So firstly if you own a garage or are a mechanic this is not aimed directly at you in any way.

One of the reasons i try to do as much as i can myself is there are so many dodgy garages out there who take no pride in what they do and are happy to rip customers off!!

so i do a service on my fatty 4.4 tdv8 today that has a full documented service history and all the receipts that go with it.

when i changed the air filters 1 on the passenger side was in pretty good health and looks to have been changed recently. the other drivers side has a couple of knackered screws in it so was tricky to get them out. this filter was horrid and completely Mancy looks like it has not been change in a very long time!!

why would a garage do that charge a customer for said filters and clearly not have changed one of them? surly the extra £15 -£20 they made is not worth there reputation?

leads you to question what else has been left out!! and what quality oil has been in use?

this is no back steet garage but a main dealer to boot, why is there no come back or no way of reporting shoddy services? 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone

The passenger side feeds the second turbo and will be alot cleaner than the drivers side due to the minimal demand of the second turbo

I thought that on mine when I first had it. The secondary turbo filter was that clean I kept it for a spare for when the main one needs changing.

Agree, when I changed mine the passenger side one was like new. It only draws air when the 2nd turbo is running and because it takes air from under the side of the bonnet it only really takes in clean air.

Next time I change boith, I'll only buy one new one.

Jon 1992 RR Classic 3.9 efi Vogue
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Both my fatties now gone...
Previous: 2011 L322 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE /// 2002 L322 4.4 V8 HSE /// 2009 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 XS /// 2004 Defender 90 TD5 /// 1993 110 V8 Snatch Landrover /// 2005 Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE (Aus) /// 1990 110 Isuzu 3.9 County (Aus) /// 1976 Series III Trayback (Aus)

There are good and bad garages and technicians, just keep a close eye on them until you are happy with your level of service. In general most are OK.

I will point out this goes for EVER profession, doctors, solicitors, plumbers and sparkies. Some you can ‘keep an eye on’ some you just have to trust because of your lack of knowledge and expertise.

Have reasonable expectations and be very clear on what you want. Build a relationship it’s should be respectful and two way.

I have had customers that are total arses, come in expecting trouble, very rude and demanding with obvious mistrust which isn’t based on previous experience with our business. All garages will have had customers like this... my advice if you cannot quickly get them on side then don’t do business because what ever you do won’t be enough.

Also be careful of going straight to your salesman for service, repair and warranty work... they will have an invested relationship and will by pass the service desk and cause all sorts of issues in doing this, from over promising to putting unfair pressure on the workshop, taking technicians off a booked in job that might require a lot of concentration ‘too just’ put a bulb in this waiting customers car... where the salesman said to the customer it will be a five minute job but didn’t know it’s a bumper off job etc... the salesman is wrong as well as the customer for knowingly trying to avoid the booking system as it didn’t suit them 🤦‍♂️ No one wins, the booked in customer can be delayed in their pick up time or something doesn’t go right with their work because of the distraction, technicians lose breaks which can hurt performance and quality, waiting customer doesn’t get the ‘5 minute’ head lamp bulb change or promising they could collect their ‘new’ car ‘tomorrow’ with out checking with the workshop, the list goes on.

As the master tech then foreman and and on to service manage I had to let customers down either those that had their work delayed, or turning away the cue jumper and telling the sales staff they are in the wrong for sidestepping the workshop processes.

Remember a lot of salespersons are focused on money and will in my experience over promise at every opportunity.

I run a tyre dealership and it is amazing how many lease cars with full dealer service history come in for new tyres and it is obviously the first time the wheels have been taken off. I am "sure" that there is some requirement in service schedules to remove wheels to clean/inspect brakes when a vehicle is in a main dealer, I know there is when we do servicing. 2010 3.6TDV8 Stornoway Grey/ Black interior - gone
2005 4.4V8 (M62) Bonatti Grey/ Parchment interior - gone
1998 4.6HSE Blue/ Cream interior (can't remember exact colours) - gone
1977 White - gone (should have kept)

A lot of car models now don’t ask for the wheels to be taken off, it reduces service costs and then the lease cost.

years ago some cars used to require wheels off as part of the service some didn’t, depended on the manufacturer and model.

Cleaning or stripping brakes hasn’t been a service item for many, many years. Most servicing is ‘light touch’ visual checks.

From memory servicing started moving away from wheels off in the late 90’s for many marques

For most cars the first time the wheels come off will be for a tyre change.

And this my point... people’s expectations don’t match what is actually required

We used to get blamed regularly for loosing locking wheel nut keys, a lot of the time we hadn’t removed the wheels also we had the dealer master key set so we didn’t have to search the car for the customers ‘secret’ hiding spot... we waisted to much time searching cars and calling the owner before this was available 🤦‍♂️

just an update since the service on my Fatty. The engine seems so much quieter (I already though it was quiet) and pick up seems more responsive too. not noticed MPG increase but over all much quieter, i can only think the last lot of oil was sub par or the wrong grade even cold start in the morning it does not seem to give that diesel clatter.
it might be a combination of oil service and new air filter (Already pointed out how bad the primary air filter was)

anyone offer any suggestions? 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone