Another Kwik Fit Cock Up?

[cachaciero]

I feel that it is worth mentioning that neither KwickFit or anyone else can legally fill a system that they know is leaking if having filled it they discover that it is leaking then by law they have to discharge the system into a sealed container for disposal.

My understanding is that the KF operation is largely automatic i.e system is discharged vacuum applied assuming it holds a vacuum for a minute or two then charge with a known weight of gas check pressure stabilses . I imagin that if the required pressures are not achieved magic box removes the gas and holds it's hand up saying it's broke mate!.
Now their are advantages to this, given that the box and it's calibration is reasonably accurate one has to assume that if it does throw in the towel then it's because there is a problem that you didn't know you had before and it hasn't cost you anything to find out.

Now you can spend the same amount of money that KF would have charged you and have it sorted by a person who knows what they are doing.

cachaciero

[h2ocooler]

I feel that it is worth mentioning that neither KwickFit or anyone else can legally fill a system that they know is leaking if having filled it they discover that it is leaking then by law they have to discharge the system into a sealed container for disposal.

My understanding is that the KF operation is largely automatic i.e system is discharged vacuum applied assuming it holds a vacuum for a minute or two then charge with a known weight of gas check pressure stabilses . I imagin that if the required pressures are not achieved magic box removes the gas and holds it's hand up saying it's broke mate!.
Now their are advantages to this, given that the box and it's calibration is reasonably accurate one has to assume that if it does throw in the towel then it's because there is a problem that you didn't know you had before and it hasn't cost you anything to find out.
Now you can spend the same amount of money that KF would have charged you and have it sorted by a person who knows what they are doing.

cachaciero

Even so they MUST have put the gas in and disconnected the machine to find out the valve was stuck open as it will be opened buy the connector to read the pressure and to remove the gas in the first place.

A new valve core is only a few quid (not from the main dealer though) and would take seconds to fit.

Did they say that they would put the SAME amount of gas that was in it before they looked back into the system when you had it fixed, it is after all YOUR GAS they have..........

[Bren]

A couple of years ago I took my wife's mitsubishi galant to a local garage for a re-gas, however they informed me there was a big leak in the system so they could'nt proceed.

Fast forward to may 2010, the weather was warm, so I decided to give the car to a different garage, one that has recently started up and seems quite good. I would have been prepared to pay for a condenser or pipework, but not a compressor.

Imagine my surprise when they rang me and told the system was fine - it was holding pressure (they had even managed to remove some refrigerant), a regas and it was fine. I had drove the car for two years thinking the aircon was faulty!

I had renewed my car insurance with kwik fit, it came with free MOT and oil service. I declined the MOT as my local tester is very good and gives good service, but I took them up on the "oil service".

I don't have a cit anymore ( I do miss my xantia ), I now have a 2001 mondeo TDDI. Right from the start I realised I should'nt have bothered taking it there. The apprentice took ages looking at the underbelly panel when the car was up in the air - I could have got it off quicker lying on my back!

I was then told that the oil filter housing could not be removed as it was too tight, so they could only change the oil.(They still wanted to charge me £29.99 even though they had not changed the filter - I just give them my voucher). I got the car home - too much oil in the engine, they had even left the cap off the container under the bonnet. I acquired a 36mm socket and oil filter and did the job myself with no problems.

I know that there are many good, competent mechanics who give good service but after these two episodes it made me realise why the motor trade is viewed with such suspicion, and why there are an increasing number of people who like to twirl their own spanners.

[MikeT]

Just to add to the warning about KwikFit (in)competence. My trusted MOT station got taken over by them but I didn't know this when I booked the car in last year. The tester failed the rear number plate explaining the cameras might have difficulty reading it. I didn't agree and protested but he refused to re-test the car until I replaced it.



His other mistake, though in my favour, was that he didn't fail the back seat backrest which cannot be locked in the upright position as the mechanism is broken.

Needless to say, I will never return to that garage.

[falling-out-with-my-car]

The only thing I ever let K-F touch on my car is the exhaust system as they do a pretty good 2 year guarentee. anything else I dont bother.
they don't even fit full thickness brake pads in my experience what they do fit always look half warn down before leaving the workshop.

another of their policies is if they do a job on your brakes and find fault with something else they will have to do the whole job because they are not allowed to reassemble the car so that it can go back on the road.

if you know your c ar is in good nick before they start a job you know when they are trying to fob you off, they have to many customers that like to sit in the waiting room sipping machine coffee and chocolate drinks waiting for a report on the state of their motor, how many of them actually go out to the workshop and look at the stripped down vechicle to confirm what the mechanic is saying?