any mechanics offer opinion on this?

no-oneknowsme

photome wrote: »

You asked for advice.

Although my advice may have been somewhat in jest, I wouldnt keep throwing money at a car

In that case I have arrived at the conclusion that you must have more money than I do!

Are you seriously saying that you wouldnt spend £400-£500 per year to keep your car on the road? You can honestly say that everytime a car owned by you needed a bit of work done on it you would get rid of it? Yeah I believe ya.....

no-oneknowsme

Wig wrote: »

You could also ask the second garage (BIT LATE NOW) why they replaced two shiny new cylinders and without phoning you for authorisation? and where the the old(new) cylinders are now (probably thrown out but should still be in the bin).

Hi Wig.

We did ask the second garage WHY they replaced the cylinders and they told us that one was leaking....this is where I get confused even further , they GAVE the old cylinders to my Husband and we have them here BUT , 1 is shiny and brand new and the other is battered and old looking....SEE POST 50 WHERE I EXPLAIN.

This leads me to wonder if the FIRST cowboy mechanic was actually conning us because we have the receipts for every bit of work he has ever done for us on the taxi and our receipts show that he replaced (or charged us as if he WAS) one cylinder on 16th Feb and the other on 23rd March .

This just doesnt tie in with the cylinders the second mechanic removed from the car yesterday though...

I have telephoned the first mechanic to query this fact with him and he is getting arsy now. He told me to "leave him alone as he has done all he intends to do for us" and now he wont pick up the phone.

I told him that I was going to get onto trading standards about this. The SECOND mechanic has told me that he would back up our story if need be to say that he did indeed remove one old/one new cylinder from our car.

Theres just something not quite right about this!

So far I just cant fault the second mechanic , he gave my Husband £20 today to pay for Fridays retest and has said that he will continue doing this until he gets it through psv.

2sides2everystory

Firstly let me say I am no expert mechanic, just a DIYer who had a brake problem due to undiagnosed hidden corrosion of a brake pipe at the weekend (a rather frightening pedal to the floor job like you had eventually).

First a word about the confusion between drums and discs. I was most surprised to read from you that this 2003 Skoda did indeed have drum brakes on the rear, as I thought by 2003 surely all Skodas with 1.9TDi engines would be very similar to Audis or VWs but a quick Google for parts on eBay confirms some Skoda 1.9 estates did indeed have drum brakes.

The next point is kind of based on this fact - because I have one of the same era as your taxi, I know drum brakes are still common on the rear of larger load carrying vehicles but I think we all know that high performance brakes on relatively high speed cars (versus large vans or small buses) are all (usually) disc/caliper type brakes thesedays. The PSV test clearly demands a very high standard of braking on each axle independently (perhaps considerably higher than an MOT?) and if the tester is being straight down the line then I would guess that drum brakes on PSV cars get a lot of fails.

Now, like Wig seemed to be partly suggesting, if the first mechanic was regularly working on one PSV type i.e. was experienced on Skoda estate taxis i.e. PSVs with drum brakes then he would have realised he would have to sell a possibly expensive rectification job at the outset, else accept it on a sticky wicket where he was likely to break the budget. I'd say drum brakes were actually quite rare on cars thesedays (the last car I had with them on the back was a 1969 Austin 1300 !). Maybe mechanic #1 wasn't very fluent on drum brakes unless he regularly does large vans too.

If mechanic #1 is simply a common or garden car mechanic then you have to feel a bit sorry for him up to a point. He sounds out of his depth and he was probably as surprised at this recurring nightmare as you are. However he loses my sympathy if he has been now been caught lying about fitting one of the new cylinders he charged for.

Some posters have with tongue in cheek (or some more seriously) said get rid of the car, but I imagine that if it has the 110hp engine and nothing else is wrong with it then it will reward regular oil changes and standard recommended maintenance by going on more or less for ever just like its Audi or VW (and Seat?) diesel sisters

The failed cylinder following the first test is not unusual as the test probably puts more stress on the system than any emergency stop. I imagine it was some mild corrosion causing some 'weeping' that had slightly contaminated the shoes at the point you noticed it by the poor handbrake performance, mechanic #1 didn't consider it as a possibility, and then the first test made it worse with the tester perhaps more than once trying to get the figures he needed to see, and then finally it failed completely.

It seems you've found the Achilles heel for this model when used as a PSV but I'd say if it has only cost you a total of £400 or so to get new shoes drums and cylinders back up to tip top PSV standard that isn't cheap but it doesn't sound totally outrageous either (London prices anyway) and is money well spent if you are keeping a workhorse that otherwise has served you well.

You can console yourself that the front brakes are much less of a problem when its their turn for refurbishment.

Up to you whether you decide there's a good reason to try make it up with the first mechanic - clearly he isn't a Skoda PSV expert although he is learning fast now ! It does sound like he took a sneaky chance at recouping his labour loss by charging you for a new cylinder he didn't fit so he seems to have been caught once already on the dodgy side of trustworthiness in this difficult world where too many seem forced to make a living hand to mouth.

Edit: just realised it has cost £500 so far plus lost business so I guess that is becoming a more bitter pill to swallow ... the car might still just be worth it if it is otherwise reliable. We assume you are aware of the necessary cambelt changes to avoid the mistake of incurring a massive engine bill if the belt is past time and breaks, and that the aircon compressor works ok and isn't becoming noisy if it is high mileage - either could be several hundred to £1000 if you let those things surprise you...

Wig

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

Hi Wig.

We did ask the second garage WHY they replaced the cylinders and they told us that one was leaking....this is where I get confused even further , they GAVE the old cylinders to my Husband and we have them here BUT , 1 is shiny and brand new and the other is battered and old looking....SEE POST 50 WHERE I EXPLAIN..

Yeah, I see, I read it wrong, I thought you had gotten the 2 cylinders back from mech #1.

no-oneknowsme

Hi Wig - it was mechanic "2" we got the cylinders back from . It would appear that mechanic "1" charged us for replacing a cylinder back on 16th Feb but didnt actually do it!

We have kept both cylinders to show to trading standards.

no-oneknowsme

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Firstly let me say I am no expert mechanic, just a DIYer who had a brake problem due to undiagnosed hidden corrosion of a brake pipe at the weekend (a rather frightening pedal to the floor job like you had eventually).

First a word about the confusion between drums and discs. I was most surprised to read from you that this 2003 Skoda did indeed have drum brakes on the rear, as I thought by 2003 surely all Skodas with 1.9TDi engines would be very similar to Audis or VWs but a quick Google for parts on eBay confirms some Skoda 1.9 estates did indeed have drum brakes.

The next point is kind of based on this fact - because I have one of the same era as your taxi, I know drum brakes are still common on the rear of larger load carrying vehicles but I think we all know that high performance brakes on relatively high speed cars (versus large vans or small buses) are all (usually) disc/caliper type brakes thesedays. The PSV test clearly demands a very high standard of braking on each axle independently (perhaps considerably higher than an MOT?) and if the tester is being straight down the line then I would guess that drum brakes on PSV cars get a lot of fails.

Now, like Wig seemed to be partly suggesting, if the first mechanic was regularly working on one PSV type i.e. was experienced on Skoda estate taxis i.e. PSVs with drum brakes then he would have realised he would have to sell a possibly expensive rectification job at the outset, else accept it on a sticky wicket where he was likely to break the budget. I'd say drum brakes were actually quite rare on cars thesedays (the last car I had with them on the back was a 1969 Austin 1300 !). Maybe mechanic #1 wasn't very fluent on drum brakes unless he regularly does large vans too.

If mechanic #1 is simply a common or garden car mechanic then you have to feel a bit sorry for him up to a point. He sounds out of his depth and he was probably as surprised at this recurring nightmare as you are. However he loses my sympathy if he has been now been caught lying about fitting one of the new cylinders he charged for.

Some posters have with tongue in cheek (or some more seriously) said get rid of the car, but I imagine that if it has the 110hp engine and nothing else is wrong with it then it will reward regular oil changes and standard recommended maintenance by going on more or less for ever just like its Audi or VW (and Seat?) diesel sisters

The failed cylinder following the first test is not unusual as the test probably puts more stress on the system than any emergency stop. I imagine it was some mild corrosion causing some 'weeping' that had slightly contaminated the shoes at the point you noticed it by the poor handbrake performance, mechanic #1 didn't consider it as a possibility, and then the first test made it worse with the tester perhaps more than once trying to get the figures he needed to see, and then finally it failed completely.

It seems you've found the Achilles heel for this model when used as a PSV but I'd say if it has only cost you a total of £400 or so to get new shoes drums and cylinders back up to tip top PSV standard that isn't cheap but it doesn't sound totally outrageous either (London prices anyway) and is money well spent if you are keeping a workhorse that otherwise has served you well.

You can console yourself that the front brakes are much less of a problem when its their turn for refurbishment.

Up to you whether you decide there's a good reason to try make it up with the first mechanic - clearly he isn't a Skoda PSV expert although he is learning fast now ! It does sound like he took a sneaky chance at recouping his labour loss by charging you for a new cylinder he didn't fit so he seems to have been caught once already on the dodgy side of trustworthiness in this difficult world where too many seem forced to make a living hand to mouth.

Edit: just realised it has cost £500 so far plus lost business so I guess that is becoming a more bitter pill to swallow ... the car might still just be worth it if it is otherwise reliable. We assume you are aware of the necessary cambelt changes to avoid the mistake of incurring a massive engine bill if the belt is past time and breaks, and that the aircon compressor works ok and isn't becoming noisy if it is high mileage - either could be several hundred to £1000 if you let those things surprise you...

Wow..thank you for such a good post.

I do appreciate all the help and advice bing offered to me.

Firstly , you are right when you say that getting rid of the car because of this may not be worth while. To be honest , we can not afford to change the car at the minute, especially since we havent had an income from it in the past few weeks! Fortunately I have the most wonderful parents who have given me a decent sum of money as a gift to help us get through this stcicky patch.

Apart from this problem the car is sound. Cam belt and timing belt were changed by the previous owner as part of the sale (they paid and we chose the garage to have it done at) .

If we can just get this braking problem sorted then we are happy enough . The second mechanic has been amazing . He has said that we will not have to pay another penny and that he will get the car through psv if it kills him lol . He is also paying any retest fee's from now on.

Mechanic "1" is a different story.....he is not a back street garage or an unknown....his premises is massive and looks the part and is well advertised in the local area . He has(had) a good reputation.

The problem being that he has now washed his hands off us! He wont answer the phone to us anymore and if we call from a different number he hangs up when he realises that it is us calling....VERY PROFESSIONAL!

Any way , mechanic number "2" fitted new drums on the car yesterday WITHOUT ANY CHARGE and the reading on the rolling road shot right up (means nothing to me but the mechanic could hardly contain his excitement when he saw the reading) so we are keeping everything crossed...

Our appointment is for Friday at (I think) 10am but im planning to ring at 9am today and tomorrow to see if there are any cancellations

2sides2everystory

Glad my post was ok - the technical aspects are almost always something for the mechanics but at the end of the day safe economies and relationships with traders are what keeps things manageable. Sounds like you've now found a pretty capable mechanic who will by Friday have drawn the line under this for you, whom you can trust from now on, and who enjoys his work

Conversely, all is clearly not well with mechanic #1 whose days this week must surely be spoiled waiting for the Sword of Damocles to appear from any one of a number of directions you might choose ... I think we get the feeling he has been pressed into this corner before and thinks it is what business people do when they've been caught lacking. Not unusual. My next email is to another "businessman" in a totally different industry who is of the same mentality. Takes all sorts I guess.

Good luck with the test tomorrow

no-oneknowsme

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Glad my post was ok - the technical aspects are almost always something for the mechanics but at the end of the day safe economies and relationships with traders are what keeps things manageable. Sounds like you've now found a pretty capable mechanic who will by Friday have drawn the line under this for you, whom you can trust from now on, and who enjoys his work

Conversely, all is clearly not well with mechanic #1 whose days this week must surely be spoiled waiting for the Sword of Damocles to appear from any one of a number of directions you might choose ... I think we get the feeling he has been pressed into this corner before and thinks it is what business people do when they've been caught lacking. Not unusual. My next email is to another "businessman" in a totally different industry who is of the same mentality. Takes all sorts I guess.

Good luck with the test tomorrow

Your post was more than ok! Just like all the other posters on the thread your post was greatly appreciated.

I hope that mechanic number 1 is feeling a bit nervous waiting to see whether or not I go through with my claim that I was going to contact trading standards (I have actually contacted them and they are looking into it...dont know if they will have contacted him as yet though) maybe then he will have some kind of idea of how we have been feeling this past few weeks with only 2 days of income from the taxi!

I am apprehensive about Friday but just hope we get good news....I will of course let you all know the outcome.

no-oneknowsme

U P D A T E !

Well , this morning at 9am my Husband took the car back to mechanic number "2" as they had arranged to put it on the rolling road before the test which was at 10.15am.

I then got a frantic call from Hubby at 9.30 to say that they had put the car on the rolling road in thegarage and it hadnt passed!

At that point the mechanics had the car took apart and were cleaning , tightening this and that.

Then , at 10am Hubby called me again to say that he was leaving the garage to drive round the corner to the test centre....

He made it there with just mins to spare whilst I was pacing about at home chewing my finger nails lol.

At 10.20 he was called forward for the test and at 10.35 he called me from the test centre to say that the car had just passed it psv ! :j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

:rotfl:this is how I am feeling right now ^^^^^^^^^^:rotfl:

If I wasnt a non drinker I would celebrate with a glass of wine