HALFORDS - £500 spent and still not fixed

System

Get the spark plugs changed but be prepared for this not fixing things at first because as spark plugs fail it means the ignition coils need to put out more current/voltage to create a spark which leads to the spark plug leads and coil/coil pack failing as well so one or more of those may need replacing. On some cars like MK6 Ford Fiestas it can also kill the ECU.

What you are experiencing is as a direct result of not properly servicing your car. Had it been properly serviced instead of taking the cheap way out you'd not have this problem. That cheap way out has ended up costing you a load of money. The car's owners handbook tells you all you need to know about what service it needs and when.

m0bov

Maybe read the whole thread, op has car serviced every 6 months.

Strider590

m0bov wrote: »

Maybe read the whole thread, op has car serviced every 6 months.

At Halfrauds?

At first I thought this thread was trolling, because Halfrauds is not a proper garage, they wouldn't have a clue.

takman

m0bov wrote: »

Maybe read the whole thread, op has car serviced every 6 months.

Yeah but they have said they only ever had the interim service done; so just oil and oil filter. The air filter, Fuel Filter and Spark Plugs will be years overdue and could easily be causing performance issues.

jobdone1

Get your money back and drive away. Coil packs are common on these cars. New plugs leads etc probably be as good as new

black_wings

Hi all - so after 3 days in the halfords garage they have told us the new problem with the car is that the spark plug and coil pack need changing. Many thanks to those who suggested that might be the issue! Shows you know your stuff as I only gave you a vague description of the problem. It's been in halford 3 times now and they've only just mentioned the spark plugs....sigh.

We were not aware that the 50quid to do a full check of the car simply meant plugging it into a computer and no engaging their brains. We thought we were paying for a professional to look into the car and actually come up with the correct solution.

They told us on the first check the only fault code which appeared was to do with the valve which is why they changed it, they said they then ran it round the block and plugged it in again and no fault codes were showing so they said it was sorted. Of course it was not sorted which is why we got them to do a further check for free. Now they are saying it shows fault codes of the spark plugs and coil pack.
So they are trying to tell us that between the first check and the second check that is when the plugs and coil failed...somewhat hard to believe aye. It must've been on it's way for a while.
Obviously get it is an old car so really you could replace every part if you felt so inclined and of course it was our choice that we didn't have regular full services recently to know of the failing plugs.
But my issue with them is they advised us to replace something which was not the cause of the problem we had reported with the car. All these repairs are more than the worth of the car and if they had given us the proper info right from the start we could have made a better decision to get rid of the car instead of handing them £300 to still get rid of the car anyway. Now they want a further £300 to do the plugs and coil pack.

The place seems to be fully booked and always very busy with cars so we had assumed going with a big company we would be getting a proper professional. It was clear when we spoke to them yesterday that they have no common sense approach. They fully admitted it's computer says yes or no outfit and 'all we go by is what the computer tells us, the days of a guy looking at the car and figuring out what's wrong are long gone' so they tell me.
Okay lesson learned - we will get recommendations of independent garages from now on. When we can afford to buy a new car, that is.

AdrianC

black_wings wrote: »

They told us on the first check the only fault code which appeared was to do with the valve which is why they changed it, they said they then ran it round the block and plugged it in again and no fault codes were showing so they said it was sorted. Of course it was not sorted which is why we got them to do a further check for free. Now they are saying it shows fault codes of the spark plugs and coil pack.
So they are trying to tell us that between the first check and the second check that is when the plugs and coil failed...somewhat hard to believe aye. It must've been on it's way for a while.

Perhaps there were actually two problems?

Now they want a further £300 to do the plugs and coil pack.

<blink> HFM?

<looks at just one parts site>
Plugs - call it a tenner for four name brand.
Coil pack - Couple of quid change from £90 for Valeo or Bosch. £65 own-brand.

So that's a ton in parts. and about 15min to change the lot.

cypher007

id be asking for a refund for the previous work and get it done elsewhere.


if they say weve changed parts. say change them back then.


its obviously not an issue with any of what thyve done so far.


to be honest i wouldnt have thought the car was worth spending this sort of money on. sorry.

black_wings

AdrianC wrote: »

Perhaps there were actually two problems?
.

That's my issue with them atm. Because we specifically told them we want to know all of the issues causing the car to have the juddering issue. So we could make an informed decision if it was worth it to spend ££ or just get rid and buy a new car.
If they'd said right from the start 'x y and z needs doing and it'll cost 600' then we would have bought a new car. But instead they said 'only x needs doing' so we thought okay just do it and run the car for a while longer.
They are trying to say the plug and the coil were a non issue during the first diagnostic and it's only come up since re-testing. It's frustrating because even people on a forum with a brief description could come up knowing what it was yet a 'mechanic' didnt know even from looking at it twice. We were relying on them because we don't know anything about cars and when you pay a service for a 'professional' you expect to get some proper advice and expertise. Which is obviously not the case at halfords I guess.
We are currently trying to complain and get the money back for mis-selling a repair which wasn't the cause of the problem. At the time, he really sold it to us of why the valve needed replacing was the cause of the juddering - but turns out that was nonsense.

AdrianC

black_wings wrote: »

That's my issue with them atm. Because we specifically told them we want to know all of the issues causing the car to have the juddering issue...
If they'd said right from the start 'x y and z needs doing and it'll cost 600'

It's rarely that simple, though. Sure, the plugs and coil pack are bad. But the EGR may well have been SO bad that it was masking them. The plugs and coil pack are NOT £300-worth of work, though... Not in a million years. I don't know how big a job the EGR is on these, but the part is £120-ish.
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/egr-valve/pierburg-7-22875-13-0_g1145_a0057.22875.13.0.html

Basically, regardless of whether there's misdiagnosis or not, they're taking your trousers down over the price of the work...