One of the few things I will miss when I move out of this place is the garages. The place I get my bodywork done (that's the bodywork on the car!) is fantastic. The first time the car went in, it was given to the new chaps to hone their skills on, so not only did it have the work I asked for done to it, it had every last blemish repaired, plus T-cutted to within an inch of its life, vacuumed and polished. Same second time round. They even cleaned out the pockets in the doors!
The place that does the rest of the mechanicking is just as good. In fact, they've annoyed me recently by trying to save me money by not checking the valve stem oil seals as I asked. This time round I specifically told them to, and sure enough, they were knackered! They talked my other half OUT of replacing the engine to save him money. Again, the service is excellent, and they won't do a job unless it really does need doing and they've asked you first, which is why I feel (only slightly) guilty about getting them to fit the thermostat I bought, which I gave up on trying to fit myself after breaking the third spanner trying to get the housing off!!
I feel a bit lazy getting other people to work on my car for me, the main reason being lack of a) expertise and b) garage space, plus the fact that if I screw up I'm a bit stuffed as far as transport goes! One day I'll have a bit of space to do my own stuff. My ambition is to take apart an engine and put it back together again
