Click mechanic

[Tim Lamb]

A bit below the belt in a d-i-y newsgroup but has anyone any experience of using the above?

I had planned to replace the silencer box on our Fiesta myself, bought the box, borrowed axle stands and trolley jack to find the part supplied against the registration number was incorrect! Returning to an EU supplier post Brexit should be interesting!

Meanwhile my back up driver had her knee replaced and the exhaust started shredding. Kwik fit etc. want the vehicle in before taking on the job! The nearest commercial outlet is 2 miles walking and 5 miles bus. The last time I travelled by bus was 45 years ago!

[Clive Arthur]

I used WhoCanFixMyCar.com and was very pleased, but I suspect there's an element of luck involved.

[Tim Lamb]

Ok. I'll have a look.

>

[Bev]

The local (4 miles) garage we have used for years is part of

try them for a local one to you and also ask if the garage does a collect and return service or can lend you a car whilst yours is in.

[Scion]

They've gone up.

[Tim Lamb]

There is no shortage of Halfords/Kwik Fit/etc. Within 10 miles of here. The ones I have contacted so far all want sight of the vehicle before quoting and then want it left with them for repair.

ISTR easier times when you drove there, waited in their reception for a ramp to be clear and watched the job being done.

Clearly times are rather different now and Ford do not seem to know what parts were used on this vehicle despite the registration doc. matching the VIN inside the driver door:-(

[Andrew]

If you go by train in some parts of the country you will be travelling in a 1970's-era Leyland National bus on rails.

[Bev]

OK - those are chains - the website link I gave is to independent garages. You may have more luck with one of the independents. You may have also tried independents in which case I apologise.

Indeed - though for many years we have used the collect and return service rather than sitting around for a while. We even get tyres changed on the drive now - so much easier.

Have you told them the colour of the car yet? :)

[NY]

Until I was temporarily unable to drive on medical grounds (recovering from heart attack) about 10 years ago I'd not been on a bus for many years - probably not since I used to catch the bus from my hall of residence to the university, until I decided to walk and spend the money on a bit more beer ;-) I'd been on trains many times - whenever I went up to London; I wouldn't consider driving and trying to park in central London. But never (for some reason) on buses.

Going on a bus (eg from home to the hospital, or the doctor's, or for a day out) was a novel experience. Especially the new electric buses on some routes.

I'm lucky that my nearest garage is close enough (about 3 miles) that a mechanic will give me a lift home if I can't get a lift from my wife. Where we lived before, the garage was within a 1/4 mile walk.

[Andy Burns]

My car was in for a recall to replace the starternator, no courtesy cars due to covid, all their drivers on furlough, so getting home is either 2 mile walk to get a bus, or two buses with a wait in between ... at least tickets are either QR codes or contactless payments now ... but no, I'm not really a bus person.

[Dave Plowman (News]

You'd better get used to it. Wouldn't surprise me to see private cars banned within a few years. By stealth.

[Dave Plowman (News]

You do need a guide or planning, but in London to me travelling by bus is preferable to the tube. Unless the overground is handy.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Sat upstairs at the front on a quiet double decker is a rather pleasant way to travel - you see things you don't from a car.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Can you book it in so they do it while you wait? Or other exhaust specialists?

[Robin]

Could be tricky given Tim's experience - the same as I have found with other Fiesta parts - is that it's impossible to tell from the VIN what part is required. Not everyone will be willing to order in all the possible bits - hangers and all.

[Fred]

Nope, works fine for those of us outside the EU.

But you are free to use a taxi, a uber etc.

[alan_m]

Taxi's are still operational.

[Dave Plowman (News]

That's going to be a problem with a mobile mechanic too, then. Until he has dismantled it and got bits to match. And likely to be slower getting the bits than the likes of KwikFit?

Very odd Ford can't supply bits by VIN on such a relatively recent car - when everything should be computerised.

[Fred]

Taint gunna happen, the voters wouldn?t wear it.

[T i m]

Sfunny. We don't normally use public transport (other than when we were commuting into London for work) but happily get on such when on holiday (It actually being part of the 'change') and don't want to go somewhere with the motorbikes and gear.

We walked to a different Lidl and back a few days ago (in the rain, our local one is only a 5 min walk away), just to pick up another 'smart home' lamp. 5+ mile round trip. ;-)

Cheers, T i m