National Tyres more like National Disgrace

rev_henry

mkirkby wrote: »

I thought that all Imprezas were limited to 56mph on motorways these days. Lost count of how many seem to be pootling along desperately trying not to burn too much of the go juice!

Last time I took mine out I nearly had to take out a 2nd mortgage just for a Sunday afternoon blast...

:rotfl: Now you mention it I'd noticed that as well! A Polish work colleague has one, and said it used something ridiculous like 5 tanks to get to Poland, whilst his wife's Golf TDi did it in less than 2....

mkirkby

slyracoon wrote: »

You're talking rubbish.

I've had 2 cars MOT'd using Halfords half price offer, both 10 years old so plenty of opportunity for them to find work, both passed with no issues. Obviously if they had failed I would have probably taken them elsewhere for the work to be done.

Being fair, it depends which branch you take them. I know of two friends who have fallen foul of Halfords trying to charge for work which did not need to be done.

The last one ended up taking his car to VOSA to be tested again to confirm the suspension issues Halfords had said needed fixing. It passed without any advisories on any suspension components.

I'm rather guessing that you got lucky.

andyf3050

mkirkby wrote: »

I thought that all Imprezas were limited to 56mph on motorways these days. Lost count of how many seem to be pootling along desperately trying not to burn too much of the go juice!

Last time I took mine out I nearly had to take out a 2nd mortgage just for a Sunday afternoon blast...

Man up and get a bike...! £15 buys a lot of fun-fuel...!

mkirkby

andyf3050 wrote: »

Man up and get a bike...! £15 buys a lot of fun-fuel...!

Already got 2; which is probably why the (ageing) Subaru never gets out. That and the fact that it's worth tuppence but they want a fortune to insure it.

I'm going to pull it to bits.

markypolli

I find your service an absolute disgrace. They should not be trading because they are the reason why people are are paranoid about garages. I took my van for an mot. It had failed, it needed to new tyres and some bulbs fitting. I asked numerous times how much it would be?? I was advised tyres would be £75 each and they would be a few bulbs. I explained this was to dear and i wanted cheaper tyres and i wanted to know HOW MUCH i was paying. Next day get a phone call the van was ready. I asked again how much, he replied jokingly £1000. No how much? He replied around £160. Not impressed. I go and pick it up and then the bill is £196. This is misleading me altogether. I drive away and i realised when i get home that my cap on my wheel is missing. Its still at the garage.

Stoke

Never heard them to be terrible as such. Just very expensive which is why I avoid.

mick3568

Re National Tyres depot Maidstone (Square Hill).

I had the misfortune to visit the National Tyres centre in Maidstone this week. What a mistake that was!
I had two front tyres fitted by their team whilst having to listen to a loud diatribe about how "my mate could earn F****** four hundred F****** quid if he went self-employed" by one of the crew.
I paid £29 for the tracking to be adjusted by this same jolly? fellow.
Consequently, I picked up my family members from the town and drove down the motorway to my home. I had noticed a vibration in the steering wheel at about 60mph and over.
Whilst changing the dust caps to my custom 'Ford' caps I noticed quite a severe air leak from one of the valves. I rang the Maidstone depot and asked the manager if someone could come out and replace the faulty valve only to be told they do not respond to these types of mis-fitting, but if I could get it into town in the next ten minutes before they close 'they would take a look at it'! An impossibility as you can imagine. This condemned me to another day off work because they could not be bothered to test the equipment that they had fitted.
The next day I took my car to a local REPUTABLE fitting station and asked if they would correct the mistake made by NTS. During this the fitter told me that the wheels had only been half balanced, putting weights on the wheel only where they would be seen and that my brake shoes were on the verge of needing replacement (no such information from NTS).
What sickens me is the totally dismissive attitude of the branch manager(?) of NTS, Maidstone. I had sat and read the posters plastered around the walls of branch saying how the correct fitting and function of the equipment they fit was sooo safety critical. I had driven down the motorway with my family in the car with a faulty valve and badly balanced tyres. Still, I did get an insincere apology from him. That will ALWAYS save your life in a motorway accident!!
I must end by saying that I had the good fortune to visit the Chesterfield branch last year and the crew there were polite and efficient and could not do enough for us. What a difference!

So folks, if you have a choice, avoid Maidstone NTS unless you like to put your family at risk in exchange for some very insincere apologising.

Jimmy2K

I took my car into my local branch last Wednesday, for 2 new tyres, wheel balancing and alignment. The price wasn't too bad and the advisor I spoke to seemed honest. The work was completed, but the mechanic who did the work told me that my back brakes needed to be serviced as they were stuck on. He showed me the problem and he was right. I agreed to go away and think about having them do the work (as my in-laws own a garage not too far away).

For the rest of the week I was working from home, so didn't use the car and on Saturday drove up to the local shop and back. There was a bit of noise from the front wheel (where the tyre was fitted), so I decided to go back back to get the brakes sorted on Sunday morning. that way the noise could also be checked.

On Sunday I called the garage and agreed to come down to get the bits sorted. Got in the car with my 7 year old son and started driving. 5 minutes away from my house the car felt strange and I felt something go on the drivers side. I tried to pull over and the car pulled to one side and smashed into the curb. I got out to investigate and saw that the tyre was hanging off the rim... It clearly hadn't been fitted properly and had fallen off when I started to drive.

I called the garage and they refused to send anybody out to help me. I managed to get my spare wheel on and drive down. On arriving at the garage the same guy I'd seen previously came out to have a look. - Now bare in mind I had just hit a curb at 10-15mph - The tyre obviously had a massive hole in it, as did my 16" alloy wheel. Without thinking the guy said "there's your problem you've obviously hit something..." At this point I lost my temper a bit, as I'd already explained what had happened and there were still parts of the tyre ingrained into the gash on the wheel. We went inside the garage where he flat out refused to do anything to help. I told him I wasn't going to stand for it and it needed sorting. The guy went off and used the phone for a few minutes. Then another guy came in and said they would replace the tyre. I asked about the damage to my car/wheel, to which he replied that the manager wasn't in and I'd have to call him tomorrow, but they would sort something out.

Today (Monday morning) I called the garage and began to explain. Without thinking the "manager" stated "it's clearly impact damage" and that he could "the work was completed correctly..." Bare in mind he was not there on any of the occasions I had previously visited the garage... I went on to try and explain further, however he said they were not prepared to do anything unless the tyre is found to be faulty, (other than the hole in the side). It was to be sent away, however this doesn't check for bad workman ship...

Another point to consider here is that the mechanic who fitted the tyre and initially refused to help pulled the valve off of the flat tyre when he took it back into the garage... An obvious place to start looking when investigating how the tyre failed...

The damaged wheel now has the new tyre on has about 15 weights on it (previously 3) and makes a knocking sound when I drive. A new wheel is going to be at least £100 (£256 from the main dealer). I'm absolutely fuming.

Its clear that this kind of situation has happened with them before, as they had very scripted answers for what they were doing. I have contacted retail standards and NT head office and am yet to hear back from both. I would certainly never do business with this branch again and depending on the outcome, possibly the company.

The worrying thing here is that I almost took the bypass to revisit the garage. Had I done that we would have had a 50 mph + blow out and I would assume both me and my son would have had a hospital visit, if not worse. Its is criminal that a company can get away with this kind of thing and I hope that no one else falls foul to a similar problem.

straighttalker

Wow. Two different brand new users with the exact same scenario. I smell a troll or someone out trying to discredit National.

Firstly, if the tyre was fitted incorrectly, surely it wouldn't inflate when the fitter was trying to fit it to the rim?

Secondly, if it was fitted incorrectly, surely it would have failed on your drive home from National. Or on your trip to and from the shops.

Personally, I think you've hit a kerb and tried to blame National for the consequential damage. You're lucky to get a new tyre out of them.

I've taken two cars to have the oil and filter changed by National at a very good price. They did the job swiftly, gave my car a vehicle health check with no problems and didn't try to sell my anything more. The staff were professional and courteous too.

OddballJamie

Ignoring the damage clearly caused by a pot hole or kerb.

What kind of a muppet uses a car with known faulty brakes to transport a child?

Next time give the in-laws the business.