I was just thinking about my experience with Baldoyle Auto Centre, and decided to write a review. I am from the USA (San Francisco) where auto repair can be rather, shall we say, predatory. Not in all cases, but in more than half, you're going to get gutted.
Imagine my trepidation on moving to Ireland, buying a used VW Polo and having a loud BANG emminate from the engine compartment, followed by the smell of burning rubber. I'm in country 3 weeks. Don't know Polos ("3 cylinders? You're kidding!"), don't know ANY auto repair I can trust.
Well, I had hired a carpenter who lived in Howth (near Baldoyle) all his life. He recommended Baldoyle Auto Centre. So I limped over there and threw myself on the mercy of the owner. I noticed his shop was clean and well-lighted. His workers were all very focused. No cigarettes. No shaved heads. No track suits. Hmmmm. The owner made a lot of eye contact in a way that led me to trust him. Sincerity is detectable. He said he could look at the car in a few days. He gave it a going over to make sure it was safe, then turned me loose. The problem was likely a broken spring. The car handled ok. The burning rubber smell was the serpentine belt, which had been crudely manhandled onto the car by a previous mechanic, damaging it. I returned in three days, the car was surrendered and I was kept abreast of the findings in the shop as work progressed. No unpleasant surprises. Broken spring. (replaced both sides at the same time. Minimal cost). Upper strut mount mangled, which caused the spring failure. Cheap fix. A bushing on the opposite side of the car required replacement. OK. Do it. And throw in a set of hubcaps because on Ireland's narrow roads, I had beaten the set on the car up pretty badly. Total cost: 400 euro. The car drives like new and the hubcaps helped with the cosmetics. Further, I was told that all the things that likely go wrong with Polos had now been fixed on this car, giving me peace of mind for the foreseeable future.
It is so difficult to find trustworthy auto repair facilities, so when you find one, you want to share it with your friends, and that's what I'm doing here and on the streets.
I later became aware of the amazing story of how Baldoyle Auto Centre came into being, but that's another subject. You can trust these people implicitly. What's THAT worth to you? read more
