Category Archives: workshop

Humbled by our customers response.

This was our first week back to work after having to close the business and furlough all the staff on the 31st March due to the Corona Virus and what a crazy week it has been.

In the middle of May I made the decision to re-open the garage on the 1st June and put this information on our website and social media platforms.

My initial plan was to only bring out a couple of members of the team from furlough until we had enough work to get everyone back at full pace.

The general response from our customers was amazing, we managed to fully book the first week of June within a couple of days by just using social media and e-mail, at this point I decided we would need the whole team back at work to cope with this work load so we started back on the 1st at 100%.

This was slightly worrying as in the back of my mind I thought we may just be busy for one week and then it would go quiet again and I would have to start furloughing staff again which I really didn’t want to do, how wrong was I.

Monday 1st June was our first day back and by the end of the day we had almost fully booked the following week! Once our customers had realised we were back they were booking in thick and fast, a few customers had been to other garages whilst we had been closed due to necessary repairs or break downs but then rebooked with us and wanted the work checking as they trusted our opinion implicitly.

I hope all businesses manage to return in the same way we have and start to get back to some kind of normality and hopefully get the economy rolling so we can start enjoying life again once this is all over

I would like to say a massive thank you to all of our customers new and old for sticking with us through these very hard and testing times, without whom this Covid19 pandemic may of finished Aarons Autos.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

How has the Corona Virus affected your business?

Covid19 aka the Corona Virus has affected businesses worldwide from small self employed cleaners to large multi million pound corporate companies, but how has it affected you so far?

Well here at Aarons Autos it has affected us massively!

When the lock down was announced at the beginning of March we made the decision to stay open, firstly to offer our services to key workers to help them stay on the road and do their jobs and secondly to try and help Aarons Autos ride out the possible rough times ahead.

We managed to do this quite successfully till around the 25th March but once the government announced the MOT extension scheme we lost between 30-40 booking over night! Causing us to question whether it was feasible to stay open.

In the last week of March it became apparent that it would not be feasible to stay open as we struggled to make the business pay, understandably customers were very hesitant to leave their homes to come to the garage if they didn’t have to.

The decision was made that I would keep the garage open on my own to offer our services to those important key workers and Furlough the rest of our team, but unfortunately after only doing three jobs in the first week of April this too was an unsustainable choice and I decided to Furlough myself too.

This was weird! Aarons Autos was established in 2004 and had never closed its doors for more than a week since then, so to close them now not knowing when or even if they would open again was a very strange and slightly disturbing feeling.

Once off work my concerns seemed to grow as I had nothing to do! Being furloughed as a Director of a Limited company is not easy, I was not allowed to do any work which could be seen to be promoting my business, I could only carry out basic Directors roles for example paying wages and paying VAT, this felt strange.

I applied for the Government grant offered to help small businesses cover their running costs whilst they were closed which I was accepted for and received promptly into my business bank account, this gave me a glimmer of hope as it would allow me to keep the garage closed for up to two months before it would start affecting me personally.

Sat at home for two months.

Once I felt the business was as safe, as it could be, we start a life unlike anything we have ever known. I have always worked, yes I have had holidays but nothing like this, Lock Down – you can’t go out, you can’t see your family, you can’t see your friends, you have to queue two metres apart to get essential food – this was strange.

Have I had the virus?

In early February I was very ill, I had a fever, a cough, struggled to breath and food had no taste. When I went to the Doctors they told me I had a mild case of Pneumonia, they gave me some antibiotics and sent me on my way. Once I had finished my course of antibiotics I felt no better, in fact I felt worse! I couldn’t sleep, every time I moved I would cough until I felt sick.

I spoke to the Doctors again and they told me it could take six to eight weeks for this to clear if it was Pneumonia, so i waited and it did, after seven weeks all I had left was a slight cough.

My question is, was this the Corona Virus? At no point was I told too quarantine or get a test done? If I had those symptoms now what would happen?

Anyway back to how the Conona Virus has affected my business. After two months of painting, gardening and sun bathing (my favourite bit) it was time to plan when to re-open Aarons Autos, even though some garages re-opened mid way through May I decided to hold till the 1st June. I didn’t want to re-open, have a busy week and then it goes quiet, and then have to contemplate furloughing my team again.

After deciding when to re-open we shared it on our website and our social media platforms and the response was quite overwhelming, our customers started to rebook work instantly allowing us start filling our diary and plan our return.

We have taken all the necessary safety precautions including installing a perspex barrier between customers and staff, supplying hand sanitizer and latex gloves and will be operating a 2 metre distancing rule where possible.

I know not everyone has had an easy ride, this virus has taken loved ones from us and affected us mentally and financially but we have to look forward, look to the future control what you can control and we should all get through this, this next year is uncertain but I plan to get through it and I hope you do to.

Re-opening on 1st June 2020 to the General Public.

We hope everyone is taking care and doing their best in this strange and worrying time. Trying to fight this Corona Virus is a bigger job than most of us initially thought but we do seem to be getting there and some of those business’s that were affected by Covid19 are starting to re-open.

Aarons Autos will be re-opening its doors as of the 1st June 2020 and once again be offering its excellent ‘Services’ to the general public and local business’s.

We are putting several measures in place to keep our customers and staff safe from the Corona Virus;

We are fitting a Perspex screen across the whole office counter which will have a small cut out for customers to pass keys through and for them to make payments (card payments are preferred but we will accept cash)
We will be enforcing a one customer in reception at a time rule and customers will not be able to wait in the reception area whilst large repairs are being carried out.
All customers vehicles will be wiped down with anti bacterial wipes pre and post work being carried out, technicians will wear gloves whenever possible.
We will be supplying small hand sanitiser bottles for customers and technicians to use after any transactions.
We ask that customers will leave out their ‘Locking Wheel Nut Keys‘ and ‘Service Books‘ where required so we do not have to search around the car trying to find them (reducing contact inside the car).

If you have any other worries or queries please don’t hesitate to contact us.

MOT’s have been extended, but we are urging customers to have their MOT’s carried out as soon as they possibly can (or feel safe enough to do so).

There are several reasons we are suggesting getting your MOT done sooner rather than later;

18 months is a long time for your car to go un-checked, if you had not had your car Serviced just before the ‘Lock Down’ and your MOT was due how do you know if your tyres, brakes or suspension are safe!
Garages are going to be inundated with MOT’s that are actually due on the date you want yours doing (12 month MOT’s) so imagine the difficulty for the garage to deal with double the amount of MOT’s, this is why we suggest contacting us early so we can spread out the work load.
Think of your local Garage. If NO MOT’s are carried out in April or May what will happen next year? Garages will have less work in those months and possibly struggle.

If you would like to book in for the first week of June please contact us by email info@aaronsautos.co.uk or our Facebook page ‘Aarons Autos Derby Ltd‘ if you would like to contact us after the 1st June just call us as normal between 8.30 – 5.00 and we will be happy to help.

Finally, stay safe and take care.

Emergency Work For ‘Key Workers’ Only.

Unfortunately as of the 1st April 2020 we will be closing our doors to the general public due to the Corona Virus (Covid-19) outbreak but will still be offering emergency work for all ‘Key Workers’ so if you are a ‘Key Worker’ and have an issue with your car which is affecting you working or getting to work please contact me directly by email at aaron@aaronsautos.co.uk or through our Facebook page messaging service and I will endeavour to do my best to help.

As for the governments six month extension on MOTs please keep in mind that in six months time when you need an MOT garage’s will already be dealing with MOTs that are due at that point so we are advising customers not to wait the full six months but to plan on getting their’s done as soon as we are out of this lock down, giving garages time to deal with the back log.

18 months from your last MOT is a long time, consider the condition of your car, is it road worthy? Is it safe? When was it last Serviced? The police are checking cars regularly and if your car is found to have any serious defects they are seizing your car!

As a Garage we are allowed to work through the lock down but are choosing to close due to the lack of work at this strange and worrying time, but if you wish to email or Facebook message me through Aaron’s Autos with your details I can get in touch with you the week before we come out of lock down to book in your MOT or any other work required so as to limit any disruption to YOU getting back to work.

Please remember to stay safe and do as much as you can to limit the spread of this Corona Virus (Covid-19). We will get through this.

Keeping You Moving During Covid 19.

Aarons Autos will still be open for business over this strange and worrying time and we are doing our very best to make sure when you visit the garage that we limit contact between ourselves and customers.

We are regularly cleaning the office work top, door handles and card machine to limit the chance of spreading this Corona virus and are advising customers to leave their cars with us rather than waiting.

Our technicians are using latex gloves where possible when driving customers cars to reduce contact between steering wheels and gear sticks.

We are offering a collection and delivery service to our elderly and high risk customers where they can leave their car keys in a pre arranged place (that they can see from inside their house) and making payment over the phone allowing us to collect and return cars with zero contact with the customer.

One of the main reasons we are staying open and not taking advantage of the Governments generous offer to pay 80% of our wages is for you, our customers. A lot of our customers are elderly, work for the NHS or other first line services and we understand the importance of having their cars safe and legal to enable them to carry on working and help us beat this Corona virus.

If you have any worries about your booking please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Mini Cooper S Timing Chain Fault.

We had a Mini cooper S come into us with several fault codes in its ECU (engine control module) relating to different faults and had no boost pressure until high revs when being driven.

Once we had cleared the codes and ran the car up to read some live data it was quite puzzling! we were still getting codes relating to boost pressure control, yet everything we checked seemed to be working as it should.

We checked boost pressure sensors, MAP sensors, MAF sensors, turbo actuator, boost pipes but we couldn’t find a fault with anything. After spending couple of hours checking all these items we decided we needed to check the timing of the engine which meant removing the rocker cover to allow access to the camshafts.

Once we removed the rocker cover we noticed something strange, the top timing chain guide was missing! the mounting bracket was still in place but the guide itself was missing.

On further inspection we noticed that the missing guide had broken off and dropped down in-between the timing chain cover and engine. we removed the broken guide and carried on with checking the engine timing.

When we fitted the engine timing tools we could see that the inlet camshaft was at least one tooth out of alignment. As we started to strip the engine to remove the timing chain and guides we noticed that as the top guide had been rattling around inside the timing chain cover it had caused damage to the other guides!

We removed the sump to check for any other debris from the damaged guides and found quite a few bits, one in particular had managed to wedge itself inside the oil pick up, luckily the gauze filter had stopped it being picked up and thrown around the internals of the engine.

After removing all the debris we fitted a new timing chain kit including new guides and a new tensioner, rebuilt the engine using new gaskets and seals where required and making sure that the engine timing was now correct.

Now that the engine was ready for testing we made sure all codes were cleared from the ECU and started the engine, so far so good, no codes had returned and the engine sounded a lot smoother.

Time for a road test to see if we had cured the boosting problem, the car drove faultlessly and had full boost from the off.

This just goes to show that you can’t rely on fault codes alone, the codes in this car had us chasing our tale for while until we decided to go back to the start and check basics.

What we presume had happened in this case is that the chain guide had broken dropping on top of the crank gear and jamming it enough to allow the chain to jump a tooth which in turn meant the engine timing was out causing our running fault.

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Top Again for Aarons Autos by Three Best Rated.

Dear Aarons Autos,
Congratulations! You are now listed as one of the Top 3 Car garages in Derby. We would like to Thank You for providing consistent high-quality service in your area of business. Our review team either approved or updated your business listing using our rigorous 50-Point Inspection which includes everything from checking reputation, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, nearness, trust, cost, and general excellence.

Three Best Rated® was created with a simple goal to find you the top 3 local businesses, professionals, restaurants, health care providers, etc., in your city. We display only businesses that are verified by our team since customers deserve only the best.

That’s not all… Businesses do not pay us to list them ever. You do not pay us for the listing at any time. We believe that local businesses provide better and personal services locally. Local businesses know your city better since they live there too. Our policy is free to list because if you can pay to list, then is it really the best business?

It has been an honour and a pleasure to work with you. Share this exciting news!

Cheers,
Melinda Crawford,
ThreeBestRated®

These are the emails we love to receive, and the best bit is we have no input what so ever, all the information comes from YOU! our customers. Click the Award to see the results.

We would like to say a massive thank you to all our customers new and old without your trust, feedback and reviews we would not be able to get the ratings we have.

“Thank You”

Aarons Autos car service garage.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Scared Drivers Avoiding Annual Servicing.

Number of misguided motorists that avoid servicing over cost fears is “alarming”

Half of UK drivers worry about unexpected car bills, survey finds

Millions of motorists are avoiding car maintenance over fears of unexpected problems, with many admitting that they avoid getting their car serviced in case vehicle faults are found.

Around half of UK drivers (47 per cent) worry about having to pay for unexpected car repairs.

The survey of 2,000 motorists also found that a quarter (24 per cent) of those who worry about unexpected problems say this uncertainty is putting them off getting their car serviced.

The research suggests that drivers are paying hundreds of pounds to pass an MOT, with five per cent paying £1,000 or more to get their vehicle through the test.

Further MOT analysis reveals that around 40 per cent of cars fail their MOT at the first attempt.

Lauren French, product manager at RAC MOT Assist, the company behind the research, said: “Clearly, taking a car in for a service or MOT can be a nerve-wracking experience with many drivers concerned about what might be uncovered, and the unpleasant financial consequences that can result.

“But it’s even more alarming that this experience is enough to put some people off getting their car serviced in the future.

“Just how many people are driving vehicles on the UK’s roads that they know have problems?

“The best advice to any driver is to keep on top of servicing and maintenance work – the quicker problems are identified, often the cheaper they are to remedy.”

“Spread your Servicing and MOT costs.”

Here at Aarons Autos we advise our customers to spread their servicing and MOT if cost is an issue, this way they can plan for the up-coming months.

If the car has any advisories on the MOT they can save money and have those carried out with a ‘Service’ six months later, and also if we find anything on the service they can save and have the work done when there MOT is due.

Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

Range Rover Rear Hub Bushes.

Range Rover Vogue Rear Hub Spherical Bushes.

This Range Rover came into us after failing its MOT on the rear hub lower spherical bushes having excessive movement.

Once we had removed the wheels and disconnected the lower suspension arms we could get a good look at the bushes and what we had to deal with.

The cir-clip that holds the bushes in place had completely rotted into the hub not allowing us to remove it in the conventional way, which meant we had to improvise!

range rover hub bearing — Cir-Clip rusted into the bush and hub.

As you can see from the above picture we had to grind into the bush until we reached what was left of the Cir-Clip to be able to remove it.

range rover swivel joint — Weaken the bush.

After grinding enough of the bush away to access and remove the Cir-Clip we cut into the side wall of the bush to make pressing it out easier.

Voila, bush pressed out using our bearing and bush pulling tool, hole cleaned up and greased ready for the new bush to be pressed into place.

Here you can see the bearing and bush pulling tool being used to press in the new bush, once the new bush is pressed in we just need to fit the new Cir-Clip and then begin the rebuild.

RANGE ROVER BUSH FITTED — New bush and Cir-Clip fitted.

New bush fitted and a new Cir-Clip fitted, after a quick rebuild the car was ready to go back to the customer for its MOT retest.

At Aarons Autos no job is to big or to small, we will en-devour to repair any car that comes through our doors.

Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info

Peugeot RCZ 1.6 THP 2011 stretched timing chain P0016.

Peugeot RCZ engine management light on Fault code P0016 and engine rattle.

We see quite a few Peugeot RCZ’s with engine management lights on and when diagnosed the fault code is P0016 Synchronization lack of coherence between engine speed sensor (crank sensor) and inlet camshaft sensor. This means that the engine is sensing that the timing of the vehicle engine is incorrect when running. The reason for this is that on this engine model (that is also fitted in the BMW MINI and other vehicles) the timing chain stretches due to either a mechanical component being worn, not being serviced regularly or low oil levels.

peugeot rcz timing chain aarons autos derby P0016

Peugeot RCZ 2012 fault code P0016

With the Diagnostic code read taken place we first remove the rocker cover and fit the engine timing pins to see how stretched the chain is but on this one we could see even with fitting the engine timing pins how far the chain had stretched.

Rocker cover removed with no timing pins fitted.

Having timed the crank and inserted the timing pin we went to time the cams and as you can see they were many teeth out. The two cam timing plates should meet together in the middle and both together.

Timing tool fitted showing how incorrect the timing was.

We removed the Chain and corrected the timing so that the new timing chain kit could be fitted.

Timing chain kit removed.

We always fit a brand new full timing chain kit that includes tensioner, chain, rocker cover gasket, guides, sprocket and VVT pulley.

All new parts fitted and timed up correctly.

With the new timing chain kit fitted and a oil and filter change completed the ecu was reset and the car ran allot quieter with no engine management light or code coming back on.

https://youtu.be/AkQTHUgsOSM Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info

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