Dear NL forumites,

I have a toyota carina II which I have used for 4 years. I need to love-vendor these baby. It is my only personal car my other car (honda civic) is an official ride. If you know a good auto body repair and painting workshop pls let me know through sms (08033160107) or e-mail: gracepoint4ladies@yahoo.com

We are an Abuja based independent car repair and servicing centre and we offer free technical advice to the general public on automotive related issues. We also offer every service you could imagine from a car repair garage, from car servicing, mechanical and electrical diagnostics and repairs, clutch, exhaust and suspension repairs through to ECU fault code reading and diagnostics. We have the latest state of the art tools for dianostics right up to dealer levels including special tools for carrying out extensive repairs. We also have an international network of vehicle spare parts suppliers and we deliver to your door within a week of ordering.

Whatever it is that you need, we ensure that you recieve an excellent service from all of our staff. We have friendly and courteous staff, who are dedicated to ensuring our customer service standards are of the highest levels at all times. Over the years we have developed an excellent reputation with our clients for the quality of our service, along with our competitive prices.

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Accept it or not that neither the roadside mechanic or the ultra-modern service centre are the best options available to any motorist here in Nigeria. To begin with, the roadside mechanic is limited in capacity to work on most modern vehicles that are still original in their composition. The advancement in automotive technology and science always proves a difficult challenge for them as they lack adequate education and training in current automotive technology.

Most cars on the road these days have complex electronics such as micro processors that instruct the functions of components and accesories found in cars. Due to these method of operations, diagnostic equipments had to be invented to enable communication with control units in order to ascertain their well-being and carry out repairs in a safe and economical manner. Most road side mechanics lack the ability to use these equipments talk less of owning even the most basic ones nor the right tools for the job. They would proceed to work on any car even when they havent got the foggest idea on what to do. (Afterall it doesnt cost anything to say to the victim that the car couldnt be fixed).

On the other hand, since comming back to Nigeria after living and working in the UK for over 12 years and where I have an MOT centre and an automotive service and repair centre, I have had a look at a huge number of cars and 4x4s that have defied even the most modern garages in Nigeria from fixing them. It really beggars belief that these major companies rip off hapless Nigerians through heavy sign up fees and very expensive labour charges without doing the job well or if at all solving the problems.

One car I had a look at was a 2008 model Mercedes GL450 with airmatic suspension problems. The car belongs to an ex governor so I dont believe that repair costs was an issue. This car had been to several major companies with this problem only for the wrong diagnosis to be made and the car still leaning on its side. New pump, new valve block, new suspension airbags and God knows what else, but the problem remained. The owner had given up on his pride and joy until after almost six moths of it sitting in another glorified roadside workshop, I was invited to have a look at it. I took it into my workshop and did a detailed analysis and check on the operation of the system only to discover that no one ever noticed a leak on the compressor to valve block pipe. I temporarily mended the pipe so that I could test the car and like a miracle, everything was fine. I then ordered a new pipe from the United tates and replaced the mended one and fingers crossed, its getting to 8 months now and no complain yet.

How dumb could these mechanics be not notice a simple hiss?

Bottom line is dont surrender your car to anyone who is not competent enough to fix it. How do you know this?, Ask them as many questions as you can on what may be the problem and judge from their explanations if they know what they are talking about.

Good luck.

Aduje,

I'm really sorry I dont know any reliable body shop in Lagos that could possibly handle your car well and do a good job> But I would make some enquiries and will let you know as soon as I locate someone dependable.

All the best.