What you think of garage standards... - Enough is enough

Workshops have been hauled over hot coals by motorists in a What Car? survey run with sister title Car and Accessory Trader.

Our survey on the service and repair industry shows motorists are sick of the treatment they're getting from garages and workshops.

The in-depth report reveals 79.7% of motorists think that garages rip them off, and 85.3% say they've got more expensive over the past 12 months.

Just 9.5% of respondents say they completely trust the advice they get from mechanics, and 78.5% think that it's time for the Government to step in and introduce proper regulation of the £10 billion a year industry.

What Car? group editor Steve Fowler said: 'What Car? knows from its own mystery shops that the service being offered by workshops is substandard, sometimes even dangerous, but this survey reveals new depths of despair among the beleaguered motorist.

'Drivers don't trust garages, think they're being overcharged for poor work and, like What Car?, think the Government needs to step in and introduce a proper licensing scheme to drive up standards.'

In 2002 the Department for Trade and Industry threatened to introduce regulation of the industry if it didn't get its house in order.

Since then a good conduct code was piloted and then scrapped by the Retail Motor Industry Federation. The British Standards Institute launched a Kitemark for workshops, but applications to join the scheme have been low. So far just 59 of the 25,000 workshops in the UK have joined up.