Servicing Stop1 reviews

Little things that turned sour 20 April 2026

brake fluid, an auxiliary belt, an engine flush for carbon and apparently a fuel treatment had been tacked on too. I said fine, get on with it, because I trusted them and it felt like the sensible thing to do. The car came back. I was using my bike so didn’t drive the car straight away, and a week or two later when I did switch it on a service message flashed up — 390 miles to go. That didn’t sit right, so I rang them and they agreed to reset it. I took the car back and the bloke there pointed out the rear pads needed doing. Why hadn’t that been picked up during a proper service? They offered a £20 refund for the hassle and sounded apologetic, which is something, but it made me wonder what else was missed. I got an independent mechanic in to have a look. He raised eyebrows at the pricing straight away. He said an auxiliary belt including labour should be at most about £150, but I’d been charged over £320. Brake fluid renewal should be nearer £100, I’d been billed about £167. The engine/fuel treatment stuff, which again seemed unnecessary, was charged at over £160 when it shouldn’t have been anything like that. Those numbers aren’t tiny differences — they’re more than double in places. My independent then actually changed the rear pads and discs and checked the brake fluid nipple, which hadn’t been touched in ages, so clearly the fluid hadn’t been properly replaced despite the invoice. He tested the boiling point of the fluid; new fluid was up around 271C, mine was down at 227C, and I’d only done a few hundred miles since the service — so the degradation didn’t add up. On the up side, the garage I used previously had always been reasonable and the whole collection/drop-off thing here really does work and saved me a lot of time, so I’m glad for that convenience. Also, after I raised the issue the garage were apologetic and agreed to sort the brake fluid properly, which I’m grateful for — at least they’re fixing what they missed. What annoyed me more was being fobbed off when I emailed about the charges; someone suggested I get a BMW quote to compare, which felt like passing the buck. If I wanted BMW prices I’d have gone there; I asked them to compare with independent rates. So, lesson learned: the doorstep pickup is handy and they’ll sort things eventually, but keep your wits about you and don’t let them add “extras” without a proper explanation. I’ll take the car somewhere else next time unless they can clearly justify the prices. Overall relieved they’re fixing it, but wary enough to be honest — check everything and insist they show you what they did.