A Very Merry Christmas 2019, from Approved Garages!

Christmas is nearly here, and for many that means lots of presents, lots of food and lots of mulled drinks (make sure you don’t drive if you’re doing that last one)!

But before we get ready to hibernate in front of a cosy fire with a mince pie or two and get ready to sing in another New Year with an impossible resolution, we’d like to take a look back at our favourite bits of 2019.

The approved garages family grew

The prestigious garage network, United Garage Services (UGS) signed up its very first garage in Northern Ireland. Whittle's Car Services then got added to our database, helping us provide motorists in Northern Ireland with another trusted option for their car servicing needs.

But UGS didn't stop there, in November Newry Auto Clinic in Northern Ireland became the 100th garage to sign up to the United Garage Services network, allowing us to add another trusted garage to our Northern Ireland database of garages. Well done United Garage Services!

We sponsored the darts (again!)

Approved Garages was once again an Official Partner of the Unibet Premier League Darts in 2019. Members, garages and motorists alike all appreciated the hospitality tickets, prizes, the brand exposure along with the opportunities such a sponsorship provides.

As usual, we made sure we had plenty in store for darts fans to get involved in! We planned exciting new video content, exclusive post-event interviews with the major darts players, ticket giveaways on social media and even signed darts related merchandise competitions. We had lots of fun and know everyone else involved did too.

Competition winners galore

There were so many competition winners in 2019, we've lost count of just how many motorists took home an epic prize. One of the biggest winners in 2019 was Pierre Jones, the lucky winner of our Las Vegas competition. He went and won himself a trip for two including four nights accommodation at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino and exclusive PDC access at the 2019 US Darts Masters.

Now if you're reading this you've no doubt heard about many of the other competitions our partners at AutoCare and United Garage Services have held throughout the year.

The latest big winners were Catherine Elin Jones who won a brand new MINI by visiting Valley Motor Services and Robert Bothwell who won an awesome tech bundle by visiting Whittle's Car Services. Another congratulations from us to all of those who won in 2019!

We shared our choice tips and advice with you

From boosting the range of an electric car to using independent garages if you have a car on PCP finance, we try our best to keep you guys informed so that you can get the most out of your vehicle, and make the right decisions when the unforeseen happens.

Our top picks from 2019 include:

• Food, drink, driving and the law – we debunk the myths
• How to replace a lost MOT certificate online
• Should I try and fix my own car?
• Protect your keyless car from being stolen

Award winning garages

Morgan Richards Garage from Charlton in Greenwich, LHA Car & Commercial in Leeds, and many more award winning garages all earned recognition for their dedication to delivering excellent service and representing everything we believe makes an Approved Garage. We're very proud to be associated with such fine folk.

So here it is, Merry Christmas!

Of course, none of this would be possible without you! You’re the reason Axle gets up in the morning and we pride ourselves on being able to bring you an easy, convenient way of finding a top garage you can trust near you.

Thank you for reading, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Approved Garages!