Best garages

Nine car repair garages in Torre del Mar carry a public rating. It is a trade where people write reviews rarely and emphatically, so the numbers are smaller than in hospitality and they say more per review.

The top of the table is neither the best rated nor the most reviewed

The garage at the top of the table sits there on a modest rating and a moderate number of opinions, because it is one of only two in the trade with a website of its own. The most reviewed business, a tyre specialist with over three hundred opinions and a better rating, places lower for want of one. Different services, different frequency of visit too: you change tyres far more often than you rebuild a gearbox.

The ITV is not done here

The Spanish roadworthiness test, the ITV, is not carried out in Torre del Mar. The station serving the area is outside the town, and you book a slot in advance. Several garages here will prepare the car for it, and some will take it through for you, which is worth asking about before you spend a morning on it yourself.

Two things to ask for

• A written estimate before work starts. You are entitled to one and it is normal to ask.
• The old parts back, if something was replaced. Also normal, also your right.