[MSS]

You have to ask yourself why any mechanic would want to touch someone else's 15+ year old car given that nuts/bolts may be seized and if something breaks a lot of people would blame the mechanic then expect them to sort at their cost.

The way to get a garage to work on an older car is to build a long-term relationship with them and to make sure it's clear from the start that if they undertake any work which carries a risk of the job expanding or parts breaking it will be at your (i.e. customer's) risk.

This is the basis on which I have worked with my local independent for the past 25ish years. The one time that the mechanic managed to break something accidentally - a lug on the CIM on our Corsa - he phoned to let me know and just said we broke it so we'll pay for a new one from Vauxhall including the coding to the car. It cost them over £400.

Last year he phoned to say that he has cross-threaded a bolt on my Omega and will pay for a new one from Vauxhall. I had to tell him that I had done it earlier so he needn't worry about it. They know that I am fussy about the manufacturer of parts, oil type etc. and fit parts supplied by myself without question or concern. We have established a working relationship where there is 100% trust in both directions.