MOTORISTS can be confident of a job well done the next time the car goes to the garage thanks to an initiative being run by a Kent company.

BBA-Reman, a repairer and retailer of motor parts at Gillingham Business Park, is the driving force behind Good Garages, a new on-line listing service that allows motorists to rate and recommend garages in their area.

Through the guide garages and motorists using the site benefit from public acknowledgement of work well done.

The scheme is the brainchild of BBA-Reman owner and managing director Chris Swan who feels that the industry needs to tackle the poor reputation some repairers have helped foster.

"The industry has been crying out for someone totally independent to come along and champion the rights of car drivers," says Swan who has been dealing with mechanics and garages since BBA launched in 1997.

"Unfortunately the bad guys are out there. We obviously encourage the garages that have nothing to hide to sign up."

With 30,000 consumers logging complaints about garages last year, Swan’s point is vindicated.

So far 172 garages across the UK have signed up and Swan says: "It's great to see already how many garages have signed up to this free and voluntary service. This initiative is as positive for them as it is the customer."

The garages that have been quick to join Good Garages reflect the modernisation occurring in the motor trade. Many owners now recognise the power of modern communications and Swan notes: "They realise that a garage producing consistently poor performance will be highlighted on some Internet forum somewhere. There’s nowhere to hide anymore."

Swan is one of a growing number of consumer-savvy new bloods changing the motoring industry. BBA’s website also runs a free questions forum where customers can save hundreds of pounds by discussing their car problems with a mechanic before going to a garage. It is a gesture Swan knows will help his business survive in an increasingly competitive commercial age.

"If you want to maintain leadership in a business sector you’ve got to give as well as take. We’ve got to garner goodwill and show people we are working with them."

To use the Good Garages guide visit: www.bba-reman.com.