Kwik Fit - quote for work too high?

Iceweasel

I pay the non-discounted standard price of £54.85 for my MOT tests - and the tester tells me the truth.

These cut-price MOT test places have it all sussed out - the cheap test gives them an increased chance of them doing the 'vital' work needed -so in reality you pay through the nose for saving that £20 or so.

The only truly impartial places are the council ones.

londonTiger

on a 33k mileage car i would be very surprised if all this is genuine

ilikewatch

Iceweasel wrote: »

The only truly impartial places are the council ones.

And (as per my previous post) some of the specialist "MOT only" outfits who remain completely independent whilst also discounting the test fee.

ukpete79

Op if you are going to jack the car up and 'have a look at my brake pipes' can I suggest that you dont, unless you have the car on axel stands... going under a car which is supported by its wheel changing jack is a really bad idea, Esp if your going to be tugging at a pipe or two!

salubrious

I a no fan of kwik fit, but as someone with plenty of experience working within the motor trade, I can say that the front lower arm bushes on the mini are a known problem. It is no surprise that they have failed the mot - What is confusing is why the quote is for anti-roll bar bushes. They are not the same thing, I suspect the salesman..I mean service manager at kwik fit has got his wires crossed.

We always replace the front arm bushes on these cars with a polyurethane replacement - They are slightly more expensive but you can forget about them being a problem for a long time.

Brake pipes are also a common issue with the mini - The front to rears rust up around the fuel tank and towards the rear connection joints.

I thought it was worth adding some information about these being common fail points, which no one has mentioned thus far.

AdrianC

enfield_freddy wrote: »

umm , http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-16-X-25-FT-SOFT-22G-COPPER-BRAKE-PIPE-10-NUTS-/320933174545?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4ab91b9d11

£8.99 per 25ft , yes we know you have to flare the ends , but asking £250 is taking the micky

There's a very big difference between buying a roll of pipe (and using plain copper is not a great idea anyway - cupro-nickel is much better) and some unions, and actually replacing the pipes, especially where they're fairly well hidden up around the fuel tank or whatever. Then there's the risk of the old ones refusing to come undone.

Never mind the parts prices, £250 doesn't buy very many hours of labour, with VAT taken into account.

skivenov

I've never used a council test centre, but they do have a reputation for being a bit keen to find fault, same for BT Fleet.

ukpete79 wrote: »

Op if you are going to jack the car up and 'have a look at my brake pipes' can I suggest that you dont, unless you have the car on axel stands... going under a car which is supported by its wheel changing jack is a really bad idea, Esp if your going to be tugging at a pipe or two!

This, very much so.

patman99

I used to take my car to the Council depot for it's MOT, but the Council brought-in RTR to run it.

Now, I take it to the local Fire Brigade Workshop where they charge a flat fee of £36 regardless of vehicle type.
Got mine done yesterday. They also fixed an issue with the horn (needed the earth points cleaning at both the steering wheel end and behind the bumper (common issue on Berlingo's)).
Even with the MO, the whole bill was still only £150.

KatieDee

Thanks again for all your advice, guys!

So I didn't get chance to have a look under the car today as the weather has been utterly rubbish. I ran it past my dear father who pretty much echoed your advice! I have decided to take it to his garage who are reliable and do a lot of work for his company.

The only issue is I'll be unable to take it until Monday, at which point my MOT will have expired. I have heard that it's legal to drive your car with an expired MOT as long as you are on your way to have it tested - is this true? I wouldn't want to get stopped!

And lastly, should this new test show that the car does not fail on the brake pipes, what should I do about the Kwik Fit assessment? Pay the fee for the MOT and move on, complain directly to them or is there somebody else I could speak to? Likewise, if it does pass this time around (or at least not fail on brake pipes), is this likely to be because the new garage have missed it or that Kwik Fit are trying to make a quick buck?

xHannahx

KatieDee wrote: »

Thanks again for all your advice, guys!

So I didn't get chance to have a look under the car today as the weather has been utterly rubbish. I ran it past my dear father who pretty much echoed your advice! I have decided to take it to his garage who are reliable and do a lot of work for his company.

The only issue is I'll be unable to take it until Monday, at which point my MOT will have expired. I have heard that it's legal to drive your car with an expired MOT as long as you are on your way to have it tested - is this true? I wouldn't want to get stopped!

And lastly, should this new test show that the car does not fail on the brake pipes, what should I do about the Kwik Fit assessment? Pay the fee for the MOT and move on, complain directly to them or is there somebody else I could speak to? Likewise, if it does pass this time around (or at least not fail on brake pipes), is this likely to be because the new garage have missed it or that Kwik Fit are trying to make a quick buck?

If it passes this time I don't believe you will have any comeback to kwikfit as they could claim you've changed the faulty parts whilst the vehicle was away from their premises.
You can only drive to a pre booked mot appointment with expired mot,