Nine months ago I gave up 15 years of Honda ownership and bought a 2010 SEAT Ibiza. This was now due for its 80K service so I was looking for a garage that would do a good job a bit cheaper than SEAT's authorised service stations. I was given a link to WhoCanFixMyCar and used this to find garages in my area. Even though they are not that local to me, I chose ACS "in the dark" as they had an impressive number of good reviews, particularly an enthusiastic one in March by another SEAT owner, Maria; I was not disappointed.
My car was booked for full service and MOT and Patrick was very prompt with messages and texts (even up to midnight) about this and subsequently the needed extra work to be done (replace brakes and tyres) - which was not at all unexpected in view of previous MOT advisories - and also the dreaded timing chain replacement as this had become very noisy. He was very helpful with guidance on what to be done now and what could be left until a bit later. However, as my car was with him for several days I did feel that later communications were somewhat infrequent, leaving me uncertain as to when I would get my car back. (I'd deduct a 1/2 point for this).
This niggle apart, ACS were not the cheapest, but were reasonably priced (less than SEAT's prices) and gave me a feeling of confidence that the work would be done "to bring the car back to where it should be" to use Patrick's words. They collected and returned the car for me, and now that I have had the opportunity to drive it for about 200 miles, it feels good! I hadn't realised just how noisy the worn timing chain had been; the brakes (although I am still bedding them in) are now smooth and powerful, and the new tyres (Patrick's choice) seem much quieter than my old ones. It all feels like a new car.
I'll be using ACS for again for further jobs - there are still some of those advisories to be completed!
