Is this a foolish decision? (Halfrauds Autocentre)

Why didn't you confirm what was included in the service before booking it in?

Seems like you are picking fault for the sake of doing so.

It's possible that the brake fluid could have been changed while the car is on the ramps without removing the wheels, right?
 
I hate the feeling of taking my car to a garage, so much so that 5 years ago I kitted myself out with some basic tools and started working on it myself. Now I've got a great collection of tools and done almost every job possible, from a basic service to rebuilding a gearbox and welding in replacement sills.

I still hate the fact I have to take my car to a garage for MOT and sit there nervously wondering what they are doing out back. I even have to stand and watch when I get tyres fitted!

The feeling of doing the work yourself and knowing everything has been done correctly and to the book is great.
 
Ha, Halfords. I took a car for an MOT there once. Failed on headlamp (a mounting point was broken, I was aware of this), a leaking backbox and a number plate which was illegible (they must've been blind).

They replaced all the bits but I pressure tested the old backbox with a compressor and it was fine. The reg plate they supplied had two digits swapped around, something which was only picked up by the MOT station the year after!

Best part? The advisories were knackered shocks, worn discs & pads. They got a bit of a shock when I opened the boot and showed them the old discs and pads, together woth the receipt from Eurocarparts indicating tjat they were bought less than 48h prior.

Absolute clowns, never again, but as already mentioned I probably just got a bad one.
 
Adam said:
Why didn't you confirm what was included in the service before booking it in?

Seems like you are picking fault for the sake of doing so.

It's possible that the brake fluid could have been changed while the car is on the ramps without removing the wheels, right?
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I know what's included by the website listing everything. You're right though I'm probably just picking fault.

I was annoyed at putting a car in on a morning slot and it sitting untouched til 2pm when I turned up though.
 
FinglisHobbit said:
Had a call from them. Service report says my rear disks need doing. Quoted £167.
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Now there's a shock!

Depending on how bad the brake fluid was before hand, the peddle normally feels firmer after a fluid change. TBH I wouldn't trust KwikFit/Halfords Autocentres as far as I could throw them.

My girlfriend took her car to Kwik fit 2 weeks ago to get an MOT. Only thing it failed on was "excessively worn brake flex pipe ferrules". Strange, i thought, as they did 9000miles ago/last year and it passed without so much as an advisory for that. They said "Don't worry, we can just replace them for £120". She said no thanks and got a local guy to do them for £70.

On picking the car up from having it's flexi pipes changed the guy said "Really don't know why they said they needed to be changed, they were fine. Slightly corroded, maybe, but excessively? No."

He gave me the flexipipes he'd taken off and surprise surprise, they were slightly corroded at worst, and nowhere near "excessively corroded". To cut a long story short I went to KwikFit to complain and the guy at the counter said whilst he didn't think they were corroded excessively, but the MOT tester did. So the MOT tester came to talk to me - he claimed that he failed it instead of giving it an advisory for slightly corroded "because people generally take no notice of advisories and if they crashed in a few months time due to the brake ferrules exploding, it'd be on him". I told him that that is not his concern, and it is not up to him to force people to have things done on their car when, at that moment in time, it should have been an advisory. That is all he needs to worry about - what the condition of the car on the day he looks at it.

I was also told that I couldn't make a complaint to VOSA as the pipes had been removed from the car. Also, whilst I was waiting for the car to be retested, the manager was telling me about the horror stories at Kwikfit before he joined a few months previous. He told me he used to find people asleep at the back, regularly find work that was charged to the customer that wasn't done, doing lots of unnecessary work, failing cars on MOT's which should have passed and that at 4.30pm his MOT tester (still) will rush through a test so he finishes on time.

I'm never taking my car to Kwikfit again. They've been very good for me in the past with my MOT's and never failed my car, but unfortunately my girlfriend took hers in, alone, 2 days before the MOT expired, which is asking for trouble.
 
Having been under my car today to look at the bottom balljoint cover it actually looks like someone has put a screwdriver through it as it's been torn to bits and didn't even get an advisory at Halfords a few weeks ago.

Suspicious but can't prove anything.
 
they put a nice dent and removed the paint on my drivers door by slamming it into the ramp while it was in having "brakes for life" fortunately they did not admit to it but agreed to repair it and gave me £100 off my bill also, but no way i would go back to them again if that's the sort of care they take with customers car
 
Well the one in Worksop certainly seems genuine, just back from having their "Free brake test" after my Mondeo failing on imbalanced and fluctuating rear brakes.

Guess What?

Absolutely nothing wrong with them at all, he even showed me exactly how they are tested for the MOT & gave me a results print out. My rear brakes are imbalanced 16%, my fail sheet says 35% so quite a difference!
 
Iamzod said:
Well the one in Worksop certainly seems genuine, just back from having their "Free brake test" after my Mondeo failing on imbalanced and fluctuating rear brakes.

Guess What?

Absolutely nothing wrong with them at all, he even showed me exactly how they are tested for the MOT & gave me a results print out. My rear brakes are imbalanced 16%, my fail sheet says 35% so quite a difference!
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The one next to B&Q?
 
like most places I think it depends on what the local branch is like.

Ford do fixed price servicing and if the cars over 4 years old they include a years breakdown with AA as well. had a major of a mk6 fiesta for 200 including MOT done last month. worth a look imo as it was roughly the same price than halfords/kwikfit
 
Got an Ibiza 130tdi sport serviced at their Dumfries branch a few years back and they told me BOTH front and rear disks/pads needed replacing. Even gave me an advisory on the MOT! Needless to say that I told then not to do them (unless an MOT failure) as I could not afford it at this point in time. On having a look at them when I got the car back, both front and back looked fine to me (OK maybe slight lip on rear disks but certainly not that bad... pads had loads of meat on them). It then went on to pass two further MOT's fine (no advisory... nothing) and some 15k more miles, before I finally PXd it.

Total con merchants. :mad::mad::mad:
 
Iamzod said:
I use the one in Worksop for MOT's and I'd recommend them to be honest, my car sailed through last year but failed this year on the exhaust & two drop links.

Having taken the exhaust off it was indeed in a bit of a state and the drop links also definitely needed changing.

Mine is also a Mondeo TDCi.
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Ask for Jamie (If its the one I think it is)! He used to work for a motorsport company and did a lot of work on my Big Turboed TT!

This is an example of why its all about who works at your local one, Im sure he wont be their long with his skills, but hes really happy their, it pays the bills and hes treated like a God as his knowledge and skills exceed ANYTHING any of them have ever seen.
 
Iamzod said:
Well the one in Worksop certainly seems genuine, just back from having their "Free brake test" after my Mondeo failing on imbalanced and fluctuating rear brakes.

Guess What?

Absolutely nothing wrong with them at all, he even showed me exactly how they are tested for the MOT & gave me a results print out. My rear brakes are imbalanced 16%, my fail sheet says 35% so quite a difference!
Click to expand...

Thats the one that dented my door.... might be genuine but when they dont take care of the cars and damage them then that's even worse. Funny thing is they commented on my car saying how good condition it was in, and looked like it had just come out of the showroom.
 
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