Garage Express is open for Servicing, Repairs and MOTs.

Independent Garages are still opening in London to help support key workers travel to their places of work safely and reliably. Over the last few days, we have witnessed the scenes of crowded tube trains and busy public transport, naturally this is not great for people when considering the widely communicated need for social distancing.  

Throughout London, key workers must have their cars or vans to be able to travel to their places of work, especially teachers, nurses, firefighters or police officers. In order to help, it is important for each worker to have the ability to take their vehicle to local garages that are still open in London, for essential services including: car servicing, repairs or MOT tests.  

Coronavirus: MOTs due from 30 March 2020

The government have issued the following statement:

Your car, van or motorcycle’s MOT expiry date will be extended by 6 months if it’s due on or after 30 March 2020 - but you must keep your vehicle safe to drive.

Ensuring that local and independent garages stay open, will deliver this imperative car inspection work to those that need it. At the same time garages are following the government guidelines for hygiene and social distancing. 

However, it is important to know the adjustments that the garages, including Garage Express, have introduced to ensure both the health and safety of customers and that of the garage technicians has been made to the right level.

Cleanliness precautions

The list below highlights the actions Garage Express, London have introduced to safeguard our employees and our customers while we remain open and servicing, repairing or MOT testing cars and vans:

• Social Distancing 
• All surfaces are disinfected 
• All our office staff and mechanics wash their hands for 20 seconds every 20 minutes
• All customers’ cars are cleaned on the inside before and after use
• Disposable rubber gloves are used when servicing our customers cars

Can you visit our garage?

Following the latest government guidelines, we know there will be some customers that will be unable to bring their car to us for a service, repair or MOT. These are likely to include:

• Customers aged over 70
• Pregnant women
• Anyone underlying health conditions
• Anyone displaying symptoms of the coronavirus

We realise there will likely be some customers who simply wish to not leave their homes during this period, knowing they still require work on their cars. We are therefore more than happy to Collect and Deliver your car for Servicing, Repairs or an MOT. 

Post self isolation car checks

If you have been self-isolated for 14 days and have not started your car, it will be a good idea to run a few simple checks on your car before you start driving again, these should include checking:

• The tyre pressure 
• All the lights are working, such as head lights, side lights, indicators and brake lights
• The windscreen wiper blades 

After the 14 days, some may find that the car struggles to start for the first time. This could potentially be that the battery has run down slightly through lack of use. Therefore, it may be worthwhile taking your car out on a longer drive which will help recharge the battery. However, please do not to stop off anywhere on your journey or bring anyone with you other than the family members you live with, as all close contact needs to be avoided. 

Independent garages staying open in London in order to service, repair and MOT the cars of the key workers will help support the nation as a whole. It will also support the government’s need to keep as many people off public transport as possible. 

We have made the decision to prioritise service for key workers, including: car servicing, repairs and MOTs to help them stay mobile. We are sure all our customers will appreciate the need to do this and we will ensure that other customers will receive timely servicing as their vehicle’s require. Our engineers will make sure they service vehicles as quickly as possible, to the highest standards, to ensure any down time is kept to a minimum. 

If you need to have your car or van serviced, repaired or an MOT inspection, then please give our dedicated team a call and we will be happy to help keep you on the road.