Longlife Exhausts - OMG! Nasty!

[trebormint]

I've used longlife earlier in the year at the Berkeley( glos) premises (relocated from Falfield).

They did a great job in making a backbox for my toledo (getting the tailpipe not to foul the bumper and no need for a cutout), and replacing my g/f's CAT on her Arosa TDI.

The replacement CAT was £129 fitted rather than pay £270-£350 quoted elsewhere for the complete downpipe.

Great service from the new guy that owns it.

 

[Longlife Jason]

That's nice feedback, thank you for that. Feedback is always appreciated, whether negative or positive.

Regards

Jason Freeman
Longlife Exhausts

 

[ibizacupra]

Thanks for the reply. I think as with any other franchise business there are going to be good and not so good centres...

and simply appaling ones too... as was the case back in 2003 when I first posted the extremely poor quality and service back then.

Longlife and franchise's will only ever be as good as the people. Some are better than others, and some should not be employed at all.

How do you ensure quality of work is consistent, and fabrication techniques and skills are consistent across the franchises?

 

[Longlife Jason]

Hi and thanks for the question. Before we allow a centre to start using the Longlife name and products, the fitter has to come on a pretty intensive training course ensuring that they are able to produce the sort of quality work that we would expect of them. This is documented at Head Office to ensure that everyone has consistent training.

Until we are satisfied with the standard that is being produced, we'll not let them work on any customer cars. The training is mandatory whether they are new to custom build or have been doing it for years.

We will then visit centres periodically to ensure that standards haven't slipped. As of yet we've not found that to be the case.

I can't really comment on depots from back in 2003 as we weren't involved with the brand then but I would hope now that wherever you go, you'll get a really good result. As ever, i'm happy to answer any questions that people may have.

I see that you're located in Gloucestershire - we have a depot in Stone who do excellent work - if you ever need anything, i'm sure Tim will be very happy to help you there.

Kind Regards

Jason Freeman
Longlife Exhausts

 

[trebormint]

I see that you're located in Gloucestershire - we have a depot in Stone who do excellent work - if you ever need anything, i'm sure Tim will be very happy to help you there.

Kind Regards

Jason Freeman
Longlife Exhausts

Thats the one I meant! Yep, Tim is a good guy and was very helpful.

 

[ibizacupra]

Falfield lot have moved to Stone?
are they the same fitters as in 2003?

 

[Longlife Jason]

I don't believe that the fitters are the same people - in fact, I believe that the franchisee (ie, business owner) is a different person from back in 2003. Certainly from what you described in your original post, I would suggest that everyone there is new.

Tim is very particular when it comes to his staff and his staff are very particular when building exhausts. I've not heard a complaint about that depot while i've been with Longlife.

Jason Freeman
Longlife Stainless Steel Exhausts

 

[ibizacupra]

I don't believe that the fitters are the same people - in fact, I believe that the franchisee (ie, business owner) is a different person from back in 2003. Certainly from what you described in your original post, I would suggest that everyone there is new.

Tim is very particular when it comes to his staff and his staff are very particular when building exhausts. I've not heard a complaint about that depot while i've been with Longlife.

Jason Freeman
Longlife Stainless Steel Exhausts

ok thanks.. and they are in Stone now?
do you have an address/postcode

ta

 

[Longlife Jason]

Hi.

They're in Berkeley.

Address is:
1a Marybrook Street
Berkeley
Gloucestershire
GL13 9AA

01453 811300

I would post our website address but can't because i've not posted enough here yet. Longlife is the company name though so I would think it will be easy enough to figure out

 

[lc_allan]

Nice to see a company, albeit a newly taken over one coming back and putting their case forward.
I'm sure things have moved on and I bet a couple of members will no doubt be trying a local place out.
Always nice to have an alternative to the regular Milteks, Blueflames etc... especially if someone can back the claims up.

I have a full Pipewerx system and am very happy with it otherwise I may have been calling

 

[Longlife Jason]

Thank you, we do try our best

The brands you mention are certainly well known and of a decent quality. I believe that we do have an edge on most of our competitors though in one way or another. The fact that we are manufacturers of both our own silencers and also our tailpipes (in fact many of the brands you will know in the UK buy some of their tails from us!) allow us to keep a tight control on quality.

I can't say that we'll always be perfect but I can say that we'll always try and deal with ny isues that we do get in a timely and professional manner.... and remember, our systems are guaranteed for LIFE. That's not lifetime of ownership - our warranty is transferrable to the new owner when you come to sell the vehicle. I believe that is unique in the industry and hopefully says something about our product.

 

[Fl@pper]

silly question possibly but is it just main systems and boxes you can supply or are any of your members able to work deeper into custome manifolds and/or headers ?

i appreciate there is a lot more work/time/cost involved but also a lot wider market possibility

 

[trebormint]

Falfield lot have moved to Stone?
are they the same fitters as in 2003?

Different people completely. I used them when they were in Falfield a few years ago.

 

[Longlife Jason]

In answer to your question fl@pper - yes some of the depots will take manifold work on as well. The main one who will do that will be the depot in Caerphilly who have a lot of experience in doing manifolds - you'd want to speak to Peter there who is the main man with regard to that type of work. The other depot would be Oxford, who although not as experienced with Longlife, have, and I use a direct quote from our training team here 'is the best person i've ever trained'.

You're right in that the time to build a manifold does make for an expensive job given that there are a load of relatively inexpensive ready built manifolds that you can buy from Ebay. In my experience though, the ones that come from Ebay are often imported from the Far East and are often not quite as good as they should be. That's not to say though that there will be some good ones out there as well.

 

[Fl@pper]

cheers ill get onto oxford when i'm driveable and see whats involved etc as there is no available ones made for what i am after

 

[Longlife Jason]

Nice one. If you call the number on the website you'll likely speak to either myself or Lisa as we take calls for most of the depots. Lisa might not know that Oxford can tackle manifolds but if you want to call me direct on 01308 422282 we can discuss your requirements further.

 

[trebormint]

Jason,

I have a query regarding decats.

Will you do a decat/downpipe for diesels? I ask this as I was told by one of your depots that it was illegal to do for cars registered after 2001?

What is longlife's stance on this?

 

[EmDee]

I just want to add to this thread that I had a Longlife exhaust and sports cat on my old car and they did a great job. I am based in Wallington so it's convenient for me as they are just down the road. It is a different centre to the ones mentioned on here and the guys down there actually seem to know their stuff.

Might see if they can give me a good quote for a sports cat and downpipe on my LCR actually...

 

[Longlife Jason]

Jason,

I have a query regarding decats.

Will you do a decat/downpipe for diesels? I ask this as I was told by one of your depots that it was illegal to do for cars registered after 2001?

What is longlife's stance on this?

Yes we can do this without a problem. There is no legal requirement at the moment for a Diesel to have a cat (my car is a 53 plate and I have no problems without the cat). At Head Office we are also and MOT testing station so I am 100% sure of the ruling on this.

If you can PM me the location of the depot who told you this I can give them a ring and correct them on their information.

Kind Reagrds

 

[Longlife Jason]

I just want to add to this thread that I had a Longlife exhaust and sports cat on my old car and they did a great job. I am based in Wallington so it's convenient for me as they are just down the road. It is a different centre to the ones mentioned on here and the guys down there actually seem to know their stuff.

Might see if they can give me a good quote for a sports cat and downpipe on my LCR actually...

Thanks for that feedback. I'm sure that Dan in Wallington will be able to give you a good price for a Sports Cat.

Kind Regards

Jason Freeman
Longlife Stainless Steel Exhausts