Gordon Wilkins and Michael Frostick examine the costs of car upkeep in the first of two programmes. Four motorists in every 10 interviewed in a recent AA survey said they were not getting a fair deal from their garages, and many of their complaints were based on bad workmanship, slow service, and high prices for spare parts.
Do garages, in fact, jack up costs as well as cars?
They claim that they make less than two shillings in the pound profit on maintenance and repairs, and point out that over the past five years their bills haven't gone up nearly as much as those for petrol, road tax, or insurance.
Is the answer the one-man workshop or do-it-yourself?