After some bad experiences with local garages I was dubious when it came to Ferguslie Garage, a small outfit hidden away on a side street in the small village of Sandbank, but I have to say I've been impressed by the quality of service and the competency of the mechanics at this garage.
I took my car to them after hearing a scraping noise from the front passenger side wheel. It turns out that in the process of replacing a wheel bearing another garage managed to damage the large metal bracket that holds the wheel in place. I was told that it would be an expensive part to replace and would likely cost several hundred pounds (indeed, the part alone costs £300 from the cheapest supplier). As you can imagine, I was not pleased and given my track record with local garages my initial thought was "here we go again".
Not so. The owner of the garage quickly advised me that I could find the part very cheaply online. He was right. I found a suitable part for just £22, direct from a breaker's yard. I showed him the part and he confirmed that it was right. I then contacted the breaker's yard and was told that they can't ship to my address - it seems that Dunoon is classed as the Scottish Highlands despite being just 30 miles from Glasgow. The owner of Ferguslie Garage leapt to my rescue again, offering to let me ship the part to his address on the other side of the water.
Result - a job that should have cost in the region of £350-£400 cost me just £65.
Since then I've taken the car back to Ferguslie Garage on three separate occasions. On each occasion they've performed the work quickly and competently and the cost of the service has been very reasonable. On one occasion there was an issue that persisted after they completed their repairs. It wasn't their fault, but even so they took the car back the next day and put it right free of charge.
After being burned one too many times I'm reluctant to say that I trust any garage completely, but Ferguslie Garage has gone a long way to restoring my faith in an industry that seems to be dominated by scam artists and cowboys. The owner seems willing to go the extra mile to help his customers and his staff are both polite and knowledgeable. If you are in the Dunoon area and need work done on your car, Ferguslie Garage would be my recommendation. read more