Independent Servicing : Offord, Tower, or other?

[dslawton]

Guys,

Got to get the '92 Griff 4.3 in for its annual service, for the first time since I bought the car privately last August. The car's only done 20,500 with full Kerridges service history from new, but having
followed many discussions on Pistonheads relating to 'Main dealer servicing : Is it worth the extra dosh?' I think that I'm going to go independent for both quality of work and cost reasons. However, I
don't really want to tarnish the fTVRsh any more than I have to.

I need a full service, and I'm also gonna get it waxoyled, new brakes (probably) and finally get the steering alignment/vibration sorted out.

From previous discussions there seem to be quite a few options as far as independent servicing goes, but Offord Motor Company seem to be well recommended, and I've had a good quote for the work from them. Does anyone have any recent good or bad experiences to report (without going as far as to name & shame, of course!)?

Also, I'm open to other recommendations - I live in East London and don't want to go miles away in case I have any problems afterwards.

Cheers,

Dean

>>> Edited by dslawton on Monday 18th February 16:06

[purple_throbber]

tower view were great for my chimaera. easy to get to (when you've done the journey once). right people if you're thinking of upgrading the brakes too. they drop you off and pick you up from the nearest tube station too.

[hughjayteens]

I take my Chim to Dave Batty at The Garage, just past Guildford on the A3 and cannot recommend him enough.. Hos knowledge of the V8 cars is staggering and his prices are amazingly reasonable...
He had my car for 4 days last week to diagnose a fault - Turned out to be a duff lambda sensor and air flow meter and he only charged me 3 hours labour (£105 total) to diagnose and replace the parts, including changing the HT leads, thermostat, otter switch and coolant..
01483 811995 I think!!

[pbrettle]

Not really relevant to the South East - but Joospeed gets lots of recommendations (Ok, it is in Chesterfield). But have you seen the prices?

www.joospeed.net

"All Rover V8 engined cars, 6K service is 230-00 gb pounds 12K service is 330-00 gb pounds."

"Cerbera V8 , 6k service 230-00 gb pounds 12K service 350-00 gb pounds."

"Cerbera V8 valve check and adjust 120-00 gb pounds plus shims."


Blimey - almost worth travelling up there to get my Chimaera serviced there.... Are these prices much cheaper than other indies???

Cheers,

Paul

[Marshy]

Just phoned Offord for a quote for my next service (42000, so a 6000 miler).

£190 inc VAT. Bargain. So much so that I'll have them do the sports exhaust conversion done at the same time, as well as fixing my driver's window, and possibly having the chassis waxoyled.

I should have plenty of change out of £400. "The Dealer" would have seen me spending the far side of £700.

[apache]

welcome to reality Chris.....knew you'd go for the zorst mod too

[UpTheIron]

Is it just me, or are some of the better known independants offering cheaper services than used to be the case...

Offord: 6K, £199, 12k: £370
JooSpeed: 6k, £230, 12k: £330

i) I'm a bit miffed I've just paid £100 more at Fernies (they did do a top job though - made a 9 yr old Chim feel like new)

ii) Perhaps a Cerbie is affordable after all....

Anyone know of any other good independants who charge around the £200 mark???

>> Edited by UpTheIron on Monday 18th February 20:36

[hughjayteens]

I can't remember exact figures but I remember Dave Batty telling me I 'should see change from £150' for a 6k service and that a 12k service should be 'less than £350 all in'.... I was going to take mine to Offord but it is 80 miles from SW12 and Guildford is only 30!
The money you'll save at ANY decent indie will more than compensate from any possible resale value issues...

[GARYG]

Just purchased a 1994 Griff 500 using Rob Ingleby. Really pleased what i bought for the money. Thoroughly recommend Rob as he is enthusiastic about the cars he finds.
Servicing will be through a dealer as came with a warranty so requested prices. TVR Centre was £680 and Castle was £640 - gulp. Knew it would be around this but why do they charge this amount when i see the prices quoted in the other replies above. Surely dealers must see their customer base disappearing slowly!Still waiting for Walldonway and TMS to quote a price even though they are a fair distnace from me. Worried about quality of work!! Had a wedge 7-8 years ago and Tower View (formerly Coupes)were really good then and value for money.

[squirrelz]

quote:
Not really relevant to the South East - but Joospeed gets lots of recommendations (Ok, it is in Chesterfield).

Hey, hey, some of us live in Chesterfield

[leszekg]

quote:
Just purchased a 1994 Griff 500 using Rob Ingleby. Really pleased what i bought for the money. Thoroughly recommend Rob as he is enthusiastic about the cars he finds.
Servicing will be through a dealer as came with a warranty so requested prices.

Check the conditions of the warranty. I heard that some warranty's allow use of independents (unless of course it's the dealers own warranty!). Not sure how true this is. You may find it cheaper to purchase your own warranty and do work via an independent??

I also got my Cerbera through Rob and so far am pleased with what I got.

[MajorClanger]

I can't remember the exact figures now, but Classic Dream Machines in Heathfield www.dreammachines.org.uk I'm sure weren't that expensive and they're a TVR dealer.... at least I hope they're not that expensive for servicing as the Chimaera is due for one in a couple of months!

Not sure what the rest of the prices are like though.

There was a discussion not so long ago which didn't raise any concerns for me.

MC