UK garages need to clean up their act, says Which?
Tuesday 07 September 2010 | By Evolution InternetBack to Newsroom
Pickup truck leasing customers have been warned about the poor standards at some of the UK's garages.
An investigation by Which? has found an alarming number of garages fail to spot problems or charge for work that has not been done.
The consumer watchdog took vehicles to garages around the country with four deliberately inflicted faults - deflated spare and nearside rear tyres, brake fluid at the minimum level and a blown bulb on the reversing light.
Just eight of the 62 garages tested returned the vehicles fault-free while five garages failed to fix any of the faults.
Furthermore, nearly 90 per cent of the garages missed at least one fault, while 39 per cent charged for a product that was not supplied.
Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive at Which?, said: "This is a worrying snapshot of an industry that desperately needs to clean up its act. Almost all the garages in our investigation failed to fix basic faults. This could have endangered the lives of drivers and other road users and is simply not acceptable."
In 2008, a new code of practice for garages - the Motor Industry Codes of Practice - was launched.
