell him this

).

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:48 pm

thanks very much. i'll look into that.

dwyryd1 · Post by **dwyryd1** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 10:13 am

We travel from Swansea to Andy in Caerphilly since we have had such good service from him.

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:14 pm

thanks dwyryd, thats a real recommendation.

what do you do if the Bongo cant be driven? mine is a 4x4 and i understand it must not be towed.

dwyryd1 · Post by **dwyryd1** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:37 pm

Sorry cant help you with that one!
Ask the guys on the Techie forum

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:38 pm

Join the RAC etc and get it taken there on a rescue lorry!
If you have a current problem then join today and get it taken there in a few days time

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:07 pm

no current problems, just cautious.

i'm with the AA.

richie · Post by **richie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:11 am

Like the others say Andy is a good bloke, very consienshuss ( gave up spelling that one) and very good on price. My van went in for a new head after overheating and I was charged just over a thousand parts included and he serviced it for that too!! I had phone calls like "I've spotted so and so, so I've ordered one it will only cost a tenner" etc. so I was very pleased he was looking into it in that detail. Was a pleasant experience, but he can get very busy as Madmile says ( probably due to Madmile eh MM? )
Richie

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:37 am

Thats not far from the truth Richie - I had left my imported subaru forester there while I sourced a new rad (too tight to pay subaru prices and they said it was very different to an impreza rad and a uk forester rad- turned out that impreza one was 99.9% match ) - On delivering the ebay sourced rad my clutch went on my VWT4 200 yards from his garage so ended up leaving both with him and blagging a lift home (How good is that for service).
It turned out that the peddle box had split - they welded it up and charged me an hours labour.
In the past few months I dont think I have been there once without someones bongo being fixed or serviced -Not bad for a regular garage with no real connection with Bongos other than good recommendations from customers.

richie · Post by **richie** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:28 pm

Andy in caerphilly is a good mechanic in the true sense, with repairs like Madmiles welding saving lots of money. he seems good at making good or doing one offs... I had to laugh when my bongo van was in he was trying to weld a rocket launcher back box off something like an old XR2 onto someones saxo.....he did raise his eyes when he saw me and pointed to the cut and shut he was doing.....

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:39 pm

reason i posted this is that i had to pay £300 for a service, parts and labour. is that a bad price?
there was also a leak from a coolant hose, which had to be ordered from Newport, collected by me, then fitted by this local garage. The hose cost £17 and £80 to fit it.

madmile · Post by **madmile** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:02 pm

Can I assume you took it to a different garage to A&S - £300 is very steep for a service.
Basic service and all filters sould be not much more than £100.
A cambelt change should be a couple of hours labour plus parts - parts if changing the tensioner and spring are around £60.
The pipe is a difficult one - parts as priced, but you could have lost a lot of coolant in the change and required more antifreeze (free water) plus a good hours labour to fit and more importantly, bleed correctly.
I would expect the bill for all of the above to be near £300!

phildread · Post by **phildread** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:19 pm

yes mate - i did this, then thought "that was a bit steep!", so thought ii'd sound you guys out for a bit of advice.
i'm glad i did! Caerphilly from now on!