Answers Before You Book

For servicing, tyres and diagnostics a few days is usually enough, and cancellations open up sooner than that. Detailing and window tinting need a bay for a full day or more, so those fill further out. Panel and paint work is scheduled around parts arriving rather than around the calendar, so that date comes after the strip-down.

For a short job, yes, and there is somewhere to sit inside the roller door. For anything with a road test, a fluid bleed or a parts delivery in the middle, waiting turns into a long morning and we would rather you got on with your day. You will be told honestly which one your job is when you book.

A lost book is not a problem, because the schedule is published and we can pull it from the make, model, build year and engine code. We start a fresh service record from the current odometer, note what could not be verified, and work forward from there. Bring any old invoices you have, since those often date the timing belt or the last coolant change.

Yes, on time rather than on distance. Oil absorbs moisture and fuel, brake fluid pulls water out of the air, coolant inhibitors deplete, and tyres and rubber hoses age while parked. A car doing very few kilometres a year is often harder on oil than a highway car, because it never runs hot long enough to drive that moisture back out.

Yes, with the date, the odometer and the work performed, and the invoice lists the parts and the oil specification used. That is what makes an independent service history auditable if a warranty question ever comes up. If you are about to sell the car, that paperwork is worth more than a clean engine bay.

Recalls, warranty repairs and any goodwill contribution from the manufacturer are dealer business, because only a dealer can claim them. Scheduled servicing is not. If we find a fault that looks like it may be covered by warranty or by an open recall, you will be told to take that item to a dealer rather than quoted for it here.

You lodge the claim, because it is your policy and your insurer will want to hear it from you. After that we handle the assessment, the images and any supplementary items found at strip-down. Give us the claim number and you stay copied in on what is being requested and what has been approved.

It is common, and it is exactly why the strip-down happens before the repair is finalised. Anything found behind a bumper or inside a rail is documented with photographs and goes to you, and to the insurer on a claim, as an addition to the original assessment. Nothing extra is repaired before it is approved.

The main string is section width in millimetres, then the aspect ratio, then the rim diameter, followed by a load index and a speed rating. Separately there is a four-digit date code giving the week and year the tyre was made. Send a photo of that sidewall and we can quote without you measuring anything.

Check it before you need it. Space-saver spares carry a lower speed and distance limit printed on the tyre, full-size spares lose pressure while stored, and both age on the calendar whether they are used or not. We check spare pressure and condition at every service and will tell you if yours is older than the tyres on the car.

Yes. Film below the legal light transmission for its position on the car is a defect, and it can be picked up at a roadside inspection or when the car is presented for a roadworthy certificate. The film then has to come off, which costs you both the tint and the removal. That is why we meter the glass and fit to the limits rather than to a request for the darkest available.

It is one of the few things that reliably changes how a car presents, particularly interior extraction and getting the glass and wheels genuinely clean. Full paint correction before a sale is worth it on a dark car with healthy paint depth, and rarely worth it on a thin or previously repaired finish. We will gauge it and tell you which yours is.

Payment is on collection, by card or bank transfer, and the invoice itemises parts, fluids and labour so you can see what you are paying for. Insurance panel work is settled between us and the insurer apart from any excess, which your insurer will confirm with you. The car is released once the account is settled and the paperwork is in your hand.

Tell us before the job is finished and it can be arranged. The car stays locked in the yard overnight, and after-hours collection can be organised on request the same way the key drop works. What we would rather avoid is a finished car sitting in a bay for a week, because bay space is the thing we are short of.