I use a guy in hitchin, he's not a stealer, he works for vw during the day then services my car after work, he started before the days of techs so he's a proper mechanic, been using him for 10 or so years and he's always been spot on with my golfs, even diagnosing one over the phone (ok he's on holiday ATM when I want him to check over my mk7.1 lol), maybe there's someone like that down your way?