Jacks Garage of Ladbroke Grove - highly recommended

Hello,

Just had some work done on my MK2 Golf GTI by Jacks Garage, Ladbroke Grove, London. They advertise as specializing in VW campers, but they were excellent with my Golf. I would recommend them.

Cheers,

 

What kind of stuff do they do?

 

They advertise as doing everything from Engine and gearbox rebuilds, bodywork etc; not sure how much they actually do in house and how much they use suppliers for. Whilst I was there they were respraying an old beetle, I had them do timing belt kit plus full engine check on mine. Hope this helps

 

What's a 'full engine check'?

Sounds like the kind of thing a conscientious garage would do to check the health of your engine - timing, compression test, gas analysis, leakdown, coolant pressure & sniffer, oil, etc. On the other hand, an unscrupulous one might rev the engine a bit, wipe the rocker cover with an oily rag, tell you it needs some work that you want to pay for, and charge you 100 for the 'diagnostics'.

 

The engine check - That was my term for it to be honest. They checked compression per cylinder, oil pressure, charging voltage, and did the timing, and then produced a list of what to keep an eye on/what could do with being done - for example, I was already aware that it dribbles very tiny amounts of oil (can see from the rocker cover gasket) and I have to top it up with coolant occasionally. Their report gave me a list of root causes - ranging from some which will set me back a few quid, to some I know that I am capable of.

I agreed a price for the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, and thermostat before taking it in. They didn't charge me any extra for the the report, and replaced the aux belts for me at no extra cost too. When I picked it up they had washed the car too.

Cheers,

 

Sounds like impeccable service. How did you come across them?

 

I think I just searched 'VW specialists London', or might have been 'Classic VW specialist London' on google, and browsed through, shortlisted a few I liked the look of and called for quotes.

 

Sounds like a decent old school garage. How much did they charge you for the cambelt job?

 

Hi - charged 370 (excluding VAT) for the lot. Forgot to mention - they also renewed the crank oil seal and one of the pulley oil seals too. Have to admit that I didn't know for 100% how competitive that price was, but my mums 02 plate Polo was a similar price at a place in the midlands for the same work, so I was happy.

She runs like an absolute dream now (apart from the water getting through the scuttle which I am fixing this weekend)!! lol