Mr L's Vexed Vivaro

Hello faithful readers it has been another busy week here at KAM as we take on those dreaded car gremlins. We hope everyone is enjoying the summer holidays, hopefully the parents aren’t pulling their hair out and the kids are behaving themselves. Here at KAM our boys are hard at work every day ensuring that your cars are kept fault free for the surprisingly summery summer.

For more go to www.facebook.com/kamservicing

    I would like to take this opportunity to let all of our faithful readers know that there will be a few changes to our newsletter. Due to KAM’s continued commitment to move with the times we will no longer be appearing in the weekly newspaper column. But alas this is not the end for the KAM team as we will still be posting our weekly adventures here on our blog.

  In an effort to reach more of the online community we will be releasing the newsletter exclusively online and we hope you will all join us. I, like many of you are a little sceptical of blogs and such but we have found an easily accessible platform from which we can bring you all the latest KAM news and developments.

We hope to build on our current success and look forward to seeing where the KAM Servicing Empire will expand to. We hope you are all along for the ride. So thank you to all of you who have been our faithful readers and we will see you in the 21^st century... (Don’t worry I’ve been ensured that ‘The Terminator’ may have got it wrong)

 

    This week’s diagnostic dilemma comes courtesy of Mr L, who visited our Sawley depot this past Sunday. Mr L, a painter, had been experiencing some problems with his Vauxhall Vivaro van and through a recommendation had landed on our door step. He was due at work on Monday and so was especially happy that we were open on his one day of.

“Hi Dr Kev.  My mum said you can fix any problem and my van is full of them! Please say you can fix it today.” The problem at hand was an appearance of the EML (engine management light), plus repetitive stalling and the van cutting out intermittently when Mr D was driving.

Mr L bought in his Vauxhall Vivaro

“I don’t know what’s going on with it - I have to travel to people’s houses for work and this is not making it easy”. Mr L was forthcoming with all the van’s details and history. “I took it to a local garage recently for an oil and filter change. The price was too good to turn down but I’m wishing I hadn’t now.”

   It turned out that mere minutes after leaving the garage, the EML had appeared and so the stalling began. Mr L returned to the garage to explain the problem but they were unable to help as they did not have the equipment to deal with any major diagnostic jobs. “They were a tyre, exhaust and lubrication centre and they said that I would need to go to a garage to fix the problem!” 

   So not only was Mr L left out of pocket he now had a faulty car with further repairs and more expenditure pending. We assured Mr L that we would only charge for necessary repairs and that the costs would be kept low. ‘Handy Andy’ got straight to work and hooked the car up to our state of the art diagnostic machines awaiting the results. After just 10 minutes he returned to the reception.

 

 

Handy Andy with his state of the art diagnostic machine..

“I’ve got it Kev.” It so transpired that the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve was stuck open causing a vacuum leak. This leak resulted in the car stalling and cutting out as well as the appearance of the EML. The EGR valve helps the car to burn fuel efficiently by recirculating a portion of your exhaust and running it through the combustion process again.

Andy gave the EGR valve a thorough clean and placed it in the right position so that no more problems would occur. The EML needed a simple reset and then Tornado Tyla gave the van a good clean before a successful road test ensued. “We did it Kev. This van is back in the fast lane.” Andy said as he arrived back at the depot with a smile across his face.

Mr L arrived a short while later but was still a little sceptical as he had been let down by a garage previously so would need some extra assurance. He therefore embarked on another road test with yours truly and upon return was most complimentary.

“Wow Kev you boys definitely excel in all areas. The quality of repairs, customer service and especially price- KAM Servicing are the only garage I’ll be using from now on.  Thanks.”

Our Sawley Team are up for ther job!!

You can leave your comments, questions and queries at www.twitter.com/kamservicing and our Facebook at www.facebook.com/kamservicing

Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hardworking staff at the branches in Sutton, Long Eaton, Bulwell, Beeston, Belper and Stapleford along with our bodywork shop are open every day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley and Heanor workshops are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.

So until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.

Dr Kev.

KAM beats London prices to save Mr M hundreds

Hello faithful readers, this week has been another hectic week at KAM as we welcome more and more of your cars into our workshops. The boys at KAM have been taking on your request for the ‘holiday checks’ I recommended last week. Remember if you are going away in your car make sure to bring your car into KAM so we can keep you and your family safe. We will check all levels, tyres and brakes and you can have a fun filled holiday with no risk of breaking down. Another thing to consider in this erratic weather is the air conditioning and we here at KAM are offering free air conditioning checks so make sure to come down and take advantage of our great prices.

   

Now not only was last week busy for the KAM team but it has also been a busy week for Nottingham and Derby with the arrival of the Olympic torch. We have had the privilege of seeing some of Nottingham and Derby’s finest proudly represent our area by brandishing the historic flame. We here at KAM were lucky enough to see the runners and we had a great time cheering everyone on and experiencing the air of patriotism. With the Jubilee and now the Olympics we have been able to celebrate a lot this year and there is hopefully more to come with Andy Murray at Wimbledon, could this be his year?

 Now back to this week’s adventure it was Friday when we received a visit from Mr M who coincidentally arrived at our Beeston depot in yet another van. Here at Beeston we have seen an influx of van drivers recently and we welcome them all as we help to get our loyal customers back on the road. If you have a van that is in need of repair bring it down to KAM and we will get you back on the road in no time.

   On this particular day Mr M arrived in his Vauxhall Vivaro van and had come quite a long way to test the KAM boy’s services. “Hello Kev I have heard nothing but great things about you boys from my parents and they said I would not be sorry.” Mr M was from London and had been having problems with his van recently. He was a self-employed electrician and was back In Nottingham for the weekend to see his parents. It was on his father’s advice that he had bought his van down so that the KAM team could help him out. “Kev I have been told that the air conditioning condenser need replacing as well as new cam belts and apparently the water pump needs changing.” This was a scenario that the KAM team are used to. When another garage says that work needs to be done it usually means that they want to extract more money from you. Here at KAM we do the correct testing and only undertake the necessary work. Mr M also added: “Kev I have been quoted over £1500 for the work and I just think even for London that is extortionate. I also need the van back for Sunday please say you can help.”

We assured Mr M that we would find and fix any faults that lay within his car and that we would do it a price that he would be happy with. We were also shocked at the estimated price as it seemed very high for the parts needed.  He was then whisked away in one of our courtesy cars and we had a deadline so we got straight to work.

Diagnostic Dan got to work and started to rigorously test the van to see where the problems lay. After a short while the infamous words rang out “I’ve got it Kev.” it was clear that the diagnosis had been correct and that we would need to replace the air conditioning condenser, replace the cam belt and the water pump would need to be changed. However we were certain that it would not cost £1500.

Dan called up our fantastic suppliers and the parts arrived promptly and Dan used his military style precision to ensure that the van was put back together properly. “We did it Kev. This car is in perfect condition, and at a fraction of the cost he’d been quoted.”

Mr M arrived later and was ecstatic to have his van back in such a short amount of time and was even happier at the price of the repairs. “Wow Kev I am so glad I decided to come to the KAM team. You are kings among men and I can’t believe your repairs were nearly half the price I was quoted. I’ll definitely be back.”   

 You can leave your comments, questions and queries at www.twitter.com/dr_kev and on our blog at www.drkev-kam.blogspot.com and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kamservicing.   Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Sutton, Long Eaton, Bulwell, Beeston and Belper along with our bodywork shop are open every day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley and Heanor workshops are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.

So until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.

Dr.Kev.