Don't think I'll use KwikFit again

cyclonebri1

worried_jim wrote: »

This site needs a banner to pop up up every time someone types "KwikFit"-screaming "Don't do it you idiot!" When will people learn?

I want to know how they got the contract for all Motability tyres and the like???

SailorSam

I bought my Fiesta from Peoples the main local Ford agent and took it back there for a couple of Mot tests, but the garage has now been taken over by KwikFit, so when i went for the last Mot i saw this sign outside offering a cut price test, but as much as i always want a bargain i went to the garage opposite and paid a lot more. I still think i made the right decision though, it probably saved me more.

Steve059

I, too, many years ago as a naive new driver, used them once. I received bad service and have kept my promise to never use them again.

How a firm with such an abysmal reputation has managed to survive is beyond me.

Dieselman

Put the shoe on the other foot.:eek:

Now if they said you may get away with a set of pads £40.00 fitted and will see how your discs go & there is a problem with that disc like it cracks a few months later you will be back complaining it's there fault.

They have to cover all bases they advise on work needed it's your choice what you have done other garages may do less for the work but who is correct.

Seeing both arguments as once a car mechanic and now a customer it's a difficult one.:o

[Deleted User]

My MOT is due soon and I've had offers in the post and by email from Kwik Fit in the last week or so. I certainly won't be going to Kwik Fit again after the fiasco I had with them last year.

I also knew they were a rip off but they used to do honest MOTs, at least the local branches did. Not any more.

cyclonebri1

There have been so many similar threads re anti Kwiq Krap that I can't remember if I posted this in this one or another. I have shared it several times.

Our town centre KK is just that, on the main thoroughfare of the town.
This dates back about 30 years but as the post previous suggests, nothing has changed.

Guy took his car in for an exhaust change. "Highly skilled Tech" took an Oxy/Act torch to the exhaust to aid removal.

Well, it did just that, it removed the exhaust, and him, all straight through the showrooms plate glass windows after he had fired the petrol lines.
Shut down the towns main arterial route that day.

But you won't get quicker than a quick fit fitter, he was the fastest that day:p:p

Chesterfield KF rep for your info, want to comment?

gabitzul

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I think KF is reasonable and good value, if you know your car (are mecanically minded) and can call their bluff.

Done this a number of times and they did not insist once they realised they will not get extra money off me. Alternatively, as I like I advise my relatives and friends, tell them from the start you have a fixed budget for this and not have a penny extra to spend regardless of what they will advise.

The advantage is that my last two MOT + service combo cost about £80 each (passed first time as I take good care of the car with extra DIY services etc).

If the car fails the MOT do not let them start working on the car until at least getting another quote and confronting them if it is cheaper than theirs.

adouglasmhor

Mr_Toad wrote: »

If you take your car to Kwik Fit for a £35 MOT and it passes they are losing money as the proper cost of an MOT is £54:85.

It doesn't, or it shouldn't, take a genius to work out that the £35 is bait and that they will always 'find' something that needs doing that will not only cover the apparent £20 saving on the MOT but will also make them money! As it's a car and most people don't know enough to argue the point they usually lay it on with a trowel that the problems are safety issues and potential killers. Even if they showed you the old parts 99% of people wouldn't know if they were faulty or not, in fact they probably wouldn't even know if they were off their own car!

When it comes to garages you need someone you can trust. I've been using the same small independent garage for 30 years and have always had great service at a good price.

I paid £50 for an MOT at a small local garage on Tuesday. They even let me change a bulb while it was having the emissions done (one of my indcators was showing more white than orange as the paint had fallen off the bulb - he should really have failed me), I wouldn't like to think I was costing one of the good guys money.

Tucker

gabitzul wrote: »

I have said it before, and I will say it again. I think KF is reasonable and good value, if you know your car (are mecanically minded) and can call their bluff.

Done this a number of times and they did not insist once they realised they will not get extra money off me. Alternatively, as I like I advise my relatives and friends, tell them from the start you have a fixed budget for this and not have a penny extra to spend regardless of what they will advise.

The advantage is that my last two MOT + service combo cost about £80 each (passed first time as I take good care of the car with extra DIY services etc).

If the car fails the MOT do not let them start working on the car until at least getting another quote and confronting them if it is cheaper than theirs.

Yeah, but you shouldn't have to call a company's bluff and prove to them that you know your stuff to prevent being ripped off should you??

You can say that about any conmen or pressure sales firms... simple fact is they should sell you only what you need and at a competitive price and not have the primary aim of extracting the maximum amount of cash from a customer because he or she isn't mechanically minded!

cyclonebri1

adouglasmhor wrote: »

I paid £50 for an MOT at a small local garage on Tuesday. They even let me change a bulb while it was having the emissions done (one of my indcators was showing more white than orange as the paint had fallen off the bulb - he should really have failed me), I wouldn't like to think I was costing one of the good guys money.

I too support our local guy, he charges whatever the official figure is, no return charges and never touts for work. If it's a sidelight/rearlight/or in my experience often a number plate light, he changes them for free. He keeps a good range of headlight bulbs which he will change for cost unless it's 1 of the stupid modern installations that take 1/2 an hour to change.

His reasoning when I asked was that he wants his locals back for service work etc, and the allotted time that has to expire on the computer, gives him enough time to change a bulb or two:T:T:T:T