The Phirm in Churt / Farnham.

[jfb1977 0]

I know I'm not the first person to post a little something about these guys - but they are worthy of another mention.

Having found this forum and got some good buying advice I picked up my standard Highline from Newcastle and the first thing I did was bell The Phirm (on advice from this site).

The Phirm is a small erm...firm....near Farnham in Surrey run by Tim, Ian and Sam (and Chessie the boxer dog). Tim is ex VAG and what he doesn't know about VR's aint really worth knowing.

I spoke to Tim, who straight away said I could take the car down and they'd stick it on the ramp and give it a free health check for me. If I'm totally honest, I was a bit dubious about getting something for nothing - but that's exactly what I got!

Ian and Tim went over the whole car with me, asked about any niggles and then talked me through every little detail on the car that wasn't perfect. More through luck than judgement the car was pretty straight, however they took their time and found a few minor points that needed addressing.

It was hunting at idle and sometimes cut out on warm start up. Ian immediately addressed this as a mucky throttle body - took the thing apart there and then and sorted it - started and idled sweet as a nut inside 20 minutes - good start!

The rear wheel bearings were loose, the camber was out, the tracking was as far out as they had seen in ages and it needed an oil change. Added to which a horrible rattle from the exhaust was being caused by an incorrectly fitted cover.

They sorted the rattle, camber and tracking there and then and booked the car in for a service 2 days later. It totally transformed the way the car drove straight off the bat.

They discussed my plans with me pointing out what offered the best value for money, and showed me examples of everything I had planned.

Since then they have fitted FK coilovers, new lights, new indicators, new grille, serviced it etc etc.

The day they fitted the coilovers was bitterly cold and snowing - and I had the car booked into a bodyshop for 8am the following day (I had already booked it before I discovered The Phirm can do all that too - doh!). The suspension took a little longer than anticipated to set up, and I got a call at about 6pm to say could they drop the car off the next morning. I explained about the paint being done - and whereas any normal garage would have just said "Sorry mate it's just not going to be ready.." they just worked late to get it set up! Finally at about 9.30pm and very blue looking Ian and Sam dropped my car off with all the work done. CHEERS GUYS!

Their prices are very reasonable, their service makes you feel like a mate not a customer, and their advice is expert and unbiased.

They really do care about the cars, not the money - my arches were rubbing on the new set up - no worries - Tim said run it down now and we'll sort it. He rolled my arches for me, test drove it, rolled them again, test drove it and tweaked it some more until there was no rubbing at all. No charge - all part of the service!

I'm pretty anal about my cars, and I won't let anyone else touch my VR now - these guys are expert.

I've got a cat by-pass and some new mirrors to go on in the next week or so - all courtesy of The Phirm.

The only things I would say though are -

i) Get a good map before you set off....they really are tucked away in the middle of nowhere!

ii) If the weather is cold - wrap up warm - even the constant supply of coffee from Sam won't be enough to stop the frostbite

iii) If Chessie is feeling playful wear something suited to muddy paw prints!

If you're in the area it's a no brainer as to where to take your car, if you're not, you might want to consider it worth the drive anyway. Anywhere that carries out a lot of work for the editor of PVW mag has to know what they are talking about!

They can handle any size of job, from an oil service to a turbo conversion, and if you need anything doing to your VR - The Phirm should be your first point of call.

(And no, I don' work for them!).

You can contact Tim, Ian or Sam on - 01428 608480 or www.thephirm.co.uk

[vr6freak 3]

jfbl1977 where are they in farnham.any where near the train station or high st ?. sorry the link aint working here at work 4 me.

[jfb1977 0]

They're actually a little way out of Farnham - near Churt. Really in the middle of nowhere - best bet is to multimap them on their postcode mate - The PHIRM Unit 4, Quail House Farm, Hyde Lane, CHURT, Surrey, GU10 2LR

Tell them where you heard about them....always nice for them to know! They'll look after you mate.