Kwik Fit Warning -- wanted £405 for £30 repair

Stoke

Kwik Fit are a bunch of jokers. They will try and get you for anything. I took my car in for a wheel balance and I forgot where the weights were positioned and they told me the engine mounts on my car were shot and the car was dangerous...

I told them to do the wheel weights and said ta ra.

goonarmy

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I'd hesitate to call them even that. Mostly they're just con-artists.

Steve059 wrote: »

I wouldn't trust them to do that right.

Both true, buts that how they started out. They get none of my money so not a concern to me.

chrisw

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Some confusion in the post though - it's the wear indicators which are often not fitted - they're a one-shot device which once tripped can't be reset on most BMWs. A small wire loop is broken by wear and the sensor head must then be replaced. Most smaller garages don't bother and just short the wires to the wear sensor.
Squeal-makers (on BMWs at least) are not a removable 'part', they're built into the pad material.

The BMW sensors are 2 stage sensors so they are replaced along with new pads. The distance to the first stage is measured and this is used to calculate the mileage remaining to the second stage which puts the dash light on. They are then replaced along with the pads. It's still only a rough estimate.

I'm not defending kwik fit at those prices but it may be they looked at the service display which said eg 2000 miles left and standard garage practice is to replace the discs at the same time.

KwikStitch

chrisw wrote: »

The BMW 3 series tells you how many miles are left on the pads depending on how you drive. How many miles does that say is left?

Thank you Chris. I managed to find out how to view the stats, and the verdict from the car itself is in....

Rear Pads ---- 14,000 miles left

Front Pads ---- 21,000 miles left

Clive_Woody

My only experience of Kiwk Fit was when I was young and naive and thought a national chain could be trusted.

They were neither quick nor cheap and in one case fitted my replacement exhaust incorrectly so I got a lovely banging noise whenever I encountered a minor imperfection in the road. They tried to charge me for sorting out their mistake, fortunately I had the sense to tell them where to stick their bill.

albionrovers

Anyone over the age of 32 getting done over by Kwikfit should be ashamed of themselves.

mattyprice4004

londonTiger wrote: »

oh right, i was assuming it would be a more conventional brand like vw, ford, pug etc.

BMW, audi, merc expect a bit of a brand premium. The funny thing is a lot of parts between vw and audi are common. Take your vw to an audi dealership for cambelt and they'll charge you £440. Take the same car to vw dealership and it will cost £350.

Same is probably true for parts.

A more conventional brand? BMW are one of the most popular car bands in the UK - where do you live?!

Horizon81

Where's the kwik fit company rep at times like these?!

oldagetraveller

Horizon81 wrote: »

Where's the kwik fit company rep at times like these?!

Crouched in a corner with their head in their hands, muttering quietly and rocking back and forth!:p

paulsad

ATS years ago phoning me "your car needs new shocks" - "Oh right I'll ring my mechanic who fitted new ones last month!" - "Er er I'll just go and check with the fitter" .... 5 minute wait "No its ok, the fitter just saw the mileage and assumed it needed them!!"