Aycliffe Today Monthly | 11
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Gregg Little Testing Centre’s service specialist Richard Wilson at work
CAR NEGLECT
IS A FALSE ECONOMY
Staff at Gregg Little Testing Centre
are warning drivers against the
dangers of neglecting your car to save
cash after sending no less than five
cars to the scrap heap already this
year.
When every penny counts, and with
fuel bills rising, the family-run firm
understand the need to tighten belts
and prioritise when it comes to what
people spend their money on.
But the car specialists say neglecting
your motor, by skipping its annual or
bi-annual service, is a false economy,
and does more harm than good.
In a worrying statistic, Gregg Little
have already had to scrap five cars - all
less than 10-years-old - since the turn
of the year.
On all occasions, it has been as a
result of not servicing the vehicle,
causing terminal damage which has
meant the repair bill would cost more
than the value of the car itself.
Emma Little, Gregg’s daughter and
the firm’s business development
manager, told Aycliffe Today: “It’s not
nice when we have to tell customers
it’s going to be more economical to
scrap their car than repair it, but it’s
the honest thing to do.
“In some cases, we could have
repaired the cars, costing the
customers over a thousand pounds more than the cars were worth - but
that wouldn’t be right.
“We always do what’s best for our
customers. We’ll never look for work
that doesn’t need doing. But I can’t
stress enough how important it is
keep your car serviced, and that isn’t a
cheap plug to drum up business.
“We appreciate money is tight for
most people these days and the last
thing you want to do is spend money
on your car when the priority is paying
your bills and buying food, but it’s
heartbreaking to have to tell someone
to scrap their car, and we want to take
a preventative approach to servicing.
“In all these cases, regular servicing
would have prevented this from
happening, and with an annual service
costing less than £20 a month over
the course of 12 months, it really
makes financial sense to keep on top
of things.”
Gregg Little are offering free spring
health checks, and service specialist
Richard Wilson says even the smallest
of tasks can save your car.
“Even just checking your tyre
pressures could save you a lot of
money,” he said.
“When the pressure drops it
significantly increases wear to the
tyres, meaning they’ll have to be
changed more often. Also checking
the oil level regularly could save you
hundreds of pounds.
“There are lots of preventative
measures we can take that will save
drivers cash in the long run.”
Drivers who clock up an annual
mileage of 12,000 miles or less
generally only need to service their car
once a year, while drivers who do more
are also advised to have a half-service
done after six months.
Services start from £96 (including
VAT) while Gregg Little Testing
Centre also offer MOT and service
packages. Opening hours are 8am5.30pm Monday-Friday and 9am-2pm
Saturdays - call the team on 01325
321621 to make an appointment,
or call in at Unit 6, Leaside, Aycliffe
Business Park, DL5 6HX. Or visit their
website: www.gregglittle.co.uk