Festive Opening Hours for Maitland Motors

We are taking some much deserved time off over the coming weeks to relax and spend with our families. You can see our opening hours below. We’d also like to wish our fantastic customers and supporters a very Merry Christmas and hope its as festive as possible all things considered. We are already taking bookings for 2021, so if you’d like to make a booking for any of your vehicle needs call the office, leave a comment below or email us – maitlandmotors@gmail.com. Now, to eat, drink and be merry! Merry Christmas!

December Training for Maitland Motors

Last week Ross travelled down to Newcastle to undertake training with automotive industry expect, Andy Savva, The Garage Inspector. This was a brilliant opportunity for inspiration, support and more importantly, advice on how we can improve our service and the garage.

Ross on training with Addy Savva
Ross getting a selfie with Addy Savva

The two day course was jammed packed with info from a fellow technician who’s been in Ross shoes, starting and running his own successful independent car garage from starch . Ross came back to the workshop buzzing and bursting with ideas that, once implemented, will streamline our service, improve garage efficiency and give you a much more professional experience with Maitland Motors.

Ross’ 3 top take aways from the course were:

  • Communication is key. From initial booking in with us gaining as much information as possible from you, to then relaying it to Dale and Saun in the workshop, to contacting our valued customers with updates, prices and managing expectations.
  • Knowing our strengths and weakness. So that on the rare occasion that a car requires knowledge or tools we don’t process, recommending other trusted members of trade who can get the job done quicker.
  • Customers are the most valuable part of the our business, without there’d be no Maitland Motors and is why we want to better our self and offerings.

Well done Ross on gaining 4 new certificates including, Effective Leadership & Quality Management Essentials, Financial Understanding Essentials for the Garage Business, Marketing Essentials for the Garage Business and Customer Excellence & Reception Management Essentials.

We strive to offer excellent customer service and feel it helps to sets us apart from other small, independent garages. Watch this space for loads improvements coming in time for 2021.

If you have any questions and would like to know more about how Maitland Motors can help you and your vehicle, call the office or leave a comment below.

When should you visit Maitland Motors?

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times here at Maitland Motors – “Prevention is always better than cure, especially when it comes to cars”. A few ways to ensure your car is running effectively, legally and more importantly safely is by keeping up to date with your car’s service schedule, getting any knocks, bangs or squeaks checked and being MOT ready.

Yearly Service. Your service schedule can be found in your own car’s manual where it will detail exactly when your make & model should be looked at, this is often age/ mileage dependant. Some times your car will require a full service, but the next visit it may just need an oil and filter change. By following this, it will help keep your car running to manufacture’s spec, prolong the many different parts of your car (meaning less repairs, less often), and nip any potential unknown issues in the bud. We’ve also put together a basic yearly schedule when you ideally should see us.

Your Basic Car Maintenance Schedule
Basic Yearly Maintenance from Maitland Motors

Get Noises Checked as soon as they start. Most of our common repairs that come from noises being checked are drop-links, track rod ends and ball joints. Nipping them in the bud stops the repair developing into far more serious issues, which will be more expensive to repair. Squeals could also mean your brakes are needing checked. If your car is making new and unusual noises, it may be a good chance to book in for a FREE Vehicle Health Check at the same time and get your car as a whole looked over.

Get MOT ready. (Especially if your car was given a Lockdown extension as it could be 18 months since your car last saw a technician.) Booking in prior to your MOT means we can spot and repair any potential MOT fails. Saving you time, money and being without your car for any retests.

To help take some of the stress away from car care and maintenance, we also offer a (limited) Pick Up and Collect Service from your home or place of work and Payment Assist where you can split your bill fee and interest free for any unexpected repairs (very handy at this time of year). Ask for more details when booking.

If you have any questions or would like to book in for a Service, Health Check or Pre-MOT then please email us or call the office. Ross and the team are always happy to help.

5 reasons to book your car into Maitland Motors

At Maitland Motors, we are commit to proving wrong the poor reputation that the auto repair industry has. Below are reasons why you can trust that your car is in good hands with Ross and our team.

  1. Highly rated and recommended. We have many fantastic customer reviews where you can see for yourself what our customers think of us. Being members of the Good Garage Scheme, we have been awarded feedback of the week twice and are highly rated on both Facebook and Google. Most people come to us after being recommended by friends or family, which to us, is the highest form of good feedback when someone outside the garage gives us their recommendation.
  2. Try before you buy. We offer a, no obligation, Free Vehicle Health Check where you can try before you buy. This is when we get your car up on a ramp and visually inspect it for any obvious maintenance, repairs or issues. This gives you the chance to come meet us, see where the garage is and ask any questions you might have. When it comes to the bill, all our estimates and invoices come broken down so you know exactly what you are paying for. If your car is booked in with us and any additional work is needed or the job is going to cost more than previously advised we will seek out your authority before going ahead, giving you a full breakdown of what’s involved, the benefits and costs. We aim to be open and honest when it comes to pricing and charging our work.
  3. Experience and knowledge. With over 21 years of experience in the trade, Ross is very knowledgeable when it comes to looking after your car. His CV includes working with the big dealers to independent garages giving him in-depth and various experience of the industry. He also qualified at the top of his class winning apprentice of the year with Fife College and is still very aware that educating himself is key to improving our customer service. In an industry that is rapidly changing Ross is still going on training courses to help keep up with the advancing technologies, repair procedures and innovating tools. Alongside Ross, the Maitland Motors team is very hardworking and committed to repairing your car to a high standard with our very talented technician Dale and our up and coming apprentice, Saun. Maitland Motors itself is fast approaching 5 years in business growing from a 1 ramp unit to a much bigger workshop with 3 members of staff in that time. We have lots of exciting plans for the future to help offer our customers an even better, productive, and modern service.
  4. We only fit OE quality parts. We feel very strongly about using good OE quality parts. When it comes to cars prevention is better than cure and by using quality parts over cheaper ones, you’ll find you’re replacing the same parts less often. They often come with better guarantees and are more reliable. We are proud to be a Pagid/IMI Professionally Accredited Brake Specialist (who offer a 25 months/ 25,000 mile guarantee on their pads and discs) and are also proud to use brands such as Mann, Shell and Forte.
  5. We are here to help you. Which is why we offer a limited pick up and drop off service from your home or place of work. Spread the cost of your bill, fee and interest free with payment plans from Payment Assist. We also offer a Maitland Motors courtesy car which you can rent from a few hours to a few days to help you go about your daily life while your car is in with us. Call the office for more details.

If you have any questions about booking in and how we can help look after your car, DM us, leave a comment below or call Christine in the office.