North City Motors Tawa Ltd

I have no hesitation in recommending this business at all.

My car is running like a dream and the charges were reasonable, the advice invaluable."

We were experiencing ongoing electrical issues with a VW Golf we had recently bought from a dealer in Auckland.

Based on advice from a VW forum, we took it to North City Motors Tawa (NCM); The advice from the forum was that NCM was reliable, trustworthy and could fix difficult electrical problems on VW cars.

NCM identified a fuse box issue and error codes. A couple of weeks later NCM called and told us the car was fixed and ready… to pick up. They mentioned that the rear window switches and door locks would still need to be fixed but at a later date when the parts came in. I suggested leaving the car with them until everything was fixed. They said it was not an issue - we were safe to pick it up and use the car.

On pickup, I double checked this and was assured it was fine to take the car and they would call when the parts arrived in the next day or two.

Trusting this advice we took the car. The next day we realised the stereo wasn't working. I called NCM and they said 'we must have forgotten to plug it back in' after investigating the issues. Not a big thing but sloppy work.

After that, I didn’t hear anything for two weeks so I called and was told they had sent us two texts, but I had only received one. They said 'Our text system doesn't always work'. So why text me? And how long was it going to be before they got in contact? It was up to me to get in touch with them. Again, sloppy.

Communication with our contact was difficult. A man a few words. Lots of opinions about European cars but became mono-syllabic whenever I wanted actual answers. This was an issue throughout our dealings - it made things frustrating.

Unfortunately our car broke down again. We took it back and were told it 'could be a separate issue'. But they didn't know.

To cut a very long story sort, we had lost all confidence with the car due to ongoing issues. After several conversations with Citizen's Advice Bureau, with three separate advisors, each confirmed that under the Consumers Guarantee Act, we had a strong case to take our dealer to tribunal due to the ongoing issues.

As part of our prep for the tribunal, as evidence, we asked our contact at NCM if he would write a truthful letter detailing the issues with our car. He didn’t do this. However, at the tribunal, our dealer presented a letter from NCM stating that he ‘had told us that additional work was needed to fix the car’.

This was a massive twist of the truth. And, what garage gives a car back to the owner when it isn't fixed? And if he had told us that... why would we have taken it back, especially given its history?

Unfortunately, based on this evidence the tribunal rejected our claim stating 'we should have got everything fixed on the car that needed fixing' and we had to take the car back to NCM and do this.

On taking the car back, they identified two more issues with it, which were fixed. However, despite a couple of reminders to plug in our stereo, they forgot and needed reminding again. Again, very sloppy.

I went to pick up the car and to add insult to injury our contact said. 'You remember I told you this needed to be fixed'. I couldn’t believe his audacity.

The car broke down again several weeks later. NCM didn’t know what was wrong with it. We ended up taking it to another garage.

In conclusion:

* NCM are not the experts in diagnosing electric issues that we hoped they would be.

* Communication was poor and frustrating.

* Sloppy work.

* They are not trustworthy as they chose to side with the dealer and twist the facts. Why? My guess is trying to cover up their own incompetence and/or ensure their invoice was paid by the dealer...but that's just my opinion.

Regardless. I will NEVER use again."

He didn't inspect the brake pads properly (with a micrometer and compared to manufacturers specs) and suggested they needed replaced just because the pads were… low.

He also suggested the rear wheel cylinders should be replaced just because they were "old" (I bleed them every year) and the brake shoes were low

One of the torsion bars was slightly wound up higher than the other which is apparently $75 worth of work (takes me 10 minutes)

So in total, all it needed was the front brake pads and rear brake shoes and seatbelt.

Aftermarket prices for this totals to about $300 + three hours work. (maybe $500 for genuine parts)

Wheel alignment $70-$90 max

As a mechanic myself I would not recommend using this garage for work or warrant of finesses as he will fail you on things that don't need repaired to pass.(take it to VTNZ \or VINZ instead)

Not only that, he was very arrogant/unfriendly when i asked if it was alright to drop the oil while its up on the hoist for a quick oil+filter change (wasn't too big of a hassle to me as we have hoists at work anyway but that's not the point)

Pretty much the definition of a Cowboy and would not recommend going here"