Alan Carter Motor Engineering, Wimborne

Booked car in for an MOT. Knew there were a few failures waiting and so that was the case. Tracey rang me with some options with quotes for fixing. Work done on time and cost and picked up later in the day. After some bad experiences at larger chains I really appreciated some decent customer service and honest engineering. Had a good chat with the owner when I picked the car up and got some good advice about a couple of areas of future concern.

Took our X5 in for a MOT. It failed on 4 things. My husband who is a motorcycle MOT tester and experienced mechanic cars and bikes along with our neighbour who is also very experienced did the repairs. The clip on the CV boot broke when being tightened so they used large cable ties. (Checked MOT hand book and as long as it is s Secure there is no reason why cable ties can’t be used) took it back for a retest and they failed it. When I got back one of the cable ties was off. Not saying they removed it. But we don’t see how a 8 minute drive would have dislodged a cable tie. What was really annoying was they didn’t give me the option while it was on the ramp to do a 2 minute job and make it right. No they failed it and then told I would have to pay for another full MOT. Had they just done the clip as a customer service then we would have been bringing all 3 of our cars and the van back to them and given a fantastic review. Also there was an advisory on the first MOT for rear brake pads that advisory was still on the second fail, even though these rear pads had been replaced. Shame on you.

Friendly independent garage. Quality of work is very good. The hourly rate is sensible and they only charge for work that is necessary. A garage used by most of the family. Well recommended.