PMM is celebrating 25 years in the trade by visiting as many fantastic garages across the UK as possible.
Hertfordshire Vehicle Services
21 Fiddlebridge Ln, Hatfield AL10 0SP
Hi Matt, tell us about the location
I’ve been here about five years now after being a mobile mechanic before that. This came up for grabs after the last lot set the place on fire. We would like a bigger place but most landlords just hear the words “motor trade” and don’t want to hear any more.
The parking situation is a massive headache for me. It’s so tight-knit that the woman across the road even came over once to tell us she can hear us from her back garden, she loved it because we’re always laughing and having fun… she became a customer after that!
Do you specialise in anything?
I was considering going down the road of PSA vehicles, because we seem to get a lot of those with AdBlue faults. I try to avoid the big four-wheel drives as well because of the lack of space. It’s about what you don’t do as well what you do do. Which I’m not great at because I just go “yeah go on then bring it down” and the minute I’m finished I tell myself “never again!”.
EVs, yay or nay?
Yeah, I’ve done the first two levels, but not three and four yet. It’s getting the space and the tooling which is the problem for me.
Any nightmare jobs?
Say you’ve got a battery drain, parasitic draw. That’s great if you’ve got a corner of the workshop where you can hook the vehicle up, have all the doors open and it can sit there for however long you need it. I can’t do that here. If it’s sat there doing nothing, you can’t charge the customer by the hour while the car’s sitting there… And if it’s sat there, I can’t get anything else in or out. And if it’s outside and it starts to rain, it’s a nightmare!
What are you favourite jobs to take on?
We do a lot of DPF work, we enjoy doing that. We do lots of clutches, cambelts, servicing, the run-of-the-mill stuff and diagnostic work.
MOTs?
We take them but use my business partner’s MOT station in Welwyn Garden. We try and limit them to two a day.
What labour rates do you charge?
75, 90 including VAT. We’re not the dearest, we’re not the cheapest. You’ve got to take into account the demographic that you’re working in. Some say you should be focussing on your BMWs and Audis, but there aren’t too many of those driving down Fiddlebridge Lane.
Do you accept customer supplied parts?
I try really hard not to do that. We have a couple of traders that might order the parts instead of us. We’ve just done an engine change for a trader and I told him to order it. If we put an engine in and it’s no good, that’s down to me because technically I’ve ordered it. If you’ve ordered it and it’s no good, that’s your issue.
Have you had any apprentices here?
No, I’m probably not patient enough.
What diagnostic equipment do you use?
Right so we have got Bosch KTS, we’ve got Topdon, we have Otofix, we have VCDS, and we also have Snap-On, Autel, Picoscope and Opus IVS.
What is your take on welt belts?
Awful, well they’re good for us aren’t they? Not great for the customer though.
On a Friday afternoon, what’s playing on the radio?
Well if Wojciech my technician is about we end up listening to a lot of Polish radio, which does start to get on your nerves after a while!
Have you picked up any polish?
I know Piwo is beer.
Lastly Matt, if you could have any celebrity come in here right now with their engine management light on, who would it be?
Gordon Ramsey would be quite funny wouldn’t he? My brother passed a guy in the petrol station filling up his Ferrari and said to him “I’m glad I’m not the one paying to fill that”, it was only then that he realised it was Gordon Ramsey who replied “yeah, it’s a f**king nightmare!”
