Hello
My wife's car - a T reg Fiat Punto with 30 000 miles on it started to show symptoms of requiring new brake pads.
She took it to Kw*k Fit for a quote, they removed both wheels and as you can imagine the pads were worn out, however they refused to simply replace the pads - claiming the discs were corroded on the inside ???? and that 2 new front shock absorbers were also required, - total cost £ 270.
I had to collect her as they couldn't finish the job today, so I had a good look at the car - the discs looked fine to me, there was less than 1/4" thick line of surface rust on the inside edge of the disc, no real scoring or anything, and the only evidence of shock absorber failure was a tiny bit of oil visible on the strut.
I instructed the fitter to only replace the pads as the rust would soon be rubbed off the discs. He refused claiming that he couldn't release the car unless the brakes were 100% he also became visibly annoyed that I had questioned the work.
I am suspicious that the oil on the strut didn't come from inside it too.
However when your car is on a ramp in pieces they have you by the B*llocks don't they ?
What exactly are my legal rights regarding this ?
Is it a fair price providing the work is really necessary ?
Is it likely to be necessary given the age / mileage of the vehicle ?
Are Kwik fit fitters paid a bonus for finding jobs like this ?
Bob
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Bob - I was once in charge of our (small) fleet of cars, and we used Kwik-fit (or F*ck-Wit as I called them) for a period. Never, repeat never did they do a simple exhaust/brakes/tyres job without 'discovering' another fault which 'may fail at any time...'
I'd get the car back and take it to a local garage, preferably one recommended by a friend.
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KwikFit are owned by Ford aren't they? At least the US one is. Maybe you could have a go at them.
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I don't think that the firm can prevent you from taking your car to another garage-if necessary you could write a disclaimer about the brakes. Certainly you shouldn't have to buy new shock absorbers. (I always understood that you couldn't check the condition of the shocks while they were still on the car, but I may be mistaken) Best of luck.
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Bob,
Really sorry to hear you've been scammed on the face of it. Do bear in mind that we'd need to have been there and seen the old parts to be certain. The following is based on your info.
>>My wife's car - a T reg Fiat Punto with 30 000 miles on it started to show symptoms of requiring new brake pads.
Had you gone down to the metal? That may have been a valid reason for changing the discs.
>>She took it to Kw*k Fit for a quote, they removed both wheels and as you can imagine the pads were worn out, however they refused to simply replace the pads.
At this point you should have walked away.
>>....claiming the discs were corroded on the inside ????
When discs rust it is often on the inside.
>>......and that 2 new front shock absorbers were also required...
I've had a car I look after get this "treatment" just following servicing and I knew the shocks were fine!
>>I instructed the fitter to only replace the pads as the rust would soon be rubbed off the discs. He refused claiming that he couldn't release the car unless the brakes were 100%....
Sounds more like a wheel clamping scam attitude. Even an MOT station will issus a "dangerous to drive on the road notice" and allow you to leave.
>I am suspicious that the oil on the strut didn't come from inside it too.
This wouldn't be the first time oil had been added from a can to the outside. When a shock leaks it isn't usually a dribble of oil but more a slight coating near the piston that attracts dirt.
>However when your car is on a ramp in pieces they have you by the B*llocks don't they ?
Not really. They should never be in charge of this situation. You could have asked them to put back the old pads, paid them for this "inspection" and fought it out later. If they refused to carry out my instructions I would simply have given the manager aggro in his office in front of ohers/stood just outside the door warning each new customer that this was their attitude/threatened to call the police for them preventing me taking my car away......anything to make them feel uncomfortable!
>What exactly are my legal rights regarding this ?
Do you mean you had all the work done, paid the £270 and want to know what you should do next?
>Is it a fair price providing the work is really necessary ?
At a guess pads £30, discs £50/pr, shocks £120/pr so £200 before labour. Not an absolute ripoff if it was needed.
>Is it likely to be necessary given the age / mileage of the vehicle ?
Shocks unlikely really. Discs are possible at 30-50,000 miles but you could have been offered the chance to try the new pads and then return for discs in x thousand miles if they started to judder etc.
>Are Kwik fit fitters paid a bonus for finding jobs like this ?
You can bet there is a fair incentive to carry out work to keep the branch profits up.
David
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Mate's father took a car to Quick-Fit.
They took all four wheels off and dropped it down onto it's discs!
They wanted to charge him for new discs but they didn't have any so he had to pay for it to be transported to a garage that could do the job.
Cost him a fortune.
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No garage workshop technician should allow a vehicle to "stand" on it's discs and, presumably, this happened when the lift was lowered, with the road wheels removed from the vehicle, and the discs protruded downwards beyond the lift's "wheelfree" structure. Apart from the stupidity of this action, there could have been a serious case of "toe trapping" which the lift safety structures might not cover. In a case like this, which is pure negligence or carelessness by the Company technician, the vehicle owner should have stood his ground and demanded that all repairs be carried out at no cost to him, even though they could not be carried out on the premises. The Company would, in my opinion, have not stood a chance if the complaint went to law.
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A story told to me by somebody reasonably high up in the 'fast fit' game said that at KF every punter that comes through the door is £50,so if one escapes, the next punter is £100,then £150,and so on,so really be carefull,you dont want to be paying for the lucky ones that escaped b4 KF could rob them.
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Sorry another person learning the hard way. Garages exist to maximise profit for minimum expense. On being advised that extra work is required, over that requested, I thank them politely and look at the problem later.
No garage can force you to do work you do not want. I stay in the garage until the job is done so that I can see the car on the ramp. The best solution is to do as much yourself as possible. Changing brake pads is not difficult!
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