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Second car at this garage. The Countryman pulls up the hill without fuss and the fuel economy has inched up. A follow-up call a few days later was exactly the aftersale support I wanted.

The EGR fault made the Volkswagen feel thick, then it stumbled on the hill and hunted for a gear it did not need. Warm idle was a rattle. Sorted. Pull is even, the idle is even, and the rise onto the main road is one ratio. I am placing it in gaps without the old pause. Dead chuffed. Fuel on the steady run has held, and the car is less tiring, which I notice when I get in the house rather than when I am looking at a figure. That is drivability, plainly.

The DPF warning and the AdBlue countdown had become the week’s entertainment, and not the good kind. Any hard hill, especially loaded, set at least one of them off. Finished. The Mercedes climbs in the gear I am already in, a bottle lasts a proper interval, and I have taken the spare one out of the boot. The cruise needs less foot. Overjoyed. I trust it for a long run now, which I did not when every trip started with a look at the lamps. Six weeks of a clear dash. I have stopped the morning inspection.

Back with another car. The V60 pulls up the hill by the roundabout and the fuel economy is no worse for it. Their aftersale support was a call to check the first long journey.

A full boot used to mean a downchange, sometimes two, on the hill out of our road. It does not. The mid-range just absorbs the weight, and the throttle in the close is cleaner rather than snatchy. I have done the school run every day since and it has stayed civil. On the bypass there is enough in reserve that joining is not a hope. Chuffed to bits. We watched the fuel over a fortnight of the usual miles and it has not gone the wrong way. The car feels lighter. I did not think a family hatch could change that much without becoming silly.

Third van I have had mapped at this garage, after two Transits that both did high miles. The new Custom pulls up the hill by the industrial estate with a full load, which the last one only managed once it had been remapped. Fuel economy on the lighter days has improved, and even the heavy days are no thirstier than before. I had a rattle after a fortnight and assumed the worst. They told me to bring it straight in, traced it to a loose heat shield, and sent me off without a charge. The remap was never in doubt after that. Aftersale support like that is why the keys keep going back to the same place.

Reception was great on a day when I was early and flustered. They sat me down, knew the registration, and did not make me tell the story twice. Nobody sighed. I drove the BMW home over the moon. It holds seventh on a rise that always kicked it down, the mid-range makes a pass shorter, and it has not gone jumpy in traffic. A week of the same hill and I have stopped bracing for it. Left fair made up. The desk was as considered as the work, which is why the whole visit felt straightforward.

Short journeys had killed the DPF cycle and the light was a fixture, with limp mode waiting on the hill. They got one regeneration to complete and proved it before I left. No warning since, no smoke, and the climb to work is dull again, thankfully. The Ford is cleaner in town as well. Couldn't be happier. I have done a month of the little hops that used to ruin it, school runs and shops, and the lamp has stayed off. That is the test, not a single long blast.

Not the first car I have taken in. The Q5 pulls up hills with less effort and the fuel economy on the dual carriageway has picked up. They emailed afterwards and left the door open if I wanted anything adjusted.

They did my father's Jaguar and then my A6, so this was never a first visit. The long hill on the way home is where the old map felt short of breath. This one pulls, stays in gear, and still feels quiet. I kept a note of the fuel economy for six weeks of commuting and it is up by enough to notice on a fill-up. I went back once because I wanted the throttle a touch softer in town. They changed it while I waited and told me to do a week and ring if I wanted the stronger setting back. I left it as they set it. That aftersale support, and already knowing how they looked after the last car, is the whole reason I am still a customer.

There is usable torque where there used to be a pause, the sort you feel between junctions rather than on a poster. The hill after the roundabout used to take two downchanges with people and bags aboard. It walks up. On the motorway I am not feeding it to hold speed in a headwind. We have done the same weekend trips and the car feels less busy, which the passengers noticed before I pointed it out. Spot on. I came back the long way the first evening just to be sure, and I was sure before I was halfway.

EGR issues had the Audi flat in exactly the rev range I use, then breathless when the road went up. It would stumble off a roundabout and recover too late. With those issues gone it pulls the hill and stops hesitating. I am changing down less on the B-roads and holding speed with less foot. Dead chuffed. A fortnight of the commute and the fuel figure has not gone backwards, which was the worry I did not say out loud. Traffic is less tiring. I notice that at the end of the day more than I notice the power.

I took the works Transporter there two summers ago and went back with my own Superb. Both times the thing I wanted was the hill on the edge of town, fully loaded, without it dropping a gear. This one pulls up it. Fuel economy on the empty motorway runs has ticked up, which helps. A light flickered on after a long wet drive and I rang them rather than guessing. They knew the registration, had me in the next day, and found a loose connection that had nothing to do with the file. No charge, no fuss. I have already told them the next van will be booked in there as well.

The first drive home told me enough, and the week after confirmed it. Earlier torque, no downchange on the usual hill, and a throttle that meets you instead of thinking about it. I was braced for something sharp around town and did not get it. The Friday run was the proof: lazier cruise, climbs that stayed in gear, and I got in less tired. Grinning like a fool. It still feels like my car. I just do not have to manage it, which is a bigger change than it sounds when you say it out loud.

The DPF light and an AdBlue fault were taking turns in the BMW, and any climb with people aboard set them off. I was topping up constantly and still seeing a countdown. Both have left the stage. It pulls the hill, a bottle lasts, and the cruise is calmer. Fuel on the usual loop is slightly better. Buzzing. I had a clear dash for the whole of the last month, which I checked every morning out of superstition and then stopped checking. The car is driveable. That is the review.

Second car I have taken to them. The C220 pulls up hills more cleanly and the fuel economy on the commute has improved. A quick call the week after was all the aftersale support I needed.

He did an amazing job. The Volkswagen came back pulling like it had been built that way, hills included, and it still trickles through town. I have towed with it since. The lane that used to howl is a steady pull, and empty it cruises instead of striving. Fuel on the light days has crept the right way. Highly chuffed. He explained what he was doing without the hard sell, and the road agreed with the sheet. I have already told two people, which I do not usually bother to do.

There is a big tank of fish in reception and they are properly interesting, not an afterthought. I watched them instead of my phone and lost track of time, a proper shoal with something always moving. The drive afterwards matched them for life. Earlier pull, the hill onto the dual carriageway done without a downchange, and a cruise that barely needs a toe. Class. I came for the car and stayed for the tank, then grinned all the way home because the mid-range was actually there. I would book again for both reasons.

They remapped a BMW for me in 2018 and I took this X3 in without shopping around. The climb on the A-road is the journey I do twice a week, and it used to feel breathless with people in the back. It pulls up that hill properly now. I reset the fuel economy display and, over a month of mixed driving, it is slightly better than the figure I was seeing before the remap. I sent them a note because the car felt a bit sharp first thing. They answered the same day, invited me back, and softened the bottom end of the file while I waited. Good aftersale support is rare enough that I notice it, and it is the reason this garage gets every car I run.

DPF limp mode on a loaded hill is a rotten way to start a round, and it had become a Monday habit. They got a regeneration finished and the warning has stayed off through the short hops that used to kill it. The Ford keeps its speed, does not hunt, and pulls out of the yard cleanly. I am not planning the gradient. Well chuffed. The smoke on pull-away has gone as well, which the lads noticed before I mentioned it. A working van that does not argue is the whole job.