Tuesday 31 July 2018

Cheap car hire in South West London & other ways of reducing servicing costs



moved to
https://shoekeeping.wordpress.com/2018/07/31/cheap-car-hire-in-south-west-london-other-ways-of-reducing-servicing-costs/


This year, I own a car as well as sharing one, and feel like a grown-up.

Other people say this about having children. Well, cars are better behaved than children and I make mine work entirely on the rent scene to make money, which is legal for cars but probably not for children.. Here is the proof: a cheap car hire in South West London SW14 8BP near East Sheen, which is a road called Avenue Gardens. If you check the price it's probably cheaper than car hire from a garage- a price in the thirties per day.. Hiyacar's calendar only shows on the smartphone versions of their site but the web version has a search function that knows what day the car is available.

Car club or car hire in South West London, East Sheen, Richmond on Thames
  • There was a link to Easycar but they were like a budget airline to deal-with, and wound-down. Turo of the USA and Drivy Getaround of the US and France can both insure car trips in the UK. If you want this car via Drivy Getaround, just let me know and I'll re-activate the listing for the day you want.
Small 4 door

hatchback

automatic with fabric seats

built-in radio, bluetooth, and miles per gallon estimate which usually says over 48


split rear seats

similar to a car club with a remote controlled key safe and low daily rates, but no membership fee

As the miles mount-up on my mum's ex-runabout I realize what a careful choice she made in getting one of those three-cylinder Toyota / Peugeot / Citroen 5-door hatchbacks with zero car tax and next to no maintenance. I also realize that other people do a thing called car servicing and I made a list of some of the servicing and MOT prices people pay. If you rent a car, you don't have to bother; there is no catch. If you own a car you have to think of something.

In theory, each car servicing deal deal comes with its own list of points covered, and nearly all of them are "check", as in "check steering gators".  I had to google what steering gators are, but remember from my car maintenance adult education class circa 1988 that there were timing belts to check, timing adjustment to fix at "top dead centre", and spark plugs to sandpaper and bend to the right distance between prongs, using a special booklet of metal sheets at different thicknesses. None of this is mentioned in the prices; it doesn't seem to be needed so much on modern cars, except perhaps as a way of getting money back from a below-price offer by upselling over-priced parts to a customer like new oil or spark plugs or wiper blades. Peugeot dealerships have the price list on a web site and it is several tenners for the smallest thing. Fifty quid to change the dust in the carpet. It's a rip-off.

As I chase bargains I realize that I chase something odd.

Other people chase something odd too. Other people look for the same genie and get caught-out when Servicingstop or Fixter offer MOT and services at less than the cost of collection and delivery that's part of the deal. Then Rogue Traders or the BBC or The Guardian do a report on how mechanics have over-charged for un-necessary work in order to make-up. They would, wouldn't they?  So do Halfords and Kwik-Fit according to threads on moneysavingexpert.

Then I look for mechanics on Dealzippy and Groupon willing to stamp a service document and clear my conscience about safety checks, when all they have done is "check". I think that if the car is well checked, then I can get it done by a mechanic or do a DIY job if it is the sort of thing you see in a Haynes manual. Even the minimum MOT list is mainly "check". A bit like the routine for checking fire extinguishers in which landlords are meant to check that a fire extinguisher has water in it by lifting to check weight, and tick paper; that's all. Or those Portable Appliance Checks that big organisations do on the kettle plug, to say that it has been inspected by a qualified kettle plug inspector.

Most of the car checks are simple and simply mean "look at and tick". This in a private place, without witnesses, and without time to do the job carefully, money to employ the best mechanic, or a video to get proof of doing it. Really, what I'm chasing is a garage with a postal address and a rubber stamp that says "serviced", rather than a mechanic, and even that small overhead costs money. I don't want to pay what it costs, so I scheme about going-in with the car and supplying my own spares and somehow hoping that a mechanic can check the car, pay for a garage building and stamp my MOT and service record for next to nothing while paying commission to Motoreasy or Groupon and maybe even collecting the car. Motoreasy are cheap on MOT but expensive for servicing so I guess that's how they make-up. Maybe the service garages on Groupon can just stamp the service record for what they earn, while repeating the MOT safety check.

The system is not all glum. A lot of people pay about £168 - call it £170 - to an independent garage for MOT and service (according to The Guardian in 2014 quoting whocanfixmycar) plus any vital repairs and parts, and it's too much to pay but there is a living in it for good independent garage mechanics. If you leave your own oil, filter, wiper blade and brake pads in the car they can't over-charge you for using their own if they decide to do the work.

Bookmygarage.com lists prices from independent garages. They don't charge the garage a referral fee for the service - they charge the garage a £170 monthly subscription - so there's less incentive for a garage to get cheapskates for a one-off rip-off and more incentive to try to get repeat customers. They can also put the details online because they loose no referral fee by putting it all in public. But £170 is still an amount of money. For me, it's about eight days' car hire for a car hired two days a week. For a garage that services several cars a month, that's one car's takings used-up just to pay for the listing and they probably pay for other directories and referral agents as well, such as Whocanfixmycar who charge the garage £10 for referral and £60 for listing.

Here is my solution. Suppose someone makes a car pit and stand in a public place, and allows anyone to drive their car onto it and see the steering gators from underneath, maybe in some way that allows them to wobble the wheels to check for looseness, and turn them to check for brake tightness and squeeze the be brake pads to check thin-ness as well as checking of tyre tread for thin-ness. And puts a poster on a wall saying what has to be checked for MOT and servicing. And provides some automated way of logging on to car diagnostic systems to that, quite often, the driver can double-check what they see on dashboard lights against results on some app like Torque or whatever. And allows any checks to be recorded on camera for free in some public archive that renters and buyers can see if they want for free.

The solution would make the checking process record-able and do-able for the cost of the time for someone with the right kind of skills. For about half the population, or something like that.  A lot of skilled people who are rich in money but poor in time would continue to use garages for MOT and servicing, maybe paying for collection and delivery, but those with general skills and middling money and middling free time could do the work themselves. A lot of other people are poor in skill or health. They might have a lot of trouble parking in the right place and using the robots and sticking to the facts, but the public place and the chance of asking passers-by to help or to walk-past and learn as a by-stander would all help - it would be a free first guide to car servicing for any teenager who wanted to study further.

There is a lot of detail to be worked-out. When I google things like "mobile car service trailer", I don't see the thing in my mind; I see a scissor-lift on a trailer, but I am sure the problems are solvable. I suppose that breaking and car tread could be checked by a robot for example. Once the problems are solved, all that is needed is for a Ministry of Transport delegate to sign the MOT for - what price? - £20? £10? Maybe changing the oil for something filtered from the last similar car. That would be a decent service at a decent price.

Oh there is an even simpler system. If the government MOT website did the same as Bookmygarage.com, that would save £170 a month out of your local garages costs, but I am not sure if government ministers and civil servants are the best people to do it.

27 comments:

  1. If you are looking for a positive lending experience I would recommend Le_Meridian Funding Service. It is surprisingly easy to receive a debt help. You will be treated with respect and professionalism Because they helped me with loan too @ 1.9% ROI. Email Contact..lfdsloans@lemeridianfds.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really Liked the information you have provided. I have an article relaed to it. I was searching about it on the internet and I found an amazing article on iFixit Site. The provided Article was about a site that provides working modded android apps. The name of the site was “Fineapkapps”. The Article was very halpful, You should read that. Click Here to reach that amazing article: iFixit Modified Apps Site.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is your wallet balance not showing up in Binance? You never know what sort of error come up in your account and hamper your work at the extreme. To deal with balance-related issues, feel free to dial Binance support number to get help from the nimble professionals. The professionals will not only solve your issue but also provide errorless solutions to you to Binance Support Number get your problems fixed on your own. They address users query with positivity and provide numerous solutions on the spot so that users can pick up the easiest one to erase problems instantly.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is your Blockchain account got blocked? Are you confronting errors and glitches because of this problem? Are you unable to open your account? Well, so many errors and only one solution can fix them all in the first place. You can be Blockchain Support NUmber relaxed and dial Blockchain customer support number which is the medium to forward your queries to the team of professionals. The team is always active and no matter what, how hard the error would be, they will always be at your service and fix that error immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gemini registration process includes personal information and users get into an error while following the process. Such kind of issues is out of the reach of general traders as they don’t know how to get them fixed. But, there is one solution to end all such issues in the first place. All you have to do is dial Gemini support number and avail all the Gemini Support Number solutions and answers from the team of professionals who is always there to assist you. Enjoy Gemini services smoothly and hassle-free with the assistance of professionals.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is your email address not active in the Gemini account? If you want to verify your email address and register it with the Gemini account, you can take help from the team of skilled professionals who is there to fix your queries. You have to contact the customer team which is functional and can be reached by calling on Gemini phone number which is functional all the time for guidance. Connect with the team and avail solution related to queries.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice post Thanks for sharing.

    Smart Servicing Centre is the UK’s fastest growing platform that connects car owners for their car servicing, maintenance and repairs needs to the Country’s best Mechanics and Trusted Garages. Smart service centre
    Book Car Repairs

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice post, thanks for sharing information about chauffeur hire London. The service reducing tips are very handy.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Are you facing error while sending the bitcoin from the Blockchain account? Bitcoin is the most popular coin among users and Blockchain provides the best platform for users for bitcoin-trading. If you are unable to carry forward the bitcoin sending process and needs solutions, you can always call on Blockchain phone number which is functional all Blockchain Support NUmber the time for help and the team is ready to assist you in every possible way. Contact the team who is always there to support you anytime for availing fruitful results.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Are you facing error while sending the bitcoin from the Blockchain account? Bitcoin is the most popular coin among users and Blockchain provides the best platform for users for bitcoin-trading. If you are unable to carry forward the bitcoin sending process and needs solutions, Blockchain Support NUmber you can always call on Blockchain phone number which is functional all the time for help and the team is ready to assist you in every possible way. Contact the team who is always there to support you anytime for availing fruitful results.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Are you facing trouble in withdrawing forked coins in the Trezor account? Troubles like this exist in users account all the time and due to less awareness, they are unable to cope up with it and get in trouble. If you’re looking for solutions to deal with such queries all at once, you can always call on Trezor support phone number which is all the time functional. Talk to the team anytime for quality and result-oriented solutions from the professionals in no time. The team is always at your service and you can talk to the team members regarding your trouble.
    Trezor Customer Support Number
    Trezor Support Phone Number
    Trezor Toll Free Number

    ReplyDelete
  12. Are you facing trouble in withdrawing forked coins in the Binance account? Troubles like this exist in users account all the time and due to less awareness, they are unable to cope up with it and get in trouble. If you’re looking for solutions to deal with such queries all at once, you can always call on Binance phone number which is all the time functional. Talk to the team Binance Customer Support Number anytime for quality and result-oriented solutions from the professionals in no time. The team is always at your service and you can talk to the team members regarding your trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  13. thanks for this best article and valauble post

    satta results

    ReplyDelete
  14. you shared very informative post about cheap car hire in London. Please share same informative content about Luxury Chauffeur Service London as well. it would be highly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will share some more information about personal car rental app. Please keep sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Are you in to create Binance account to start trading on the crypto platform? Binance exchange is popular for providing access to 90 coins and other features. If you don’t have its process guide and don’t know how to create an account, Binance Customer Service Number you can directly contact with the team of elite professionals who are there to assist. Make a Call on Binance customer care number which is functional and put your query in front of the professionals who are there to guide you. You can contact them anytime for availing solutions that turn out to be productive.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hacking attempts are surely a big nightmares for traders who have funds and confidential information stored in their Blockchain and . Though Blockchain customer service number provides endless security measures such as 2fa but still hackers due to advanced methods attack users account and steal information. If you don’t know Blockchain Customer Service Number how to deal with all kind of troubles and need support from the experts, you have come to the right place. You can always call on Blockchain phone number which is functional and the team is ready to support you at any time. The team is always at your premises to help you out the moment you contact them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This one of a kind blog is truly intriguing what's more redirecting. I have found helluva convenient counsel out of it. I advertisement love to return again and again. Much obliged!



    satta result gali satta disawar result satta matka satta king satta satta chart disawar satta result gali satta result gali result

    ReplyDelete
  19. Unable to carry forward the 1-877-846-2817 Binance verification process? Binance ID verification is a lengthy process and requires proper steps to be followed to deal with all bummers. Binance Customer Service Number You have to ensure that you are using the right photograph and handle all the requirements correctly. In case, if you need any assistance, you can directly contact with the team via Binance customer service number which is functional and the team is ready to assist so that you don’t get into any trouble while working on the exchange.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey Nice Blog!!! Thank you for sharing information. Wonderful blog & good post.Its really helpful for me, waiting for a more new post. Keep Blogging!
    bookkeeping services in barking

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi.....
    Since we prioritize the quality for rental car solutions, we are good enough to be justified as the most favourable and Cheap Rental Car Company in London Famous Car Hire Company London Primal Hire enables you to have the top quality and appreciably convenient ride to the other end while ensuring the low fuel costs. With all our effort, we are trying to make it easy for you to get associated with us in order to have an astoundingly favourable rental car deal.
    You can get the more information then click here Epson Klantenservice Telefoonnummer

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think this is among the most important info for me. And i’m glad reading your article.
    webcare360

    ReplyDelete
  23. i am a fan of most us tv shows like Oprah and Ellen, i really enjoy watching tv shows
    offshoreservers.net

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nice post and informative article you have shared with us thanks for sharing. Bookkeeping services Singapore

    ReplyDelete