A quick trip to the car doctor, and the Focus runs again.

When I wrote the last blog about my Focus, it was just after it had been silently rolled into a space in the local garage. The good news, it has been restored to full health having had four valves replaced and various oily bits inspected and fettled. With a new lease of life, it's gone back to brilliantly filling the role of being solid and dependable, and oddly rattley from the exhaust. Must get that checked.

The thing that struck me about the experience though, was just how lacklustre it all was. Let me explain...

In the great garage hierarchy, you have the following:

• Specialists. Beloved by their customers, revered on internet forums, and reasonably priced for how much they know about their particular niche. People will travel a long way to see them. At the weekends they run racing cars for a laugh.
• Dealers. £100/hr palaces of shiny floors, free tea and coffee and aspirational lifestyle magazines. Maybe you go there for the warranty or the peace of mind, or because you feel like you can't talk to a greasy spanner monkey.
• Chains. You know the ones. Some big, some small, a hint of corporateness and customer service, but only a copy of Auto Trader from 2006 to pass the time while your tyres are swapped.
• Local garages. The cheapest option, usually do a good job but lack any sort of sophistication. Plus hard to split the good from the bad. Customer service? What customer service?

Finding a good, trustworthy local garage is like trying to find a good hairdresser. Somewhere that does a good job, at a good price, and that you don't worry about going to. All garages have their flaws, but why do so many of the local garages struggle with customer service?

"Ah," you say, "this is just proof that you get what you pay for!" You would have a point, but customer service isn't expensive. It's a skill, sure, but for an industry where word of mouth is so important, why wouldn't you do it? It's not even anything fancy, just a good website, courtesy calls if work is delayed, confirmation of the work to be done, and estimates for cost and delivery date. Keep people informed, keep them happy.

If you do good work, at a good price, why fall down on the last 10%? Given my experience of garages, it'll probably move you into the top 10% of spanner houses!

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