Kwik Fit are useless!

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

Sirrel Squirrel

Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2003
Posts
8,517
Location
Essex
The other day I decided to get a new exhaust because the one on my xr3 at the moment was blowing a little bit about half way down the main pipe, so I took the car down to Kwik Fit as I thought surely they can't screw something simple like fitting an exhaust up and the price wasn't too bad either. They ordered the exhaust in for me, so I went home and an hour later the exhaust had arrived, took the car back to them, they put it up on the ramp, struggled a bit to get the old one off, then went to put the new one on to find they had ordered the wrong type. So they put my old exhaust back on but the muppets haven't connected it to the engine manifold correctly, so I was driving along today and it's obviously worked itself loose a bit and the car sounds like a bloody lawn mower or if you ge the revs right it sounds like a V8 :p

They called me to say the new exhaust has come in but I don't think I'll be going back some how, think I'm going to buy a stainless steel mongoose one.
 
Have you told them about their mistake?

I dont see how anybody can bork up fitting an exhaust...ESPECIALLY "professionals". Me and a friend managed to weld up a whole new back section from a box of bends, with a silencer AND mount the thing with absolutely no problems at all - it sailed thru it's MOT.
 
Haven't told them yet, it only got really bad tonight, I thought something was seriously wrong with my engine when I first heard it and had to pull over to check everything out.

I was hoping I wouldn't need to get a new exhaust because when I got the car the backbox part fell off where it had rusted away but I welded it back on with a perfect seal but sadly there is a hole further down the pipe meaning I need a whole system.
 
You think that's bad?

Went into Cowboy-Fit for an MOT. They said I could do with some new pads+discs. So I thought, what the hell. Duly fitted. Spent a few days gently bedding them in until they had some bite.

About 1 week later, came off the motorway along a slip road where there were some traffic lights. No SWEARING brakes! Jammed on the pedal like you won't believe and shot past the (red) traffic lights by about 1.5 metres almost straight across the round about. There was a burning smell coming from the front wheels and thought 'what the SWEARING ???'. Took it into the nearest Cowboy-Fit depot - they said that whoever had fitted the brakes hadn't fitted the pad holder properly and it wasn't disengaging from the discs properly. Basically, the pads had been cooked during the motorway because they hadn't been disengaging from the discs properly....

FIVE VISITS later. They eventually replaced the pads with some proper parts instead of the kwik-fit brand crap that they used. Had to spent another £150 going back to Mazda for a proper inspections + parts.

I'm never going to Cowboy-Fit again for anything except tyres.
 
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On a few occasions I have had to remove and replace and exhaust on a car simply due to them fitting the exhaust for a totally differant car. :D
 
Had a bad experience kack-Fit about ten years ago and I would never use them again. My wife took her Vitara in as she got a puncture on the way home. She got a new tyre fitted but they also talked her into having the oil changed as it was on offer and they thought the Vitara's oil was old.

After draining it they discovered they didn't have the correct filter. Whether that distracted them or something but they never tightened the sump plug. Needless to say the Vitara didn't go far before disaster struck. As they hadn't fitted the new filter they would also except no responsibility so we got the bill for a new engine.
 
Twit-Fit are a bunch of cowboys, they blatently bodge near enough everything, normally they employ people who couldn't give a 'nats left one' about the job. My experience of them was very poor, I had my MOT done elsewhere, they said I needed a new tire so I went to Twit-fit as I thought they would be quick/cheap. My fault telling them I needed it for the MOT, all of a sudden the guy spots that I have a split CV boot. 'Hmm' I'm thinking 'I dont recal this being on the MOT fail slip'. Anyhow a split CV boot is an MOT failure so they said they could do it for me so I stupidly said yes. About 3 days later I was turning out of a tight car park space and the boot on the left popped off & a few days later so did the right side, after repeated visit's to have them re-attached I eventually fitted some metal jubilee clips myself rather than the shody plastic ones they had used.

My mates expereince, he took his Corrado in for something (tyre??), the idiot Twit-fit drove it onto the ramp to fast and caught the lip at the front of the car on the ramp. Apparently he was reving the car rocking it back and forward wondering why he wasn't moving while my mate stood there at in disbelief.

avoid at all costs!
 
Third Opinion said:
Had a bad experience kack-Fit about ten years ago and I would never use them again. My wife took her Vitara in as she got a puncture on the way home. She got a new tyre fitted but they also talked her into having the oil changed as it was on offer and they thought the Vitara's oil was old.

After draining it they discovered they didn't have the correct filter. Whether that distracted them or something but they never tightened the sump plug. Needless to say the Vitara didn't go far before disaster struck. As they hadn't fitted the new filter they would also except no responsibility so we got the bill for a new engine.
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I certainly wouldnt have been accepting that. Escalation through to their management and local press would have been my route
 
davidstone28 said:
I'm never going to Cowboy-Fit again for anything except tyres.
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You still have to be careful getting tyres done there. The place round the corner from my office managed to scuff one of my alloys changing a tyre and one of their punture repairs very nearly failed on me (rubber plug protruding over a cm from the tyre surface!).

Frankly if I were in your situation I'd be looking at taking legal action against them, not so much for a possibly payout but just to stop them before they actually kill someone :eek:
 
I had no problems when I was at quick fit 2 weeks ago. When I got there he put my car on the ramp and showed me the hole in the exhaust and I was on my way home with a new exhaust within 30 mins. It was cheap too with 3 year guarantee.

Maybe I was lucky :P

Kwik Fit in Forfar.
 
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Mechanical Arts said:
I had no problems when I was at quick fit 2 weeks ago. When I got there he put my car on the ramp and showed me the hole in the exhaust and I was on my way home with a new exhaust within 30 mins. It was cheap too with 3 year guarantee.

Maybe I was lucky :P
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Thats the thing with a franchise, you can get good ones and you can get duff ones. A good company will lean on the bad ones for bringing the brand down but it seems with Kwik Fit its anything goes. TBH I've never used them due to all the horror stories and that somewhere else always seems to be cheaper.
 
Not had any bad experiences with Kwik Fit myself, but then I only use them for exhausts and only if I dont have time to do it myself.

Have had a bad expeience with Charlie Brown though (fortunately not my car though), when I was at college a mate and I drove up there during lunch to get a new tyre fitted on his car. Whilst they were changing the tyre the car slipped off the jack and pushed the drivers side floor pan right up, car was a total mess underneath and pretty much undrivable. He managed to get Charlie Browns to pay for the damages but it took over a year.

Fog
 
Mechanical Arts said:
I had no problems when I was at quick fit 2 weeks ago. When I got there he put my car on the ramp and showed me the hole in the exhaust and I was on my way home with a new exhaust within 30 mins. It was cheap too with 3 year guarantee.

Maybe I was lucky :P
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In some cases they can be alright, I've been a couple of times before for tyres and brakes, on both these times the boss was there and I think he carried out the repairs himself and on both times he done it quick with no problems. I noticed he wasn't there when I let them fit my exhaust.
 
Third Opinion said:
No receipt without the filter so we had very little comeback.
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So they would have denied all knowledge ? You went in for something completely unrelated, they pressurised you into getting something you probably didnt need (the kwit fit way), they cocked it up and you get to pay the price........

Even without proof they did something wrong I would be complaining and making a fuss, otherwise they get away with it. Did you pay for an oil change ? if so there you go
 
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i hate kwik fit, about 6 years ago i had a saxo 1.1 and needed new front tyres, i took it there and got some ditch finders fitted, when i got back i was told they had fitted new discs and pads which i did say they could the bill came to about £200 which i didnt have, i told them i wouldnt pay
(i couldnt no cash) had a huge row and was told i had to pay the bill to get the car back, i walked home got my spare keys went back and drove my car out the car park, 2 hours later mrplod was at my door i agreed to pay for the tyres but not the brakes, mr plod went and i never heard another thing from him or kwik fit so i got new breaks for free.
 
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