Alfa Service in Scotland

Don't know if I should be posting this in here but it's relevant to AOS and especially the South/West, so please don't shoot me down in flames (IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST THEN CARRY ON). Just had Bella serviced (36k)at Veloce (Angel tuning) in Troon.Great job carried out by guys passionate about Alfa's - it's great to talk to people interested and knowledgeable about our shared passion rather than spinning dits designed to get an extra quid (see Arnold Clark/Reg etc.). Fully enjoyed the experience so many thanks to Paul and Mick and the other guy who I forgot to ask his name.

I think this is a perfectly good place to starta a local (AOS ) Angels and Devils Garage thread. Well done Al, and thanks for the info. You may also want to post a link in the 'Independant Garages' thread in the Alfa Discussions lounge as well

I know I always say this, but I'd recommend McLennans in Loanhead for anyone around Edinburgh.

av booked my timing belt in for wed...if i had stayed near edinburgh

i would have booked it in at http://www.mclennansgarage.com/ as

EcosseOz suggested...but it is to far away...thx for that anyway..will

update as soon as its done...guy i play golf with is doing the timeing

belt.

his garage is always busy...so must be a good sign..

if not, r there any good lawyers on here..lol

I do all my own work except welding & painting, luckily the timing belt on 75 V6's is quite easy to get too, not so the rear brakes!!!
I hear CP services in Dundee are ok on all cars, old or new & the owner is an AROC member.
Avoid franchised AR dealers tho, even on modern cars, the mechanics are only used to changing the oil in Fiat Punto's!

CP Garage Services in Dundee are excellent. Euan, the owner, is a life-long Alfa enthusiast and AROC member and knows them all inside-out. Highly recommended.

Had 4 quotes £320, £311, £90 plus parts, £120 plus parts went for the

£120 because it was nearer..will find out tomorrow the final bill..

what i have found out that there is a few cowboy garages out there.

they r not interested in doing the work..or they cant do it..or they

just want quick money just doing M.O.T'S

Originally Posted by ALRN

Don't know if I should be posting this in here but it's relevant to AOS and especially the South/West, so please don't shoot me down in flames (IF YOU FEEL YOU MUST THEN CARRY ON). Just had Bella serviced (36k)at Veloce (Angel tuning) in Troon.Great job carried out by guys passionate about Alfa's - it's great to talk to people interested and knowledgeable about our shared passion rather than spinning dits designed to get an extra quid (see Arnold Clark/Reg etc.). Fully enjoyed the experience so many thanks to Paul and Mick and the other guy who I forgot to ask his name.

Great guys at Auto Veloce in Troon ,they really are Alfistis .They fitted a bmc cda filter on my GTV and gave the car a good checking over before giving me it back .Good banter and there are always other Alfistis around the place for a general gas .

Originally Posted by Dawsub

always other Alfistis around the place for a general gas .

Hope you're giving them a nudge in the right direction mate

Another vote for Euan at CP - always excellent service!

I have recently had my 147 fixed at Kirkhill Autos in Dyce, Aberdeen. Excellent service, Alfa trained mechanic and a bosch service centre, also they didn't mind me supplying a few of my own parts and constantly changing the day it was supposed to be in.

I tried to call CP garages but oddly they wouldn't do some of the work, alarm sensor problems, because "we have never done that before" as the receptionist informed me. Also when I tried to give the car a routine oil change I had problems removing the sump plug as part of the female hex had been rounded as was in poor condition, when I did eventually get the hex knocked into the sump plug, it wouldnt budge, there hadnt been a sump plug washer fitted and the sump plug was stuck to the sump, most servicing by the previous owner was carried out at CP. Then there is my headlight which the private seller managed to hide from me, the alignment motor was stuck on making the light point into the sky and also the bulb shroud was missing, I was informed by Kirkhill Autos that the light would not pass an MOT, although a month before I bought the car it was MOT'd at CP, but saying that it could have happened between then and me buying the car.

Originally Posted by Fast frank

Hope you're giving them a nudge in the right direction mate

:flag:

They are aware of the AO forum as far as i know .

i use Kirkhill (Aberdeen) also. normally supply my own parts. great guy there for the electronics. labour rate has climbed a bit in the last couple of years

Originally Posted by alexgee

i use Kirkhill (Aberdeen) also. normally supply my own parts. great guy there for the electronics. labour rate has climbed a bit in the last couple of years

Yea the electrical guy certainly seems to know his stuff.

I didnt think the labour rate was that bad, about average really, but i struggled to find anyone willing to do work in my car in the area. I could have taken it to Taylor Auto Electrician on the langstracht but i've had a previous car there and they were useless.

Kirkhill probably have the best auto sparkie i have come across in this area so far.

They tick all the boxes because there an alfa indie,which there aint a lot of in this area,and provide good service across the board.

George the manager is very helpfull,done free recovery of my V6 back in spring and 10% off the bill

He has connections with a company i do business with! comes in handy i suppose

I have just booked into McLennans in Loanhead for a clutch, if you book online he trimes the bill a bit, He has also offered my a runabout which is pretty decent and over the phone he seems ok. I will let you know how I get on.

Iain

And another resounding vote for Euan at CP garage Services in Dundee. He's kept my W-reg 156 V6 running for several years now and doesn't run screaming from the building when he sees me coming.

Just wish I'd got my partner's 04-reg 147 1.6 to him in time. Like an idiot, I bought it from that 'Promises Delivered' crowd and fell for their 'free servicing' package scam. So we had it serviced just before Christmas and when Jen went to collect it, they issued an Advisory Notice suggesting that we should have the timing belt changed in the next 2-3 months if it hadn't already been done.

As we'd only had the car less than 6 months at that point, and they had done the previous services I thought that they would know this better than me, but seemingly not. I also foolishly thought that as they had included a service plan to suit the needs of me and my car, that this would have been built-in to it, but then my attention was drawn to the microscopically small print buried at the bottom of the back page of their leaflet which mentions that the belt is not included.

Their quote of nigh on £500 + VAT left me realing, especially so soon after parting with £7k to buy the thing. To keep the warranty valid, the work had to be done by an approved repair centre. Surprise, surprise this was when I then discovered that the warranty company was part of the AC empire so no prizes for guessing who were the only repairers to have approval from them.

I decided to cut my losses, abandon the service plan and the warranty as a 'lesson learned' and booked the car into CP to have the job done at considerably less cost and peace of mind that it would be done properly. I don't know who we must have upset, but fate conspired against us and the belt 'let go' 10 days ago.

Thinking that we might still have a claim under the warranty as we were still within the time limits for the job to be done, the car was towed to AC in Edinburgh. They wanted £280 up front just to look at it with the proviso that we'd get the money back if the warranty company upheld our claim. Further surprise! They decided that we had ignored the advice given at the service so the warranty was invalid. But of course, they now have the car in pieces so I'm not in much of a position to negotiate its transfer to CP. They then throw in to the mix the fact that if I don't authorise them to proceed within 48 hours, they'll start adding £50 + VAT per day to the bill for storage.

In all this time I have never managed to make contact with their Service Manager. I've got his name, but other than that I'm beginning to think that he's a figment of somebody's imagination.

Letters, 'phone calls and visits to the branch have all been ignored; he is never available. His staff will just about condescend to speak but never directly to me - they always contact Jen and make it obvious that we're just being a nuisance to them in not simply stumping up the £1.5k for the rebuild and getting out of their lives. Customer Care at its best!!!!

I threw into this 3-way 'discussion' the fact that I was aware that the service interval on the belt had been changed by Alfa from 72k and 5 years to 36k and 3 years and that therefore they should be covering this entire repair as the car was already overdue the new belt before they sold it to us.

They are now trying to wriggle out of this by claiming that the notice of this change arrived in July 2007,