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From the Workshop

Case studies from the bench — what came in, what we found, what it cost. Plus the odd honest rant about what we see out there. Customers anonymised, lessons shared.

All posts Case Study From the Workshop Guide
Case Study · Pre-purchase

The Passat We Told Our Customer to Walk Away From

2011 VW Passat 2.0 TDI

A pre-purchase inspection that paid for itself several hundred times over: tidy car, convincing seller, and an odometer that disagreed with the NCT record by 110,000 km.

Read the full story → 06 Jul 2026

 From the Workshop · Seasonal

Battery Season Is Coming — a Note From the Bench

Every year, the first cold snap kills a wave of batteries that had been quietly dying since summer. Here's how to know if yours is on the list.

Read the full story → 01 Jul 2026

 Case Study · Brakes

Grinding Brakes: How €180 Became €420 in Three Weeks

2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.5 dCi

The squeal started in May. The booking happened in June. By then the pads were gone and the discs were scrap — a worked example of why noises are cheaper early.

Read the full story → 25 Jun 2026

 Case Study · Servicing

The Timing Belt Gamble That (Just) Paid Off

2013 Škoda Octavia 1.6 TDI

Bought used with "full service history" but no proof the belt was ever done. We opened the cover — and found cracks across every tooth root.

Read the full story → 18 Jun 2026

 Case Study · Diagnostics

The €900 Clutch That Was a €65 Exhaust Mount

2012 Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D

A vibration at idle in gear, a quote for a clutch and flywheel elsewhere — and a ten-minute ramp inspection that found a snapped rubber mount instead.

Read the full story → 09 Jun 2026

 Case Study · NCT

One Bulb and a Beam-Setter: The €38 NCT Pass

2016 Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost

A pre-NCT check found the two most common fails in the country waiting to happen — fixed in twenty minutes, passed first time three days later.

Read the full story → 28 May 2026

 Case Study · Diagnostics

The Golf That Limped In Off the M7

2014 VW Golf 1.6 TDI

Limp mode, a glowing DPF light and a quote for a €1,200 filter from elsewhere. The actual fix was €140 — and a change of driving habits.

Read the full story → 14 May 2026

 From the Workshop · How we work

Why We Photograph Everything We Find

Every worn part, every leak, every seized bolt — photographed before we quote. Here's why that policy exists and why we'll never drop it.

Read the full story → 06 May 2026

Got a mystery noise of your own?

Every one of these stories started with someone booking in. Diagnostics with dealer-level equipment — quoted before we touch anything.

Book It In