Watchdog!!

[Amanda]

Loving it just lately....

The clamping last week had us gasping in shock and I'm surprised at Kwikfit this week. Mental .....

[SuzukiNess]

oh buggery.. missed half of it :( yeah the clamping thing was mental!!

[Specialone]

Kwik fit are a bunch of muppets, said my tracking was out on my van, its worse now than before they touched it, will never ever go to them for anything.
I didnt take it back tbh as i didnt want them near it again.

[Wideboy]

kwik feck-it?? bad??......... noooooo i dont believe it

[DarrenSV650S]

What were kwik fit doing? I was going to be getting some cheapy cheapy £20 tyres from them

[fizzwheel]

What were kwik fit doing? I was going to be getting some cheapy cheapy £20 tyres from them

Servicing or not as the case maybe and saying work needed doing when it didnt.

I reckon you'd be OK with tyres, just dont ask them to do anything else...

Of course I realise theres probably good and bad Kwik fits like everything, but I still wouldnt take my car to one to get it serviced, never have never will.

[DarrenSV650S]

Yeh I wouldn't let them near the engine or anything. I've got a guy I trust for that. But fitting tyres you can't go too far wrong can you....

[Wideboy]

they can (and most likely will) feck up the balancing, they are good at that so I've herd...... but as fizz said, they are a franchise so you'll get good and bad ones

[Specialone]

TBH, tyres are bit suspect by them as well, you always need tracking whatever you take in.

Use them at your peril :(

[Wideboy]

their website has a "your story" button was going to report a bike shop in winton that i reckons a bit dodgy.......

[Amanda]

their website has a "your story" button was going to report a bike shop in winton that i reckons a bit dodgy.......

Yeah it is well dodgy, you get free money off vouchers, coffee, biscuits, and glamourous girls to welcome you and help you part with your money with helpful information and advice!!! They even try and bride you with free Subway lunches ............. the swines!

[Specialone]

Yeah it is well dodgy, you get free money off vouchers, coffee, biscuits, and glamourous girls to welcome you and help you part with your money with helpful information and advice!!! They even try and bride you with free Subway lunches ............. the swines!

HG should try that approach, along with fee subways ;)

[-Ralph-]

I reckon you'd be OK with tyres

Nope

But fitting tyres you can't go too far wrong can you....

Nope

they can (and most likely will) feck up the balancing

You got it!

Though to be fair most tyre places feck up the balancing, it's just not a problem for most folk as most cars are not as sensitive to it as some.

The wheel and tyres on my Vectra SRI cannot be balanced by a standard tyre place, I've tried more than 5 different places, even when you find a guy who knows what he is doing, the machine hasn't been calibrated in donkeys. Then I found a place with one of these http://www.gsp9700.com/ who maintain it properly and have the expertise to use it as they balance tyres for BTCC cars. They sorted my problems first time and I only go to them for tyres now.

My wifes car on the other hand is quite happy to get balanced at kwik fit, so long as you get one of the older guys who knows how to use the machine and do dynamic balancing. A YTS student who only understands how to set the machine up to measure and correct static imbalance, can still feck it up and leave you with a wheel wobble. Even when you find the right guy, the machine isn't perfect, but my wifes car is not so sensitive to it, so it drives fine.

[Amanda]

glamourous girls

HG should try that approach, along with fee subways ;)


cheeky beggar ...... he was talking about us!!!!

[Mighty Boosh]

Its not just quik fit that are useless.

My car failed its MOT on tuesday, needed two tyres and both front side light bulbs. The tyres had plenty of tread but had cuts in the tread down to the inner cord which were only visible on very close inspection.:(

So on wednesday i took my car to an independent place, much like quik fit, for two new tyres.

I asked them if they could sell me the bulbs and i would fit them myself.

The guy said they would fit them for no extra charge, just the price of the bulbs, so i said OK great.:D

They fitted my tyres and told me that the near side bulb had blown twice when switched on so it still wasn't working.:(

Today i changed the near side bulb myself and it worked faultlessly.:p

I can only presume that the fitter hadn't used the slide panels which are in the archs to access the bulbs and had fitted the off side bulb from inside the engine bay and didn't fancy having to remove bits from the engine bay to get access to the near side one.:confused::smt120The slide panels must have been pretty obvious considering he changed both front tyres.

So instead of being honest, they thought they would lie and say the bulb kept blowing.:smt013

So i spent 24 hours fretting about getting the bulb working for the retest.

And to think i was considering going there when i need the bike tyres soon.

Email heading thier way.:smt024

[hindle8907]

Lol kwikfit was bad !!! Name and shame love it

[barwel1992]

kwikfit in rugby is sh*te both times the tracking on dads car was out

[Specialone]

cheeky beggar ...... he was talking about us!!!!

I didnt know that honest :rolleyes:

[davepreston]

relax amanda he doesnt know much ,come on he needs a ipod to remind himself to breath

[yorkie_chris]

There are some properly dodgy garages about. Seriously, if you don't do your own work or at least try to gain some understanding about your own vehicles you must be absolutely ****ing retarded or be some southern **** with more money than sense and deserve ripping off!

Find an independent one man band type of garage you trust and be nice to them... get your car serviced on time so the job isn't a right git to do because of neglect and all will be well.


MOTs are worst. Never, never, NEVER get your car MOT'd at a place that does MOT repairs too. If you are going to, make sure they know you aren't letting them do ANY work except the MOT itself.
Best bet is to find a small test station that just does MOTs and nothing else, so they've absolutely no reason to be anything but truthful with you. These sorts of places tend to know exactly how far they can push their luck with tests and generally a bit more... not just the bare minimum.

I'm not even going to start on some of the terrifying horror shows I've seen from various garages, I'd be here all night and you'd all be scanning catalogues for socket sets!

[davepreston]

I'm not even going to start on some of the terrifying horror shows I've seen from various garages, I'd be here all night and you'd all be scanning catalogues for socket sets!
why i have the org to fix everything lol

[L3nny]

Took my car to Kwik Fit in Stratford for a "free brake service" as i could tell the pads needed replacing. They also told me the rear shoes needed changing which I didnt think they did but it was only a few quid more so agreed.

Then when the wheels where off they said I needed new rear shocks and it was dangerous to let me go out on them as they were.

I didn't have the cash to get the shocks done so said i'd leave it. They tried all the usual tricks like getting the manager to get me to sign something saying i deliberately ignored their advice.

Car sailed through the next 3 MOTs until I sold it.

Even if I brokedown outside a Kwik Fit I still wouldn't use them

[Richi3]

i got my car tyres done recently in Britania tyres in Hinckley, i was at my mums for the weekend and i needed a pair of tyres for the front quoted me £120 for 2 budget tyres i could put up with that they said hour and half,
so i went shopping came back car was outside i though oh they finished til i got closer still not done so i sat there for another hour b4 my car went in
while my tyres were being changed a women came in asking if one of the tyre fitters could help crack a wheelnut on her car as it was stuck and had a puncture, they just chinned her off so i went outside myself and did it for her im kinda use to it then my mobile rings while im changing this tyre bearing in mind im 5 metres from the door of the garage asking me to come see the mechanic,
ii said ive been waiting 3 hrs u can wait 2 minutes for me to finish the ladys tyres so i finished that and got a tenner for my deeds
and went inside this young tyre fitter points to a peice of cardboard on the floor and tries telling me my tracking needs doing i just laughed and said ill do it next week at work witha tremall guage and i got a very blank look after that.
whilst i was paying another gentleman had had the said tracking adjustments they charged him £16.50 per adjustment on his tracking and claimed he need 4 adjustments plus the tyres he had just bought of them. i was shocked ive told all my family and friends from down there not to use the place

[tactcom7]

I needed 2 tyres on me Audi and was driving round farnbrough getting quotes, went to one garage and asked how much and was quoted £160 for 2 cheap tyres. When I asked for a price breakdown he said it was £14.95 per tyre for fitting and valve and disposal. I laughed at him, lots, only to be told by some suit with his Beemer that he thought that was a reasonable price! Mate if you can afford it you go ahead was just about all I could think to say to the guy.

[squirrel_hunter]

Well I'm going to annoy you all...

My car developed a steering wobble so I took it to them to look at. They blanced the wheels, adjusted the tracking and warned me about the brakes. Cost c.£40, it solved the wobble, lighted the steering, and a couple of weeks later I replaced the brakes as they needed doing. Overall I was happy with the service.

[metalangel]

Friend of the missus took her sh**ty Corsa into Kwik Fit because she had problems with a tire.

No kidding, they were all illegal, one so much so that you could see the steel cords.

Because she obviously knew sweet FA about cars, they managed to sell her the four most expensive tires they had.

[454697819]

my favourite,

sir, whislt changing your tyres we have noticed your break pads are half worn,

uh hu, so what

well they need changing..

errr no, if they have done 20k on the first half how many more miles do I have left in them, just swap the fooking tyres will you.

this wast quick fit but another band of cowboys.

[widepants]

kwiik fit are very clever though, and just because it doesnt say "kack fit" above the door ,doesnt mean it isnt one.
My car is a motability car and was in need of some new rubber and "kwap fit" have the contract to do them. Twenty minutes later ,Im in the "kwick leg it " office to be told they dont have the right tyre in stock ,but their other TWO branches in town do ....cue confused look.
"Oh dont worry " I was informed ,"we are so hated round here ,we bought out the two nearest independant depos " . People use them and think they are sticking 2 fingers up to us"

[Sosha]

I suppose you could cross thread a wheel nut then not be able to find a suitable tap because it's not in the box. That might be a minor ballsup hyperthetically - though I've driven out of a garage (Not Kwickfit) that didn't do the front left wheel nuts up before. Not far obviously. :smt120

[metalangel]

Guy in work had his Renault McCann being fixed by Kwik-Fit back during the bad weather. Work was done, they took it down off the lift and drove it out... it slid across their icy parking lot straight into the mechanic's own car!

[benji106]

Wot he said


+1

Normally work on my vehicles myself but one year come MOT time for the car I was pushed for time so let the garage do the work when it failed. car was a heap of **** like but needed it back on the road pronto. anyway cant remember exactly what needed doing something to do with the steering rack I think, anyway charged me a small fortune in labour because they didnt have the right tools to do the job so took them twice as long as it should. Absolute shower of *******s. found a small independent garage now and any work I dont do myself I get him to do (well I did when I lived down that way), always up front, honest does a good job and charges a fair price. plus he knows what he is on about which is always nice! dont even get me started on Toyota garages!
\Rant

[Sir Trev]

I can't understand why anyone would choose to go to a Kwik Fitup - their prices are rubbish. And their website does all the usual tricks, like not including valves/balancing/disposal in the price to make you drive down there...

Wish I'd seen it on WDog now!

[hindle8907]

bbc iplayer ?