On Friday 27 April our manager Paul, and his new wife Gemma, completed a skydive to raise money for charity Help for Heroes in the name of Courtney Fraser, whose father was seriously injured in Afghanistan and is now unable to serve.

They were up bright and early for an 8:30 start at Beccles Airfield, where they received training and some health and safety guidance.  Then they were strapped to their instructors and ready to go; in fact Paul and Gemma had the skies to themselves that day because of the unfavourable weather conditions.

The couple decided on a tandem skydive instead of an expensive honeymoon, as it would have meant leaving their 16-month old son Zaviar behind.  Gemma said, “We decided to do it because it’s a once in a lifetime experience and it was for a very good cause.  It was strange because after you jump out of the plane, you don’t feel like you’re moving at all. You would have thought being strapped to a complete stranger then jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet would be really scary, but it wasn’t too bad. What stuck in my head was the eerie silence, and the fact that it was freezing cold!”

They were given the chance to steer their own parachutes, which Gemma aptly described as “trying to hold on to an umbrella in the wind.”  She landed safely in the field, but there was no sign of Paul. It turns out he had landed in a completely different field – and men say women are bad drivers!

The couple raised £215 for Help for Heroes and adrenaline junkie Paul wants to do a bungee jump for their next fundraising event.  Lucky Gemma.

Paul Miller, manager at the John Austin VW & Audi Specialists Ltd. in Marks Tey, is doing a sponsored tandem skydive with his new wife, Gemma, to raise money for charity Help for Heroes. Gemma was hoping for a lovely relaxing honeymoon somewhere exotic, but instead she’s going to be plunging through the air at 12,000 feet a minute!

Paul is looking forward to it, “I’m very excited; it really is a once in a lifetime experience and will be such an adrenaline rush. We haven’t really got a financial target, but the more sponsors we can get, the more Help for Heroes will benefit and that’s the most important thing.”

Gemma is feeling a little differently, “I’m very nervous! I’m not a daredevil at heart, but I know that we are doing it for a good cause. I’m sure when we get up there it’ll be a lot of fun.”

A tandem skydive involves two people jumping out of a plane at an altitude of about 10,000 – 12,000 feet and freefalling at 120mph. The instructor you are strapped to will deploy the parachute at around 5,000 feet to slow you down so you can take in the amazing views and land safely. Paul and Gemma will be doing their skydive in Beccles, Suffolk on Friday 27April and are hoping to raise as much money as possible for ‘Help for Heroes’. You can help raise money by visiting the website: www.helpforheroes.org.uk.

Marianne West the Help for Heroes Volunteer County Coordinator for Essex added that she was delighted that Paul and Gemma had chosen to support the charity with their skydive. One of the latest local projects to benefit from funds raised is the brand new Chavasse VC Centre in Berechurch Road, Colchester which will be officially opened on 8 May. . The build has been funded by £6Million from Help for Heroes and it will run the Recovery Centre, with the Army providing the staff required to deliver key recovery activities to serving and veteran soldiers. The Recovery Centre will provide a Support Hub, where a collection of welfare agencies and other services charities will give a ‘one stop shop’ of advice and support for serving personnel, veterans and their families – for life.

Emma Parry, CEO & co-founder, Help for Heroes said: “Help for Heroes is all about ‘doing your bit’ and this event is a wonderful example of people rallying support and having a great deal of fun while they raise money for a wonderful cause. We have been able to use the £millions raised for the charity (over £131Million in just four and a half years), to provide practical and direct support to those wounded in the current conflicts. The money you raise is needed, it is being used almost as soon as it is received, and is hugely appreciated. There is still a wish list of £66Million for future projects!”

We’re delighted to announce that we have been short-listed as one of the nine finalists in the Colchester Business Awards for Excellent Customer Service.

Speaking about the news, Marc Linch, managing director, said: “Without our loyal customers we wouldn’t have a business and we really appreciate it that many have been using the garage for years, some for decades.  We always do our very best when servicing or repairing their vehicles, but never take their custom for granted and are constantly looking at ways of giving something back and improving the whole customer experience.  To win in this category would be brilliant, but to get this far means a lot to the whole team.”

We know our customers are spoiled for choice when it comes to garages in the area; some have lower price structures than ours too, however our company ethos is based on trust, excellence and putting our customers at the heart of every development within the company.

The vast majority of our customers use us because we provide a highly professional service, at less than dealership prices – important at any time, but more especially in these straitened times.  We are able to control our costs by keeping our overheads deliberately low; we pride ourselves on providing  “skills not frills”, something we know our customers appreciate, as many have been using us for decades.  Although “we don’t do the frills” we do, of course, have a free local pick-up and delivery service and a pool of courtesy cars.

Last year we received the “Buy with Confidence” accreditation from Essex County Council Trading Standards and are one of only four garages in the Colchester area to receive the award.  We also run schemes which give our customers added value too.  For example, all returning customers receive a 5% discount on their next service and, with our loyalty scheme “Rewarding Service” they – or someone they nominate – can have a free air conditioning service.

Our referral scheme “Pass it on” gives a new customer 10% off their first service or repair with us, and the customer who recommended them receives a further 20% off their next service or repair.  Importantly the 20% discount CAN be used in conjunction with any of our promotional offers.

For customers who want to get as much performance out of their vehicle, without increasing their fuel costs, we’ve introduced a tuning service.  And, finally, we run free Pit Stop Workshops throughout the year to help motorists gain skills in basic car maintenance.

We’re looking forward to the new year when we’ve got even more planned!

Nowadays any new car will probably come with air conditioning as standard. We assume that it is only useful to keep us cool on a hot day. So why is it standard here in England; we don’t enjoy the hottest of temperatures do we?

Well air conditioning can help in other ways too. It quickly demists your windscreen, filters out airborne particles (like dust and pollen) to make the air ‘purer’ and, on that elusive hot day, helps to keep the temperature in your car down and the aerodynamics unaffected (which wouldn’t be the case if you had to open your window).

Like everything else under the bonnet, the air conditioning system needs servicing to keep it working effectively and efficiently. Although the technology has come a long way since the original system which was first used in the 1940s, it still needs to be maintained. Air conditioning repairs can be very costly, so having your system serviced regularly can help you avoid large bills later on.

It is a very complicated system with quite a few components: a compressor, condenser, evaporator, orifice tube, expansion valve and accumulator (amongst other things) – so don’t try a DIY service at home!

All air conditioning systems will leak refrigerant over a period of time, and if this is allowed to continue, can seriously affect the compressor (the main and most costly part of your system). If it is not repaired by an expert it could cause further damage and, in extreme cases, lead to your car breaking down.

Despite the lack of hot weather, you should use your air conditioning all year to ensure the refrigerant and oil are circulated round the system; this makes it harder for bacteria to grow and keeps the seals lubricated.  That musty odour you can get is a common complaint – it can smell of anything, from stale air to babies’ nappies. It’s caused by the mould which can build up in the evaporator, a perfect home for bacteria, but can easily be remedied during the air conditioning service.

The John Austin air conditioning service costs £78, but we’ve just launched a new loyalty scheme where you could get this for FREE*. If you’re one of the unlucky few who doesn’t have air conditioning, then you can give it to a friend or relative to use – I’m sure they’ll be pleased to have their system serviced for free.  You can collect your loyalty card from the garage today.

If you would like to find out more about car air conditioning or have any questions about the loyalty scheme,  you can contact the John Austin team on 01206 411283 or email:.

*Terms and conditions apply.

Paul Miller, manager at John Austin, has done it again!

On a blustery February morning, we abandoned our Saturday morning lie-ins to attend his Pit Stop Workshop.

The Pit Stop Workshop is designed to reduce the fear of basic  maintenance through familiarity.  It gives people the confidence to know that if they are stranded with a flat tyre and the phone’s dead or there’s no signal, they can handle the situation.  As this is not covered in driving lessons, it’s a good opportunity for those learning to drive to come along and give themselves a head start.  On this occasion most of us were seasoned drivers, but we all found we had something to learn!

With the complexity of cars these days, fiddling about under the hood, unless you really know what you’re doing, is to be discouraged.  This has, inevitably, led to many of us becoming complacent about dealing with the most simple of car care basics, relying instead on the annual service.   But often it’s those simple things that we can all do something about but don’t, that can help us avoid expensive repair bills later on.

Our reliance on breakdown services means we could sit on the side of the road for hours with a flat tyre too waiting for help which, if it was a lovely sunny day might not be so bad.  But if it was like a day like today, you’d want to be able to do something about it, and we all felt after two hours’ ‘training’ we could.

Not only did we all gain knowledge and insight, but we were able to relax and chat about our experiences afterwards over coffee and cake at The Food Company next door.

The team at John Austin have three more Pit Stop Workshops lined up this year:  Saturday 12^thMay, Saturday 11^th August and Saturday 17^th November.  If you’d like to come along or have a question, call Paul on 01206 211483 or email .

As of 1^st January 2012, the MOT test has been changed to comply with the revised European testing directive.  The new test will reflect the growing electronical complexity of modern cars.

You can see all of the new test criteria below – it’s a pretty substantial list!

Instead of getting a ‘fail’ straight away with these new criteria, you will get an ‘advisory’ notice up until the end of March 2012, so you have a bit of time to get them fixed.  But if your MOT isn’t due until this April, then your car will immediately be classed as a ‘fail’ if any it doesn’t pass all of the criteria below:

List of New Testable Components

• Headlamp levelling and cleaning devices when fitted for HID or LED headlamps
• Main beam ‘tell-tale’
• Battery (including batteries for electric or hybrid vehicles)
• Electrical wiring and connectors
• Trailer electrical socket security and damage
• Operation of 13-pin trailer electrical sockets using an approved trailer socket tester
• Operation of the steering lock (where fitted) including that malfunction warning is not displayed for an electronic steering lock
• Electronic power steering malfunction warning indicating a fault
• Electronic parking brake control and malfunction indicator lamp
• Electronic Stability Control (ESC) components, including the switch (if fitted) and malfunction warning
• Brake fluid warning lamp illuminated or inoperative
• Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS)
• Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) components including airbags, seat belt pre-tensioners, seat belt load limiters and SRS malfunction warning lamp
• Engine mountings
• Speedometer
• Indirect vision devices (where they replace obligatory mirrors)

For Class 5 vehicles, there are also the following new components:

• Electronic Braking System warning device
• Entrance/exit steps and doors
• Door remote and emergency controls
• Door open warning devices
• Stairs
• Emergency exit signs, windows and ‘break glass’ hammers

For more detail on the new test criteria, visit the VOSA website at:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Special%20Notice%2009-11.pdf