Advantages: Fast Service, Courteous Service
Disadvantages: Garages will differ around the UK

...**Please note the following ATS-Euromaster review is based around the service and products received from the ATS Garage in Newbury, Berkshire.** *Personal Background* Earlier on this week I noticed my exhaust was producing a rather unique sounding boy racer noise, complete with a slight rattling of my exhaust box, so decided immediate action was required as I was due in Cardiff the following day. I decided to take my Citroen Saxo (51 reg.) to the local Kick Fit dealers as they had always provided a reputable service in the past, however after an initial free inspection they advised me that I required 3 new parts for my exhaust, an Intermediate Pipe, an Intermediate Silencer Box and a Rear Silencer Box. However after consulting their catalogue of parts I was told the intermediate parts I needed were not obtainable from... Read review

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Advantages: nil
Disadvantages: not honest

...ATS well advertised,yes, a large company, yes, good reputation, reliable and honest? Answer NO. Well that is my humble opinion. I recently owned a small citroen AX motor car and the exhaust started to corrode, blow me I thought, the exhaust was only fitted by ATS in High Wycombe less than four months ago! So, off I went with receipt back to ATS where, on the ramp I noticed that the exhaust had completely cracked in half under the manifold area. Unusual I thought, must have had a bad exhaust, maybe made on a Friday night. Anyway, I went for a walk around the shops while the fitter, who I should add was the same fitter who fitted the complete new one four months earlier, replaced the exhaust parts for a new one again. Off I go, but to my surprise, about one month later it blows again, can't believe my bad luck, two faulty exhausts! How... Read review

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Advantages: Hauntingly beautiful and curiously accessible traditional kto music from Japan
Disadvantages: It might make you want to buy the next two volumes!

.... Yoshimura manages to attain a clarity that is not always present on other recording. Also, I don't feel musically patronised. Thought traditional there is no sense that the pieces have been watered down in the same way that sometimes you hear pieces by Satie or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata given pointless, excessively lush, additional instrumentation (as if to make it accessible). For the most part Yoshimura's music is solo. Thus the importance of the clarity of her playing of the Koto is made clear. The music rises and falls on Yoshimura's ability to keep the listener enthralled despite the simplicity of the music. She attains these two with staggering ease. Not much actually happens per se, but the crisp, clipped clearness as she plucks each individual string has a certain hypnotic and elegance ease. Admittedly much must come from... Read review

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Advantages: cheap and great service
Disadvantages: none

...Having had the exhaust on the car go and tying it up with string as you do, we had to go and get a new one. We telephoned around and you would not believe the difference in price. We were limited as to how far we could drive with it tied up so could not go to a large town and had to make do with Cirencester and a choice of three places. At Kwik fit we were quoted at "just over £100" and at ATS they said it will be £110 plus £15 if the manifold bolts and springs are hard to get off - now you can buy these in places like Halfords for £6.00. Then we telephoned the cheapest which was Ebley. They said £75.00. On arrival there we found that they had to send for it from their other branch and this would take an hour. But, if we wanted to have a look around the town they would drive us there and pick us up. Now that is service. Also... Read review

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Advantages: Brake parts insured for life of car
Disadvantages: Very poor workmanship

...a couple of negative reports, they seem to have cleaned up their image. I was greeted at the reception desk by a mechanic, complete with his trademark blue "Kwik Fit" overalls. After explaining the noise, he informed me of the Kwik Fit Brake Check. "It's a complete check of your breaking system, and the cost of the service will be deducted from any work that needs doing." I was also presented with a leaflet explaining all that had just been said. It sounded alright, so I left my car with them. The reception area and visible workshop were very clean, and well equiped to cope with any of the services that they offer. The branch I went to also sell and fit tyres, exhausts, and shock absorbers. About an hour later, I got the dreaded phone call... "Hi it's **** from Kwik Fit. I've got some bad news I'm afraid - the noise you were hearing... Read review

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Advantages: Speed!!, Looks
Disadvantages: Acceleration, a small bit on the heavy side.

...I had the chance to ride a second hand 2001 E model when it was standing on our floor a while ago. This one was fitted with a full Yoshimura exhaust system with LCD display and buttons for optimum fine tuning. At first the bike felt heavier and bigger than I thought but comfy and roomy enough even for a tall bloke like me. Speed: Acceleration did not impress me much but it didn't take long before I saw 298km/h on the clock and then I felt the need to test the brakes which brought things to a quick halt.... not bad far 900cc oldie!! Handling: Suspension lacked nothing to my knowledge although leaning into and out off corners took more effort and counter steering than I expected and the bike did feel a bit heavy Overall a great bike which is a thrill to ride and does everything well. A steal if you can get you’re hands... Read review

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Advantages: eager to take on work, just not complete it properly
Disadvantages: where do I begin

...Several years ago we had an Austin Metro, not the best of cars, but it got us around. The exhaust was blowing, so to have it repaired we shopped around and Budget came out as being the cheapest. It was a well known name in the tyre and exhaust business, so we felt pretty confident. We booked the car in and had a complete exhaust fitted. We paid for the service and set off for home. Two days later, whilst driving, my husband suspected that something was wrong when his braking system failed! We took the car into a local garage, who informed us that the exhaust that had been fitted was swinging freely at the back as no mounting had been fitted to attach it to and because of this it had melted the hydroelastic pipe (part of the braking system). This was caused by the the exhaust not being mounted to our vehicle and was touching... Read review

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Advantages: NONE
Disadvantages: Rip off, poor service, product not fit for purpose, etc.

...I have a Renault Clio and last July the exhaust on my car desperately needed replacing so I looked up a local Kwik Fit (at the time this was in Swindon) and went to their garage. They told me that my entire exhaust need replacing and that it would cost £280. I paid the money, feeling relieved that I would have a) a silent exhaust, and b) not one about to drop off ... or so I thought. A month later I noticed that the exhaust had started to not only become 'blowy' again but there was also an unnerving squeaking noise. Feeling annoyed, especially after the expense, I went back to Kwik Fit with my warranty receipt, asking them to fix the problem. They did so and they apologised. Off I went thinking it must be sorted be now ... not so. I went back a further THREE times and each time I got 'Sorry' and 'It's sorted now'. At the time... Read review

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Advantages: The superior "Hot Hatch", a cult classic.
Disadvantages: They are no longer made. People overkit them up, stolen badges!

...Why oh why oh why oh why do people do it? Adding crap body kits and over sized exhausts to their cars, thats what i'm on about. I have seen cars cruisin' with kits so low that speedbumps are a no go zone and exhausts so large that its possible for people behind them in Smart cars to drive up and take a detour into the manifold! Don't get me wrong, i am all for styling kits and aftermarket exhausts (i also drive a Mitsi FTO) but...tastefully done and also done for a reason i.e, why does a 1.2 Clio need a Subaru style/size exhaust? It just doesn't have the power to justify it...Live with it, mate! One victim of this incessant "crap kitting" is this cult classic.....the Peugeot 205 GTI...here is an example of a car that pushed forward the boundarys of the "affordable" pocket rocket in both engineering and aesthetics. The 205Gti... Read review

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Advantages: Quick, friendly, convenient locations
Disadvantages: Practiced con artists

...- the MOT. Having bought the car (a P reg Renult Cleo) only a month ago and it sailing through it's first service I was expecting no problems with the MOT. But this didn't stop me from the feeling of uneasiness while sitting in Kwik-Fit's greasy waiting room watching a gang of mechanics discussing it's rear tyres, as the poor thing hung 4 foot in the air. I had booked the MOT at quick fit because it was convenient; the Kwik-Fit garage in Exeter is near to the city centre which is where we had planned to spend the few hours that the MOT would take. It saved us about £3 in car parking and I was pretty sure that by the time we had finished looking at suits and ties the car would be ready for us to drive back to Exmouth to visit the soon-to-be-in-laws. I had had tyres and exhausts changed at Kwik-fit in the past, although they were slightly more... Read review

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