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Daniel, Peter and all at PMW, Where do I start? I guess I’ll tell the whole story! At 31 years old and on my fifth BMW I can’t believe it has taken me so long to find you! Having been messed around previously by a major BMW dealership I knew it was time to consider other options. I was introduced to your firm by a friend that owns an E90 M3 and was impressed by your service. In the same week, another friend recommended you. Two recommendations in one week, it had to be a sign. Both could not speak highly enough of your attitude, professionalism and end product. Time to call!…………… I originally spoke to Jayne who was warm, friendly and personable. I was passed to Peter and immediately knew that my car was going to PMW and nowhere else. Car rental was arranged and so when I dropped the car off, I had a car to drive away with and with minimum fuss. Having been dealing with main dealerships for so long, I predicted a call either at the end of the first day it was in the garage or the next morning. So, it came as a surprise to hear from Peter whilst I was driving home, some 30 minutes to an hour after I had dropped the car off. Peter knew there were things I personally wanted to do to the car, but suggested we prioritise works in order to mitigate the total costs. Hang on a second… A car garage worrying about MY money? This was getting too good to be true, surely. By the end of the first day, Peter had pointed out issues which he felt needed attention and we agreed to start works, costs were made clear before a spanner had been picked up. Whilst in the garage, I never had to call to find out what stage the repairs were at, I was always called and kept updated. Again, in stark contrast to my usual dealings with BMW dealerships. I picked my car up a few days later and Peter asked if I wanted to drive the car with him. I was just amazed that he was willing to take 5 minutes out of his day to make sure I was satisfied. Every garage should do it, but it really made it clear to me that PMW care about their clients. They care about their reputation and it shows in everything they do. The car was a dream, it just drove beautifully. A few days after the service, I booked the car into a BMW dealership to get the alloys re-furbed and a dent taken out. Having just been serviced by PWM, I only wanted aesthetic work done. So it came as a surprise when they called me (a day later!) to say the diff seals and gearbox seals needed replacing. Alarm bells ringing. Firstly, why are they checking mechanics when I didn’t ask for this, and secondly did PMW not do this work? I called Peter and he confirmed the seals were changed so back on the phone to BMW. I asked the BMW dealership what gave them the impression this work needed doing and they pointed to oil residue. I asked them if they had actually checked the seals and they hadn’t. After inspecting again, they (BMW) admitted the work had already been done and that they would have charged me for work that already been carried out. What a f******g liberty. I asked BMW not to look at my car anymore and to carry out the works I originally asked them to do. I have lost all faith in them, they really should be taking a leaf out of PMW’s book. The car was in the garage for three days for this work and I was called twice. Owning a business myself, my feelings are that any business shows it true colours when things go wrong, not when they are going smoothly. This leads to chapter two!………. Two weeks later, the car came up with a transmission fault whilst my wife was driving home. Straight on the phone to Daniel. Daniel agreed a tow would be best so as not to cause anymore issues and said he would arrange this immediately. He called me back within 15 minutes and the car was collected within the hour. Unbelievably efficient.The fault was found that day; a faulty pin in the transmission electrical plug. No bullshit, no messing around. An apology and the problem fixed within 24 hours. The entire situation was dealt with perfectly.I really cannot sing your praises enough PMW. I can only try to put into words how impressed I am and have been with your service, communication and the overall experience. Even my wife smiles like a Cheshire cat now and has asked me not to change cars as I usually do every 12 months. My Wife! Someone who just does not care about cars. So, not only have you made my car drive like a dream and made me the happiest car owner in London but you’ve also managed to make the wife happy as well, that deserves a bonus point.All my staff are bringing their cars to you (as you know). If I meet anyone in the street that owns a BMW, will be sending them you way, PMW are just on a different level. You are in a league of your own.Genuinely, keep up the amazing work Guys & thank you very , very much for everything. My car will not be going anywhere else in future, even if I moved abroad!Though I guess that’ll be a good excuse for a long drive?
Hi just wanted to leave some feedback to say thanks for dealing with my request
for swirl flap blanks so quickly. I ordered these at 12pm and they were with me
in the Western Isles before 11am the next morning! I needed to ask for some
advice when putting everything back together which I was given immediately over
the phone. All in all, a fantastic company which offered a customer service
level that was second to none!
Thank You!
After a bodged repair by a local London garage to my swirl flaps and deep concerns about my 2001 BMW 530D Touring I consulted Peter from pmwltd about the condition of my car. My regular mechanic whom I have known for 20 years simply took out my swirl flaps and replaced the shafts with bolts. This at some time later, only (900 miles) caused an ingestion into the chamber and ruined my piston and valves and looked like a very time consuming and costly repair. After completion I took my car to peter at pmw and discussed the works. He had his guys strip out the existing bolts that were very unprofessional and replaced with his swirl flap blanking plates. Now I have heard a lot about these plates and swirl flap damage and I can tell you as an ex AA Patrol man that if not done correctly as Peter has done you will cause serious damage to your beloved engine. This is a guy with a great team and a wealth of knowledge behind them who know their stuff, not your usual bit mechanic who ”
knows a bit about engines”. I drove down from Lewisham London to his workshops in Chelmsford and it only took an hour and was easy to get to. If I was you I would call them for your piece of mind because you know like I do that you don’t want just anyone tinkering with your pride and joy. Its worth the drive knowing your car is in safe and knowledgeable hands at pmw. He,s not a rip off either, he is a very reasonable honest mechanic and cheaper than the main dealers out there. Thanks peter.
From the Mayor of London’s most recent transport plan it looks like the inherent can’t-win dynamic that lies at the core of the congestion charging concept is starting to cause some mild frustration to say the least. The situation is simple: Boris’s budgets are facing a serious shortfall, while congestion in the country’s economic heart looks set to rise unacceptably by 2020 despite the introduction of more buses, cycling routes and all the other measures that Johnson had planned. So Boris needs to raise some extra cash from somewhere, and also to think of additional measures to reduce jams and pollution: surely a congestion charge plan should be considered a godsend in such a situation?
Well, in theory it certainly is - but for one major, and very simple, obstacle: it is generally a very unpopular measure, and ultimately populist politicians like Johnson quite like to give the people what they want. It is this inherent unpopularity of the scheme that seems very difficult to surmount, despite the fact that almost all motorists who oppose the charge would probably also recognise that a problem with congestion and pollution needs tackling, and soon.
Herein lies the key problem - that while we generally tend to acknowledge that something needs to be done, we are dogmatically opposed to any solution that really tests our commitment beyond mere lip service. In other words; we uncompromisingly recognise the necessity of a solution, but only if someone else can pay for it.
Edinburgh and Manchester’s recent public rejection of a congestion charge scheme illustrates exactly where we are on the public perception of such schemes (Manchester voted nearly 4 to 1 against for example). Therefore though Boris publicly seems unwilling to make any concessions to expanding congestion charging schemes, his transport strategy hints that such a choice represents actually quite a sensible option, but in the end it is all quite irrelevant until a more pressing concern is tackled: that of public support for such a programme. After all, what’s the point in forcing through a measure which will then last only a year or two before the next populist Mayor comes in to repeal it (just as Johnson did to Ken Livingstone)?
Ultimately the real challenge that both Johnson’s office, and the government, must recognise is that far more public discussion and information on our cities’ transport situations is required. At this point we currently face a situation where there lies a great disparity between the knowledge contained in specialists’ reports on the challenges we must tackle, and the public’s level of access to such info in more digestible formats. Until we can rectify this we will always shoot ourselves in the foot by shackling the options available to politicians by virtue of our own unwillingness to understand that no workable and viable transport arrangement can ever come either easy, or cheap.
Dejan Levi
Boris Johnson, congestion charges, Dejan Levi, London transport, public transport, TfL
Petrol prices have fallen in recent weeks just as quickly as they rose throughout the early part of 2008. Suddenly I find myself seeing the current price of 94p a litre (an average for Liverpool) and thinking - what a bargain… Considering that only a couple of months ago we were often paying near to £1.20/l, this is quite a significant reduction (yet remember how we all complained when petrol first broke the 90p barrier?)
But one worry I have is that after speculating about reduced numbers of car journeys, no more congestion problems, fewer accidents and tackling pollution while petrol was expensive - we will now simply revert to using our cars just as much as before now that petrol is cheaper. Was all that talk really just short-lived hot air - and have our chances of solving these problems been made significantly slimmer by falling petrol prices?
Well ultimately in these times of economic hardship anything that helps people balance their household budgets and avoid problems of debt and repossesion is a good thing. There is no doubt that the falling petrol prices will provide at least some economic relief - though objectively speaking the savings are unlikley to be significant when taken in the context of escalating mortgage payments, food prices and all the rest of it.
In short; the petrol cuts will make us feel economically better - but won’t actually provide a way out. They will however communicate to the public that the government is pro-active and engaged in alleviating the crisis (petrol is one of the economic benchposts that is disproportionately visible and important to consumers - in other words a symbolic marker of how the general economic situation is doing). By no means is this the sole motivation for the government’s action on petrol prices - but it certainly is a relevant aspect.
Regardless, the point is that for many who switched to public transport in the days of the £1.20 litre, the car will now once more seem like a viable option. It is too early to have accurate data on motoring habits as a result of the price falls, but it will surely emerge in coming weeks. My guess is that we will see a rise in congestion, accidents and pollution - and yet as someone who also ditched the car for the train I find myself thinking; was using the train that much more inconvenient?
The answer for me is; no, and for this reason I’m going to keep pretending that petrol still costs £1.20 (maybe even £1.60 on the chilly and wet days when the walk to the station looks really unattractive), for the simple reason that for a few months at least I saw just how easy it is to alter one’s transport habits for the benefit of the environment. With cheaper petrol prices I might not now save quite as much money as I did then - but since the inconvenience is minimal (and I get more exercise) I figure why stop? In fact I’m off right now to renew my monthly train pass… see you there?
Dejan Levi
There has been a good deal of opposition to the proposals currently under review to introduce a congestion charge in Manchester city centre during rush hour peak times. There has been significant support too for the charge, and as someone who will be voting in the current referendum on the topic, I thought I’d try to find out a little bit more about the scheme.
Firstly, the charging scheme would be far smaller than the London congestion charge - it would only apply during peak times and only in the direction of the congestion - and would not come in until around 2013, when an adequate degree of improvements to public transport have been introduced.
The charging zones would be split up into an inner and outer ring (the inner one being more expensive to enter in the morning) and would encompass the area inside the M60 - but not the actual M60 itself. The peak times (during which charging would apply) are from 7-9.30am and 4-6.30pm, with charges being levied on inbound journeys in the morning and outbound ones in the afternoon.
Discounts and exemptions will be offered for example to blue badge holders, those making frequent trips to hospitals, minimum wage workers (for the first 2 years) and others - for a full list of who would qualify for what degree of discount see the GM transport website.
The whole reason why the undertaking is being proposed in the first place is that, as anyone who lives or works in the area can tell you, Manchester faces serious congestion issues, especially at peak times. Whatsmore the congestion is not confined solely to the roads but is also a problem on public transport systems - notably buses and trains which can suffer from serious overcrowding. With the introduction of the scheme the plan is to solve both problems with one solution - as the city will then qualify for a huge cash injection from central government (via the Transport Innovation Fund) to help improve public transport services and reduce pollution.
Having looked at the map of the proposed charging area I am not suprised to see that my home is right in the centre of the inner ring, meaning I am likely to encounter the charges at some point (though probably not every day as it is only in crossing the boundary that the charges would be incurred). It is estimated that the amount payed by the average motorist will be £3, though for ones who drive during both peak windows it could be as high as £6.
Taxi drivers and other such services will naturally be granted an exemption, but what pizza delivery drivers will do for example I’m not sure (maybe the cost of a 12″ Margarita is going to absorb the blow?)
Ultimately the point is that the congestion charge represents a financially viable solution to the city’s transport problem, and even the scheme’s detractors cannot come up with a viable alternative. Manchester’s Oxford Road is daily swarming with endless streams of buses and yet most are still quite crowded at most times of the day. We urgently need a huge cash boost in order to promote public transport into the being the cheaper, quicker, cleaner and better way to travel - rather than being some form of second class transport, somehow inferior to sitting in the comfort of one’s own car.
If this is to be done the money must come from somewhere - and the TIF is at the moment the best option for it. In addition the problem of road congestion has only one other solution; lane expansion, which would represent an environmentally blind approach to the problem maybe buying us a couple of years at best. Reducing the number of car journeys is hence the only way out.
Those who feel the scheme will unfairly make them more economically vulnerable and who anticipate serious disruption (rather than mere inconvenience) can still contact GM transport and let their concerns be known - if valid there is a chance the plans will be ammended to help. Put simply, Manchester’s transport situation must change and those that advocate a perpetuation of the status quo are sadly unwilling to face up to reality. I for one will not be one of them come the referendum in December…
Dejan Levi
green motoring, Manchester congestion charge, public transport, TIF
