This is one of the easiest 5 stars I’ll ever have to give

I want to start this review by saying this is by far the best experience I've ever had with any garage, if you want honest, knowledgeable and hardworking people to work on your car then look no further than Silverbrookes.

A week ago I bought a 2005 Mini Cooper One 1.6L privately and within a week the clutch had packed up, anyone who knows anything about Minis will know this is far from a straightforward job, the subframe has to be pulled out as well almost everything else inside, it's certainly not a job for the faint-hearted and I was a little bit gutted that it had happened so soon after buying the car to tell you the truth.

I rang around 4 or 5 local garages and received some online quote comparisons which were all pretty disappointing, in particular Mr Clutch, who I found to be rude, disorganised, severely lacking in knowledge and above all else untrustworthy.

I like to think if Mr Clutch was a real person I wouldn't let him within 5 feet of my kids and that's not because his hands are made out of spinning sheets of hot sharp metal.

Lewis at Silverbrookes on the other hand rang me up immediately after receiving my quote and went out of his way to help me out - he knew it would be difficult to find someone willing to do the work but where other mechanics and garages had upped their prices or plain ignored me to avoid doing the work, Lewis went out of his way to find a way to help me to get it done, and he did and I'm so thankful for that.

In less than a day the clutch has been replaced by Silverbrookes for an extremely reasonable price (half what some others were quoting) and the car is a total joy to drive - it's just like new. I drove from Brighton to Southampton the same evening and it flew by. I was so impressed with the work that I've booked in for a full-service next week to bring the Mini even further up to speed.

Knowing that there is someone out there like Lewis who I can trust to look after my car has made me excited to drive again. And it's clear from the other customers who I saw dropping in their cars that I'm not the only one.

This is one of the easiest 5 stars I'll ever have to give.

Jake