Non Lotus Main Dealers - Charlatans!

[Painterdave]

Just get a good mechanic ,word of mouth ,who you can trust .

[Escape]

A lot depends on how visible the pads and discs are. No one will take off the wheels for a thorough inspection of the brake system for an MOT, but over here if for example the disc is worn/ grooved and easily visible, it will result in an advisory. Otherwise if the car passes the brake test, all is fine. And a pad with just 1mm left on a pizza cutter disc can still easily pass the test.

When I get a car in for maintenance, I always make an effort to inspect pads and discs. With most alloy wheels it's not too hard to find a position where you can see or feel the pads to get an idea of their thickness.

[C8RKH]

Thanks @Escape and @Painterdave.

The MOT was indeed done by a very good mechanic and garage owner who has excellent word of mouth feedback and is in a small village out of the way.

I had specifically asked him to do the MOT and told him the car needed new front discs and pads (what I have been told by the main dealer). He called me to say he had checked them and that both discs and pads were fine with plenty of life left so he wouldn't be charging me £300 for new ones that weren't needed.

I guess that is why I asked the original question/raised the topic. I can't believe the independent would turn good money and work away IF it was necessary, especially as he was doing the MOT check. So that's what made me suspicious re the main dealers intent.

Again, keeping this strictly "non-Lotus" related re the main dealers. \We have other topics for that.

Google review left. Letter to the dealer principal going in today.

[Bibs]

3 hours ago, Escape said:

No one will take off the wheels for a thorough inspection of the brake system for an MOT

The rules over here are that the tester isn't allowed to remove anything to facilitate the test, it's not a million miles away from being hands off and visual only.

[C8RKH]

👍 That is my understanding too @Bibs  I doubt the dealer actually removed the wheels to check them either when they serviced the car, I bet it was just a visual check.

As I asked the independent garage to specifically replace the brakes, then I am, I think, safe to assume that they were properly checked and assessed, outside, of the MOT.

[red vtec]

I was quoted £200 for rear brake pads on a swift Sport , that's without fitting at the Suzuki dealers. They are £20-30 on web. 

[Escape]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

The rules over here are that the tester isn't allowed to remove anything to facilitate the test, it's not a million miles away from being hands off and visual only.

Same as over here, which means most wear will get unnoticed, unless someone is specifically looking for something (like me during a service). I do often feel the pads, so not strictly visual/ hands off.

[Painterdave]

Just get a good mechanic ,word of mouth ,who you can trust .

Disc and pads are easy money when the old ones are removed you are left with new ones job Dunn 

[C8RKH]

Ok, so this saga just took an interesting turn.

Wife was out today, a whole bunch of her girl friends were meeting up for lunch. Turns out one of them also has a Skoda that is maintained by the same main dealer.

Wife relays "our story". Girlfriend chirps up - Oh, well I had a slight knocking noise on my Skoda (bought new, same as my wife, from the same dealer). She happened to be at her sisters whose hubby is a mechanic with his own garage. So he takes it off to have a quick look. Comes back and questions her as to why she hasn't had her car serviced and is skipping out on the maintenance?  Sharp intake of breath - "nonsense, it has been main dealer serviced and I have all the invoices and paperwork for the work done".  Hmmm, says mechanic. So they all pop out to the garage and he is videod taking various parts off the car, checking their serial numbers etc on the computer. Seems like parts were the original serial numbers as per the "build sheet and spec" of the car. In other words, the dealer "said" they had serviced and replaced but actually hadn't.

 

So off they toddled to the dealer (same as mine) and confronted them. "Nonsense says the dealer, we changed everything". Mechanic then produced his video evidence and confirmed the serial numbers etc. Dealer service manager was hugely embarrassed as his operation has now been well and truly caught out. Wife's friend got a full refund!

Absolutely unbelievable.

Needless to say neither of us will be back to that main dealer. Ever.

Shocking.

I doubt I could even have made up a story, and a saga, like this.

[exeterjeep]

Inform trading standards and even the police for fraud?

Out of interest what sort of parts were looked at, as original factory parts should be replaced by exactly the same factory parts unless the dealer fits aftermarket compatible parts.

Eg often can tell if oil/oil filter has not been changed by just looking.

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

Out of interest what sort of parts were looked at

I'm not sure, I wasn't there. All I know is that the mechanic had access to a "system" where he could check things and validate stuff...

[Painterdave]

I'm out of car game 20 years, but I think Audi ecu can tel how far the brake calerper has wound the piston back to replace the pads so it can tell how worn the disk is. Or so I have been told   

[pete]

A while back I bought an Audi estate and put it into a main dealer for a service came back with a long list of advisories coming to nearly £8000,in the 3 years I had the car didn't need to do any of them

[Painterdave]

I've heard Bentley can report problems using wi fi to the dealer so if the car need work it will tell them😯

[Bibs]

BMW revealed the same system last year, I filmed some of the DLAW training for it... 

https://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owners/service-workshop/servicing/proactive-care.html

[Painterdave]

Suppose that's handy with the self-drive it can just take itself to the dealership for a service

[Bibs]

I don't think we're that far off that! 

[mayevora]

@C8RKH Just hate hearing stories like that. This is old school back street mechanic/garage and thankfully not so much your modern Main Dealership but you have just proved it does still happen. A full refund goes without saying. She should have probably been offered additional free servicing just as a goodwill gesture but can totally understand why she wouldn’t want to set foot in the place again. I’d be shouting this loud and wide if it were me. 

[NAC63]

This is exactly why I do my own servicing and repairs when possible. 

[Sparky]

So many people come to me in a panic about 'worn brakes'.  The margin on parts is HUGE and it seems people will pay anything to be safer, so many establishments try it on - main dealers, brake centres, sole traders.  No matter what the quote, I can generally do it for less than 50%.

I've had stand-up rows with Kwik Fit managers over this after they've scared the hell out of people with their bullshit.

[mayevora]

39 minutes ago, Sparky said:

No matter what the quote, I can generally do it for less than 50%.

At your ripe old age I really do think you should be giving more consideration to moving to a more retirement friendly area like/such as Devon for example maybe…..…….. 😜

[Sparky]

Yeah, but Minis...

[mayevora]

Be a change from shorts. For a good well priced mechanic I’m prepared to ware anything 🤣🤣🤣

[Spinney]

None of this comes as any surprise to me and has been going on for donkeys years. Even when I had company cars, I became so mistrustful of main dealers I would deliberately secretly mark service items that should have been changed (filters, spark plugs etc) but then weren’t, and the buggers still charged for them. I also had brake pads that seemed to grow from one service to the next. They’d be 60% worn at one service then only 50% worn at the next one, despite doing another 20,000 miles!

I fell out with that many main dealers, I’m surprised I wasn’t blacklisted. 😂