Avoid Croxted Motors Dulwich

[frostyfreezy]

Had my car MOT'd there recently and they did the repairs to pass the car but also a whole other bunch of stuff that was 'recommended'.

Despite having my phone number they didn't check this additional work with me first. ?563. They claim to have tried to phone me but couldn't get hold of me.

I've since learnt from a few people that they do this regularly and invent a lot of 'necessary' MOT repairs that are in fact false.

They might be just doing this to women but I will AVOID these cowboys from now on!

[peachy]

The same thing happened to me at Spellers garage years ago. I'm 100% sure it was because i was a woman. I now go to Austin's garage in Harness Road and know a lot of women who go there. I know Austin and his son and completely trust them.

[Sue]

frostyfreezy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Had my car MOT'd there recently and they did the

> repairs to pass the car but also a whole other

> bunch of stuff that was 'recommended'.

> Despite having my phone number they didn't check

> this additional work with me first. ?563. They

> claim to have tried to phone me but couldn't get

> hold of me.

> I've since learnt from a few people that they do

> this regularly and invent a lot of 'necessary' MOT

> repairs that are in fact false.

> They might be just doing this to women but I will

> AVOID these cowboys from now on!

Had you thought of reporting them to Trading Standards, or whatever it's called?

This sounds well dodgy.

Did they call you on a phone where you can see your incoming call history? If so, it would be easy to check whether they tried to call you or not.

Did they leave a message when they called? If not, why not?

If they couldn't get hold of you, surely they should not have done any work at all without asking you first, let alone work which wasn't essential to get the car to pass the MOT.

Disgraceful.

And re the women bit - I'm sure you're right that some (by no means all) garages will take advantage because they think all women drivers are stupid and know nothing about cars :(

[Mason]

I will second the view about Croxted Motors. I am a man, but do not know much about cars but enough to know if a car would pass an MOT. However they insisted that certain things needed doing without informing me and replaced tyres that were really not worn. At the time I assumed that as they were approved I never took notice and paid.

My second, and I knew I was taking a beating here and was stupid. My radiator thermostat had gone and I knew this, but they ended up, according to them, changed the head gasket, replaced the radiator, and fitted new pipes. The cost just over ?1500.00. I did not mind as I was under warranty, so I did not personally lose financially. However in addition to this I noticed that they remove the rear window sticker and replace it with their own and add a strip of heavily sticky strip of advertising on the number plate, the reason for this is the assumption other people would make is that the car was purchased from them.

With regards to MOT repairs, they or any garage should officially fail the car and issue with a certificate with the faults that failed your MOT, leaving you with the option to have the car recified yourself or by them or another garage. They have abused your trust and politness, have in essence conned you, as you have no evidence that any repairs were not needed, and they know this, they prey on ignorance.They should have never have actioned repairs on your vehicle without confirmation from you and most especially only after you have seen the official certificate and given them approval. It does not matter if they could not get hold of you on the phone, thay wait till they see you. Demand your money back or go to trading standards.

Funnily enough I also found Austin by chance and he is a star, and his son goes out of his way to make time to squeeze you in even when they are busy. I have now used Austin for 2 years and they are brilliant, the most I have ever had to pay were for some brake pads they he failed me on when I went to collect the car. He gave me the fail certificate, never insisted I have them repaired with them, but told me they needed doing quickly. I did still have days on my MOT so I went home. Went back the next day got a good quote from them Had them done. He showed me the pads after allowing me to watch him take them off. Wow that is how things should be done. Honestly and with a passion for the work done, not just money.

[frostyfreezy]

I will certainly use Austins Garage from now on and thanks Peachy and Mason for the recommendation.

I felt completely duped by Croxted Motors at the time. There is no record on my mobile that they tried to phone and I checked they had the right number. I want people to know on the forum what con artists they are as I've started to read other forums with the same stories about them.

I will definitely be contacting the trading standards organisation.

[Annasfield]

I had a similar experience with another garage in East Dulwich.

I took my car in with an issue and they did ?600 worth of work without checking with me first. When they called me to advise that my car was ready they informed they had topped up my oil & a couple of other things (like they had done me a favour) like that. When I got the bill, they charged me for it!!

2 days later the car broke down again with the same issue. When I got it sorted elsewhere, they advised me of the parts used. When I compared the costs for the parts & labour, it would have been cheaper to use genuine VW parts at a dealership. In the end I got them to refund the difference.

I go to Yannis motors in Peckham Rye now. They're really decent lads and I don't feel as though they'll take advantage of my lack of car knowledge

[tallulah71]

I can recommend turners on Barry road. They fixed my heater motor, but also changed the filter without asking me. The difference being, they offered to knock it off the bill if I didn't want it.

[PandG]

I agree - don't use Croxted motors - stupidly, on a bad day, I put petrol in a diesel car and luckily realised before I started the engine etc - the car was pushed away from the pumps and the mechanic then syphoned the fuel tanks! It didn't work as they didn't realise the vehicle had a double tank and a second fuel pump from one tank to the other (Landrover Freelander)! They said it was sorted and clean - I had to pay their charges + two full tanks of fuel and then drove off.

The car conked out so I got my emergency people to take the car back to the garage - they redid the whole procedure and said it was clean and sorted - I drove off and for a second time it broke down - I had it taken to Autorepairs in Rosendale Rd who sorted the problem out properly but it cost me new fuel pumps! I have found Autorepairs to be very fair, reasonable and they advise you of the problems etc! Don't use Croxted Rd motors!

[flyer22]

Does anyone have a number for Austins Garage? Struggling to find it with google

Many thanks

[SebsC]

Austins Garage

Hardess Street

Herne Hill

Lambeth

London SE24 0HN

0207 7371708

[flyer22]

Thank you Sebsc!

[Chocoholic]

I second Turners in Barry Road have used them for years . Excellent service.

[BrianR]

Austin's Garage is great ....they are truly decent people and Martin who now runs the place is a lovely fellow

[Lamidu Peuple]

A couple of years ago our car, serviced at Croxted Motors, spluttered and the engine died while we were coming to a halt at a service area off the M1. Incredible luck-- had it happened on the M1 we could have had a major crash. We couldn't get it started again. Called AA. The AA man asked if we had had it serviced recently (yes, at Croxted Motors for MOT) because the fault was that in replacing the spark plugs they had only been positioned in the cylinder head and not fully tightened all the way home and so the engine stopped working once the plugs had worked themselves loose after 60 miles on the M1. Croxted Motors man brushed it all off.

Foolishly, we went back recently and got stung for a massive bill (just shy of ?600) even though I had specifically asked him to phone me if any items were going to be expensive. He claimed not to have been able to get through to me (bollocks) and went ahead anyway. More fool me. I was very angry and made a fair bit of noise. They returned the car to us, which had been having window problems, with the door studs not replaced, meaning the inside door panels were hanging off.

Last week, another garage cured a misfiring problem we've had for a few weeks which had been bugging us for quite a while but which did not stop the car from working. It did make it hard to start. Anyway, there were a couple of problems there but one of the biggest was that at the last service, Croxted Motors had inserted the incorrect spec of spark plug when replacing them. I had not thought the plugs could be an issue with our misfiring since they were new, the plug cables were new and so on. Turned out they had made the problem.

The manager there is totally shameless. I was spurred to write this because he had the nerve to leave a voicemail for me this morning reminding me that the MOT was due. Obviously he gets a lot of crap from angry customers but like me (once only, never again) still come back because they can't be bothered to go elsewhere.

[spark67]

Good grief they still at it ! I had a right to do with them 10 years ago, car was Worse after a service, I had to take it back & they said it needed MORE work doing to it, it still wasn't right (after ?400 ) & I took it back to a different garage, who pointed out wrong parts were used & they found evidence of something being spilt over the manifold like coffee or something, I had a right go at them and they refused to refund me & were quite rude, I got half back when I threatened to report them to trading standards in the end as I had the evidence from the second garage.... never been back since

[jtshone]

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!! Use Turners on Barry Rd instead.

Two weeks ago they took charge of our car, passed its MOT and then released it back in an unroad-worthy and potentially dangerous condition!

Only tried this garage after the manager moved from Park garage in the Village where we'd always taken our car. We'd seen all the reviews, but were told it is a completely new team....Now I dont think that is true.

Booked car in for a service and MOT 2 weeks in advance, gave them the details of what Mercedes had said needed doing so they could get parts ready.

Arrived on the day and they had all details of owner and car, but no booking.

I was starting to get nervous, but they said they'd still do it.

I phoned late afternoon to be told the brakes had not arrived (i had explained in advance what parts were needed) and they wouldn't have time to fit. I collected the car which had a full service and passed its MOT no problems at all.

The next day i could start to smell petrol. Checking under the bonnet i found a discarded rag left on top of the engine. We then noticed petrol leaking underneath.

We took the car to Turners on Barry Rd. It transpires they had wrenched off the filter pipe and split it before refitting it again. the car was unroadworthy and they had to make some emergencies repairs before they'd let us take the car off the premises as it was not roadworthy. Croxted Motors had actually serviced and MOT'd a car and then let us drive off with an unroadworthy vehicle, leaking petrol and with a fire hazard under the bonnet...

Complaint now drafted for the good garage scheme as we've not heard anything back from Croxted Motors in 2 weeks since we made a complaint.

[DulvilleRes]

Whilst clearly Croxted Motors have had some unhappy customers, that isn't my experience.

I started using them 2 years ago when Park Garage in Dulwich Village shut down, as I was following the talent - one of the exceptional mechanics who was working at Park moved over to Croxted. They have been great. I've just got my car out after a service/ MOT, and it is like driving a renewed vehicle.

[Lamidu Peuple]

I don't doubt you had good service. A bad experience is always the exception. The fact that we were treated badly doesn't mean it is going to happen every time. They were fine with us for quite a while -- until they weren't.

In my long experience (35 years or so in South London) you very rarely get good service from a garage in the long run. At first, they want your business and treat you well. After a couple of years though, they put unnecessary things on the bill, and then, before you know it, they are taking the p.

Any oldish car, btw, will feel 'like new' when the tyres are blown up (usually too much, I find) and the brakes and steering tightened. Keep using them sure, but be alert.

[JohnL]

And Kwik Fit have a bad reputation - they just do enough to pass the MOT as you would expect. There are advisories for things that may need doing.

I tend to split service and MOT.

[michelle7984]

Dell autos is highly recommended