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Servicing through a Dealer or local garage
In the past we have seen much argument for and against servicing with other than the Dealer who sold you the car..
You local Dealer will have you believe that their serving is better, that they use only original parts and that if you don’t use them you will void your warranty. They have been known to go as far as discrediting you local garage as mechanics that couldn’t cut it in their work shops.
Today it is a little different. Thank heavens for the Internet and the power of information.
The local garage is used for many reasons such as price, location, loyalty, local knowledge and reputation but some of us still can’t resist using the local Dealer on our precious new vehicles. That is fine, a Dealer is excellent but you should keep you options open.
The trick to a local garage is knowing them personally or knowing someone who does. Referrals are the best source of cost saving and information (outside the Internet) we have.
You can/must specify to your local guy that you want original parts, best oils, the same tyres, and the log book service requirements covered and stamped. The other thing to remember is that you have the right to check. Ask them to keep the oil container and the receipts of purchase from the original equipment needed to show you. This will allow a two way respect and a great result.
I also recommend if you do use your local ‘guy’ copy the invoice of work done and parts used and staple it into your log books. When you go to sell the vehicle this is very handy to show good workmanship.
If the garage does not want to do this for you – go elsewhere.
You have the right to return if work is unsatisfactory to both a Dealer and a local mechanic. I personally have returned my vehicle to Dealer’s workshops more than I have my local mechanic. So now I take my new car (which is in excess of $60,000) to my local garage and have done from day 1 and have never been happier. The other upside to this is that I am approx $800 or more in front this year.
Now Zoe Is In Trouble.
Just a few weeks ago we wrote about the trouble that manufacturers can get into when naming their new cars. We related the problems that Audi had in France when launching their new electric car the ‘e-tron’. Well, purely coincidentally, a French court has had to rule on another manufacturer’s name for their new electric car. This time it’s Renault, who have called their electric prototype the ‘Zoe”, a sort of play on words for Zero Emissions ( or, for classical scholars, a Greek word meaning ‘life’).
Sounds innocuous doesn’t it? Well, not to a Parisian family who have the surname Renault and who have two children within the family named ‘Zoe’.
They took the car company to court in an attempt to prevent them naming their car ‘Zoe’.
They lost the case, but not without their defense council making an impassioned plea on their behalf in court that must have had all court officials rocking with laughter. He pleaded that his clients, and all other Zoe’s around the world, would be subjected to ridicule as they grew older by being the target of such quips as ‘ Can I see your airbags?’ or ‘Can I shine your bumper?’ etc.etc.
The judge disagreed, so Renault can name their car ‘Zoe’ and all the Zoe’s of this world can brace themselves for a future onslaught.
Cash For Clunkers Destined For Scrapheap?
The Government has announced it will delay the introduction of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme (officially called The Cleaner Car Rebate) by six months, to June 2011.
We’re not surprised and indicated our doubts when the Gillard Government was narrowly re-elected and we dealt with this issue in some detail.
In fact the scheme has come in for substantial criticism since Prime Minister Gillard announced it as a vote winning carrot last July. She promised a $2000 rebate for people who update their pre 1995 car by purchasing a new, lower emission, fuel efficient vehicle. $400m was to be set aside, and this was expected to get 200,000 old cars off the road.
However it has been heavily criticised because: only three local cars would qualify (the rest would be imports): it is very expensive for the benefits it delivers:it simply brings forward intended purchases, and it could be subjected to huge rorts ( as demonstrated in the Obama Cash For Clunkers effort in the USA).
After the aptly named Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr announced the delay Opposition Leader Tony Abbott entered the debate labelling the scheme ” a thought bubble” and said that if the Government is looking to save money ‘cash for clunkers’ should be the first to go.
So the message is clear:- if you own a clunker and are looking to update don’t hold your breath waiting for the ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme to help you, it may never happen.
007 Car Sells For $4.5m Plus Bonus
The 1964 Aston Martin DB5 car driven by Sean Connery in the James Bond movies Goldfinger and Thunderball has sold at auction in London, England for $4.5 million
James Bond's Aston Martin DB5
It still has its original “Q Branch” gadgets and they still work-of sorts. Live bullets were never on the machine gun menu.
But the new owner, American business man Harry Yeaggy, also gets an extra bonus for his $4.5m. He receives a seven night stay for ten nights for ten guests at the re-launched ‘GoldenEye Resort’ in Jamaica, where Ian Flemming wrote all 14 James Bond novels. (We are told that Pussy Galore is not at the resort….errrr…..should I re-phrase that???)
The car’s previous owner purchased the car from the Aston Martin Lagonda factory in 1969 for just $12,000.
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