Car unsafe 10 minutes after MOT

Notmyrealname

taffy056 wrote: »

If the brakes were in such a terrible condition that they all need changing now, how the hell did it pass it's MOT ?

Quite easily as the MOT tester is not able to dismantle anything to inspect parts. If he can't see the brake shoes he can't fail them if they pass on the brake tester.

taffy056

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Quite easily as the MOT tester is not able to dismantle anything to inspect parts. If he can't see the brake shoes he can't fail them if they pass on the brake tester.

Come on, you can see if they are down to the metal on most cars as its not just the shoes but the pads, they are simply trying it on , and doing shoddy work to boot!

pitkin2020

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Quite easily as the MOT tester is not able to dismantle anything to inspect parts. If he can't see the brake shoes he can't fail them if they pass on the brake tester.

Even so if they "needed" replacing all round they should have atleast shown as an advisory, obviously the OP hasn't returned to confirm either way.

I'm surprised they didn't tell the OP the car need tyres all round too.

kittyJ_2

Ok, I cant understand why they would need the entire brake replacement like others have said it should have been an advisory if they were that bad. Either way if they have said they will guarantee the abs will be fixed the light should not come back on. As other have said the "plate" would have been taken off when the abs sensor was changed (not sure what plate this could be). Putting this back on in bad enough condition to break near instant could have caused any kind of accident on the road. Where as the handbrake is concerned it is a rather easy job and not expensive to do. Not sure on the rear brakes on the R75 but if its drums then the maximum it would need is reconditioned drums and new shoes. Some cars have drums and discs on the back like the older V vectra, in this case the entire mechanism for the drum part of the brake shouldn't cost alot. That price quote is stupid. My advice is don't be made to feel scared by anyone just because its brakes they are a lot more simple than they seem grab the haynes manual and have a go or find a small time mechanic to sort it out for cash as its probably a simple job.

motorguy

Sadly, this thread is a prime example of two things

(a) why you shouldnt use KwikFit.

(b) why you should pro-actively maintain your car rather than re-actively.

motorguy

kittyJ wrote: »

Either way if they have said they will guarantee the abs will be fixed the light should not come back on.

They wont have made that guarantee. They will guarantee the work done for a year - ie, against the failure of those three new ABS sensors or the misfitting of them. The light coming on will 'miraculously' have been caused by some other part failure.

mattyprice4004

SHIPSHAPE wrote: »

I'd say that's the problem OP.

You'd do better with one of those comical little bangers Bozo The Clown uses at the circus.

You'd do better to have a clue what you're banging on about, then again from your previous posts it's clear you're just here to provide useless input and mis-informed opinions. I could mention the many awards the 75 has, or the fact I test drove anything comparable in both price and class to the 75 before buying mine, but to waste my time on a blithering idiot on the Internet would be futile. What do you drive, by the way? Anyway, I digress.

OP, the issue you've outlined is most likely a result of the work KF did to your car. The braking system on the rear of the 75 is of BMW origin, and is extremely robust in operation. My 75 is nearing 200,000 miles and yet everything inside the rear drums is pretty much corrosion-free and works perfectly.

The shoes can lose their lining, but aside from that failures are incredibly rare.

I'd be taking the car back to them, after which if they don't resolve I'd take it to a Rover specialist and if they find Kwik Fit at fault, bill them for it and take it to Small Claims Court if they don't pay up.

abovethewater

Thanks for all the pointers, and to answer the various queries:

1. I took a punt on the car when I bought it 4 months ago. The seller didn't mention the ABS light when I spoke to them about the car before travelling a distance to view it. When I viewed it the only problems were the ABS light was on and the seller mentioned that there was a leak in the boot. Taking the seller at their word that it wasn't a big issue according to their mechanic I bought the car. Yes I'm a mug.. let's move on.

2. The car had been serviced when I bought it, and I was verbally told that the light could just be a loose connection.

3. I got the car MOTd at the same time as getting the ABS looked at, as I wasn't going to fix it and then fail an MOT a month later on something that was going to cost hundreds to fix having thrown money at the ABS (oh the irony).

4. Advisories on the MOT are:
Nearside front Anti-roll bar linkage has slight play in ball joint.
Offside front brake juddering slightly.
One tyre slightly low.

There is no mention of corrosion on any brake components, even though they stripped both back brakes completely to get to the sensor.

5. I have previously avoided Kwik Fit like the plague, but having recently moved I don't know the local garages, and figured Kwik Fit being a well known chain couldn't possibly screw me *that* much..

If I take the vehicle to another garage to fix the handbrake, how does this affect my chances of getting Kwik Fit to sort out the ABS sensor that is still reporting issues?

Surely giving me back my car without the handbrake intact is "against company policy".

Thanks again

Kwikfit_company_representative

Hi abovethewater,

We saw your post and would like to discuss your brake issue with you.

Please could you email us a phone number so we can call you back? You can reach me at: [EMAIL="kwikfitwebcare@kwik-fit.com"]kwikfitwebcare@kwik-fit.com[/EMAIL].

Kind regards,
Gerry