- Thread starter jimbo84
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premmington
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Cato
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Snap-On rep's just been and during the chat said that another two local garages (cars) are shutting their doors for good.
One due to work being sporadic so some weeks losing and not having enough work to cover the mechanics, then other weeks too much work for one, etc. The other garage is a combination of not being able to get staff with a clue, and customers complaining about price, always wanting the cheapest option, then complaining when it does last. So he's just sick of all the hassle for little to no reward.
One due to work being sporadic so some weeks losing and not having enough work to cover the mechanics, then other weeks too much work for one, etc. The other garage is a combination of not being able to get staff with a clue, and customers complaining about price, always wanting the cheapest option, then complaining when it does last. So he's just sick of all the hassle for little to no reward.
100 yds behind me is a Toyota main dealer.
Opposite is small garage, 2 or 3 men.
50 yds along the road to the right is another small place, couple of guys.
100 yds the other way is another two man place.
100 yds to my left as I sit, is another garage - 3 or 4 guys.
No idea what they charge, but all seem to be non-stop busy every day. All of them get recommended by loads of people when someone asks where to take their car on local facebook.
I use none of them as do everything myself, from brakes to complete rebuild from a bare shell, with the exception of 4 wheel aligning maybe, but it would seem doing a good enough job to be recommended by others is going well for them.
Opposite is small garage, 2 or 3 men.
50 yds along the road to the right is another small place, couple of guys.
100 yds the other way is another two man place.
100 yds to my left as I sit, is another garage - 3 or 4 guys.
No idea what they charge, but all seem to be non-stop busy every day. All of them get recommended by loads of people when someone asks where to take their car on local facebook.
I use none of them as do everything myself, from brakes to complete rebuild from a bare shell, with the exception of 4 wheel aligning maybe, but it would seem doing a good enough job to be recommended by others is going well for them.
local garage around here are all packed too
wanted someone to do an engine swap a while back, box van was too tall for normal garage I use.. few other garages I know weren’t interested because too busy, can;t keep up doing simple stuff, services etc.
wanted someone to do an engine swap a while back, box van was too tall for normal garage I use.. few other garages I know weren’t interested because too busy, can;t keep up doing simple stuff, services etc.
Moose McAlpine
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All local independents round here are very busy, made even worse by one of the bigger ones closing due to owner retiring and selling up.
One of the staff members wanted to keep the business on but the new owner wasn't interested and instead rented the place out to a tyre fitters.
One of the staff members wanted to keep the business on but the new owner wasn't interested and instead rented the place out to a tyre fitters.
Farside
Badly Welded Man
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In my early days of spanner-twirling at a Rootes / Chrysler place, I'd often be involved in a re-shelling of an Avenger or Hunter. The nearly-write-off would be in the body shop and the new shell sitting next to it. I'd transfer all the good bits over (and new bits where necessary), after the body blokes had done the paint. Once I'd finished they'd do any bits of the outside paint that were still needed.They had a chassis number and a body number.
Source: MiniMail https://share.google/6uHQMYlPerW7j7OUl
Re shelling is legal but depending on the new parts used, technically it shouldn't retain the same identity, if you put a new shell on 2 new subframes and fitted a new engine it's hardly the same car
These sort of arguments keep classic car forum members awake all night.
I don't recall whether the replacement shells arrived with a new factory number or not. I would have thought it extremely open to abuse if the shell was blank, and the factory numbers were easily distinguished anyway, to anyone with some familiarity of them.
Given the identity of the car was the chassis number, perhaps there was a change via the DVLA, as I don't recall any of those cars getting a new registration. One thing I do recall was the old wrecked shell had to be cut up, but panels could be re-used.
Farside
Badly Welded Man
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I came across an absolutely stonking 1920s RR the owner had restored from the ground up.
Turned out he'd made, or had made for him, nearly everything. About the only original parts were a bit of the chassis and the engine block.
That's the one.
Fitted many of those, and lost a good few 5mm allen key bits in the process on RWD Transits!
premmington
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premmington
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Snap-On rep's just been and during the chat said that another two local garages (cars) are shutting their doors for good.
One due to work being sporadic so some weeks losing and not having enough work to cover the mechanics, then other weeks too much work for one, etc. The other garage is a combination of not being able to get staff with a clue, and customers complaining about price, always wanting the cheapest option, then complaining when it does last. So he's just sick of all the hassle for little to no reward.
Bottom end of the motortrade is an evil place to reside.
I go thru the busy one week not busy the next manic cycle - even with constant dairy bookings
You got waiting for parts - turning round loan cars - customer authorisation delays - punters booking and just not showing up - or delaying and then want jobs done there and then - the list is endless of what can kill a days work (even if you fully booked).
Then you got the cycle of bookings that coinside with the punters monthly pay check landing.
Then you run out yard space at the end of the month - as they won't collect the repaired cars till they get paid...
I could go on for hours - moaning - but the bottom line is I don't know how to do anything else....
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Cato
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Time involved in ordering and then waiting for parts is getting worse just recently for anything beyond service items. It seems a lot of stuff is held up while the supplier's supplier gets a container full before shipping due to paperwork demands, tariffs etc. That in turn means more time searching around to try and find what you need to get it out the door and get paid.Bottom end of the motortrade is an evil place to reside.
I go thru the busy one week not busy the next manic cycle - even with constant dairy bookings
You got waiting for parts - turning round loan cars - customer authorisation delays - punters booing and just not showing up - or delaying and then want jobs done there and then - the list is endless of what can kill a days work (even if you fully booked).
Then you got the cycle of bookings that coinside with the punters monthly pay check landing.
Then you run out yard space at the end of the month - as they won't collect the repaired cars till they paid...
I could go on for hours - moaning - but the bottom line is I don't know how to do anything else....
My storage space is in the workshop, so I'll hang on to a bike for a day or two/over a weekend then they get notified of storage charges.
The sine wave of workload is one thing I doubt any of us will sort out TBH as there's nothing you can do about it unfortunately.
premmington
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"The sine wave of workload"
I like that - good expression - well worded - sums it up very well...
Bobtail4x4
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a local garage always has a backup job, usually a longterm "mates rates" job, when other jobs stall or dont turn up, they do a day or more on the backup car,
then get paid a couple of days later,
better than paying the staff to sit drinking tea,
then get paid a couple of days later,
better than paying the staff to sit drinking tea,
Kayos
Gone......
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My solictor is £300 an hour plus VAT = £360
And he is useless....
I worked for a solicitor once, gave him my price and he said "that's more than I earn"
Told him he should have tried harder at school...
To be fair, ended up a good customer
Cato
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I too worked for a solicitor once, and it will remain 'once' forever more. If I were to post my thoughts on those drawn to that particular profession I'd likely be banned from the internet never mind the forum.
