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Garages: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly


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#46 Ferret

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Posted 11 March 2007 - 10:20 PM

County / Country : Lincolnshire
Town : Boston
Name : Jason Turvey - JET
Services : Everything mini related
Address : off Marsh Lane, Boston
Rating: 10
Testimony: Undertook a lot of work on mine, new wings, drivers door (sourced original), A panels, new A frame section and associated respray, at a very reasonable price, no problems at the time and none whatsoever since. Also undertaken very good work for my nephew's mini. Not the quickest in the world, but it is worth the wait.

#47 Senile Old Git

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Posted 01 June 2007 - 06:15 AM

County / Country : Rutland UK
Town : Greetham
Name : Greetham Garage
Services : MOT / Paint / Mechanical
Address : Main St Greetham, RUTLAND
Link to Map or website :
Rating: The best
Testimony: Family owned business, Julian Cardew the owner is a mini enthusist and does not make a drama out of a crisis, always available for advice. Both MOT testers are genuine and little adjustments for the MOT such as emissions / headlight aim done on the ramp. totally recommended. Extra work is always advised and priced. Fair labour rate too

#48 twinks22

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Posted 01 June 2007 - 08:27 AM

bill richards racing
ashford kent
engine ,brakes all mechanucal work
performance engine building
small garage but work always produces top work
very friendly
maybe a bit exspensive but you relly get what you pay for,
bill and lee both top boys
and they race minis so know what it takes to producea performance a series,
had 2 cars done there and couldn recomend them enough

#49 fatmini

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Posted 01 June 2007 - 08:38 AM

County / Country: Essex UK
Town: Greatleighs
Name: Tom Bell Racing
Services: Mechanical/ Road and Race Engine Builder
Address: Greatleighs, Essex
Link to Map or website :?
Rating: very Good
Phone No.07894838536
Testimony has had cylinder head work carried out by him and engine set up but he doesn’t have a rolling road!
he has worked for ford rally team building enginesand other well know performance companies locally,he also is very big on the grass track scene supporting many class 1 mini's ,he not only does moddified mini engines but Cosworth,BMW,vauxhal 8v engine rebuilds for racing !
He is a really nice guy and very helpful, price is very reasonable for his top quality of workmanship!

Edited by fatmini, 01 June 2007 - 08:49 AM.


#50 rhys_lightning

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Posted 04 June 2007 - 09:34 PM

County / Country :Kent England
Town : Maidstone
Name :Britannia mot & repair center
Services :mots servicing & repairs
Address :Britannia business pk Mills road Quarry wood ind est Aylesford ME20 7NT
Link to Map or website :
Rating:10/10 for mots
Testimony:This garage has moted both my cars now and passed! The mini was running to rich (12.50 co2 :D ) and the tester ajusted it to pass with no charge :D . Very friendley garage will get my custom again

#51 rhys_lightning

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Posted 04 June 2007 - 09:56 PM

County / Country :Kent England
Town :Sittingbourne
Name :Staplehurst Road Garage ltd
Services :mot, serivcing Address :Staplehurst road Sittingbourne Kent ME10 1SE
Link to Map or website :
Rating:0/10
Testimony:Had my mini moted there last year and failed on a cople of silley things, got it retested and passed the bloke said "its quite clean for its year(87)" this year another bloke tested it and went to town on it, the car wasent any worse than it was last year yet it needed 5 different places welding :D Not only that his whole attatude stunk will never go back there again!

#52 GottaDesigner

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Posted 05 June 2007 - 12:45 PM

County / Country : West Midlands

Town : Willenhall

Name : Dereks Minis

Services : Resto/rebuild, bodywork, paintwork, maintenance, MOT etc... (apparently)

Address :Ashmore Lake Way, Willenhall

Rating: Not Impressed

Testimony: Responsible for skinning me out to the tune of £4k for a half-assed resto on Monty.
They claim to do 'show standard' work, which is why I have ODD doors from two entirely different Minis - one's red, one's white all they've done is reskin & respray them. They didn't bother finishing them properly either - Heritage panels? I don't think so. They also forgot to tighten the wheel nuts which resulted in Monty's R.L wheel falling off in action and a whopping great scrape along the underside. Paintwork is more orangepeel than mirror-shine on lower parts of panels. Heater packed up 8 weeks after they apparently replaced it, costing £120 to get fixed by someone else. Brakes seized a few weeks ago despite the calipers being 'new' according to their receipt - calipers last longer than 18mths, right? There are also numerous areas where panels haven't been sealed properly which is going to cost me another £300 to get stripped and resprayed elsewhere. They also painted over my engine no.... the list goes on...

Edited by GottaDesigner, 14 April 2008 - 11:53 AM.


#53 hulahoop

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Posted 06 July 2007 - 11:04 AM

County / Country : Berkshire

Town : Reading/Henley

Name : The Berkshire Mini Centre

Services : service to a full rebuild

Address :
Unit 5, Greys Green Farm,
Rotherfield Greys,
Henley-on-Thames,
Oxon, RG9 4QG

Link to Map or website : http://www.minicentreberkshire.com/
Rating: Good
Testimony:

Alan's a nice chap that's helpful and enthusiastic. He picked up my mini from home, fitted my new cam and got it through it's MOT. Super job.

#54 minimadcath37

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Posted 10 April 2008 - 10:11 PM

County / Country : West Midlands

Town : Willenhall

Name : Dereks Minis

Services : Resto/rebuild, bodywork, paintwork, maintenance, MOT etc... (apparently)

Address :Ashmore Lake Way, Willenhall

Link to Map or website : You gotta be kiddin. I wouldn't recommend these clowns if my life depended on it.

Rating: 0/10

Testimony: Responsible for skinning me out to the tune of �4k for a half-assed resto on Monty.
They claim to do 'show standard' work, which is why I have ODD doors from two entirely different Minis - one's red, one's white all they've done is reskin & respray them. They didn't bother finishing them properly either - Heritage panels? I don't think so. They also forgot to tighten the wheel nuts which resulted in Monty's R.L wheel falling off in action and a whopping great scrape along the underside. Paintwork is more orangepeel than mirror-shine on lower parts of panels. Heater packed up 8 weeks after they apparently replaced it, costing �120 to get fixed by someone else. Brakes seized a few weeks ago despite the calipers being 'new' according to their receipt - calipers last longer than 18mths, right? There are also numerous areas where panels haven't been sealed properly which is going to cost me another �300 to get stripped and resprayed elsewhere. They also painted over my engine no.... the list goes on...

In short, they couldn't be much cr*pper.


Strange....we have had several cars restored by Dereks and they have all been lovely, including my husband's show standard orange 1275GT which still looks good after 9 years and won Mini of the year (2007).

#55 iansmini

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Posted 10 April 2008 - 10:20 PM

County / Country : Lancashire
Town : Longridge
Name : Belmont Garage
Services : Everything apart from body includes MOT
Address : Unit 2 Inglewhite road PR3 2DB
Link to Map or website : phone no. 01772 785598
Rating: Superb - Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!
Testimony: Awesome garage a couple of blokes who actually know minis which is always a bonus! Will do call outs (have done with me) Will always ring with what work needs doing and give you a rough guide price! Have had cars serviced and MOT'D by them for years never put a foot wrong! Will not let a car go if they think it is unsafe to drive and off you drive! Very helpful, very good at everything can't think of any more superlatives to describe how good they are! Oh also charged me half of the labour hours when my mini had a massive overhaul a few months ago! Know another mini owner who takes his mini there and he has nothing but good things to say about them!

#56 yorkshirechris

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Posted 10 April 2008 - 10:33 PM

County / Country : North Yorkshire
Town : Scarborough
Name : Pavilion Garage
Services : Mainly sales, also repairs, servicing.
Address : The Crescent, Scarborough.
Link to Map or website : N/A
Rating: Terrible, conman!
Testimony: Bought a mini from them last year, with full MOT (done by another garage which the guy assured me "covers us both" - him because if anything is wrong it isn't his fault, and me because it's not him doing it so they're not likely to fail just to sell the car. How wrong could I have been to assume that a garage with 46 years of experience was a safe place to buy my first mini from! After noticing rust in a few places, I took the Mini to a reputable, local mini garage (see my further testimony below) for a quick "once-over". Turned out the car NEEDED sills, doorsteps, major repairs to the crossmembers & floorpans, subframes, everything basically. At least £1,000 of work. The doorsteps were absolutely shot, and had been filled in. I took a screwdriver to them, and didn't even use any strength to make massive 3cm long holes. After taking the car back, he assured me "I can have it sorted within 4 hours". 4 hours to do major structural restoration and respraying? I don't think so! I ended up getting my money back thankfully... and guess what? The same car was up for sale, weeks later, and the holes in the doorsteps had been filled in with filler and painted over! Please DO NOT USE THIS GARAGE! I'm not the only one to tell a story about them on here!





County / Country : West Yorkshire
Town : Leeds
Name : Minifixit
Services : Welding, repairs, servicing, crypton tunes, MOT work, etc.
Address : 5 Lupton Avenue, Leeds, LS9. Tucked away behind the "Gulf" petrol station at the top of the avenue.
Link to Map or website : 0113 248 46 44
Rating: Very good.
Testimony: I have spent a lot of money at Minifixit, and every time the job has been very good and reasonably priced. I've had welding done to floors and a rear subframe, work done on my clutch, bolts rethreaded, tracking, etc done. Top quality at reasonable prices. This is backed up by the fact Steve is almost always busy! He is usually more than happy to keep the car in overnight at your convenience providing he has space for it. This is the only place I use and I highly recommend it!

#57 phil hill

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Posted 11 April 2008 - 09:03 AM

County / Country: Lincoln, UK

Town: North Hykeham

Name: The Mini Centre

Services: Anything Mini/Metro related including kits (Midas, Scamp, Magenta etc) from a service to a full restoration, competition prep, engine and gearbox rebuilds, hydro pump-ups.........

Address: Unit 1c, Nash Lane, North Hykeham, Lincoln, LN6 9BD

Rating: Excellent

Phone No: 01522 509480

Testimony : One man Mini specialist with 18 years experience in the Lincoln area. I've known and used Dave for over 13 years for all my mini needs including routine servicing, bodywork, MoT welding, parts etc and he has been the guiding light behind my trackday special mini I've been building for 3 years...........

Work previously carried out for various members of Trent Valley and the Lincoln Mini Owners Club, Dave has customers who bring their cars from as far afield as Birmingham and Sheffield for him to work on.

As well as the general servicing, mechanical and MoT work past experience includes complete restorations of Minis and Coopers of all ages from early to late, competition preparation including grass-track, post-historic rally and circuit racers; roll-cage fitting, adjustable suspension setting, fitting glass and carbon-fibre body panels, engine and gearbox rebuilds to your specification, general bodywork repairs and paint; sills and floors, wings, scuttle and front end, door repairs and reskinning, subframe replacement etc.

Honest, good quality workmanship, realistic pricing, helpfull advice given.

Phil.

#58 1380davis

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Posted 23 April 2008 - 08:50 PM

County / Country :Kent England
Town : ashford
Name :bill richards racing
Services :anything from fire breathing engines to suspension ,welding,and most things they will do
Address :
Link to Map or website :
Rating:10/10 bill and lee both know everything about the mini and bill can build the top engine whilst lee builds the top car.
Testimony:

#59 Jack Jones

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Posted 27 April 2008 - 08:21 PM

County / Country : CAMBS, england
Town : Peterborough
Name : Williams Minis
Services : bodywork, mechanical, mot, servicing, sales
Address : Peterborough, Fengate
Link to Map or website : www.williamsminis.com
Rating: Very Poor

Bought mini from them a year ago, turned out to be a lemon, had 3+3 dash put in and the wiring behind was soo dodgy Im lucky my mini hasn't burnt to a crisp (bare wires and allsorts) Re-spray was done on a friends mini and I had front end done both were shocking, rust within a couple of weeks. Steer well clear. :)


i have heard about these from several mini enthusiasts around peterborough area and i havent heard much good about them


County / Country : CAMBS, england
Town : Peterborough
Name : stanground motor services
Services : mechanical, mot, servicing, and repairs
Address : Peterborough, stanground
Link to Map or website :
Rating: bloody good i hope

i work here as an apprentice and hate it sometimes because the work has to be at such a high level, we aint a mini specialist but owen (1340_clubby_estate) knows his stuff when it comes to them

Edited by just_jack, 03 June 2008 - 06:28 PM.


#60 Adamfulwell

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Posted 28 April 2008 - 01:18 PM

County / Country : Berkshire

Town : Reading/Henley

Name : The Berkshire Mini Centre

Services : service to a full rebuild

Address :
Unit 5, Greys Green Farm,
Rotherfield Greys,
Henley-on-Thames,
Oxon, RG9 4QG

Link to Map or website : http://www.minicentreberkshire.com/
Rating: Good
Testimony:

Great little mini center if a wee bit expensive but then again you have to pay for quality, highly reccomended!




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