By Trevor Baxter
STARTING HANDLES and trafficators were de rigueur but MOT tests didn’t exist when Stuart Lomas repaired his first car…
Air conditioning was an open window, Sat Nav was provided by the front seat passenger and Hillman Huskys roamed the UK roads.
It’s not only motors that has changed beyond all recognition over the last half a century. So too the role of the mechanic.
With modern cars packed with more soft wear than an average computer, an intimate knowledge of diagnostic testing is key to any successful car repair business.
And one Oldham company has evolved to keep pace with the ever-changing needs of customers and their vehicles.
Steve and Pete Lomas are carrying on a proud family business just a car transporter length away from where it all began for their late dad, Stuart, in Greenacres.
Owners may change their cars every three or four years. But they rarely change their mechanics once they’ve visited S & P Lomas Ltd on Dunkerley Street.
As a result the brothers can afford to start their sales pitch with: “We are not the cheapest……….
But as Pete, 55, from Milnrow, adds: “We like to pride ourselves on telling the people the truth. If they bring a car in with a fault we will tell them.
“We won’t tell them there’s a fault where one doesn’t exist. That’s why our customers, some we’ve had for 15 or 20 years, keep coming back.
“A lot of garages won’t invest in the equipment we have. Plenty can plug in a snap on machine and tell customers they might want a certain new part programming. But they can’t do it and customers will end up coming to us because we can.”
With diagnostics expertise for the likes of Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes and Volvo, S&P Lomas Ltd offer main dealer quality but not at wallet busting prices.
Signed up to the Motor Industry Code of Practice, a member of the Vehicle And Operator Services Agency and a Bosch approved garage, they boast a good mixture of youth and experience.
“We’ve got two lads, Michael and Liam, working with us, 24 and 25, who are the computer experts,” says Pete.
“They’re regularly sent on training courses to a top company called, Autologic Diagnostics in Oxfordshire, to keep pace with the new technology.
“Then there’s me and Steve who know one or two things about mechanical stuff,” he winks. Not forgetting the office skills of Kay who keeps them all in check.
So, what else is on the menu? MOTS, tick; Fleet and Service repairs, tick, air conditioning repairs, tick, tuning, tick, vehicle rescue, tick, bodywork, tick, tyres, exhausts and batteries, tick, tick, tick.
“We do bodywork from Bentleys to Minis and everything in between. Classic cars too… because we are old,” Pete laughs.
For further information on the company visit www.splomas.co.uk
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