kwik fit exhausts

madmanjag

i recently took my vauxhall omega to kwik fit as there was a hole in the exhaust. kwik fit provided me with a quote of 350 pounds ( a lot of money) but i needed it done so paid.

within days i had to take the car back to kwik fit as the new catalytic convertor was scraping off every speed bump that i went over. the mechanic fixed it and told me if i had anymore problems to bring it straight back as the cat that had been fitted was round and my original one was flat.

the car developed a terrible rattling noise and is still scraping off the speed bumps so i took it back in only to be told that it was my fault for taking it to kwik fit and not vauxhall as only vauxhall would supply the flat cat. i asked the manager to explain why i wasnt told this when i brought the car in only to be told " do you think i am going to refuse a £ 350 job and give the work to vauxhall. any way the manager eventually agreed to replace the cat with a flat one, so i turn up yesterday to be told no when the new exhaust arrived it was the same as the one they fitted so all they will do is fit the new one and hope it was a bad bend or something on the pipes running to the cat and that it will sit better, or they will get me a cat from vauxhall at 782 pounds plus vat minus £350

please help

Strider590

How old is the car?
Those VX cats/exhuasts pretty much last forever, mine is 85'000 miles and 8 years old.

I had the pipe sections replaced last year (not the cat or backbox), as despite the original exhaust being in top condition (surface rust only) the hangers had snapped off leaving it all hanging by just 2 of the 6 rubber mounts. I could have had new hangers welded on, but the bill for the new pipe sections was £160 and the CAT/backbox are still unchanged.

I personally get the idea they sold you a full new exhaust+cat, which you may not have actually needed.

You can either go the legal route to resolve this OR you can source a cat yourself.... Either second hand (ebay etc) or new from various online retailers. Call VX and find out if crapfit are taking the p1ss with the price too.

If the rattling occurs when accelerating or going around a left/right hand bent then it's the cheap pattern parts used, they're not exactly the correct dimensions and the hangers are banging against the mounts underneath the car. This can be rectified by bending them away from said mounts.

Lum

If the exhaust isn't suitable for the car then surely sale of goods act applies?

colino

Don't even think about getting your hands dirty. You didn't provide them with the wrong part or wrongly specify what you wanted, they have to supply what you paid for - a complet exhaust suitable for an Omega. They are trying to protect their pockets at the moment, but they buy in plenty form other suppliers when the need to (like now).