As the son of a "dealer principal" as they are now called, I would always prefer a car home serviced by a competent home mechanic, the sort of guy who is a maintenance fitter at work. Mechanics in dealers are as reliable as any british worker which is to say pretty variable. You get excellent and you get awful. But the nature of the work is that the dealer has to rely on his mechanic doing a good job because no way can he be 100% monitored.
To give you an example, my mothers Mini arrived home after a service with a funny rattle from the front wheels. Off with the hubcap to find that three nuts were in the hubcap and the remaining one was loose on its stud. If they take that level of care with the bosses wife's car, how can you be confident in what they do?
I had another example with my own BMW which went in for a service and came out after a recall mod to the steering. Half way from the garage to the southampton boat show travelling briskly the steering started to become real stiff. Called in the Ford dealer in Salisbury and the mechanic there found that the steering UJ that had been replaced under the recall was missing all but one nut and was half twisted off.
And you think of all the drivers who dont know a camshaft from a conrod and have no mechanical sympathy! Would they ever know something was wrong until too late?
