AMV8 recommended places for servicing
Discussion
best dealer in that area (I lived in Brentwood for 10 years) is Grange ...for servicing anyway, I never bought a car from them 
No Im up North and the car goes to Derby Motor Services (DMS)
No it dosent invalidate your warranty as long as you use an approved specialist that follows the service books, uses the right parts etc - like DMS
price was you are proabably looking at 30-40% savings ...to be honest, just down to labour rate differences
if you go into London you can pay 50% more, just because of labour rate increases.....
No Im up North and the car goes to Derby Motor Services (DMS)
No it dosent invalidate your warranty as long as you use an approved specialist that follows the service books, uses the right parts etc - like DMS
price was you are proabably looking at 30-40% savings ...to be honest, just down to labour rate differences
if you go into London you can pay 50% more, just because of labour rate increases.....
understandably you guys go to specialist garages,BUT you do not need to.As long as garages are VAT registered and USE genuine parts there is no reason! For example i used to work for renault and we serviced Aston Martins,911's,Maserati's and u name it we prob serviced it! Now if them monkeys can do it anyone can. Id prefer to go to a garage with a good atmosphere than stuck up garages. I use a Back Street garage called Car Surgery in a town called Burnley!Now ill be honest i dont own anything as exotic as you guys but just making my point!
bmcoopers said:
understandably you guys go to specialist garages,BUT you do not need to.As long as garages are VAT registered and USE genuine parts there is no reason! For example i used to work for renault and we serviced Aston Martins,911's,Maserati's and u name it we prob serviced it! Now if them monkeys can do it anyone can. Id prefer to go to a garage with a good atmosphere than stuck up garages. I use a Back Street garage called Car Surgery in a town called Burnley!Now ill be honest i dont own anything as exotic as you guys but just making my point!
I'm asuming from you language "i'd prefer to go to a garage with a good atmosphere than stuck up garages " your about 12 years of ageActually you DO need to go to specialist garages:
-will they have the specialist tools to do the job properly?
-will the haver the skill and know-how to do the job properly (have a look at the DMNS webcam. You dont just plug in an Aston tos ervice it. Sometimes the whole front of the car has to come off. Does the monkey know how to do this? What about looking after thiese panels
-will the warranty be void if you dont use a "stuck-up garage" as you called them
I agree with this regarding an MOT- each station should be the same. But to have an Astons erviced by someone who doesnt know what they are doing and who wont have the specialist tools is asking for trouble.
-will they have the specialist tools to do the job properly?
-will the haver the skill and know-how to do the job properly (have a look at the DMNS webcam. You dont just plug in an Aston tos ervice it. Sometimes the whole front of the car has to come off. Does the monkey know how to do this? What about looking after thiese panels
-will the warranty be void if you dont use a "stuck-up garage" as you called them
I agree with this regarding an MOT- each station should be the same. But to have an Astons erviced by someone who doesnt know what they are doing and who wont have the specialist tools is asking for trouble.
my next door neighbor owns a very good generic garage and MOT station
he looks after my Volvo, uses the right parts, stamps the book, can read basic error codes and reset the service indicator light on the Volvo just fine
my Vantage goes to DMS in derby as you need a bit more than a £20 OBD II reader to do the diagnostics on an Aston, and lots of tech info isnt available from them unless you are wired into their online system (like DMS) - I think the garage has to pass an inspection for that as strangley enough AM dont want their name tarnished by any old back street garage
so I would be wary too about just dumping my Aston off for full service somewhere like Kwik fit or such like and asking them to sort out a few error codes and rough running LOL
I will stick to those "stuck up" and "posh" specialists like Rick at DMS ....hes so posh you have to have your car detailed before he will allow it on his sparkling workshop floor, and he serves over a dozen varieties of English Breakfast Tea alone (only an extra fiver on the bill too!) ...what more does a man want eh old chap?
he looks after my Volvo, uses the right parts, stamps the book, can read basic error codes and reset the service indicator light on the Volvo just fine
my Vantage goes to DMS in derby as you need a bit more than a £20 OBD II reader to do the diagnostics on an Aston, and lots of tech info isnt available from them unless you are wired into their online system (like DMS) - I think the garage has to pass an inspection for that as strangley enough AM dont want their name tarnished by any old back street garage
so I would be wary too about just dumping my Aston off for full service somewhere like Kwik fit or such like and asking them to sort out a few error codes and rough running LOL
I will stick to those "stuck up" and "posh" specialists like Rick at DMS ....hes so posh you have to have your car detailed before he will allow it on his sparkling workshop floor, and he serves over a dozen varieties of English Breakfast Tea alone (only an extra fiver on the bill too!) ...what more does a man want eh old chap?
lol going to have to hide the teacups and buy mugs, teach the lads some proper english "ay up duck" "alrite mate" okay honestly yes you do get a cup of tea in a mug made by myself, Kay or one of the lads (normally Ben he makes the best cuppa). "stuck up" must admit never been called that,should I be honoured.
bmcooper we have a a wide variety of customers from all walks of life, yes some have lots of hard earned cash others have saved for years to have there dream car, then they put there trust in us, then we have the visitors young and old many of which will never own, drive or even be a passenger in an Aston but still appreciate them, the latter will never spend a single penny with me, they will still be shown the facilities and cars, offered a cup of tea or coffee and have the same amount of time answering questions as any paying customer, Why because we are proud of what we do, as the lads who work for me, which have the same passion and pride as myself, we are pleased to share our experiences,
Just because we are an Aston Martin specialist does not mean that we do not understand customer service, and the personal touch, never mind aftercare, the measure of any business imho is how you sort things when things go wrong, (nobody is perfect and their can be unforeseen problems) We have webcams in our workshop so the owners can see how we look after their cars, which can be a positive but what if we did make a mistake, yes this will be public too, would your garage with the "atmosphere" be so open,
you are welcome any time the same as anybody else to sample our hospitality and atmosphere and it will not cost you a penny, I wonder if your local garage would offer the same if you were not a potential customer.
sorry rant over, slightly more passionate than usual 
bmcooper we have a a wide variety of customers from all walks of life, yes some have lots of hard earned cash others have saved for years to have there dream car, then they put there trust in us, then we have the visitors young and old many of which will never own, drive or even be a passenger in an Aston but still appreciate them, the latter will never spend a single penny with me, they will still be shown the facilities and cars, offered a cup of tea or coffee and have the same amount of time answering questions as any paying customer, Why because we are proud of what we do, as the lads who work for me, which have the same passion and pride as myself, we are pleased to share our experiences,
Just because we are an Aston Martin specialist does not mean that we do not understand customer service, and the personal touch, never mind aftercare, the measure of any business imho is how you sort things when things go wrong, (nobody is perfect and their can be unforeseen problems) We have webcams in our workshop so the owners can see how we look after their cars, which can be a positive but what if we did make a mistake, yes this will be public too, would your garage with the "atmosphere" be so open,
you are welcome any time the same as anybody else to sample our hospitality and atmosphere and it will not cost you a penny, I wonder if your local garage would offer the same if you were not a potential customer.
sorry rant over, slightly more passionate than usual rick-derby- said:
lol going to have to hide the teacups and buy mugs, teach the lads some proper english "ay up duck" "alrite mate" okay honestly yes you do get a cup of tea in a mug made by myself, Kay or one of the lads (normally Ben he makes the best cuppa). "stuck up" must admit never been called that,should I be honoured.
I once did a test called *how Black Country are you?* and the result was: *You are a proppa yam yam* 
PS. thanks Michael
Rick,Congrats for your words....They sound sincere and from your heart...I must say that I use to prefer Official dealers but your words made my rethink my choice...
Continue with that attitude! It will help all players, dealers and specialist, to raise the bar!
Continue with that attitude! It will help all players, dealers and specialist, to raise the bar!
Edited by aikido21 on Thursday 27th August 08:51
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