For all my car MoTs I go to what could be judged as a 'back street garage' externally. BUT it has two small branches in Swindon & the larger branch has fleet contracts with Thames Water & Swindon Borough Council for Taxi testing.
Appearances can be deceptive unless you walk in & talk to the staff.
The larger branch has a Seven friendly MoT inspector who understands the car but obviously will fail or advise where necessary.
Apologies for possibly derailing this thread but I'm new to Seven ownership and was wondering about main dealers vs independents vs 'back street' garages. I've owned Porsches in the past and there's such snobbery about having the correct stamps in the service book. It would be seen as the kiss of death to have a non-specialist stamp in the book, best of all to have the official dealership one in there.
I've always used independents on my past cars as I prefer a more personal service, but I was wondering if the same service stamp snobbery applies on the Seven.
#13 ...I was wondering if the same service stamp snobbery applies on the Seven.
Very unlikely, IME. Some owners do practically all their own maintenance. I do a lot on my own car, but like to get an acknowledged expert (Millwood in my case) to give the car a once-over annually.
I think the key is to keep very detailed records of all the work done, whoever happens to do it.
I'm in agreement here. As a prospective buyer, I'd want to see dteailed records to show that things have been done properly. As in reality there aren't any main dealers other than Caterham themselves. There are car-sales dealers which i guess count.
For my refresh project which I am doing myself, I have a huge trello board and a myriad of receipts to show interested parties should I come to sell. For a simple winter refresh, it's an impressively large project!
My brother in law runs a "Back Street Garage" catering for all types of cars which I use for what I call general servicing and MOTs. Anything I would consider Caterham specific, Set up, Geometry etc, then I go to Caterham specialists. I used to go to James Whiting before he retired and now have used Sevens and Classics who sorted a a persistant misfire for me.
But when I got the car, there was probably only one official dealer (Millwood in south Gloucestershire) but those people who ran race teams were official service agents. I bought from one of those and used another for service. Since that time, there have been several rearrangements to Caterham Cars' arrangements.
I'd say that location is important.
Stephen
Democratic dissent is not disloyalty, it is a positive civic duty
For all my car MoTs I go to what could be judged as a 'back street garage' externally. BUT it has two small branches in Swindon & the larger branch has fleet contracts with Thames Water & Swindon Borough Council for Taxi testing.
Appearances can be deceptive unless you walk in & talk to the staff.
The larger branch has a Seven friendly MoT inspector who understands the car but obviously will fail or advise where necessary.
Apologies for possibly derailing this thread but I'm new to Seven ownership and was wondering about main dealers vs independents vs 'back street' garages. I've owned Porsches in the past and there's such snobbery about having the correct stamps in the service book. It would be seen as the kiss of death to have a non-specialist stamp in the book, best of all to have the official dealership one in there.
I've always used independents on my past cars as I prefer a more personal service, but I was wondering if the same service stamp snobbery applies on the Seven.
The journey is the destination
It's usually concluded that it doesn't.
And of course many Sevens are maintained by their owners.
Jonathan
#13 ...I was wondering if the same service stamp snobbery applies on the Seven.
Very unlikely, IME. Some owners do practically all their own maintenance. I do a lot on my own car, but like to get an acknowledged expert (Millwood in my case) to give the car a once-over annually.
I think the key is to keep very detailed records of all the work done, whoever happens to do it.
JV
I'm in agreement here. As a prospective buyer, I'd want to see dteailed records to show that things have been done properly. As in reality there aren't any main dealers other than Caterham themselves. There are car-sales dealers which i guess count.
For my refresh project which I am doing myself, I have a huge trello board and a myriad of receipts to show interested parties should I come to sell. For a simple winter refresh, it's an impressively large project!
My brother in law runs a "Back Street Garage" catering for all types of cars which I use for what I call general servicing and MOTs. Anything I would consider Caterham specific, Set up, Geometry etc, then I go to Caterham specialists. I used to go to James Whiting before he retired and now have used Sevens and Classics who sorted a a persistant misfire for me.
Simon, I use an independent specialist.
But when I got the car, there was probably only one official dealer (Millwood in south Gloucestershire) but those people who ran race teams were official service agents. I bought from one of those and used another for service. Since that time, there have been several rearrangements to Caterham Cars' arrangements.
I'd say that location is important.
Stephen
Democratic dissent is not disloyalty, it is a positive civic duty