Ill start with a quick overview of my qualifications and experience, Ive have been in or around the Motor Trade for over 25years,i am a fully qualified light vehicle mechanic [the preferred term these days is technician!] i completed a fully indentured 4 year apprenticeship gaining distinctions in my City and Guilds exams,my training didn’t stop there i successfully completed 16 vocational courses with many main dealers.I have also been employed in aftermarket mechanical warranties IE Mechanical breakdown insurance.I’m not telling you this to brag or boast its just to quantify my views.

Whilst in the middle of my apprenticeship i was talking to one of my tutors and he assured me that the class i was in would be the last fully indentured apprenticeships [fully indentured means sponsored in the most part by my employer with a contribution from the Government] he further went on to say within 10 years or so most vehicle technicians will only be semi skilled,how completely right he was!

In my experience with insurance work i was required to speak to garages all over the country even some abroad through a translator,garages ranging from small lock ups with one technician to huge main dealers employing 20 plus techs,one thing i can positively assure you the standard of mechanical knowledge and repairs is now unfortunately at rock bottom.

Without getting too technical ill give you a shocking example of what i mean, without mentioning garage names or individuals however i can assure you this is all true.

I took a phone call whilst at the Warranty company as regards a broken down BMW car,a service advisor came on the phone and said he needed over £2000 in replacement electrical items and their labour rate was [2007] £145 per hour! i was taken a back at the truly exorbitant labour rate, i joked with him that dentists and doctors don’t charge that amount per hour!,he assured me it was average for a BMW garage in central London.

To cut a long story short as i can, he advised me the vehicle broke down at motorway speeds and was towed into his garage, a vehicle technician had plugged the laptop into the diagnostic outlet on the vehicle and announced it need Camshaft sensors electronic control units etc etc the list was endless and was pretty much anything electrical related to the engine! i quiered that this is impossible unless the vehicle had had a massive fire, he assured me it had not. I asked him to try replacing one component at a time as logic dictates all these components cannot fail together, he refused to try this,so i refused to pay the claim.

After many debates he admitted his technician was semi skilled ! his master technician was on holiday and would return next week! the customer agreed to wait,upon the master technicians return he diagnosed it didnt need £2000 worth of electricals it only needed a £1000 engine control unit.I agreed in principle to the claim and i asked to be informed when the vehicle was running and i would arrange a cheque to be sent to his work place immediately.I received a call the next day saying they had replaced the control unit and the vehicle refused to start! i refused to pay!

The manager of the garage came on the phone and said he had requested a mobile senior master technician direct from BMW to come out and diagnose the problem,please bear in mind he would be the 3rd technician to diagnose this tricky elusive fault,the tech duley turned up in his BMW equipped van, he called me direct to tell me the Timing belt had broken! the part was £45! plus labour to fit and look for further damage,i paid the bill and the customer got the vehicle back.

I received another call a week later demanding £1000 for diagnosis by 3 techs! as you can understand i refused and advised them to spend money on training Mechanics rather than charging £145 per hour for little more than exhaust fitters,i further more told him any half decent mechanic oops sorry technician should have diagnosed that fault in under 10 minutes!!

So please please when you take your vehicle in for servicing repairs make sure they are qualified you will be surprised perhaps 50% or more are poorly trained as training costs money! beware everyone.