I can’t get no (automotive) Satisfaction

Recognising your weaknesses is as important as knowing your strengths when running a garage

Published: 21 October, 2019

The vehicle repair world can be hugely satisfying one day and an absolute pain in the backside the next. The challenges we now face as techs are getting harder and more detailed thanks to the electronic minefield of modern cars.

There have been a few instances in the workshop where we have had to admit to the customer that we just aren’t sure yet what is wrong with their car. It is mostly met with understanding as we explain the complexities, but on the odd occasion it can cause the customer to become annoyed.

Last week we had a BMW 1 Series come in. The customer had been elsewhere to get the fault codes read as the car kept going into limp mode. It had shown a fault linked to the crankshaft sensor. They requested that we changed the sensor and check the wiring.

The crankshaft sensor is under all the air intake manifold and isn’t the easiest of jobs. Wiring was all deemed to be ok and a new crankshaft sensor fitted. The car drove great, then a week later same problem reoccurred.

So, it came back, again, and the car was hooked up to a diagnostic computer and faults relating to a pressure sensor and the catalytic convertor came up. As we deal with a lot of older and classic cars we aren’t trained in electronic fault diagnosis. It is not only frustrating for us to not be able to help the customer but also for the customer who keeps having to bring the car to a garage and not be able to get the fault rectified.

That is the way car repair is now heading. It is a lot more computer-based with a lot less instinct and hands-on work. Hours can be lost testing all the wiring and sensors on a car. It is hard sometimes to justify a bill when you have been unable to locate the problem. As car problem fixers, mechanics pride themselves on being able to hand a vehicle that came in broken and goes away running perfectly. That is why we do this job - to become heroes in the eyes of the customers. The BMW owner is now fed up with the car. It has been to different garages and specialists who have been unable to completely fix the problem and they have fallen out of love with the car.

In my experience if an issue isn’t easy to fix we have to be completely honest with the customer, I often explain that we don’t have the up-to-date software that would give us the definitive answer. We then recommend a reputable specialist that would be better suited. As a business owner I am here to fix cars but I am not about to pretend we are something we are not. I know how capable the staff are and what our limitations are. Yes, it is frustrating turning work away but it is also important to be completely upfront with the customer.

Absolute Alignment: Bluetooth 3D
Absolute Alignment's Bluetooth 3D can align cars with much lower ride heights than traditional aligners. Eschewing the traditional 3D ‘tower’, it leaves plenty of space in front of a ramp to allow for ADAS calibration equipment, helping you to create a new profit centre and future proof your business at the same time. As more cars develop ADAS working on the rear axle, the Bluetooth 3D is one of very few aligners that can cope with the new technology. The system is also portable between ramps for increased flexibility in a busy workshop, and offers vehicle registration look up and faster set up times.
Classic move
All my recent writing has involved modern cars and techniques, but this month I have decided to write about my main passion of classic cars. The classic car market is huge and people are now seeing a lot of classic cars as an investment.

Recently I set about scouring eBay and Gumtree for a restoration project or ‘barn find’ as people like to classify anything that has stood unused for a length of time. The reason for the project is that it is my Dad’s 70th birthday was just before Christmas and what better present than a dusty and rusty old MGB GT? The British classic is top of my shopping list. Dad used to have a white MGB GT and I have always wanted an affordable classic so I have come to the conclusion that the MGB fits the bill perfectly.

Bargin
Luckily I have found the perfect car. A lot of money can be lost due to poor bodywork issues. Welding is definitely not my forte, but luckily this particular MGB is solid underneath. That said, the interior needs a good clean and some repair and the engine requires a good service and tune up. The previous owner hadn’t used the car for over seven years but the little 1.8 litre engine ignited just fine. Admittedly it was running slightly lumpily, but it was drivable and solid for well under £1,000. In my eyes it was an absolute bargain.

As I write this I haven’t yet unveiled the car to Dad but I have ordered the parts catalogues with a view to what this ‘blank canvas’ can become. I am keen on a Sebring kit and Minilites. While getting a complete respray, the exterior paint is as dull as a wet February day. However, I keep having to remember that it is a present and not my car. I will certainly push what I think is best for the car.

Connection
Over the years I have restored and re-commissioned plenty of vehicles. It is something I thoroughly enjoy doing and means you can really implement simple engineering techniques such as turning the mixture screw on a carburettor. I always feel that when a classic car comes in for work that the owner has a closer connection with this vehicle rather than their everyday one. I enjoy communicating with the owner in how they would like to restore the car, cars such as the iconic British Mini and MGB can be customised without losing their vintage style. Parts are so plentiful for most classics that there isn’t that time delay when restoring.

Escapism
The MGB GT I have purchased comes with a thorough and plentiful file full of receipts mounting up to tens of thousands of pounds, and this certainly is not uncommon. Classic cars are a great chance for escapism in this modern world where an OBD port is the most commonly used part of the car. Instead I get to enjoy being able to tune an engine with just a flat head screwdriver.
Classic move
All my recent writing has involved modern cars and techniques, but this month I have decided to write about my main passion of classic cars. The classic car market is huge and people are now seeing a lot of classic cars as an investment.

All my recent writing has involved modern cars and techniques, but this month I have decided to write about my main passion of classic cars. The classic car market is huge and people are now seeing a lot of classic cars as an investment.

Recently I set about scouring eBay and Gumtree for a restoration project or ‘barn find’ as people like to classify anything that has stood unused for a length of time. The reason for the project is that it is my Dad’s 70th birthday was just before Christmas and what better present than a dusty and rusty old MGB GT? The British classic is top of my shopping list. Dad used to have a white MGB GT and I have always wanted an affordable classic so I have come to the conclusion that the MGB fits the bill perfectly.

Luckily I have found the perfect car. A lot of money can be lost due to poor bodywork issues. Welding is definitely not my forte, but luckily this particular MGB is solid underneath. That said, the interior needs a good clean and some repair and the engine requires a good service and tune up. The previous owner hadn’t used the car for over seven years but the little 1.8 litre engine ignited just fine. Admittedly it was running slightly lumpily, but it was drivable and solid for well under £1,000. In my eyes it was an absolute bargain.

As I write this I haven’t yet unveiled the car to Dad but I have ordered the parts catalogues with a view to what this ‘blank canvas’ can become. I am keen on a Sebring kit and Minilites. While getting a complete respray, the exterior paint is as dull as a wet February day. However, I keep having to remember that it is a present and not my car. I will certainly push what I think is best for the car.

Connection
Over the years I have restored and re-commissioned plenty of vehicles. It is something I thoroughly enjoy doing and means you can really implement simple engineering techniques such as turning the mixture screw on a carburettor. I always feel that when a classic car comes in for work that the owner has a closer connection with this vehicle rather than their everyday one. I enjoy communicating with the owner in how they would like to restore the car, cars such as the iconic British Mini and MGB can be customised without losing their vintage style. Parts are so plentiful for most classics that there isn’t that time delay when restoring.

The MGB GT I have purchased comes with a thorough and plentiful file full of receipts mounting up to tens of thousands of pounds, and this certainly is not uncommon. Classic cars are a great chance for escapism in this modern world where an OBD port is the most commonly used part of the car. Instead I get to enjoy being able to tune an engine with just a flat head screwdriver.
EV and hybrid vehicles
Driver interest in used EVs rose by 18.85% during 2020, even with the pandemic and the closure of car dealerships during lockdown periods, according to an analysis by AA Cars, the AA’s used car website. If you roll it back a bit further, since 2015, searches for EVs on the site have increased by 4,623%. If the rate of growth seen on the site up until 16 March remains constant through the year, AA Cars said it will grow by a further 42% during 2021.

The growing interest seen by AA Cars in 2020 was reflected in real-world new car sales. While new car sales fell by 29.4% in 2020 in the UK, EV sales went up by 185.9% and made up 6.6% of the total share, up from 1.6% in 2019.

London had the highest number of searches for EVs in the country, with nearly 55,000 searches for EVs on AA Cars in 2019 and 2020. Bristol saw the second-highest number of searches for EVs in 2019 and 2020, followed by Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

Looking elsewhere in the country, drivers in Taunton made more than 2,200 searches for EVs in 2020, with interest up 1,395% compared to the previous year. Searches increased by 453% in Kingston upon Hull and 315% in Coventry

Commenting on the findings, James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars commented: “Interest in EVs and environmentally-friendly vehicles has been growing at pace over recent years and has accelerated further still during the pandemic. The good news for drivers taking their first steps towards buying an EV is that there is an ever-growing fleet of electric cars coming onto the second-hand market.”

Money beats planet on EV switch
As mainstream drivers lean more towards EVs, financial considerations seem to be taking over from environmental concerns as the main incentive for buying one, with charging also shifting away from the home.

According to a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of CTEK, 52% of drivers are holding off on buying an EV specifically due to the cost. 24% of those surveyed said availability of subsidies is the biggest incentive for taking the plunge, although just 9% of existing EV drivers have taken advantage of a government subsidy. In contrast, 35% of citing the environment as their main reason for purchase. 90% of existing EV drivers are likely or very likely to buy an EV again, rising to 100% of 18-23-year olds. 33% of EV drivers said low running costs were the main reason for buying, but only 18% of non EV drivers giving this as their main reason for considering the switch.

The survey also reveals a gradual move away from home charging, with 68% of EV drivers preferring to charge their vehicles at home. 37% of EV drivers are now using public charge points, 12% are charging at work and 9% at petrol stations.

The availability and reliability of the UK charging infrastructure remain a concern. While 74% of UK adults believe that EVs are the future of road travel, 78% feel the charging infrastructure is not adequate to support growth, compared with 65% in the other European countries surveyed.

The survey of 1,667 UK drivers was carried out as part of a wider survey of 15,174 people across the UK, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, and was officially launched on Tuesday 27 April at the Everything EV Summit, taking place virtually from 20 to 29 April, and where CTEK’s Global Head of E-Mobility Cecilia Routledge was presenting. She said: “With previous estimates of up to 90% of EV charging taking place at home, this is a fairly significant shift, and we can expect the need for public and destination charging to intensify as the UK starts to come out of lockdown. Not only that, permanent changes to working patterns are likely to result in people visiting their workplace less often, so EV owners with nowhere to install a home ChargePoint will increasingly need to rely on public chargers and those at destinations like shopping centres and supermarkets.

“Some drivers say they rarely see charge points when out and about, and that the few they do see are nearly always either in use or out of order. In fact, some EV drivers have even gone back to a petrol vehicle because of lack of charging points, including one couple who commented in the survey that they’d tried to map out a trip to North Yorkshire using en-route charging points, but that it simply wasn’t possible.”

Cecilia added: “This highlights the need for a well-planned charging network that meets the requirements of local drivers and visitors alike, that is visible and, most importantly, reliable.”

A full report is available at www.ctekemobility.com

Bosch: Electric/Hybrid Vehicle System Awareness
Training will continue to be vital as EVs and hybrids continue their progress towards mainstream acceptance. With this in mind, Bosch has launched a new EV and hybrid online training course. Electric/Hybrid Vehicle System Awareness is a non-technical course suited to staff in a wide variety of roles including service managers, front-of-house, parts advisors, drivers, valeters, recovery personnel and others.

The course is delivered online as a pair of two-hour modules in a virtual classroom, run by dedicated Bosch trainers. Upcoming dates currently on the slate are as follows:
Car production still slowed by pandemic supply shortages
The Coronavirus pandemic is still impacting on UK car production, with overall numbers still down compared to 2019 as component shortages persist. Despite this, May saw the number of cars rolling out off the line shoot right up, with EVs and hybrids making up more of the total.