Which? wants a compulsory code of conduct to protect consumers

Using vehicles with deliberately-placed faults, researchers at Which?, formerly known as the Consumers' Association, uncovered an array of problems.

They found two-thirds of garages failed to pick up on pre-existing faults in cars, such as nails in tyres.

Mechanics carried out unnecessary work at a quarter of garages. Others skimped on basic checks.

This included not checking the brakes or gearbox, which could leave motorists with potentially unsafe cars.

'Shoddy' service

Which? booked 48 cars into garages for a full service, introducing three faults that should be picked up in a service.

WHICH'S TIPS Shop around and get a few price estimates before choosing a garage Ask the garage to confirm the estimate in writing and to state that the cost quote includes VAT and all parts normally replaced in the service, and to confirm details of any guarantee Ensure the service conforms to the manufacturer's recommendations If extra work or parts are needed, ask to be contacted to agree a price beforehand Before the service, ask to see the replaced parts when the car is returned Ensure the service details are recorded in the car service book If you are not satisfied complain to the RMI (if the garage is a member) or your local trading standards office

Immediately after each service, the cars were checked to see whether the faults had been spotted, and inspected to see exactly which parts of the car had been checked and which items had been fixed or replaced.

Which? found that 35 of those cars did not get a good service.

The organisation is calling for the government to offer better protection to car owners.

UK motorists spend a total of �9bn a year on car repairs.

According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), an estimated 1.3 million complaints are made each year about shoddy service at garages, costing an estimated �170m to put right.

"People have no protection at all against unscrupulous garages that turn cars into death traps, charge for unnecessary repairs or hand out bills for work they've only pretended to do," said Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?

It wants an independent scheme to clamp down on dodgy mechanics, as well as compulsory training.

Your comments:

My father took his car to the garage and requested a service with oil change. When he went back to collect the car, he got the bill including the oil change, but he'd marked the sump plug with a coin and could see it hadn't been opened. They insisted repeatedly that the oil had been changed up until my father told them how he knew they were lying.
Brad, UK

My girlfriend was having issues getting her car fixed under warranty. I went along and found not only were they were fobbing her off with work that was supposed to have been done, but they were also sexist. It took me time too to run through all the jobs which were not completed to satisfactory level. We now do not use this garage.
A Barber, UK

I remember this problem being exposed 25 years ago with Esther Rantzen on "That's Life". Has nothing really changed in over 25 years ? Shame on those garages! They ought to be automatically prosecuted for fraud when caught.
Alan Hill, Spain

It may sound simplistic but the shops which are most likely do the best job on your car are the ones run by folks who love cars. They need to make a profit too, of course, but unless they really care about the machinery, they tend to look to the money first rather than the task at hand.
Steve Barth, USA

It's a problem not confined to the UK in my recent experience. My 12-year-old Mercedes was overheating badly. I took it to a reputable and I might add expensive chain of garages to be told it needed a new engine and radiator at a cost of over �1,000. So I sold to a scrap dealer. Only to find the real reason it was overheating was a faulty thermostat, cost minimal.
Stephen Jones, Hong Kong

When I was living in a major city in England I took my car into a main dealer to be serviced. I was told that my car needed a new clutch and a new catalytic converter, as well as all the usual stuff. I was a poor student at the time so got the catalytic converter, but left the clutch since I found the clutch to be totally fine. That car continued fine with the same clutch for the following five years, and I never had any problems changing gear.
Nicholas, Ireland

After being in the motor trade for more than 30 years the problem is getting skilled staff to work as mechanics. Nobody wants to do the dirty, hard job in sometimes poor conditions for the very low pay that is normal in the motor trade.
John, Australia

As a female car owner I encounter a lot of sexism within the industry when taking my car to be serviced under warranty. I have generally found the large dealerships to be worse, and the small back street places to be fine. One such large company tried charging me almost �60 to top up windscreen wash. Unfortunately for these large companies, I'm a biker who owns a motorbike as well as a car. I do my own servicing on the bike and am no slouch when it comes to most things mechanical. Now that my car is out of warranty I shall be doing the basic stuff myself - but isn't it awful to know that if I want the car serviced properly then I have to do it myself?
Dee, UK

My car brakes failed suddenly and completely about six weeks after it was serviced. I dread to think what might have happened if they'd failed a day earlier, when I was on the motorway. I could easily have died. The garage who fixed them blamed a long-term leak on both rear brakes. When I pointed out they themselves had just serviced it - and changed both rear brake pads, I was told they "don't cover that" on the type of service I'd had done (the annual MOT/service).
Alison, UK

My alarm kept going off. The mechanic estimated �460 for a damaged part. "That's lucky", I said. "It's still under warranty." On return I was informed it was only a �20 sensor that needed repair. What a coincidence?
Vic Anderson, Scotland

I took my car into a well known chain for a service. When I returned to pick the car up I was told they had replaced four belts on my car as they were badly worn. I explained to them that there was no way they replaced four belts on my car. They insisted that they did. I explained then that my car only had three belts!
Cat, UK

I'm surprised Which's tips don't include what I'd consider obvious, to ask people you know if they can recommend someone. In 1988, I had a bad oil leak in my car, which my own investigations led me to believe was due to a worn driveshaft. I put the car into a garage which had been recommended to me and told them what I thought was wrong. Based on my own diagnosis they quoted me around �300 all in. When they called me later to tell me the car was ready they said that in actual fact it was only a broken oil seal (cost 50p) but they did have to take apart the suspension to replace it. Total cost? �36. That was two hours labour and they didn't charge me for the oil seal. They could have charged me �300 and I'd have been none the wiser, but their honesty has probably earned them far more through recommendations.
Andy J, UK

One local garage told me that they usually try and add some simple unneeded task to maximise the profit
Pete Tyne, UK

Not all garages are bad. I did not have particularly good service from my local main dealer so now the car is out of warranty I use a local garage. It does not have prestigious premises (the office is a cabin) but all the staff are friendly, knowledgeable and excellent at diagnosing and solving any problem I have and are very reasonable when it comes to costs. You pay a lot for a nice flashy Customer Reception Area and nice coffee at the main dealer but do they actually let you see the work taking place on your car or talk to the mechanic doing the job? My garage does.
Robert Sunderland, Berkhamsted, England

It's no surprise that mechanics and garages rip off people. Most people have little understanding of how cars work and therefore garages can claim to have done work when in fact nothing has been done. There needs to be a way of checking the quality of their work.
Joe Thomas, England

The MOT test is a money-making fiddle for many garages. The test should be conducted by government testing centres.
K Brown, UK

While this industry remains unregulated, it is still too easy for anyone to make money at the car driving public's expense Jamie, Germany

I recommend that people should do a car maintenance course, especially women. It gives you a good idea about the basics of cars and makes you sound like you know what you're talking about, even if you're just bluffing!
Tan, UK

Find a garage run by a stock-car racer. They tend to know more about keeping cars running and they actually care for older vehicles rather than just doing a perfunctory service on them because they have to. The little forecourt service stations and used-car dealers often give a far better service than a main-dealer as well.
Chris, UK

If you learn a bit about your car - it's not rocket science - and have a good idea of what the problem is before you take it in for repair, this helps define the work to be done and gives the impression that you won't be so easily hoodwinked. I've found this approach works well with other tradesmen too. Obvious "cluelessness" (laziness?) is a precursor to being ripped off!
Irene, UK

Fortunately I live near the Eurotunnel and so take my German car to the main dealer in France for servicing. Its about a third the cost of rip off UK.
D. Little, UK

I lived in Germany for a number of years and the level of service I got from the garages I used was much better than that in the UK. I think an important factor is that in the UK car mechanics and trades people in general are looked down upon by much of the population and like oppressed peoples everywhere they fight back, in their case by ripping of their snooty customers.
Paul Ward, UK

Quite simply a car is potentially a lethal weapon. Car mechanics should be licensed in the same way an aircraft engineer must. And before you say that only applies to large aircraft you are wrong. Light aircraft maintenance organisations are licensed and regulated - surely the same system could apply to garages?
Richard Griffiths, UK

My girlfriend took her car to a garage in east London to fit a reconditioned engine. When we went back to collect it the engine block had been painted blue and the ID plate had been removed so we had no idea if the engine had been changed. They also charged an extra �200 and refused to hand over the car until it was paid. My advice is put a mark on the parts to be changed.
Nigel Gearing, France

There should be some sort of accredited garages scheme (which? for instance) so we know where to go and do not get ripped off, then the cowboys would wither have to comply or die ??
Carl, UK

Every year we get the same story about garages. When is something going to be done about it?
Donald McBride, UK

It isn't just servicing that's a problem. When the plastic under tray which protects the radiator fell off my car I took it to a larger dealership/repair shop for repair. They told me it just needed new clips and sent me on my way. One week later the under tray fell off again, whilst on the motorway. Thankfully it was quiet, as the under tray falling off caused the car to lurch to the left putting me on the hard shoulder.
James Higgin, United Kingdom

After spending 25 years in the motor industry, these nightmare stories have changed very little. Whilst, undoubtedly there are good garages to be found, there still remains too many individuals who will claim to be 'specialists' with little or no business or technical training to their names. While this industry remains unregulated, it is still too easy for anyone to make money at the car driving public's expense.
Jamie, Germany

And will the government now wake up to the fact that the industry cannot police itself? No? Thought not!
Richard Hallowes, UK

I've found the best garage in the world. It's run by born-again Christians and it is the most honest and reliable garage I've ever used. Even though I live 30 miles away from it now, my car still has all its work done there because every time I go elsewhere, they try to rip me off. In one case a garage gave a quote for �630 for some repairs, which my reliable garage fixed for �120 including labour.
Philippa, UK

Thirty years ago, most cars were simple enough for the owner to service and repair without too much specialised equipment. Now, however, we have allowed the "tyranny of the expert" to take over. With most modern consumer products, we don't even bother having them repaired because the replacement cost is low, but cars seem to be something of a special case.
Dan Lockton, Cambridge, UK

This has been an ongoing problem for years. I think car manufacturers should be forced to include detailed servicing information as part of their user manuals, then the car owner would know exactly what should be done and even be able to do the work himself.
Dave Papworth, UK

I work for one of the UK's top fleet companies, and use main dealers and local garages on a daily basis, and have found that the garages are only as good as the staff who work there. Main dealers are usually only interested in charging over the odds for any work, and usually drag there feet with regards to covering any work under warranty. Any garage found not to be up to the national standards should be fined, if they don't pay - close the garage down!
Kirsty, UK

I manage an independent garage based in London and have done for the last 20 yrs. Every time one of these surveys come out we all get tarred with the same brush. We do very little advertising and the majority of our customers have been coming to us for years and constantly recommend family and neighbours who have taken for a ride by main dealers. The main talking point for the next 2/3 weeks in our reception area will be this latest survey and how we are all ripping people off - it makes me sick!
Phil Salvage, UK

As a Trading Standards Lead Officer for West Sussex, I can say that many Trading Standards Services run 'Good Garage Schemes' to help identify good garages. Here in West Sussex we operate a 'Fair Trade Charter' for the motor trade. They have to be trained in consumer law and have their garage audited every year to retain membership. Unfortunately, it's only the negative stories that receive publicity - never the good work that's being done to help consumers.
Chris Tinley, West Sussex, UK

I know of a reliable small garage run by a pleasant, honest mechanic. It's his own business and he knows that customers will return if they get value for money. Until I became a "company" car driver, he maintained my cars for many years. He shopped around for parts, and always showed me any defective parts he replaced. He even allowed me time to pay for a major repair once, when I was short of cash. He also has many lady customers who are not embarrassed to admit they don't know about cars, as he does not take advantage of their ignorance. Needless to say, he is not a wealthy man, and does not have a large premises - but at least he can sleep at night!
Allan, UK