Pajero mechanic in Pietermaritzburg?

[pajero1989]

Anyone know of a Pajero mechanic in Pietermaritzburg?

[Andrew5336]

haydn on the forum is good I hear.

082 821 three 0 four 0

[pblaauw]

Yup, Haydn would be my choice in that area.. He's always offering advice on the forum and very knowledgeable..

[allandell]

That is the best I can agree with. He does all the work on my van and a mates pajero. We actually call him a specialist...:-)

[pajero1989]

Good, will need that in 2-3 months. Thanx, everyone!

[pajero1989]

Yes, Haydn was great, he did repairs for my car for few years! Sadly, in September he will be moving out. Is there any other mechanic in PMB who can handle old Pajeros?

[Plod]

Oh no. He has been servicing my Shorty as well. Where is he going? He never mentioned moving during my last visit.

[Echo Man]

Anyone know of a Pajero mechanic in Pietermaritzburg?

You joking? No Mitsu mechanic or dealership in PMB? Imagine how the guys in Keimoes or Pofadder or Askham must feel?

[Flipside]

Pajeros do not break down enough, the man has to survive...

[pajero1989]

Oh they do... If you use them properly

[macjohnw]

Damn, I just moved here - was pleased to see that there is a good Pajero mech in town, just to see that he is leaving soon...

[Diversions]

Not "leaving soon"; gone!

PM Black Mamba, he knows a few alternate service providers.

If all else fails at least we do still have the local dealership but they quoted me yesterday for the 180k km service a cool R 11000.00 excluding discs that will be extra if required.

Includes drain refill transmission but excludes the transmission filter because "there is no filter in the Gen 4 gearbox" but their parts department has one listed at R 861 and Haydn changed mine at the 120k km service.

[macjohnw]

Had a good non-dealer mechanic in Nelspruit.

Will not be using the dealers - lost my trust in them some time ago.

[Plod]

Anyone used Haydn’s replacement for their Paj?

[Tallhorse]

I used Ben who took over Hayden's business.
Early days but he seems okay. Certainly better than the dealers.

[pajero1989]

Anyone used Haydn’s replacement for their Paj?

I'm sending my J-tank to him today, for service and minor repairs. I will post a feedback in a few weeks.

Regards

[pajero1989]

Ok, the feedback about Benjamin's services, as promised.

I had brought to him my Pajero few days ago for a standard 4x4 service and minor issues' repairs (which might not be that minor if you are in middle of Namib or Kruger). After repairs, I drove about 300km between PMB and DUR, and did about 2km on some nasty dunes in DUR area. No problems found during that, so here comes the general impression:

First thing to notice, Ben pays attention to details. He immediately spot that my radiator's fan was installed by previous mechanic other way around and actually pushes air along the direction of car's motion, i.e., against incoming air flow. I have no idea how I managed to drive with this for about 6 months (or more!) without burning its engine down. God bless Paj's designers. Ben also noticed a small leak in the rear, which I was seeing for quite a while, but I thought that it's oil or something (and nobody else told me that it was a damn diesel from the tank). And he also noticed, straight away, that one of the alternator's bolts was unscrewed.

Second, the price I paid was affordable - even cheaper than Haydn's, let alone the Mitsubishi dealers. Probably, this is because Ben is also an auto-electrician, so he didn't have to send the car to outside. This is great considering that PMB has a lack of good AEs: I remember that once Haydn had to send my car back to the AE around a corner one day after he received it "repaired" - the turn indicators broke after I drove 100m from the garage.

Third, he seems to be able to think about solving car's issues instead of bluntly replacing half of its parts away, which is critical for old cars like mine. For instance, he finally solved my problem with a leaking snorkel which had a non-standard connection to an air filter. This problem was lasting for about 3-4 years but it was him who was able to solve it at last. Basically, he came up with a cheap-n-nasty solution, and it seems working so far.

Fourth, in KZN's climate, my ancient car has had a problem with electrics since about 2013 - it couldn't stand under rain (or even in humid air) with connected battery for too long. Each time I had to disconnect the battery, otherwise it was getting flat within 1-3 days. Now, Ben has fixed it (it seems), since I was leaving the car under rain for about few days now. Again, he came up with a cheap-n-nasty solution of how to prevent the earth leakage without disconnecting the battery manually. This is what I call a good AE. Also, he fixed my FM antenna connection to a radio, which previous AEs didnt even bother to look at.

The bottom line: I strongly believe that us PMB folks can trust Ben with repairs of our beloved 4x4 karitjie. Let's hope that his services' quality won't deteriorate in future.

[Plod]

Good to hear as I am due in about 2000K. Thanks for the feedback.

[Plod]

Some additional feedback. Had my Paj in for a service. Got off to a poor start as Ben arrived late due to him having to return home as he forgot the keys to the workshop. I was very happy with the service. Just one niggle after the service, a grinding sound which I suspect to be from the handbrake. I will be taking my vehicle back to him come service time.

[CharliD]

Anyone on here got a number for Ben and his workshop?
Thanks