Courtesy Car in St Helens: How to Get One and What to Bring
A courtesy car keeps you on the road while yours is in the workshop for £35 a day, and the way to get one is to ask when you book the car in, not on the day. We hold a limited number, they go to the longer jobs first, and you need a valid full UK driving licence to take one. This page covers when a courtesy car makes sense, what to bring, what the terms are, and what to do if none is free on your date.
Courtesy car • the short answer
How do I get a courtesy car while my car is being repaired?
You get a courtesy car by asking for one at the point of booking your car in, because numbers are limited and they are allocated in advance rather than handed out on the day. Tell us the date, the job and that you need to stay mobile, and we tell you straight away whether one is free.
- Ask when you book. By phone, WhatsApp or the booking form. If one is free for your date it is held for you.
- Limited numbers. A small fleet, so a courtesy car is subject to availability rather than guaranteed. We say so honestly at booking.
- Usually a small hatchback. A run-around to keep you moving, not a match for your own car.
- A valid full UK licence is required. Bring it with you; the handover takes a few minutes.
- Fuel goes back at the level it came with. Standard practice, and it keeps the car ready for the next driver.
- £35 a day. A flat daily charge for the length of the job, confirmed when you book.
- Insurance is arranged on our side. Any excess for damage is confirmed with you before you drive off.
Courtesy cars make the most sense for a full or major service, a cambelt, a clutch or a repair that keeps the car for a day or more. For an MOT or an interim service you are usually better waiting, because the car is back within a couple of hours. See car servicing St Helens and MOT St Helens for how long each job takes, or ring 01744 808586 and ask when you book.
How it works
What comes with a courtesy car, and what is expected back
The arrangement is simple on both sides. Here is what we provide, and what we ask of you, so there are no surprises at the desk.
- A car held for your dateAllocated at booking and waiting when you drop yours off. Ask early for busy weeks.
- Insurance in placeCover for the courtesy car is arranged on our end. We confirm the specifics with you, including any excess, before you take the keys.
- A quick handoverLicence checked, condition and fuel noted together, keys handed over. A few minutes at drop-off and again at collection.
- For the length of the jobThe car stays with you until yours is ready. If a repair runs on, the courtesy car does too; we tell you when that happens.
- A valid full UK licenceRequired for every driver who will use the car. Bring it with you rather than a photo of it.
- Fuel returned at the same levelNote the gauge at handover and bring it back the same. A courtesy car is expected back with roughly the fuel it went out with.
- The named driver onlyThe person on the handover form drives it. Tell us at booking if a partner needs to drive as well.
- Returned when you collectKeys back at the desk when you pick your own car up, condition checked together the same way it went out.
- An honest answer on availabilityIf none is free for your date we say so at booking, and we can often suggest another day that works.
- Payment Assist for the job itselfThe repair the courtesy car covers can be spread over three, four or six months at nought per cent. See pay monthly car repairs.
Send us your reg. Get a real price back.
No forms, no callback queue, no "prices from". Type your registration, tell us what the car is doing, and press send. It opens WhatsApp with the message already written, and a technician in the St Helens workshop picks it up.
- ✓Your MOT due date looked up for you, so you aren’t guessing.
- ✓A real price for the repair your car needs, not a range.
- ✓The next free slot at Boundary Road, Saturday mornings included.
- ✓Answered by the workshop in St Helens. Never a call centre.
Check your registration
Ten seconds. No account, no waiting on hold.
Send it on WhatsAppor call01744 808586
Mon–Fri 8:30am–5pm • Sat 9am–12:30pm
Job by job
Which jobs is a courtesy car worth asking for?
A courtesy car is worth asking for on any job that keeps your car for a day or more. For the shorter jobs, waiting or a lift is usually simpler for everyone.
| Job | How long the car is in | Courtesy car? |
|---|---|---|
| MOT test | Under an hour, while you wait | Rarely needed. See MOT St Helens |
| Interim service | A couple of hours | Usually wait, or a lift into town |
| Full or major service | Most of a day | Yes, ask at booking. See car servicing |
| Cambelt and water pump | A full day | Yes. See cambelt cost |
| Clutch or gearbox repair | One to two days | Yes. See gearbox repairs |
| Diagnostics and electrical faults | A few hours to a day, depending on the fault | Ask; we tell you at booking how long it is likely to take |
| Engine repair, timing chain, head gasket | Several days | Yes, for the length of the job |
| Tyres, brakes, wheel alignment | An hour or two | Usually wait. See wheel alignment |
If a repair is found during a service or MOT and the car has to stay, ask at that point; a courtesy car is sometimes free at short notice, and if not we tell you honestly and work out the alternative. Booking a day job ahead, with the courtesy car requested at the same time, is the surest way to have one waiting. Send the registration and the job through the reg check and we come back with the time the car will be in and whether a courtesy car is free.
The question people search
How long does it take to get a courtesy car?
Getting a courtesy car takes as long as the booking does: it is allocated when you book your car in, and it is ready at the desk when you drop the car off, so the handover itself is a few minutes. The wait, if there is one, is for a date when a car is free, which is why asking a few days ahead for a busy week matters.
On the day, the handover is a licence check, a look round the car together, a note of the fuel level, and the keys. Turn up with the licence and it is done before your own car is on the ramp. Turn up without it and the car cannot go out, whatever the booking says.
If you ring on the morning your car is due in and ask for one, the honest answer is that it depends on what has already been allocated. Sometimes one is free; often it is not. The fix is simple: ask when you book. Ring 01744 808586, use the contact page, or send the registration and the job through the reg check below and say you need to stay mobile.
Step by step
How a courtesy car works from booking to hand-back
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Ask when you book
Phone, WhatsApp or the form. Tell us the date, the job and that you need a courtesy car. We confirm there and then whether one is free.
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Bring your full UK driving licence
The car cannot go out without it. If someone else will drive it, they need to be there with theirs too.
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Handover at drop-off
Condition and fuel level noted together, the insurance terms and any excess confirmed with you, keys handed over. A few minutes.
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Drive it for the length of the job
If the repair runs on, the courtesy car stays with you. We ring you with progress on your own car.
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Fuel back at the same level
Bring it back with roughly the fuel it went out with, so it is ready for the next driver.
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Hand-back at collection
Keys back at the desk, condition checked together the same way it went out, and you leave in your own car.
What to bring
What do I need to bring for a courtesy car?
To take a courtesy car you need to bring your valid full UK driving licence, and that is the one thing the car cannot go out without; everything else, including the insurance cover and any excess for damage, is arranged on our side and confirmed with you at the handover.
Bring the physical licence rather than a photo. If a second person will drive the car during the job, they need to come to the handover with theirs as well, and it is worth saying so at booking. Most garages set a minimum driver age for courtesy cars, commonly around 21; if you are a younger driver, ask when you book rather than finding out at the desk.
Check the fuel gauge with us at handover, because the car comes back at the same level. Beyond that, treat it as you would your own car: it is a small hatchback for getting to work and back, not a vehicle for the tip run or the towbar. Any questions about the terms are answered before you drive off, and 01744 808586 answers them before you set out. See the contact page for where to find us and garage services in St Helens for the jobs a courtesy car usually covers.
The jobs it covers
The work a courtesy car usually goes with
Each of these keeps a car in for a day or more, which is when a courtesy car earns its keep.
Car servicing
Full and major services take most of a day. See car servicing St Helens and what is included in a car service.
Cambelt and water pump
A full day on most engines, longer on a wet belt. See cambelt water pump replacement cost.
Gearbox and clutch
One to two days for a clutch, longer for a gearbox rebuild. See gearbox repairs St Helens.
Diagnostics
Intermittent faults can keep a car overnight. See auto electrician St Helens.
MOT and repairs
The test is while you wait; a failure that needs parts may not be. See MOT St Helens.
Pay monthly
Spread the job the courtesy car is covering. See pay monthly car repairs.
Courtesy car — paying for the job over time
The job the courtesy car covers never arrives in a convenient month
Nobody budgets for a day-long repair. Whatever the diagnosis turns into can be spread across four months at nought per cent through pay monthly car repairs, decided on a soft search that does not mark your credit file.
Straight answer
Is a courtesy car guaranteed when I book?
A courtesy car is subject to availability rather than guaranteed, which is true of almost every garage that offers one, because we hold a limited number and if several customers need one on the same day there is a real chance none is free; asking at the point of booking is what puts you at the front of that queue.
What we will not do is promise one and then not have it. If none is free for your date, we say so when you book, and we can usually offer a different day when one is, or work out whether the job can be done while you wait. Being told the truth at booking is worth more than a maybe on the morning.
Where a job is found during a service or an MOT and the car has to stay unexpectedly, ask at that point. Occasionally one has come back early. If not, the same honest answer applies, and we help you sort a lift or a later collection. Ring 01744 808586 with the date and the job, or see MOT St Helens and car servicing St Helens for which jobs are while-you-wait in the first place.
The terms
How much does a courtesy car cost, and what am I responsible for?
A courtesy car costs £35 a day for the length of the job, and beyond that you are responsible for the fuel, which goes back at the level it came with, the car being returned as it went out, and any excess on the insurance if it comes back damaged, which is confirmed with you at the handover before you drive off.
The insurance is arranged on our side. Ask us to confirm the excess before you take the keys, because that is the figure that matters if the car comes back with a scrape. Fines, tolls and parking charges incurred while the car is with you are yours, as they would be in your own car.
The car goes to the named driver on the handover form. If you want a partner or family member to be able to drive it, say so at booking so they can be added at the handover with their licence. Everything else, from the fuel level to the return, is written down at handover so there is nothing to argue about later. See the contact page for opening hours and directions, and pay monthly car repairs for spreading the job itself.
The numbers
Six numbers behind a courtesy car
What decides whether one is waiting for you.
Where drivers come from
Courtesy car for drivers across St Helens and the towns around it
Boundary Road is a couple of minutes off the A58 and the Linkway. A courtesy car is what makes a day job workable for anyone driving in from further out.
Drivers also come over from Widnes, Warrington, Wigan and Liverpool. Car servicing St Helens covers the day-long jobs and garage services in St Helens everything else done here.
Worth knowing
Why we ask about a courtesy car at booking, not on the day
A courtesy car is a piece of workshop planning like a ramp or a technician. Each one is out for the length of a job, so on a Monday morning the fleet may already be spoken for by cars booked the week before. Allocating at booking means we can tell you the truth in advance, move a job to a day when a car is free, or point you at a while-you-wait slot instead.
It also means the car is fuelled, checked and waiting with the paperwork ready, so the handover takes minutes rather than holding up your morning.
If none is free
What if a courtesy car is not available on my date?
If a courtesy car is not available on your date, we tell you at booking and offer the alternatives: another day when one is free, a while-you-wait slot for the jobs that only take an hour or two, or, for work that can be done where the car is parked, the Fastlane mobile mechanic service, which needs no drop-off, no key handover and no courtesy car at all.
For a service or a repair that has to be on the ramp, moving the date by a day or two usually solves it. For an MOT, a tyre, a battery or an alignment, the car is back before a courtesy car would have been worth collecting. Tell us what you need to get to and we will work round it.
Where a job turns out to be bigger than expected once the car is in, we ring you with the diagnosis, the price and how long it adds before anything is done, and that is the moment to ask again about a car. See MOT St Helens for the while-you-wait test, car servicing St Helens for how long each service takes, or ring 01744 808586.
Need to stay mobile while the car is in?
Send the registration, the job and the date you want. We come back with how long the car will be in, whether a courtesy car is free for that date, and the next slot if it is not.
Courtesy car — get in touch
Tell us the job, the date and that you need to stay mobile
That is all it takes to have a courtesy car held for you, or an honest answer and another date if none is free. Bring your full UK licence on the day.
Fastlane Autocare, 232-254 Boundary Road, St Helens, WA10 2PZ. Open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm and Saturday 9:00am to 12:30pm. Ring 01744 808586, use the contact page, or send the registration over and we will book the car and the courtesy car together.
Courtesy car • straight answers
Questions drivers ask about courtesy cars
You get a courtesy car from a garage by asking for one when you book the car in, because most garages, including Fastlane, hold a small number and allocate them in advance to the longer jobs, so a request at booking gets you a car held for your date while a request on the morning depends on what is already out.
Bring your full UK driving licence to the handover and the car goes out in a few minutes. See car servicing St Helens for the jobs that keep a car in all day and the contact page for booking. Ring 01744 808586 and say you need to stay mobile.
It takes as long as the booking to get a courtesy car, because the car is allocated when you book and is waiting at the desk when you drop yours off, and the handover itself, a licence check, a look round the car together and a note of the fuel, takes a few minutes before your own car is even on the ramp.
The wait, if there is one, is for a date when a car is free, which is why asking a few days ahead matters in a busy week. See MOT St Helens for the jobs that are while-you-wait anyway and garage services in St Helens for the ones that keep the car.
A courtesy car is subject to availability rather than guaranteed, as at almost every garage that offers one, because a limited number of cars are shared between everyone booked in that week, and the way to improve your chances is to ask at the point of booking rather than on the day.
If none is free for your date we say so at booking and offer another day, a while-you-wait slot or the mobile mechanic route. See car servicing St Helens for how long each service takes and the contact page to book. Ring 01744 808586 to check a date.
You need to bring your valid full UK driving licence to take a courtesy car, and the physical licence rather than a photo, because the car cannot go out without it; the insurance cover is arranged on our side and confirmed with you at the handover along with any excess for damage.
Any second driver needs to attend the handover with their own licence, and most garages set a minimum driver age, commonly around 21, so ask at booking if that might apply. Note the fuel level with us, because the car comes back at the same level. See the contact page and garage services in St Helens.
A courtesy car costs £35 a day for the length of the job, and beyond that you are responsible for the fuel, which goes back at the level it came with, the car being returned as it went out, and any excess on the insurance if it comes back damaged, which is confirmed at the handover.
Fines, tolls and parking charges incurred while it is with you are yours, as in your own car. Ask us to confirm the excess before taking the keys. See pay monthly car repairs for spreading the repair itself and the contact page for booking, or ring 01744 808586.
We provide a courtesy car for a full or major service where one is available, because those keep the car for most of a day, while an interim service is usually back within a couple of hours and most drivers wait or take a lift into town instead.
Ask for the car when you book the service, not on the day. See car servicing St Helens for how long each service takes and what is included in a car service for what is done in that time.
An MOT is done while you wait, usually inside an hour, so a courtesy car is rarely needed for the test itself; where a courtesy car comes in is when the car fails on something that needs parts and has to stay, and at that point ask at the desk, because one is sometimes free at short notice.
Booking the MOT with a service on the same day is the usual reason a car is in long enough to want one. See MOT St Helens for the test and car servicing St Helens for pairing the two, or ring 01744 808586.
You can get a courtesy car for a cambelt, clutch or engine repair where one is available, and these are the jobs the fleet is held for, because a cambelt takes a full day, a clutch one to two days and an engine repair several, so ask for the car at booking and it stays with you for the length of the job.
If the repair runs on, the courtesy car does too, and we ring you with progress. See cambelt water pump replacement cost and gearbox repairs St Helens for how long those jobs take.
A courtesy car is usually a small hatchback, a run-around for getting to work and back while your own car is in the workshop, which is standard practice across the trade and means it is not necessarily the same size or type as the car you have dropped off.
It is not for towing, the tip run or a full load, and it goes back with the fuel it came with. See garage services in St Helens for the jobs it covers and the contact page to book.
Someone else can drive the courtesy car if they are named at the handover and present their own valid full UK driving licence, so tell us at booking that a partner or family member will need to drive it and bring them to the handover, because a driver who is not on the form is not covered.
The same minimum age and licence conditions apply to every named driver. See the contact page to book and car servicing St Helens for the jobs a courtesy car usually goes with. Ring 01744 808586 with any question about who can drive it.
You need to return the courtesy car with roughly the fuel level it went out with, which is noted together at the handover, so if you have used a quarter of a tank over the week, a quarter of a tank goes back in before you collect your own car.
It keeps the car ready for the next driver and avoids a fuel charge at the desk. See the contact page for where the nearest fuel is to Boundary Road and garage services in St Helens for the jobs the car covers.
The courtesy car is insured under cover arranged on our side, and the excess for damage is confirmed with you at the handover before you drive off, so ask for the figure if it is not offered, because that is what you would be liable for if the car came back with a scrape.
Fines, tolls and parking charges while the car is with you are yours. See the contact page for booking and pay monthly car repairs for the repair itself. Ring 01744 808586 if you want the terms explained before you book.
If a courtesy car is not available on your date we tell you at booking and offer another day when one is free, a while-you-wait slot for the jobs that take an hour or two, or the mobile mechanic route for work that can be done where the car is parked, which needs no drop-off and no courtesy car at all.
Moving a service by a day or two usually solves it. See MOT St Helens for the while-you-wait test and car servicing St Helens for how long each service takes.
You can sometimes get a courtesy car at short notice if your car fails its MOT and has to stay for parts, because one occasionally comes back early, so ask at the desk when we ring you with the failure and the price, and if none is free we say so honestly and help you sort a lift or a later collection.
A car that fails on a dangerous defect cannot be driven away until it is fixed, which is when this matters most. See MOT St Helens for how the test and the repair run together and the contact page for opening hours, or ring 01744 808586.
You should ask for a courtesy car at the moment you book the job, and for a busy week a few days ahead is sensible, because the cars are allocated in advance to the day-long jobs and a Monday morning fleet is often spoken for by cars booked the previous week.
Asking at booking also lets us move the job to a day when a car is free if your first choice is taken. See the contact page to book and garage services in St Helens for the jobs that keep a car in.
Where a courtesy car is not the right answer, the alternatives we offer are a while-you-wait slot for the shorter jobs and the Fastlane mobile mechanic service for work that can be done at your home or workplace, which removes the drop-off altogether; tell us what you need to get to on the day and we work round it.
For ramp work such as a cambelt or a clutch, moving the date to one with a courtesy car free is usually the simplest fix. See car servicing St Helens and the contact page, or ring 01744 808586.
You can keep the courtesy car if your repair takes longer, because it is allocated for the length of the job rather than a fixed number of days, and if a part is delayed or a second fault is found we ring you with what it means for the timing before anything is done.
The fuel-level rule still applies at hand-back. See pay monthly car repairs if the bigger job needs spreading and garage services in St Helens for what is done here.
You collect and return the courtesy car at the garage on Boundary Road in St Helens, a couple of minutes off the A58 and the Linkway, at the same desk where you drop off and collect your own car, with the handover and hand-back done together in a few minutes each.
Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm and Saturday 9:00am to 12:30pm. See the contact page for directions and garage services in St Helens for everything done here.
Courtesy cars are small hatchbacks, so a van driver whose van is in for work gets a car to stay mobile rather than a replacement van, and if the job needs a van-sized vehicle it is worth saying so at booking so we can talk through the timing and the alternatives.
Van work is often planned for the shortest possible time off the road for that reason. See van MOT and servicing St Helens and the contact page, or ring 01744 808586.
We provide courtesy cars from the garage on Boundary Road for drivers from across St Helens and the towns around it, including Haydock, Prescot, Rainhill, Newton-le-Willows, Billinge, Eccleston, Widnes, Warrington and Wigan, with the car handed over and returned at the workshop rather than delivered.
Ask at booking whichever town you are coming from. See the contact page for directions to Boundary Road and car servicing St Helens for the jobs a courtesy car usually goes with.