Jim Smith Autocentre & MOT

This garage is definately not to be recommended. I took my car here to have the cam belt changed earlier this year and have had no end of problems since. When I first got the car back from them, the engine had lost power and sounded absolutely terrible, the brake servo kept cutting out at low revs and there was a fault with one of the headlights which it did not have previously. I took it back to them to sort out, and they had the car in for another day. I don't know what they did when they had it back in but it was no better than the first time. I thought better than to go back a third time as I concluded by this time that they obviously didn't know what they were doing. So instead, I went to a specialist garage which I had used before, and ended up having the cam belt changed all over again at my own cost, which resolved the issue with the engine which has been running fine ever since. It turned out that the belt tensioner had been fitted incorrectly, the wrong way round in fact, meaning that the cam belt could've come loose at any time. If it had, the engine would've blown and the car would've been a write-off, and had this've happened I would've been taking legal action. I have also had to replace the headlamp as on inspection it appeared to have been broken somehow and had recently been glued back together, and there is still an electrical fault with the headlights it did not have previously, which I have not yet got to the bottom of. I have ended up spending hundreds of pounds and hours of my own time trying to put right the complete bodge that this garage made, but the result still could've been a lot worse.

I was camping in the area a few years back and had trouble with my car. The RAC had bodged it so I took it to this garage. They were pleasant and helpful from the start and completed the work efficiently and at a good price. I would thoroughly recommend them if you have car problems in the area!

Use this garage for my MOTs, best MOT station I've ever been to, dont put down fails that dont need doing like I've gotten before, always get them done even when they are late or if I have an emergency drop in, would recommend every single time, also do very big jobs most garages wouldn't take on.

I left my LWB van to have fuel sender unit to be repaired but with a FULL 100 litre tank emptied and not replaced £1.79 per litre TOTALLY DISGUSTING that Iv been conned and van is in worse state currently but now being treated by someone more honest
No help no apology by JIM SMITH AUTOCENTRE PLEASE DO NOT USE UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING CONNED

Had a problem with my air-con not getting cold they found I had got a leak put me a new condenser on now it's cold as cold thanks again brilliant job

Got offered a cheap price compared to other mechanics. Now i know why.
Shocking customer service, was aggressive on the phone.
Took over 5 weeks to deal with my car and didn't even fix it properly.
Have since took my car to another mechanic to be fixed properly and been told the part in question wasn't even replaced.
Wasted a lot of time and money with this mechanic.
AVOID!

Always been treated well by Jim and his Staff, I have never left feeling like I have been ripped off. Great service thanks Jim

Had to have my drivers side caliper changed urgently for a festival.
Came back with a bolt missing, which I questioned the mechanic on (however this was their last job of the day, which they stayed late to finish so probably a rushing issue. We're all human)
Apologised profusely and sorted it straight away.
No other issues now with the brakes.

Will be going back.