View Larger Map




View Larger Map

It’s a trend I’ve noticed because over the last few months the girlfriend and I have used about 5 different garages. We drop off the car, don’t hear anything back and then need to give them a call. Which means opening Google and doing a quick search – nothing comes back.

It seems most mechanics are more interested in engines than email. Probably for the best but it makes finding their phone number a task.

The latest culprit is SMC Garage in Shiremoor, Newcastle. So I’ve included their phone number, address and a map at the top of this post to make everyones life a little easier in finding out how to contact this excellent garage.

A little back story -

My girlfriends car is a Ford Ka with a ghost in the machine. Over the last year things have just been going wrong consistently. First it was the alternator – we took it to a recommended garage, they refurbished the alternator and we were off on our way (£150 later). A few days later we break down. Same problem. They fix it and we go on our merry way. A few days later we break down. A new alternator was then fitted at extra cost.

During all of that (about 3 weeks) the communication was dire and we were treated like a nuisance, not a customer.

The wheel bearing was next to go and this was sorted at a different garage (my regular) where we get a hopefully honest appraisal but it’s not cheap (and an extra problem or two is always found that needs fixed).

A couple of months later the car won’t go over 4000 revs and the engine light comes on intermediately.

We take it to a different ‘recommended’ garage and the diagnosis is a faulty o2 sensor. Along with two new tyres and a wishbone for the suspension. £550 bill (this car is getting expensive). But this doesn’t fix the problem! We’re still hitting the 4000 rev mark and can’t get over it. The garage’s explanation “it’ll take a couple of hundred miles to work it’s way out”.

We then take it to SMC Garage – Rob has a look over it and at first thinks it’s the ECU (electronic control unit, in essence the computer brain on the car) and if that’s the case it’ll need to go to Ford. He spends about 30 minutes testing everything (we’d just turned up, nothing booked).

After 30 minutes we’re ready to take the ECU diagnosis and give up – Rob isn’t. He takes it inside and tests more ideas. He comes back with diagnosis. The o2 sensor was faulty and the exhaust manifold has probably been disintegrating as a result. This would be causing the car to get slower and slower and less fuel efficient over time.

He was right.

We leave it with him and a few days later it’s all sorted. An expensive bill awaits but an elusive problem fixed that another garage completely missed.

So I decide to take my car in with a list of ’symptoms’ for them to check over. I drop it off Friday night and pick it up saturday morning.

Out of the list of 4 symptoms they’ve fixed one (plugging the radio back in) and told me the other’s – although a building problem – are too premature to justify fixing and to just bring it back if it gets worse. The exhaust sounding louder than it should is not the result of a hole but the result of a non-manufacturer one being fitted.

I whip out my debit card to pay my bill for their time and I get waved away by Lee. My mind at rest, my radio fixed and bank balance untouched. I like this place.

Here’s an idea. Woolworths has gone bankrupt because of an antiquated business model so let’s buy the shop space they’ve left behind and open up a near-copy in both name and stock.

Einstein’s definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. So let’s not be surprised that ‘Well Worth It’, a Woolworths clone in Wallsend, are having a closing down sale.

Frankie Boyle commenting on the Woolworths business model:

I’m on the move. Today is the first day in the new office located at Citibase on Mosley Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Pop in for a cuppa.

View Larger Map