The Live Wire



Press Release

Hit-and-miss garage servicing

Slack practices are rife in the garage servicing industry, according to the latest undercover investigation by Which?

The consumer organisation took 50 cars, all less than three years old, to garages throughout the country for servicing*. Before they went in, five adjustments were made – four simple faults were introduced and the screenwash bottle was topped up.

46 garages (92 per cent) missed at least one fault, and two - Central Garage (Raunds) Ltd, Northants** and Motormaster in Leatherhead - missed all five.

Shockingly, 26 garages (52 per cent) missed the low brake-fluid level. Even a half-competent mechanic should notice this, while a good mechanic would try to diagnose why it’s low as this could lead to brake failure.

More than three in four (38) garages failed to adjust the very low spare tyre pressure, and nine garages failed to adjust the other tyre pressures properly. Low tyre pressure increases the likelihood of premature tyre failure – so could be life-threatening.

Thankfully, few garages carried out significant unnecessary work, but 20 still charged for windscreen-washer fluid, even though it had been topped up just before taking the cars in.

Only two garages achieved top marks from the Which? inspectors for both spotting all five faults and for high overall servicing standards: Highams Park Motor Company, North-East London, and Colliers Jaguar in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

The average inspection rating was a poor 2.28 out of 5***. Which? found no discernible difference in standards between franchised garages and independents, although independents were considerably cheaper. Franchised dealers charged an average price of £255 for a service, whereas independent garages charged £166 on average (35% cheaper).

Few of the garages inspected (12 out of 50) said they followed formal codes of practice. Which? thinks there are too few regulations to make garages toe the line and that tougher rules are needed to sort out the rogues.

Neil Fowler, Editor, Which?, says:

“UK owners spend more than £21 billion a year maintaining their cars. We reckon this should go to reliable businesses with sound service procedures, not gambled on rogue traders.

“Unacceptably, getting your car serviced is still a hit-and-miss affair. We’ve found a generally lax approach to servicing, unbelievable basic errors and cases of plain ineptitude.”



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