British motorists are being forced to part with over £300 million a year to rectify work carried out by ‘cowboy’ mechanics. Shockingly, 13 per cent of cars are returned to their owners with major faults including defective brakes or damaged tyres.
In the past year, 665,000 Britons have had to resort to employing a second mechanic to fix sloppy repairs, at an average cost of £471 a time.
Over half of the drivers questioned in the survey for Direct Line Breakdown said that repairs were not up to scratch with 43 per cent claiming that mechanics missed basic faults.
Nor did the garages score highly on value for money, 16 per cent of customers believed labour costs were too high and a further six per cent claimed they had been billed for work that was never done.
Perhaps unsurprisingly nearly six out of ten British motorists believe a mechanic has conned them out of cash in the past year.
Garages are also seemingly unable to shake off their chauvinistic image; 57 per cent of women believe they were ripped off because of their sex.
It seems that sloppy work and shabby treatment is doing some garages out of custom because 36 per cent of customers refuse to return and a third warn family and friends to steer well clear of suspect establishments.
So next time you need work doing on your car....... try to use a garage that either a friend recommends or you have used before. It could save you a whole heap of money!!
In the past year, 665,000 Britons have had to resort to employing a second mechanic to fix sloppy repairs, at an average cost of £471 a time.
Over half of the drivers questioned in the survey for Direct Line Breakdown said that repairs were not up to scratch with 43 per cent claiming that mechanics missed basic faults.
Nor did the garages score highly on value for money, 16 per cent of customers believed labour costs were too high and a further six per cent claimed they had been billed for work that was never done.
Perhaps unsurprisingly nearly six out of ten British motorists believe a mechanic has conned them out of cash in the past year.
Garages are also seemingly unable to shake off their chauvinistic image; 57 per cent of women believe they were ripped off because of their sex.
It seems that sloppy work and shabby treatment is doing some garages out of custom because 36 per cent of customers refuse to return and a third warn family and friends to steer well clear of suspect establishments.
So next time you need work doing on your car....... try to use a garage that either a friend recommends or you have used before. It could save you a whole heap of money!!
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