think garage is trying to rip me off

[madwayne]

okay I know a little about cars and it probably shows.

Renault Kangoo 1.5 2005

firstly i took the vehicle in because the stop light and caution light was illuminated although this was intermittent.

so I suspect pads are worn, the light was intermittent and been getting more permanent over about a week, no noticeable difference in breaking performance. (so sensors kicking before it becomes a real problem makes sense to me).

The garage, it needs front pads, fair enough, but when it gets to the back they are saying one of the wheels was tight, and suspect a collapsed bearing.

They talked about shoes, discs drums, no idea, showed me what looked like a few centimeters of foam that was covered on the outer rim of the shoe (i think)
saying it had burst and was all over the the place and went on.

its going to cost £700 to replace the lot.(vehicle 2005)

whilst I was there and showing me round there was a small piece of coil that had a sharp clean edge cut (so clean looked fresh to me and done with a tool rather than a natural fracture), mentioned this and he said of and you need a new front coil. they didnt spot this until they showed me around, just didnt make sense it was clearly visible without even trying to look for it, think they wanted me to find it?

I felt both sides of the front coils and they felt the same and he said that the coil goes further into the rubber and that's why i cant tell.

Given i didnt notice any difference in how the vehicle was sitting on the road, I am trying to work out where the coil is damaged and how, had a coil go on a previous vehicle years ago and it clearly was broke and the car leaned to oneside.

I just have no faith, as the vehicle was taken in on a Sunday they said they couldnt give me a full definte price until Monday.

I have since looked up the grage and found that they have done this before as a brand but as I am no expert I am not sure what to check or how to challenge them.

I am not say i dont need some things doing the discs looked rusty at tyhe back, whther its significant I do not know.

any advice will be appreciated, I am going to ask if another local garage can have alook, and tell the current garage not to do the work.

I am expecting the current garage to say the vehicle isnt safe to move, but I will be having words with the new garage in the morning to see if they could bring the vehicle round from them if they say that, as its less than a mile round trip between the two.

Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

The garage will only do the work that you ask for, but of course it may be a different story come MOT time.
I would suspect that the disc pads were worn, causing the lamp to illuminate.
If the discs are in poor condition (grooved, rusty, limited pad contact area or worn thin) then it's necessary to replace them too.
The coil springs won't necessarily cause the car to lean to one side, and this will be a test failure if there is a break in the coil. This is very common, in fact.
I can't comment about the rear wheel bearing other than they tend to become slack and noisy, rather than tight.
I don't understand your reference to foam, I'm afraid......which vehicle is it?
John

 

[madwayne]

Thanks Burnerman.

Its a renault kangoo 1.5 2005 so its not new and you expect somethings.

the vehicle certainly was not noisy, its been 20years since I had a bearing go on a vehicle and you got a knocking from what i remember, but wouldnt swear to that.

Theres no noise at all when driving.

The coil, I could only feel the bottom of the coil it felt intact and no obvious breaks in it and felt the same as the other side. just that i would have heard the metal against metal or it drop out as it wasnt exactly wedged anywhere

The broken piece had a nice shinny diagonal cut, there were no obvious rust markings around the outer edge, where I might of expected a weak point to lead to the snap. Everything I look at online has rust around the coil fracture point.

Looking at this online picture the foam was inside the little cylinder top right of the picture, said it burst and the brake fluid was low, it it had burst and the brake fluid was so low wouldnt i have had issues braking? I checked the fluid levels before i went to the garage and they looked okay may I missed the brake fluid but thought I had checked them all.

Untitled

• madwayne
• 3 Aug 2014
• 1

 

[madwayne]

just the way the mechanic was and that he missed the coil when its on a ramp and you can see the metal dangling half way up towards the back.

he just seemed very cocky as he shouted back to his colleague and this group of garages have been investigated apparently for necessary work some time last year i find out now.

same scenario take it in for a check, and get told its 6/700

If it needs doing it needs doing, and its one of them things, just I am concerned about the garages integrity and lack of professionalism.

I am sure "professionals" in any trade can spot someone that doesnt know anything about the advice they seek.

I have had things happen with cars and I used to have garages I could trust, but your talking I haven't had a 2nd hand vehicle for a long time and the last time I had a vehicle checked other than by a main dealer is over 10 years ago and I dont live or work anywhere near the garages i used in the past that i could trust.

.................................................
assuming the worst:-

we have two rear and two front brake systems that require replacing
drum, shoe, pad etc

and we have 1 front coil, although I thought it was advised to replace both, but the garage said they only need to replace the one.

thats a fiar few items coming to £300 touch plus fitting with the right tools and that cant see it being a big job given the videos I have watch but I dont know hence why I am on here.

it was 6-7 hundred before the 1 coil for the record

 

[Burnerman]

Looking at your pic, it looks like that wheel bearing has come apart......they normally come out in one piece with the brake drum.
The foam you refer to is actually brake fluid which collects some water......in an ideal situation that area should be dry but the cylinder pistons should freely move in and out.
Kangoo coil springs are known to be fairly weak, and they do snap completely without warning......they never fatigue into breakage.
Try another independent garage, maybe - but at the end of the day expect to pay about £60 an hour for labour.
John

 

[madwayne]

Thanks for taking the time to answer the posts.

theirs an independent garage just round the corner and its shut Sundays.

the national is open 7 days a week.

£60 an hour is okay 4 hour job max? so could be around the £500+ mark anyway

If i was back in my native County I would know someone I could have taken with me, as i dont have a clue.

Either way, legal isnt my major worry, but my safety is and trust, the mechanic at the national was just too slick for me.

I have no idea what they have done to the vehicle, It was on the ramp/lift when i was shown round so dont know if it was ripped apart or taken apart.

The picture isnt of my vehicle but of another and i can recognise the part and features.

Wish I had taken the pictures with my phone now, however it sounds like they may not be ripping me off as much as I thought.

 

[madwayne]

should i get both coils done or just the one, if one is broke?

My vehicle is still with the national, as they didnt gve me a price much before they shut, so wont get it back until tomorrow and its not going have brakes? if they just put it together.

So would need the other garge to pick it up?

 

[Burnerman]

Only my opinion mate, but don't use tyre fitting outlets for anything else than fitting tyres..........
John

 

[madwayne]

yes so I hear looking online, just thought it be a quick in and out job.

should have waited and left the van parked up.

 

[Burnerman]

As for the coil spring, just do the one......you won't notice the difference in ride height but most people would say do both, as indeed I used to.
John

 

[madwayne]

cool, just thinking whilst they are tinkering with it and had the wheels off.

thanks, past my bed time now

 

[madwayne]

should be an interesting morning.

Going to the independent today to have a chat, and then on the national to get the final quotation and recover my vehicle.

labour wise, I was watching some instruction videos which were slow and easily to follow.

Replacing the rear brakes completely took about 20 minutes in the video, given this was a demo and explaining everything, the work condensed down to less than 15 minutes a wheel, and less for the front.

So an hour to 2 hours max I would guess. (I wont replace my brakes, I do need to stop)

Looking at the parts, prices of the parts I can buy, cheap end and expensive end.

I am looking at less than £150 so 2 hours at £60, £270, so £350 to £400 all done is closer the mark.

I will get a written quotation from the national and the second opinion/ price from the independent.

Thanks for your help, I will report back later with the outcome.

 

[madwayne]

local garage sorted the kwik fit rip off merchants out, who refused to put the van together at first

Told them to put it together and I arranged for the local garage to pick it up.

advised on same work + 1 extra cylinder just over £300 instead of £600-700 that kwik fit quoted plus £90 for the coil which they hadn't quoted for.

The prices of the parts were around what i expected, and the labour costs aswell from the garage, didnt have any formal quote from kwik fit just verbal.

Cant get dearer than a kwik fit fit fitter, were the boys to .......

Not only did they not quote for the coil at kwik fit there was no mention of it when i went there this morning after it was pointed out.

The kwik fit manager was very arrogant and didn't want to listen to his customer and he stood there trying to force his point.

Asked me to sign a disclaimer for me taking vehicle away, and I added the notes to the bottom about his attitude.

Not only that after he read my comments, he was aggressive in stance and how he talked to me, told him thats my opinion tough.

Honestly they need to learn about customer relations and service with a smile and not boxing gloves.

 

[AlanE]

Cant get dearer than a kwik fit fit fitter, were the boys to .......

I actually know somebody who went to one branch about his brakes and was shown a 'leaking' shock absorber which was clean engine oil squirted by someone trying to make more work!!

 

[Ricardus]

Not Kwik-Fit, but I had one of these sort of places once claim I needed replacement shock absorbers.

On my Citroen BX...