117 replies to this topic

[miniman86]

Just had a read through this topic mate. I think he was hoping that with your small knowledge of cars, he would have a bargain. As others have said, get some photos up of the mini. There is enough knowledge here to be able to help you, or to point you in the right direction of people to help you out. We have all been there with so called specialists, who have ripped us off, myself included. 

 

Good luck with the mini though mate, you'll get there :)

 

Alex

[DeadSquare]

OK mini is back now.

 

The garage in question was THOMAS CLASSIC AND MODERN in CWMBRAN. Im guessing a lot of you know it.

 

My opinions here of course but all the events I've described are factual. Make of it what you will.

I've emailed him with my issues and to be fair he has responded saying that his recovery charge is fair, and I can't expect it for free.

 

Personally, I do wonder if hes let me believe it was free, knowing full well he could charge me what he wanted once he had the car. There is no reason why you wouldn't just say "I can collect but I've got to charge". Works to his advantage to forget to tell me this.

 

Giving him the benefit of the doubt that he did genuinely think I knew there was a collection charge, when I complained he made it worse when he wanted same fee to return it. If he'd said fair enough I didn't make it clear, and bring it back for free then it'd be something.

 

The p@ss take offer to buy the car we'll leave. Just gives you a picture of this guy.

 

In fairness, hes got the car going at least. Taking the cost of the recovery out - £156 for this is possibly a bit steep. I get the impression hes the sort of guy who scratches his a@se and wants a tenner for it.

 

If he wants to run his business this way I think hes treading the line legally but possibly hes done nothing illegal here. Disappointed that hes behaved like this though.

 

Next step with mini is mot station to get a long list off them. Last time I trust a recommended mini specialist thats for sure.

 

Hindsight is good.

 

The AA would have got the car going, on your drive.

[paulfoel]

Sounds like the main issue is that it wasn’t made clear what he would charge for the work and transport before it went in. He can charge what he wants I guess, but if you’d known that in advance you would have gone elsewhere.

But I still can’t believe the offensively low offer he made to buy the car.

 

Yeh there's that too. Theres a thin line here though between getting a bargain and ripping someone off. I'm an adult I can say no to an offer to buy my car - I didn't get chance to agree to the transport charge.

 

All adds up to not really a decent fella at all to be honest.

 

I gave him the benefit of the doubt with the transport thing but he stood firm and wanted the same £120 to bring it back. Then forced me to get something sorted short notice because he wanted the car gone.

[matt615]

Out of interest, how far did the car need to be transported?

[paulfoel]

Out of interest, how far did the car need to be transported?

 

8 miles.

[matt615]

£120 for 8 miles? Wow, that really is taking the p***.

My local Mini specialist charged me £40 to deliver my old Mini back to me once. 10 miles, no VAT.

All the best getting it back on the road, hopefully it’s not as bad as this guy made out.

[Icey]

The garage in question was THOMAS CLASSIC AND MODERN in CWMBRAN. Im guessing a lot of you know it.

Well that's an eye opener, I'm sorry I mentioned them earlier!

[Adam Johnson]

It’s not a certain place near Winchester by any chance?

Where in Winchester are you inferring should be avoided. I am local to Winchester and am getting my car tuned by someone in Winchester....got me worried now.

 
Think he means "mins r us" in Twyford - has a medium reputation - I live in Winchester and find him very helpful, more pricey than others but saves postage and means i can most parts 10 mins down road.
 
Where you having it tuned? Airey? If so he is Amazing i have heard.

Thanks; that’s a relief. I am booked to see Airey on Monday morning.

[ClassicAsh]

the cost to deliver a car 8 miles of £120 is way off. I recently had a capri delivered from Newcastle to Northampton for £200. and that's way more than 8 miles. good luck with the mini.

[paulfoel]

£120 for 8 miles? Wow, that really is taking the p***.

My local Mini specialist charged me £40 to deliver my old Mini back to me once. 10 miles, no VAT.

All the best getting it back on the road, hopefully it’s not as bad as this guy made out.

 

15-20 mins drive each way probably. The mini wouldnt start but I'd rolled it off the driveway for him so it'd been straightforward to get it on the trailer. Dunno hour ish work.

A nominal charge I wouldnt have worried about. If he'd told me up front then its my decision to make.

 

He made it way worse because he knew I was unhappy and his attitude was "tough" and its the same to bring it back. And then he played funny buggers and I had to pay extra to get someone else to pick up (STILL less than half what he charged).

 

Yeh I'll mot it now and see the truth. Wish I'd never taken it to this fella.

 

He had news story in local paper a few years ago about mini guy having his dream of opening his own garage and I just thought, excellent. Usually mini people are good as gold.He sounded fine, answered facebook messages, seemed a nice guy. As soon he had hold of my car he was a mission to screw for me for what he could get.

[SuperDeLuxeNick]

As others have said £120 is ridiculous, I had my mini taken from Bromley in London to Winchester for £110.

 

Def get it MOT'd and see where you stand in terms of fails... then go from there, lessons learnt with the other garage! Good luck and you'll easily find the help needed on here.

 

:)

[paulfoel]

the cost to deliver a car 8 miles of £120 is way off. I recently had a capri delivered from Newcastle to Northampton for £200. and that's way more than 8 miles. good luck with the mini.

 

Yeh. Its nuts. His answer was "I'm not a car transporter so got to charge more to cover my wasted time". Fair enough then tell me this mate not make out its a favour then shaft me. If you give me the option then its up to me.

Edited by paulfoel, 14 April 2019 - 10:16 PM.

[GraemeC]

I don't think the 'recovery' price is ridiculous - for the very reason above (although I do think it is high and agree he should've been up front that h was intending to charge).

 

Even though it is only 8 miles, it's probably taken at least 2 hours out of his day from walking out of his garage, attaching trailer, getting to car, loading up, driving back, unloading, putting trailer away) so there's £60 in time alone.

Plus maybe £15 for fuel, use of trailer & towing vehicle.

 

Everyone quoting that they got a car trasnported from x to y has probably used a transportation company - that is their business and they will always be much cheaper.  Although even they will have a minimum base charge just for turning a wheel and I bet that's about £75, but for that they may transport for anything up to x miles.

[Cooperman]

There sure are some dodgy characters out there. I have often helped classic car owners by moving their cars with my big flat-bed trailer. All I ask is that they give me a few quid to pay for the diesel used.

 

With a Mini, or any classic car needing work, the only real thing to do is to learn to do-it-yourself. Classics are time-consuming and at between £40 and £60 per hour they cost a fortune, even if you can find an honest expert. As an example, my Grandson bought a 1997 MPI a few years ago for £1600. It was 'cheap', but we had anticipated that the 'few small rust bubbles' would lead to a lot of work. In the end it needed a new screen scuttle, two front wings, a door skin, both A-panels, a front panel, one outer sill (with a small repair to the jacking point), inner-wing patch repairs and some odds-and-ends. The engine was removed, new bearing shells, new oil pump, new cam followers, head cleaned and valves re-lapped, centre oil pick-up fitted, new lay-gear bearings. The brakes were overhauled and new suspension rubbers fitted. Total cost for parts was around £850 plus the cost of the paint for re-spraying the body (not the roof). If we had paid for that work it would have cost over £3500 at normal commercial rates.

 

DIY is the only way. 

[matt615]

DIY is the only way.

Agreed. Minis are very simple cars to learn on, You can then also transfer that knowledge to save money on the servicing of your every day modern car.