My experience is that old Citroens are so different to the common crowd that very few general garages understand them sufficiently to be let loose on our wee beasties. There's no way I'd take my 356 to a little garage (beyond light bulbs or wipers, which I can do myself), unless it had documented proof of previous work. So no resaon why I would let an English garagiste loose on my lovely 2CV either. The thought of one trying to replace an oil cooler or rewind a gearbox makes me recoil in horror!

Equally worrying is the sort of 'specialist' which wants to fit 'cheap' parts. I bought a crankcase breather from one in Yorkshire a couple of years ago and it lasted all of 3 months. Wish I'd bought the real thing to begin with, the engine started leaking where it never had before. The only response was something along the lines of "we've fitted loads and nobody's ever complained, try another one". Ahem, no thanks, not that daft mate.

That's kinda what I mean, Tim, al;though you'd only take a 356 to a specialist, surely?!

2CV owners MUST take their cars SOMEWHERE, and if that 'somewhere' has demonstrated a good understanding of the of their peculiarities then surely they should be recommended. Surely we aren't tied to either DIYing the work or else having to take them to one of the 'big' knowns - or even to a Citroen garage...

For those who do NOT do all their own DIY repairs, where do they go?!

The only time I take my car to a garage is at MOT time, and that's Marsh Citroen repairs in Kent, UK.

I once had Silly CVs, also in Kent, try to con me out of a car which I'd just had smashed up, and the state of thier supposedly pro repair work is shocking.

Thats all i can say!

one specialist i would recommend in this neck of the woods is Graham Wilson - he's based in Callington, Cornwall.

he's very helpful & always willing to have a good old chin wag if you drop in on him. He does everything on-site, will do anything from change a bulb to a full-blown restoration. His welding & paintwork always seem top notch. He's a true enthusiast, he only runs A-series Citroens, although he does have a H!

http://www.2cvtv.com/Specialist/the2cvworkshop.htm

Good to have a recommendation, Neil - and he's only 60-odd miles away!

having been down and see what Graham turns out, I'd back up Neils recommendation, Grahams a nice bloke who dows very nice work.

Ha ha you went to "Big Rons" in my "fictional" post

For the record, in the Mid Sussex area I'm happy to recommend Mark at "Just 2cv", 01273 495600 located in Small Dole near Henfield.

He looked after my car over quite a few years and always did good work at a reasonable price, really knowing the cars inside out.

I think he took over the business from his Dad or something. Good guy anyway.

Chris

Two recommendations - we're on a roll...

Erm.... i think i've met this guys dad! sure hes the guy with the green dyane i used to see all the time, if you've seen it YOW 467J, it had been vandalised when i parked up to chat with him a few weeks after passing my test, but he told me he was going to be doing a complete resto on the dyane!