Dorset Auto Diagnostics

SUMMARY: I REALLY can’t praise this company enough because of the exceptional support I received from Sean. It would be difficult to find a more affable, modest but very knowledgeable person. He first came to my rescue, a few years ago, before the establishment of their Ringwood premises. He sorted out my car electronics when I needed his assistance over a long period, as described later. NOTHING was too much trouble for him, and his perseverance with this awkward situation was second to none! (As they were a mobile service at the time I didn’t really get to know Geoff). Since then, I have watched their company progress with new premises etc. and it is well deserved, as reflected by the number of appreciative 5-STAR customer reviews. They have the knowledge, experience, courtesy and enthusiasm PLUS all the necessary specialised equipment to support their work. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! DETAILS: I’m an old Mechanical Engineer and lifetime DIYer. On the mechanical side there’s not much I haven’t tackled over my 60+ ‘adult’ years (I didn’t say ‘mature’:) and this has enabled me to always run two older cars. I used to manage the Electrics too but the modern digital electronic systems, with the required knowledge and equipment, defeated me. I run 2006 and 2008, low-mileage, Ford C-Maxes, so that, when one breaks, I can shop for parts using the other! We’d had them for a few years when this ‘cracking-solder’ and other problems arose. FORD had complied with the pressure to use ‘environmentally friendly’ lead-free solder, which turned out to be ‘reliability unfriendly’ for car systems of that and later eras. This solder type is banned for use in the Aerospace Industry for obvious reasons! This was in addition to a Ford design flaw which failed to support the weight of the main 32pin connector cable loom, other than by these soldered connections on the PCB. The first problem we encountered was that my wife was stranded at a Garden Centre due to not being able to open the car. The RAC misdiagnosed the problem as being mainly the battery which I KNEW wasn’t the case. So the car was returned home on top of their recovery vehicle! Following my initial online research, the local garage advised me to send the instrument cluster to a postal ‘ECU’ Testing company. I had to return it to them THREE times over 3-4 months and I eventually got a refund. Without Sean’s later involvement and professional support over this period, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE for me to manage. The ECU Testing Company kept on saying they’d repaired it but Sean could PROVE they hadn’t! My discovery of Sean’s company was fortunate and, fortuitously, in my locality. Later the 2008 car’s instrument cluster failed, with random indications. I was lucky to find a YouTube video showing how to dismantle the cluster’. It showed that it was the solder connections of the main connector which fail. After re-soldering, this cluster continued to work well. A few months later I ran into the same instrument cluster problems with the 2006 car and carried out a similar solder repair but this repair only lasted for a couple of months. Later, I found that I couldn’t unlock the car and Sean solved this too. I was so grateful for his support as he would even come over at odd times, often juggling other planned work to help us out of a pickle. He would turn out at what, some would say, were ‘anti-social’ hours, just to support us. A thoroughly decent man, and it’s a relief to find a business operating with this culture in this day and age. I wasn't surprised to hear that he'd worked for an outfit providing electronics know-how for Formula One Racing teams. He even dropped in to help and advise my daughter on some starting issues she was having, all at reasonable cost. THANKS AGAIN Dorset Auto Diagnostics! Apologies for the length of this review but it’s a LOT shorter than the prolonged problems, over a couple of years, that Sean helped me with! Those wanting the FULL detail will have to wait for the book! :) I knew I’d get around to doing the review eventually!

My car has had a problem with a non opening boot for a while. This is now an Mott failure. I booked it in to Dorset diagnostics almost as a last hope, as the fault has been looked at by others and remained unresolved. The guys here were thorough, and most definitely not going to give up on my car without a fight. It was a complicated issue and time consuming for them to find it. But they did, and promptly ordered a component which was delivered and fitted quickly. And more importantly it fixed it, hooray! I cannot express my thanks enough, to these two guys and the team in the office. Gold star service, very reasonable price. Give them a try, you will also get a cuppa thrown in too. But most importantly in my experience you will get excellent, efficient and friendly service

I recently had some serious electrical issues with my VW T5 Transporter. Basically, a Cowboy mechanic had fitted the wrong fuse and it resulted in wires melting together, etc, etc. I took my van to Dorset Vehicle Diagnostics and I can honestly say that the service I received was second to none!! I was especially impressed by the way they explained everything to me before carrying out the necessary repairs. I cannot recommend this company highly enough!!