• Shepton Mallet · BA4 4JT · covering Somerset & Bristol
Cambelts, clutches and the jobs other garages send away
Erdi has spent 15 years under bonnets and gearboxes. Cars, vans, SUVs and 4x4s. He collects it, does the work himself, and brings it back.
- Labour rate
- £60/hr, no VAT
- Collection
- Freeto 5 mi
- Quote
- In writingfirst
- On the tools
- 15 yrshimself
- 1 Exhaust camshaft sprocket
- 2 Inlet camshaft sprocket
- 3 Automatic tensioner
- 4 Idler pulley
- 5 Crankshaft sprocket
The place itself
No showroom.
A workshop
Two-post lift, full tool set, parts racking and a shutter that goes up at eight. Everything you are paying for is behind that door, and none of it is a waiting area with a coffee machine.
Where to find it
MB Auto RepairsUnit 1 Millbrook Depot
Yelling, Mill Lane
Shepton Mallet, Somerset
BA4 4JT
Off the A37 between Shepton Mallet and Oakhill, about 3 miles from the town centre. Room to park on the forecourt.
Open in Google Maps →
Why people stay with him
Every garage says it’s honest.
Here’s what that means in practice
Four things you can hold Erdi to — not adjectives, but specific commitments you can check on the day you collect your car.
- A written quote before anything is touched. The price doesn’t move unless something new turns up and you say yes to it first.
- Your old parts, kept for you. Bagged up in the boot so you can see exactly what came off and why it needed to.
- Diagnostic time refunded against the repair. £45 to find the fault, knocked off the bill when Erdi fixes it. You never pay twice for the same problem.
- “It doesn’t need doing” is a normal answer here. Plenty of cars go home with a smaller bill than the owner expected.
The mechanic who does the work is the one who answers the phone
There is no service adviser here, no upsell script and nobody working on commission. Erdi quotes it, Erdi does it, Erdi hands you the keys. If something goes wrong afterwards, you already have his number.
What comes through the workshop
Servicing to engine-out work
Most independents will happily do your brakes and send anything harder to a specialist. Erdi does the harder jobs himself — which is why other garages’ customers end up here.
Car Servicing
Interim, full and major services using manufacturer-spec oil and filters. Your service book stamped, your warranty intact.
Read more → From £450Cambelt & Timing Belt Replacement
Belt, tensioner, idlers and the water pump, all in one price — done with locking tools, not by eye. The job Erdi is best known for.
Read more → From £480Clutch Replacement
Three-piece kits, dual-mass flywheels and slave cylinders. Gearbox out, everything inspected, nothing bodged.
Read more → Quoted per jobEngine & Gearbox Repairs
Head gaskets, timing chains, turbos, oil leaks and gearbox rebuilds — the heavy work most garages send away.
Read more → Quoted per jobVan Servicing & Fleet Maintenance
Transits, Sprinters, Vivaros and Transporters. Planned maintenance, priority turnaround and one invoice for the whole fleet.
Read more → From £45Diagnostics, Brakes & General Repairs
Warning lights read properly and traced to a cause. Brakes, suspension, steering, cooling and electrics.
Read more → Free within 5 milesCollection & Delivery
Erdi collects your car or van from home or work, does the job, and brings it back. Free within 5 miles if it runs and drives.
Read more →Commercial & fleet
A van off the road isn’t an inconvenience. It’s lost income.
- Ford Transit
- Ford Transit Custom
- Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
- Mercedes-Benz Vito
- Volkswagen Transporter
- Volkswagen Crafter
- Vauxhall Vivaro
- Vauxhall Movano
- Renault Trafic
- Renault Master
Vans, pickups and small fleets
Commercial vehicles are a big part of the work here, and they get treated differently because they have to be. Vans get priority booking, same-day turnaround wherever the parts allow, and an honest phone call the moment Erdi knows how long it will take — not at five o'clock when you have already lost the day.
If you run three vehicles or more, Erdi will put you on planned maintenance: services staggered so the whole fleet is never off the road at once, reminders before things fall due, one consolidated invoice, and a discounted labour rate. Sole traders, local trades, couriers and small haulage operators — the paperwork stays simple and there is one number to ring.
Collection & delivery — free within 5 miles if it runs & drives
You don’t have to lose a morning
Most people can’t drop a car off at eight and sit in a waiting room until four. So Erdi comes to you. This is the single most-used thing on this site.
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You call or message
Tell Erdi the registration and what it’s doing — a noise, a light, a service due, a mileage coming up. A photo or a voice note on WhatsApp is often quicker than explaining it.
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He collects it
From your house, your work car park, or the yard. Free within 5 miles of the workshop, provided the vehicle runs and drives. Further out — Wells, Frome, Bristol, Bath — text your postcode and he will price the trip before you agree to anything. A vehicle that won’t drive needs recovering, not collecting, and he’ll tell you so.
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You get the quote before the spanners come out
In writing, itemised, parts and labour separated. If Erdi finds something else once it’s stripped, he stops and rings you. Nothing gets done that you haven’t agreed.
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It comes back to you
Work done, old parts in the boot, invoice matching the quote. Payment by transfer, card or cash when you take the keys.
Pricing
Competitive because of where he is, not what he leaves out
The labour rate here is £60 an hour. A franchised dealer will charge you £120 to £180 for the same hour, using the same parts, on the same car.
The difference isn’t corner-cutting — it’s overheads. There is no showroom here, no coffee machine, no regional marketing budget and no manager taking a cut. There is a workshop on Mill Lane, a full set of tools, and one mechanic who owns the business.
On a cambelt and water pump, that gap is usually two to four hundred pounds. On a clutch and dual-mass flywheel it can be more.
Belt, tensioner, idlers and the water pump in one price — not an extra you get talked into once the covers are off.
Cambelt replacement →Three-piece kit, gearbox out, crank seal and spigot bearing checked while it’s apart rather than a fortnight later.
Clutch replacement →Where Erdi works
The Mendips, Somerset
— and Bristol
The workshop is at Millbrook Depot on Mill Lane, just off the A37 between Shepton Mallet and Oakhill. Collection and delivery stretches that a long way further, which is how Bristol and Bath customers end up on a Somerset labour rate.
- Shepton Mallet 3 mi
- Bristol 22 mi
- Wells 7 mi
- Midsomer Norton 7 mi
- Radstock 8 mi
- Frome 11 mi
- Glastonbury 11 mi
- Street 13 mi
- Bruton 9 mi
- Castle Cary 11 mi
- Bath 17 mi
- Keynsham 18 mi
- Oakhill 2 mi
- Binegar 2 mi
- Evercreech 5 mi
- Croscombe 4 mi
- Chew Valley 12 mi
- Wincanton 17 mi
Garage in Shepton Mallet
Three miles from the town centre. Servicing, repairs, MOT prep and collection across Shepton, Croscombe, Evercreech, Oakhill and Binegar.
Shepton Mallet → 22 milesMechanic for Bristol drivers
Collected from your door in Bristol, worked on in Somerset, returned to you — at a labour rate no Bristol trade unit can match.
Bristol →Straight answers
Questions people ask before they ring
Do you cover Bristol?
Yes. Bristol is about 22 miles from the workshop and Erdi regularly collects from Bristol, Keynsham, Whitchurch, Brislington, Bedminster and the south of the city. Because the workshop is out in Somerset rather than in a Bristol trade unit, the labour rate is lower — which usually more than covers the trip.
Do you collect and deliver the car?
Yes. If the vehicle runs and drives, collection and delivery is free within 5 miles of the workshop — Erdi picks it up from your home or workplace, does the work, and brings it back. Further out, and still running and driving, call or text your postcode and he will price the trip before you commit to anything. If it will not drive at all it needs recovering rather than collecting, and he will say so and point you at someone local.
How do I know I am not being overcharged?
Three things. You get a written quote before any work begins, and the price does not change unless something new is found and you agree to it first. Old parts are kept for you to see. And diagnostic time is charged at £45 and refunded against the repair, so you are never paying twice to find the same fault.
Will servicing here void my manufacturer warranty?
No. Under EU Block Exemption rules — retained in UK law — you can have a vehicle serviced at any competent independent garage without losing the manufacturer warranty, provided the correct schedule, correct-specification parts and correct oil are used and the work is recorded. All three are standard here, and your service book gets stamped.
How often does a cambelt need changing?
Most manufacturers specify somewhere between 60,000 and 120,000 miles, or every 5 to 10 years — whichever comes first. The time limit matters as much as the mileage, because rubber perishes whether the car is driven or not. Give Erdi the registration and he will tell you the exact interval for your engine.
Do you work on vans and commercial vehicles?
Yes — vans are a large part of the work here. Transits, Sprinters, Transporters, Vivaros, Trafics, Boxers and Dailies all come through regularly. Erdi understands that a van off the road is lost income, so commercial jobs get priority booking and, where possible, same-day turnaround.
Do you do MOTs?
MB Auto is not an MOT testing station, but Erdi will pre-check your vehicle, arrange the test at a local station, and take it there and back for you. Anything that needs putting right is quoted first — you will not get a phone call from a test centre with a list of work already started.
How quickly can you look at my car?
Most vehicles can be booked in within a few days, and urgent problems — a van off the road, a car that will not start, a warning light before a long trip — are usually looked at the same week. Call or WhatsApp 07846 050457 and Erdi will tell you honestly when he can fit you in.
Next step
Tell Erdi what it’s doing
Describe the noise, the light or the job. You’ll get an honest answer about what it needs, what it will cost, and when he can take it — before anything is booked in.
No VAT · free collection within 5 miles if it runs & drives · written quote first