Well the time had come for me to book the car in for a service, and after a recent visit on the L2B, and speaking to quite a few people about Plans i'd decided to give them a shot. On looking through the price list and resisting half of the items on that (Speedlines, Nitrons .....) I decided to opt for the Enhanced service, as per Vauxhall service including uprated fluids, and inspection of pretty much all moving parts. (apart from the volume control on the radio!!!!) Also thought I would treat myself to the Geo set-up as well.
Eventually arrived, 45mins late!! and was met by John.(Graham was having a shake down in an NSX!!!!) Walked through the workshop which was much smaller than I thought it would be but you could tell that you were somewhere special with the array of Elises, VX and Nobles that were around. Had a sit down with John to discuss the service and more importantly the Geo Set-up. Telling him my criteria and and the main use of the car he came up with a Geo set-up that was suitable to me. I was then introduced to the courtesy car - 2 seater, 6-speed sequential gear box, rear wheel drive!!!
Well not really it was a Smart Car !!!!
I was then told to come back in the afternoon around 4 to pick up the car
Turned back up later on, Car was just going out to have a test drive by one of the mechanics - shock horror
the car had blown a gasket on the oil filter. The car was promptly brought back where the gasket was changed and the engine and internals were steam cleaned.( they spent about 2 hours cleaning the car
) During this time I sat down in the waiting area and was surrounded by lots motoring paraphernalia to keep me entertained and also had a good chat with Graham. - Top bloke
After the Geo was set-up I asked if I could join Graham on the shakedown run (basically where he gives the car a
/
) This was great fun (he knows the circuit almost as well as the Stig!!!) By the time all this was done it was 8.30PM, Yes 8.30 PM. You wouldn't get that from Vauxhall, just told to come back tomorrow.
To sum up, would I go back to Plans. Definitely. You can rest in confidence that these are 100% enthusiasts. They are working on VXs / Elises pretty much all of the time and really know their stuff. They are more than happy to talk about the car and advise in anyway they can to make the car better. You get a stamp in the book and because they use genuine VXL parts the warranty is maintained.
Big thanks to the guys there - Graham, John etc.
See you in a few months time
