April 2019

“As soon as we realised we promptly took it to a local independent garage.” This is where things started to go sideways: “After a brief peek at the car, the technician announced they couldn’t access the information and that the vehicle can only be dealt with by a main dealer… which was easier said than done, as the car was only capable of travelling at 5mph and the nearest main dealer was more than six miles away.” Now, as she was part of the Aftermarket team, she already knew there was something not quite right here: “When asked the reason why the garage couldn’t access the information, the technician claimed that the manufacturer was withholding access for certain faults, so no other independent would be able to rectify the problem with the vehicle.” The technician then sent our team member off to find the nearest Vauxhall dealer, a business that runs the Griffin franchise alongside a mainstream French brand, in the next town. Now, we know that the Block Exemption Regulation is not a free invitation for everyone just to dig their hands into the big info bin at the vehicle manufacturers, that access might require payment, but withholding access from the independent sector? That would be newsworthy. At this point, our staff member was more concerned about getting the car fixed than she was about the intricacies of European competition law. Like any motorist with a poorly car being overtaken by cyclists, she just wanted it fixed: “The thought of the long slow drive to the nearest dealership, who incidentally said they would not have availability to take the car until the following week, was beginning to cause much anxiety.” Bad news all round at this point. Fortunately for our colleague, this is where the story takes a happier turn, with the entrance of the second independent garage: “Halfway on the arduous journey home we discovered another independent garage offering diagnostics on every vehicle marque. So on the off-chance this garage could help we dropped the Corsa there and they assured us they would do their best to help. An hour later we received a call from the garage to say that they have gained access to the vehicle and that it requires a new coil and set of spark plugs. Within a couple of hours the car was fixed and back to its spritely-self. Not only that, it is booked-up with this second independent garage for its MOT next month.” Consequences As we said, we did not mean to perform a regional mystery shop on random garages across Kent, but here we are. Let’s ask our accidental shopper what she though about the businesses she visited: “The first garage should have updated its equipment, especially bearing in mind that a Corsa is one of the most common vehicles on UK roads, then perhaps they would have kept the business. They also lied to us about the reason they were not able to 10 AFTERMARKET APRIL 2019 BIG ISSUE www.aftermarketonline.net The independent garage sector is a highly competitive market where customer trust is key ”