Volks Centre Cairns

Volks Centre Cairns is a German vehicle specialist workshop in Portsmith

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Volks Centre Cairns is a specialist German vehicle workshop based at 105 Hartley St, Portsmith, in Cairns, Queensland. They work only on German makes, covering Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche, and take on everything from logbook servicing through to major engine work. The business is locally owned and operated and runs a second workshop at Smithfield on the northern side of Cairns, with the Portsmith site being the one that also cuts and programs replacement keys.

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Who will customers deal with at Volks Centre Cairns?

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The business is led by owner and director Nadim Sheik, who served his apprenticeship and spent ten years in the trade at a family run workshop in St Neots in England before moving to Cairns in December 2015. He joined Volks Centre Cairns as a mechanic in January 2016 and stepped into the service and workshop advisor role the following year. His particular strengths are fault diagnosis, programming, coding and cloning of electronic control modules, and the modification and performance tuning of German vehicles. Elizabeth Sheik, known as Liz, is the client relations specialist and usually the first point of contact for customers. Aidan and Jake Pressley manage the workshops and are the people customers speak with about a mechanical problem, so the conversation happens with someone who works on the cars.

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What servicing and repair work is carried out at the Portsmith workshop?

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Logbook servicing is done to the manufacturer schedule, which keeps a newer vehicle's factory warranty valid, and they also handle general mechanical and electrical repairs, major engine overhauls and engine and gearbox reconditioning. The workshop is fitted out with current diagnostic hardware and software along with the specialist tools these makes require, so fault codes can be read, service intervals reset and new or replacement parts coded and calibrated to the vehicle. Air conditioning service and re-gas is available, and parts and accessories can be supplied for the German makes they cover. Replacement and spare keys for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche are cut and programmed on site.

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Do they do tyres, wheel alignments and performance tuning?

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Yes. They have tyre fitting, wheel alignment and wheel balancing equipment at the workshop, so wheel and tyre work can be taken care of at the same visit as a service or repair. On the performance side they carry out ECU tuning through the MCTA performance tuning programme, recalibrating the factory engine management on German models, which is an area Nadim Sheik has built a local reputation in.

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Can commercial and fleet vehicles be serviced?

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Yes. Volks Centre Cairns runs a division set up for commercial and fleet vehicles, mainly Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Volkswagen Crafter vans, and other German commercial models can also be taken on. Servicing, repairs, preventative maintenance and ECU tuning are all available for these vehicles, and the work is scheduled with the aim of getting a van back into service quickly. Having two Cairns workshops gives fleet operators a choice of drop off point, either at Portsmith or at Smithfield.

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With its focus on German makes, current diagnostic equipment and a team led by Nadim Sheik, Volks Centre Cairns gives Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche owners in Far North Queensland a specialist workshop close to the city.