Ivydene Garage, Ashford, Kent
The family-run Ivydene Garage has been in its current premises on a small industrial estate in Ashford, Kent, since 1999 and has been a Bosch service centre for 32 years.
It was established in 1981 by Peter Shearcroft, who now works there parttime and is in the process of handing over control of the business to manager Keith Mccrudden. As well as Keith and Peter, the workshop employs foreman Will Lofting, mechanic John Nicholsonwray and apprentice Joshua Bird, with administration handled by Kate Shearcroft and Jackie Long. The garage is ideally located for parts delivery from all the major main dealers, with TPS, Euro Car Parts, Motor Parts Direct and AJS all within easy delivery range.
Having expanded twice in its history, the garage is hoping to move to even larger premises in the near future, in order to accommodate another ramp to help cope with the growing network of customers. The aim is to have a dedicated diagnostics bay where more complex problems such
as programming body control modules can take place using dealer-level equipment. At present the company’s kit includes Bosch KTS, Picoscope, Autel Maxisys MS908, Snap-on Modus Edge and Launch, and the workshop keeps up-to-date with the latest specifications using Autodata.
Keith has completed part one of the hybrid testing course, so the company will soon have full qualifications to work on hybrid vehicles. They also hope to extend their range to cover full EV vehicles in the future.
Along with the expansion of the workshop, Ivydene intend to improve its online presence in the coming months. Although the company does have a website, Keith would like to increase their presence in other social media.
Both Peter and Keith have been in the trade since leaving school. Keith’s inspiration came from his grandad, with whom he built kit cars as a child. He knew he wanted to continue on this path professionally and did a three-year college course after leaving school, before starting work at Ivydene. Although expanding the diagnostic side of the business is his priority, Keith still enjoys working on older vehicles, especially classic Volkswagens. His personal fleet includes a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle, a VW Golf R32 and a VW Transporter.
Keith said that one of the most intense jobs he has undertaken was replacing the twin turbos on a VW Touareg. Another big job completed recently was a chassis change on a Range Rover Sport. With the complexity of wiring on modern vehicles, such major projects can quickly eat up workshop time.
On the day I visited, the workshop was fully booked with MOTS. In addition, a 2003 Audi TT was in for a replacement timing chain and exchange transfer box, while a VW Transporter was awaiting MOT repairs and a Toyota Aygo required a service and replacement indicator stalk. There were even two military vehicles in for servicing and winch repairs.
The labour rate at Ivydene is £60 per hour, but to remain competitive they do work at a special rate when servicing. Keith is proud to say that they will beat the main dealers’ service prices, but still carry out a more thorough job.
One of Keith’s biggest frustrations is trying to explain to customers what they are getting for their money. The average customer has little idea of the experience and background knowledge required to rectify more complex problems. This is made worse by anyone being able to buy a cheap code reader and check for fault codes. As CM readers know, things aren’t always that simple and the presence of a fault code doesn’t always give the full picture of a problem.
Another issue is the increasing need to pay a fee to get access to the correct software to fix a specific issue, coupled with the fact that many new vehicles no longer have a service book, but are instead registered online with the dealer.
One of Keith’s biggest concerns is that the long-life service intervals on modern vehicles are only possible if a good quality oil is used, which is not something that is fully understood by motorists. Then there’s the issue of customer-supplied parts. Keith has to explain that no warranty can be applied to the job unless Ivydene supplies the parts to ensure they are using quality products.