Keith Wheeler spent 40 years as a Vauxhall main-dealer technician and service manager. That is why Vauxhall owners find us. It is not all we do: the same two mechanics work on every make on the road, and Keith's dealer training goes into all of it.
Keith Wheeler
Senior mechanic and MOT assessor. At Vauxhall from 1985.
The honest bit
Keith started at a Vauxhall main dealer in 1985 and stayed for over four decades, first as a senior technician and then as a service manager. That is thousands of Corsas, Astras, Insignias and vans, just about every fault the badge has ever produced, and continuous manufacturer training the whole way through.
After forty years of targets and being pushed to upsell, he had had his fill of the dealership side of it. When his son Elliot started Your Local Mechanic, joining him was the easiest decision he has made. It is the way he always wanted to work.
So if you drive a Vauxhall, you get the dealer's knowledge without the dealer's bill. And if you drive anything else, you get the same mechanic. A fault-finding instinct built over forty years does not stop working when the badge changes.
“What I love is the actual work: taking the time to find a fault properly, explaining it in plain English, and doing a careful job I'm happy to put my name to.”Keith
Why it matters
Experience is not a slogan. On a Vauxhall it is the difference between a diagnosis and a parts bill.
Forty years of the same badge means Keith has met most Vauxhall faults before you describe them: the 1.4 timing chain rattle, the PureTech wet belt on the Corsa, Mokka and Crossland, the Insignia DPF that keeps logging the same code. Knowing where to look is most of the diagnosis.
Serviced to the manufacturer schedule, with the right parts and fluids, and a full service history kept. Block exemption rules mean you do not have to use a franchised dealer for warranty-compliant servicing, and Keith knows the schedule by heart.
Continuous manufacturer training from 1985 onwards, as a senior technician and then a service manager. What you do not pay for is the showroom, the courtesy fleet and the targets. Every job gets a written quote before work starts.
Keith knows exactly what an examiner is looking for, which is why a pre-MOT check with him tends to find the failure items before the test does. Cheaper than failing and paying for the re-test.
Vauxhall and Opel
From the first Nova to the current Corsa, and everything with a griffin on the grille in between. Opel cars are the same vehicles with different badges, so the knowledge carries straight across.
Not just Vauxhall
Plenty of what comes through the workshop is not a Vauxhall at all. Elliot specialises in modern diagnostics and hybrids, Keith in the mechanical side, and between them there is not much on the road they have not had on the ramp.
From the workshop
Real jobs off our ramps, described by the mechanic who did them. Two of them were filmed.
This Insignia came to us after a frustrating run-in with the main dealer. They'd replaced nearly the whole DPF system, yet the P2002 code, DPF efficiency below threshold, kept coming straight back. Throwing parts at a car isn't the same as diagnosing it.
We went back to basics and read the live data, and that's where the real culprit was hiding: a split pressure pipe on the DPF that everyone else had walked past. The Insignia's now back on the road, the DPF is regenerating properly, and the owner is finally clear of error codes. The moral's a simple one. Don't just replace parts, find the root cause.
A 2018 Corsa came in with a rattle from the engine. The customer had noticed it and wanted to know what it was before it got any worse, which is exactly the right call.
On diagnosis the timing chain was worn and stretched. Chains do not have a replacement interval the way a belt does, so they tend to get treated as lifetime parts, but they still depend on clean oil at the right level to last. We replaced the chain and it had an oil and filter service at the same time, because fresh oil is the thing that protects the new one.
A 2021 Crossland, the 1.2 manual, arrived in Dudley on the back of a recovery truck. The driver had no clutch pedal at all. Not a high biting point, not a slipping feel, no pedal. That symptom is the one we would normally expect to be hydraulic, which is exactly why it gets checked rather than assumed. On this car the check pointed the other way, and the clutch itself had gone.
It was replaced at the workshop, because the gearbox has to come out to reach it, and the Crossland went back to its owner the next working day.
The same prices whatever the badge. Every job gets a written quote before work begins, and nothing is added to it without a phone call.
12-month parts and labour guarantee on the work we do.
Servicing, diagnostics, brakes and batteries happen on your driveway or at your workplace, anywhere across the Black Country. That is most of what a Vauxhall needs in a year.
Clutches, timing chains, wet belts and anything else that needs a ramp are done at Unit 6, Turner Street, Dudley, with collection and return if you want it. The Corsa and the Crossland above were both workshop jobs.
Call and describe what the car is doing. We will tell you which of the two yours is before you commit to anything.
In their words
My stepdad brought in a vauxhall insignia Elliot did a fantastic job, not over priced would recommend him to anyone
Felicity Gordon
Verified customer
Both Elliot and Keith are fantastic. They came to my workplace and sorted my car while I was working. Couldn't be happier!
David Brown
Brierley Hill
Keith diagnosed the problem in minutes and fixed it for a fair price. Best mechanic in Dudley. Highly recommend!
Michael Jones
Dudley
We'll always tell you honestly if someone else is a better fit.
We come to you for servicing and diagnostics, and collect for the jobs that need a ramp.
Workshop: Unit 6, Turner Street, Dudley, DY1 1TX. Open seven days, 7am to 5pm.
55+ years between them. 12-month parts warranty. £5m public liability cover.
Every job is carried out by Elliot or Keith - the mechanic who quotes your job is the one who works on your car. No call centres, no subcontractors.
Lead Mechanic & Founder
Founder of Your Local Mechanic. City & Guilds Level 3 qualified with 15+ years experience, specialising in modern diagnostics and hybrid vehicles across the Black Country.
Senior Mechanic & MOT Assessor
Senior mechanic at Your Local Mechanic with 40+ years Vauxhall main dealer experience and a fully qualified MOT assessor, known for honest, careful work across the Black Country.
Before you call
No. Vauxhall is where Keith spent forty years, so Vauxhall owners tend to find us first, but Elliot and Keith work on every make on the road, at the same prices and with the same 12-month guarantee. Recent jobs off the ramp include a Mercedes DPF, a BMW battery, a Range Rover ABS pump, a Citroën wet belt and a VW head gasket.
Every service, for every makeYes. Keith services to the manufacturer schedule using the right parts and fluids, and keeps a full service history, which is what protects your warranty. Block exemption rules mean you do not have to use a franchised dealer for warranty-compliant servicing.
Car servicing to the manufacturer scheduleAll of them. Corsa, Astra, Insignia, Crossland, Grandland, Mokka, Zafira, Meriva, Combo and Vivaro. Keith has worked on every Vauxhall model since 1985, and because Opel cars are the same vehicles with different badges, that covers those too.
It depends on the engine. The 1.2 PureTech petrol in the current-shape Corsa, and in the Mokka, Crossland and Grandland, runs its timing belt inside the engine in oil, which is a wet belt with its own replacement interval. Older Corsas with the 1.4 16v engine have a timing chain instead, which is the engine in the video on this page. Tell us the registration and we will confirm which yours is.
Wet belt replacement, and why it is a different job to a cambeltServicing starts at £99 and every job gets a written quote before work begins. You get the same main-dealer training and knowledge, because Keith spent 40 years as a Vauxhall senior technician and service manager, without the dealership overheads.
A couple of things: software updates or security coding that only a franchised dealer's system can perform, and accident damage or bodywork. For everything else, servicing, MOT, diagnostics and mechanical repairs, Keith handles it, and the work is covered by a 12-month guarantee.
Yes. Servicing, diagnostics, brakes and batteries happen on your driveway or at your workplace. Clutches, timing chains, wet belts and anything else that needs a ramp are done at the workshop on Turner Street, Dudley, with collection and return if you want it.
How the mobile side worksTell Keith or Elliot what the car is and what it is doing. You'll get a straight answer, a written quote before any work, and a mechanic who has probably seen it before.
We usually respond within the hour.