Stilo just been serviced at Black & White Garage

[italian_scoobydoo]

Hi All,

Just thought I would write a thread about my experience with Black & White Garage in Newbury, Berkshire. Thought it might be useful foranyone else looking for a good Fiat/Alfa specialist

As you may know, just recently brought a 1.4 Stilo which needed a service, tow bar removal and clutch bleed.

I was given a courtesy car at a cost of just under £10 per day to cover insurance, a nice 56 plate 1.2 Punto. Car was dropped off at 8:15 this morning and got a call at 4pm to say it was ready.

Originally I agreed to a full service but looking through my handbook the car had it's 24,000 mile service in December last year, so I told the garage to just do a minor service instead.

When I picked the car up, John said that they decided only to change the oil and oil filter as the air filter and pollen filter were still looking good. He even rang me this morning to see if I wanted the whole towbar off, giving me the choice to proceed with taking the back bumper off which would have meant more labour.

I must say, these guys are extremely knowledgable and no job seems too big or small for them. Although I "only" have a 1.4 Punto this is the newest car I've had for a while and I wanted to take it somewhere that would look after it. You get a more "personal" service and whilst being a bit more expensive than L&M for example, to me it's worth it

Oh, by the way, the clutch now feels a lot better and the car is running even smoother. Plus I have a car looking better with no towbar! (the towbar is almost brand new, it's made by Witter and will go into classifieds soon).

Lastly, they have some lovely Italian cars in their showroom!

So a big thumbs up to Black and White Garage from me, definitely recommended! :worship:

Lee

 

[Alanovich]

Thanks for the post, I'm keen to find a good dealer in Berkshire as I live in Reading. We've just lost our Fiat dealer, not that I liked them much anyway.

Interested to hear about you getting the clutch bled - the clutch on my MW JTD has always been quite stiff since I bought it. The selling dealer said they were all like that but never having driven another I'm not so sure. Have been thinking that maybe it needs a bleed. What was it that prompted you to get the bleed done?

Have you any idea how long a clutch bleed takes and did they itemise the bill for you? If so what did they charge?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[coyotes_uk]

Good to see there are still some good garages out there! Must admit the indipendants ive dealt with have always been better than Fiat main dealers!

 

[italian_scoobydoo]

Hi Guys,

AFAIK, Black and White used to be an Alfa main dealer.

Steve - My clutch was bled because I was sometimes getting judder and a slight crunch. This now seems a lot better though not totally solved. I can live with it though, it's just a minor niggle.

I've had an Alfa before with a very stiff change and that was to do with the gear linkage. Don't know if that applies to the Stilo, but if your clutch is stiff I would suggest a clutch bleed and perhaps changing/checking the gearbox oil. Sounds obvious I know but best to start in the easy/cheaper areas first! Clutch bleed should only take 10 minutes tops and gearbox oil change no longer than an hour. Don't have exact cost for labour but that should help.

I would definitely recommend B&W, just so you know I live in East Berkshire and travelled some miles to go there.

Lee