Why i hate tyre centres

[Gareth Collier]

Similar story from Halfords back in August. I'd not used them before but they are within walking distance of home. My aircon no longer pumped out cold air so I guessed a regassing may be required, a service Halfords offered.

Nope, the condensor was leaking and needed replacing at a cost of just over £500 which seemed a bit steep. A bit of research online later and I dropped my car off at a local independent that would replace it for just over £200 so was very happy to discover they couldn't find a leak anywhere so just regassed it and there is still no sign of any problems.

Moral of the story is rather than getting paid for a regass Halfords got greedy, lied, and ended up with nothing. I won't be returning. 

[figworthy]

30 mumble years ago, our local tyre place had a fitter who was about 6'8" and the same across the shoulders.  He always used hand tools to do the wheel nuts, and this was before the regular use of torque wrenches.  We used to dread having to take a wheel off after he'd put it on.

 

Adrian

[simontaylor484]

5 hours ago, Gareth Collier said:

Similar story from Halfords back in August. I'd not used them before but they are within walking distance of home. My aircon no longer pumped out cold air so I guessed a regassing may be required, a service Halfords offered.

Nope, the condensor was leaking and needed replacing at a cost of just over £500 which seemed a bit steep. A bit of research online later and I dropped my car off at a local independent that would replace it for just over £200 so was very happy to discover they couldn't find a leak anywhere so just regassed it and there is still no sign of any problems.

Moral of the story is rather than getting paid for a regass Halfords got greedy, lied, and ended up with nothing. I won't be returning. 

Unfortunately I am led to believe that air con 're gassing can be a bit of a minefield for reasons similar to those that you have mentioned

[andyman7]

As usual The Simpsons tells it like it is

 

[Jenny Emily]

I stopped using one garage for claiming my old Volvo’s engine was life expired and that I should consider a new vehicle after failing it on emissions. 
 

Another garage passed it with flying colours and the emissions were perfect. Looking at the emissions printouts for both tests it was clear that on the first occasion the car had been tested stone cold and not at operating temperature thus guaranteeing a fail for excessive hydrocarbons.  

[TheQ]

One of my nieces got the run around from a garage over what needed doing from a car mechanic... She immediately asked for the manager...

Who backed up his man... Then she revealed she is a qualified car mechanic and they were talking B********t.

 She was only not doing it herself, as she had small children to look after...

 

My Landrover goes to a small independant, Dad, two sons, and if it's school holidays, primary school grandson also wandering around in matching overalls.. They live and breath real Landrovers series and defenders.. They rally them too..

 

The car goes to a local family owned garage.. who've always done a good job

 

The local tyre place is also a small family owned business but with several branches they too have done a good job when needed.

 

 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

Here in France MOTs (Contrôles Techniques) are conducted by people who do nothing else. So they have no motive to tell it other than it is. And it's every other year starting at 4 years old. I am due a test by the end of this month. We will see whether Covid lockdown impacts that. 

[Oldddudders]

Many years ago, a colleague bought a new Golf. Sadly after a few days he felt it didn't run well, and took it back. His wife picked it up later and was told there had been a fault with the carburettor. The car was a 16v GTi, where we all know 'i' stands for (fuel) injection! 

[alastairq]

I don't have issues with my MoT test garage..local, enthusiastic [enthusiasts] and above all else, very honest..to the point where they sometimes do themselves out of money....especially when they know a customer hasn't got much!

As a result, they have a large clientele, all local [it seems]....this is a large rural area...I suspect those 'with' subsidise those 'without?'

They will change tyres too, for a small fee....A chum has a manual tyre machine...I had/have one too, although it is currently bolted to the concrete driveway of an old work colleague, 12 miles away! So tyre stuff doesn't involve chains...When I worked, I used the onsite tyre fitter [MoD] cost me quite a few packets of custard creams too.  My tyres invariably come from Camskill....despite searching tinternet for cheaper options....

 

But I do all my own work myself.  Whether its fixing, replacing, or even, welding.   Just wish I could afford one of those gucci vehicle lifts? My chum [a qualified retired diesel fitter mechanic] has one...in older age, being able to sit down on a chair to mess with brakes and stuffs is heaven.

 

I rarely have to take up issues with the management either.....[divorce does that nicely, ta very much]

 

 

[russ p]

13 hours ago, andyman7 said:

As usual The Simpsons tells it like it is

 

 

 

Even before all the cr@p happened this was on my mind when I went in 

[Nick C]

39 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Here in France MOTs (Contrôles Techniques) are conducted by people who do nothing else. So they have no motive to tell it other than it is. 

The same in Northern Ireland.

 

I believe some GB councils make their own in-house testing centres open to the , with the same thing applying - they'll just do the test, nothing else.

[Joseph_Pestell]

35 minutes ago, Nick C said:

The same in Northern Ireland.

 

I believe some GB councils make their own in-house testing centres open to the , with the same thing applying - they'll just do the test, nothing else.

 

South Somerset District Council certainly does. Part of ex-SWMBOs empire.

[Mike Bellamy]

2 hours ago, Jenny Emily said:

I stopped using one garage for claiming my old Volvo’s engine was life expired and that I should consider a new vehicle after failing it on emissions. 
 

Another garage passed it with flying colours and the emissions were perfect. Looking at the emissions printouts for both tests it was clear that on the first occasion the car had been tested stone cold and not at operating temperature thus guaranteeing a fail for excessive hydrocarbons.  

 

Several years ago the local independent Volvo specialist went 'the extra mile(s)' to pass my V70 emissions test. Originally a fail, they put a load of some sort of cleaner into the fuel tank and took it for a blast up the motorway before returning it for an immediate pass. Too much time spent at tickover in traffic queues to and from work . . . . . . 

.

[APOLLO]

 

[simontaylor484]

3 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

South Somerset District Council certainly does. Part of ex-SWMBOs empire.

Wakefield Council do the same too my former employers they do taxi testing there too

[IWCR]

I believe some Post Office garages also do public testing.

 

Pete

[Reorte]

On 01/11/2020 at 15:50, Gareth Collier said:

Similar story from Halfords back in August. I'd not used them before but they are within walking distance of home. My aircon no longer pumped out cold air so I guessed a regassing may be required, a service Halfords offered.

Nope, the condensor was leaking and needed replacing at a cost of just over £500 which seemed a bit steep. A bit of research online later and I dropped my car off at a local independent that would replace it for just over £200 so was very happy to discover they couldn't find a leak anywhere so just regassed it and there is still no sign of any problems.

Moral of the story is rather than getting paid for a regass Halfords got greedy, lied, and ended up with nothing. I won't be returning. 

Better than an independent that I took mine to for similar problems a while back who presumably hadn't checked that it wasn't leaking - and it all leaked out in a week, noticed it damp underneath the engine. And that's a big no-no.

 

I sometimes wonder about getting it sorted but the condensor is a lump of rust now (it's been several years since it worked) and heaven knows what state the rest of the system is in.

[peanuts]

On 01/11/2020 at 15:50, Gareth Collier said:

Similar story from Halfords back in August. I'd not used them before but they are within walking distance of home. My aircon no longer pumped out cold air so I guessed a regassing may be required, a service Halfords offered.

Nope, the condensor was leaking and needed replacing at a cost of just over £500 which seemed a bit steep. A bit of research online later and I dropped my car off at a local independent that would replace it for just over £200 so was very happy to discover they couldn't find a leak anywhere so just regassed it and there is still no sign of any problems.

Moral of the story is rather than getting paid for a regass Halfords got greedy, lied, and ended up with nothing. I won't be returning. 

and yet when the clutch went on my mondeo ttdi and it needed replacing hallfrauds were the cheapest by a long way and able to do the job next day .they did inform me that I had an injector fault and they would need replacing quoting me £500 to replace all four and code them in . got them done as required by a friend with a lap top and odb2 for £10 a time tho it was far too often for my liking znd it was a money pitt 

[luckymucklebackit]

My Ex Brother in Law worked for a major chain, and he told me that they all had quotas to make, and if they were behind on sales there was a push towards the end of the month to make that up.  He warned me never to go into one of these places near the end of a month and especially near the end of a quarter, they would be downright crooked in their desperation to make up sales.

I used to work for Continental tyres and knew more about tyres than most of the morons that work for these outfits put together.  I have had to put a few in their place!

 

Jim

[RedgateModels]

In many ways I am lucky being a "car guy" who does most work on my car myself. I have a good mate who does my tyres for me (he supplied the wheels too and refubs them when I am stupid enough to curb them). 

 

I have also just found a good local garage within walking distance of my work. He owns a Skyline and used to have an Sti Impreza. I have full confidence in leaving jobs that need a ramp (or I really can't be bothered with) to him

[37114]

On 02/11/2020 at 11:56, Mike Bellamy said:

 

Several years ago the local independent Volvo specialist went 'the extra mile(s)' to pass my V70 emissions test. Originally a fail, they put a load of some sort of cleaner into the fuel tank and took it for a blast up the motorway before returning it for an immediate pass. Too much time spent at tickover in traffic queues to and from work . . . . . . 

.

Had the same, We used to use an independent Ford garage near our house when we had a late model Mk3 2007 Mondeo 2.0 TDCI. I got a bit worried as I noticed as a model they used to chuck out black smoke especially when it hadn't been given a run. When I booked it in I mentioned it and the garage asked me to give it a run round the ring road, and in particular accelerate hard away from the round abouts. The smoke was something to be seen but after a minute or 2 all was good. Then dropped it off and they did the emissions straight away, all was good. Apparently they were having to do it all the time with that model of car when not driven hard and in the worst cases had to chuck additive in to get them through. I was a bit naughty once in the same car when waiting at a traffic light and a cyclist squeezed past me and went through the red light. I gave him a "friendly" toot on my horn and pointed to the red light. I was met with a Vee sign and he carried one so when the lights went green I gingerly drove off, overtook the cyclist and then floored the car at which point a huge cloud of black smoke engulfed said cyclist...

 

We are lucky in that the town we live in has a great independent tyre dealer who knows his stuff. When I bought my previous car it had a wheel out of balance which he rebalanced for £5. He then offered to rebalance the rest of them which he didn't charge me for. He also has repaired a tyre when it had a puncture saying it didn't need replacing again charging me only a £5.I have never been anywhere else since and have probably bought over 6 tyres from him in the last 5 years.

 

 

[polybear]

2 hours ago, 37114 said:

I was a bit naughty once in the same car when waiting at a traffic light and a cyclist squeezed past me and went through the red light. I gave him a "friendly" toot on my horn and pointed to the red light. I was met with a Vee sign and he carried one so when the lights went green I gingerly drove off, overtook the cyclist and then floored the car at which point a huge cloud of black smoke engulfed said cyclist...

 

 

 

That was one of my Uncle's party tricks - my cousin and I used to go with him to collect my aunt from work on a saturday evening in worthing town centre.  Traffic would be very heavy and he'd have to circle around the town centre waiting for her to show.  If he was sat in traffic with a pedestrian crossing right behind him he'd watch his mirrors for anyone crossing with the red man showing, at which point he'd floor the throttle.

The car?  Oh yes, a very old and knackered Vauxhall Cresta 3.3 V6 - and boy did it smoke, as well as chuck out petrol fumes like crazy.  It's a wonder no-one decked him (perhaps they did, and he kept quiet about it); I know my aunt was dying for someone to do so, and she really wanted to be there to see it happen.

RIP Uncle Psycho (yes, we really did call him that - it fitted....)

[45156]

During lockdown 1 my local independent garage was unable to take on as much work  as usual - they only have two mechanics, and one was fuloughed.  My Seat had a problem with my brakes sticking on and with my usual garage unable to assist, I in desparation visited a tyre/brake specialist - one of the nationals.  One of the fitters said I should go for a walk, which I did, and when I returned, they told me that the front pads were very worn, and the rear shoes equally so, and I needed all replaced at an estimated cost of £250.  I agreed to have this work done, but due to Covid self isolating, their brake specialist had to be off for 14 days.

 

Meantime, my regular garage re-opened for both mechanics, and called me as my MOT was also due,  so I could have a service and MOT as per my usual arrangements.  So I took the car down, and advised them that the brakes needed to be looked at, and that they needed new shoes and pads.  When they opened the drums up, they found that all shoes were only 50% worn. and the front pads only 40% worn but there was a sticking spring on tbe rear nearside which was the cause of the problem - a spray of lubricant, and all was well - no charge as it was all part of the service regime.

 

Work it out for yourself.

[polybear]

8 hours ago, 45156 said:

.........and when I returned, they told me that the front pads were very worn, and the rear shoes equally so, and I needed all replaced at an estimated cost of £250. 

 

Meantime, my regular garage re-opened for both mechanics, and called me as my MOT was also due,  so I could have a service and MOT as per my usual arrangements.  So I took the car down, and advised them that the brakes needed to be looked at, and that they needed new shoes and pads.  When they opened the drums up, they found that all shoes were only 50% worn. and the front pads only 40% worn but there was a sticking spring on tbe rear nearside which was the cause of the problem - a spray of lubricant, and all was well - no charge as it was all part of the service regime.

 

Work it out for yourself.

 

The National charges £250 quid, gives it a spray to fix the problem, no new pads or shoes = nice little earner for them.  I daresay this is very common in the trade - they take a shuftie at who's driving (e.g. little old lady is extremely unlikely to take the car home and clamber underneath to check new pads are fitted...) and decide what the chances are of getting away with it.  if they do get rumbled no doubt they have a book full of well rehearsed excuses as to why they "screwed up"....

[russ p]

41 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

The National charges £250 quid, gives it a spray to fix the problem, no new pads or shoes = nice little earner for them.  I daresay this is very common in the trade - they take a shuftie at who's driving (e.g. little old lady is extremely unlikely to take the car home and clamber underneath to check new pads are fitted...) and decide what the chances are of getting away with it.  if they do get rumbled no doubt they have a book full of well rehearsed excuses as to why they "screwed up"....

 

Absolute scum bags , no wonder real car enthusiasts have nothing but contempt for these places 

Round here we have wilco motor save and these seem a lot better than the mainstream ones