Auto Service News

I have always liked classic cars, but to be honest the cars I really like tend to be the ones I can’t afford so never got close to them, even though my father always had a car and I suppose I grew up with what is now popular classic cars. The other day we found ourselves going to visit a Morris Minor that acquired some brake issues and had to trailer it back to the garage for repair. The issue was easily fixed as Morris Minor parts seem to easier to get than mainstream car parts, and mush cheaper also. In fact after a bit of research I found out that most classic car parts are cheaper than modern equivalents even though they are no longer made in the quantities, probably a message here.

Then I got to drive the Morris Minor, and oh god what a difference, what a clutch and did I move, hardly at all, but it was good fun. So last weekend I was on the internet, looking up prices on Morris Minor convertibles to enjoy the sun, and yes these classic car parts are just as cheap. You will have to tune in later, to see if the wife lets me. I did see an E Type Jaguar cheap, but that would be pushing the boat out too much.

You probably already know about our mini excavator that clears the snow away and lifts engines and loads of other heavy work. Well up until now I had no idea that a bucket was anything else but something to out water in. It seems that these things on the end of our excavator is called a bucket, which seems totally obvious now and the small things sticking out are called bucket teeth. The bad news is that these are now worn down, the good news is you can buy bucket teeth separately rather than replacing the whole bucket.

This is where we are now, coming into spring and trying to lift an engine from he yard in to the garage and of course one of the bucket teeth decide enough was enough and snapped. After a bit of a panic we found out that this was not big deal to replace just like the UK rubber tracks we had done late last year.

Give me a car and I know the bits and pieces but as soon as you move out of this area, the brain does not kick in as quick. Again we found delivery quicker than we get parts from our auto-factors, seems we are in the wrong business. An update of everything else we do in the garage is well overdue and I can’t blame the weather now as it has cleared up ages ago. It is also not that busy, so maybe the salvage projects will start again, lets see an I  will try top post again soon.

It is not advisable to use certain type of used car parts, but for such things such as engines, gearboxeass, lights and other large items buying used can not only save you money but give you a longer lifespan. The after parts market (new car part copies) do deliver cheap car parts, but often these are not amde to anywhere near the quality than the orginal parts were.

So here we are needing to fix someones car and we have to quote for the parts first. Well often we used car pare locator services like carsparefinder, which will give quotes from several breaker yards up and down the country. the bad news is, we have to wait for delivery and often wait for the customer to make thoer minds up, only ot find the one and only BMW engine was sold 3 hours earlier because teh customer just would not believe how lucky we were to find that engine.

Of course we have to guarantee the work we do, so fitting good quality parts is key ot our success this is something the customer often does not appreciate. They have the view, if it goes wrong it is our fault.
So we often make the decision and if the customer does not go with our suggestions, we decline to repair the car and encourage them to pick it up and go elsewhere. It does happen not and again.

Yes I am back from holiday and the garage looks pretty good for the lads looking after it, except for a certain Mercedes that I might talk about in another post. Whilst away I asked one o the guys to look at a mini excavator, to see if a bit of heavy machinery would help move engines and heavy parts as such. The result being that this lad went to a salvage auction and bought this excavator thing that moves and lifts things. (wish I knew more).

As it came from a salvage auction there were things missing and the first thing he needed to do was source a set of rubber tracks for it to move. This may seem easy, but trying locating the right rubber tracks was a nightmare and when we did, it was not cheap. This was done whilst I was away, and now i have retuned there are a number of bits and pieces still needed. It seems these are called wear parts and have something to do with the bits that do not last forever. I have to ask why are they called wear parts, but no one has a good answer except they wear and need replacing from time to time.

It worries me that the cost of this machine is probably more that had i just bought a good second hand one with rubber tracks and wear parts in place. Never mind we live and learn and wouldn’t have dome it myself anyway.

One of the most frustrating issues when repairing cars is the quality of car parts used within the vehicle. Generally most new cars are built from good items that normally have a good lifespan; there are of course some exceptions, when the price of the new car is the selling point rather than the brand name. The biggest issue tends to be using replacement car parts bought from the car accessory shop that have been made normally from eastern countries.

They are not the genuine branded parts, so even though they work for a while and probably are within the guarantee of warranty of the parts, but then there just seems to be times when all the issues I deal with come under this banner. The first thing I try to advise is to use genuine parts or buy used genuine car parts from a quality breaker yard. It makes it easier to fix and of course you will get a longer period before you will suffer a breakdown.

Car panel are even more important and even though it is unlikely for you to breakdown with copy panels, it can make a big difference to the resale value of your car and so I suppose it depends on how much your vehicle is actually worth. My work as a roadside assistance call out guy, only requires me to advise on panels when a bump has occurred and we need the recovery vehicle to get the ca to the garage, rather than being a spray shop.