OK, my car (Ford Focus V1 1.6) has just started sounding/smelling/driving badly, so gonna try and get it to a garage tomorrow.

Anyway, when I bought the car, I took out one of those 3 year garuntee car plan things with another company (Customer Protect). A lot (most?) of the parts of the car are covered for failure (not wear and tear, and not things like heat shield and fan belt).
Apparently you get charged for the garage diagnosing the problems, but not for the parts/fitting.

The company predonaminantly uses National Garages, unless there isnt one nearby to you (theres one a mile away).
So, main question really, are they any good? Whats there prices/service like?
Ill most likely be gettin a service and replacement of the fan belt too (on top of asking them to sort out the obvious problems), so Ill still be paying a fair bit even with the garuntee.

Any thoughts would be appreciated 🙂

Ta, Duane.

If you are near Glasgow I can help you. Many years in the trade and happy to help a fellow mtb'er

Thanks a lot mate, Im actually in Edinburgh, so not really that far, but dont wanna risk the car driving over, it really doesnt sound good… :/

Anyone?

I've used national for MOT's and associated works and found them OK. They're better than Kwickfit for that kind of chain-store model of garage, better service with more advice and less sales-pitch. For some work I use them simply because I drive a hightop van with a roofrack and one of the glasgow branches happens to have enough roofspace to get it up off the ground. There are other garages I use in preference but only because I'm a snob. I guess not every owner of 10 year old vans uses an independent Rolls Royce specialist for servicing.