Kwik-Fit ruined my car's handling!

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
2

Hey all,

I’ve had my MK2 for about 2 months now and two weeks ago took it to Kwik-Fit for some new tyres. The tyres are great and were a reasonable price, however on driving the car away it would pull to the left whilst holding the steering wheel straight. To drive in a straight line i had to hold the wheel at around 15 degrees to the right.

I returned to the garage and told them the issue. I was then told that they had ‘sorted out’ the tracking when they fitted the tyres claiming it had been way off (I had had no issues with tracking…)

They then put the car up on the lift and adjusted it again, taking a little drive between adjustments to check. Finally after three attempts I was told that the car was now driving straight. I drove the car home and it felt slightly better but was still not cured completely.

I checked the tyre pressures and found them to be varying by a huge amount. One was 32psi, another was 28psi. They use a machine that can inflate to specific values, why the heck would they not set them to atleast the same! I set them all to 27psi, 1psi above the reccomended and hoped that this may sort the issue however no benefit was found.

I have read a post on the scottish owners forum that mentions their power steering feeling heavy and unresponsive and that is exactly how the car feels at the moment. 

 

So what is the verdict? Go back and complain or try to get the wheels properly adjusted at one of the listed 4 wheel alignment centres in the FAQ? The car certainly feels less safe to drive than it did before, surely the opposite to what correct tracking should do… 

3

Best thing to do mate ist to wait untill someone on here recomends a local garage and dont go near Kwik Fit to even top your washer bottle up,sounds like they are creating work for them selves and taking advantage of your good nature,did they also put the new tyres on the front ?.these cars also like the same tyres all round ideally but in any case if only fitting two at once they should always go on the rear wheels

Hope you get sorted son

Regards

Stephen

4

 Hellfords,kwik rip… for work…NEVER

In the last couple of months i have had a few MOT fails from owners that have been to these place’s with long fail sheets, main ones they try and stuff you for are brake lines bast there best,which puts the fear of god up you so you say yes to there con, suspension leaking,this is another big one, sprayed with WD40 and get you to come and have a look, brake pads and calipers best there best, another fear of god, so you say yes, split or dry boots are the new one,as they will not just change the boots ,but the units, big money, the list goes on, lucky enough the local owners know me and dropped around for a double check, we soon had those lists down to a couple of items,never take a car to a MOT station that does repairs, unless you trust them, i remember a couple of years back when an owner took his MK 1 eunos for test at a kwik rip just after we had sorted his roadster out, i got a phone call from him nearly in tears telling me that they had faild her on brake lines ,pads and calipers, which we had striped and rebuilt just two weeks ealier,and we knew there was nothing wrong with them, so i asked him to put me onto the grease monkey in question and fired some questions at him, told him what i thought atfer i got a lot of um’s and R’s and nothing straight back,i told the owner to get his car out,and to a MOT station that i know and use, and it sailed through no problems, this is just one story, i have many more from the owners i have helped in the past, and even gone with a couple to these stations to hear some of the bull sh*t to put you in fear of driving your pride and joy a couple of yards.

Go and get the tyre wieghts checked and have a full G done, before you go sideways when you don’t need to.

So when they did this tracking, did they use anything? or guess? and just kept taking her for a run out a couple of times, do not trust what they have done.

M-m

5

 Fill this form in and threaten trading standards, as you never asked them to do any alignment. Iwould be askig for them too pay for proper alignment if the first readout from the rig shows an incorrect alignment

6

Hi guys, thanks for the responses.

I have written a letter of complaint explaining what happens and I await their reply. I will have the geometry properly set up elsewhere, my nearest centres look to be in Cardiff or Gloucester. Can any of the Bristol guys recommend any garages more local to me? I don’t mind travelling but it would be a wasted trip if there was a garage near by!

When they set the tracking they used wheel mounted laser pointers on the front wheels that aligned them to a rear wheel mounted measuring guage as can bee seen on their website.

I will certainly tell others to steer clear of kwik fit in the future…

7

About 6 years ago I decided to return to working as a mechanic after 11 years away. Unfortunately I got a job at Kwik-fit.

I wouldn’t ever advise anyone to have anything done by them (or Halfords, or a lot of the other “national” tyre/servicing places). There are some good mechanics working at these places but there are also a lot of people who neither know (or care) about the vehicles they are working on.

I did a 3 year course when I left school to train as a mechanic, it’s a 5 day course (or was in 2007) to be “trained” in brakes. How you can learn about braking systems in 5 days and be let loose on a customers car I don’t know!!!

Also, as Wayne has said, if you have a problem with a brake caliper, be it a broken nipple or a leaking seal, they are not allowed to repair it, they will charge for a reconditioned caliper. A decent garage would try to remove a broken nipple or repair the part.

In about a year a Kwik-fit I saw several cars that had shoddy work, and sometimes left in a dangerous state (Ford Ka that had a front suspension arm bolt hanging by a thread and a half) and drug taking on site. Pay is poor, hours long, never got a proper break, and was treated like sh*t by the manager.

I was glad to leave.

Avoid Kwik-fit like the plague!!!

Martin (who now works for a decent firm Big Smile).

8

Some years ago I took the decision to no longer do business with kwik-fit. Details of why can be provided if required, but it involved refusal to carry out an emergency repair unless I had a lot of unnecessary work done in addition, and the treatment my car received whilst in their “care”. And yes, I am still fuming.

At the time they had a call centre, as it turned out. Why would a tyre/exhaust fitting chain need a call centre, you may well ask. Well, now you know.

Interestingly, at the time, I was more than happy with the quality of service provided by Halfords of Selly Oak, Birmingham, but their workshops shut down.

Near to us was a tyre/exhaust place who used to provide excellent service. Can’t remember the name, but was a national chain with a green logo/signwriting. One day I took my wife’s car in to have the front pads and discs replaced, spoke to the usual guy. “Sorry, I have to do an all-round brake check” quoth he. “Not necessary, rears are OK I checked them myself” quoth I, but he had to do it anyway (then agreed I was right and did just the work I was booked in for), new company policy. While I was waiting in the office I read a couple of their internal circulars pinned to the wall - one of which had a Kwik-Fit logo on the top. So I asked and yes, said he, we’ve been taken over by Kwik-Fit.

So we are running out of rivals!

PS Retrostate - get your alignment done properly, then write a complaint to Kwik Fit enclosing the bill and a demand for recompense. Send it recorded. If it gets you nowhere, then talk to your local small claims court, and then contact them again. Mention the local trading standards office. You may not get anywhere but hell, for the sake of a few stamps and a coupe of hours, waste some of thier time.

 

 

9

One other thing I forgot. If you do have to deal with Kwik-fit (and I truely hope to god you never have the misfortune to) never, and I mean never give your phone or e-mail details to them.

Within 24 hours you will get a phone call from Kwik-fit insurance trying to sell you their products. And when your car insurance is up for for renewal they will repeatedly call to get your business.

My dad had 8 missed calls one day and it went on for weeks. My dad took to ignoring the phone if their number came up. Took 2 abusive calls to end it.

Martin.

10

 Last year my fiesta had a puncture and as it was sunday the only place open was kwik -fit .They repaired the tyre and charged me over twenty quid ,which i felt was a bit expensive, they also told me that my rear tyres needed replacing and quoted me for them.

When i got home my husband looked on their website and found that the cost was about 50 quid less, on there, than the price they had given me!  he checked the tyres and  thought there was a good bit of tread left on them, infact i got another 4000 miles out of them and when i went to my local tyre place to have them changed they said there was still some mileage left in them . 

I complained to Kwik-fit and they sent me £30 of vouchers, which i have still not spent there!!

 

 

 

11

Lesson learned. Never, ever, get Kwik Rip to do work for you unless: a) you’re stupid, or b) they are the last tyre place on earth and you don’t have a tyre lever of your own…and you have a job interview to get to.

I have never heard of them doing a great job, or a cheap job. I have very regularly heard of them doing terrible quality work at twice the going rate.

12

First off, get a copy of the MOT check sheet that is used to evaluate the state of your car.   Carefully go over the fail list and compare the pass criteria against your particular componant/assembly.  Some will be ‘judgement calls’ where its a subjective assessment as to if a ‘fail’ exists. Others will be clearcut - i.e. a light not working etc.

If you find a case where ‘Krap-fit’ or ‘Dodgey Fettlers &Sons’ are punting for work, think seriously of contacting the MOT and registering a complaint - this is the only real way of sorting scams like this.

13

Just had 2 tyres fitted by Event tyres a mobile tyre fitting company that I have been using for many years because they do an excellent job at a fair price. Their fitter told me that he used to work at Kwik Fit  but his conscience would not let him work there anymore because they rip customers off.So if you need new tyres try Event mobile Tyres. You will not find a better service and I have no connection other than a very happy customer.

14

On that note, the check sheet they fill out stating the state of the tyres to be replaced claimed that they were all illegally worn. I know for a fact that two of them weren’t as they had been replaced only months before. I was just changing them so I could have a matched set of 4. What reason would they have to do that as I’d already asked for all 4 to be changed. 

I have the car booked for alignment at a proper garage but am still waiting for kwik fit to get back to me properly about my complaint. They obviously think that one attempt to phone me whilst I was at work is a suitable response!

15

Contact Tony Bones at Wheels in Motion, he will be able to recommend a place to go near you and also what geometry set up to have. It’s even worth emailing him a before and after print out (make sure you get both from whomever you use) to double chec they’ve done it right.

 

16

 

This one is interesting in the context of non-supply of spare wheels with cars (eg the MX5). Sorry to rabbit on about this one, but having had Kwik Fit refuse to do an emergency repair I needed unless I agreed to have several hundred pounds worth of other work done as well, I think my point is well made (again!) even if boringly soWink

17

A few years ago, I had a tearful phone call from my partner. She had taken her VW Polo to Kwik Fit, (would you really trust a garage that can’t spell?), for 2 new tyres.

Sure the price was right for the tyres and balancing, but somewhere along the line, no doubt a directive from above, they had removed the rear brake drums and told her “the rear brake drum are dangerously worn and the car shouldn’t be driven in that condition” and the cost of this would be “£300 plus vat”, so a grand total of over £450 for the whole job.

When I arrived, the car was up on a ramp with all 4 wheels off. I asked what constituted “dangerously worn”. The person working on the car said the rear brake drums were 0.003" oversize. Now I am an engineer and as anyone with even a remote idea will tell you, +0.003" on an overall diameter of 8" is barely the width of a human hair, so I laughed at him.

I then asked why the rear drums had been removed in the first place, he replied “it’s standard practice to remove and check brake drums for customers wanting tyres”. It was around this point that I almost lot it completely and told him in no uncertain terms to get the drums and wheels back on the car immediately.

He protested and said he needed to speak to the manager who promptly arrived on the scene. I took their names and told them I would be reporting them to Trading Standards and also speaking to the local Police Station next door about their methods. At this point, the manager told the grease monkey to get the car together and to get it out straight away. I insisted on standing on his shoulder and watching and checking everything he did.

They presented me with a bil which I said I would not pay as I had not requested the “work” done. The manager tore up the bill and told me to clear off out, which is just what I did.

Never been near any Kwik Fit establishment since and warned my partner to stay away from them too.

18

 Get yourself to Avonmouth and get a Costco card!

Granted they only do Michelin but they have never let me down, they don’t cock about with the car and are about £15-£20 less than everyone else

19

I work in avonmouth so could very well visit. Thanks for the reccomendation for next time. I have had the tracking set up properly and what a difference. It’s even better than when I bought the car!

20

This is not about kwik-fit but about a main ford dealer.

My sister in law had a new battery fitted to her Ka.The radio needed a code putting in,as she bought the car second hand she took it to a main Ford dealership to get it recoded.

She was asked to wait,then about a hour later she was told the radio was faulty and could not be decoded and the car has had a safety check and was dangerous to drive.

She phoned me to pick the car up ( i have a recovery truck ) and asked me to have a look.

I picked the car up and took it to a mot station i use and asked them to have a look.

The supposed faults were.2x broken springs ( one of which was supposed to be in danger of ripping a tyre ) brake fluid leaks,brake pipes dangerously corroded,flexible brake pipes splitting shock absorbers leaking and worn tyres.

She had had the car moted by her usual mechanic at her local mot station about 1 month ago.

The mot station found NO faults at all,they showed me under the car,the steel  brake pipes are still painted .Also near new tyres.

While they inspected the car i ran the radio number through their computer to see if i could get a code,code was on the database and when it was entered into the radio ( i had to wait a  little while because the ford agents had entered a few wrong codes ) radio works perfect.

Sister in law went back to main agent next day started talking trading standards and they refunded the money they took off her.

It looks as if in these hard times even the main agents are trying it on.

Always try to get a recommendation from some one else,or ask the mx5oc ,or google the garage to see if they have ripped someone else off.

Eamonn