Some garages......

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 26 Jun 2009, 22:20

I had a guy call in today with a HDI Synergie asking for the price of a complete new radiator fan assembly.

When i asked him "why whats your car doing"? he replied that his fans werent kicking in. The garage he took it to dont know what the fault is so advised him to just replace the fans.....

I asked him if they had run a positive feed to the fans to see if there is a feed problem and he said no. He seemed slightly relieved at the possibility it could be a feed fault and perhaps fixed for a few quid...I often find that garages break out in a rash when a Citroen is thrown into the mix

Poor customers start having kittens with some of the advice they get. Almost like the guy who was told he needed a complete new rear axle for a C5 when he just needed the rear bearings done

Stick to a good independant specialist

Unread post by **citroenxm** » 26 Jun 2009, 22:27

PRECISLEY why a lot of people get rid of their cars prematurley, because the lesser "mechanics" who haven't got a clue about Citroens give the wrong advice and they then the owners run a mile!!!

A GREAT SHAME!!!

Paul

Unread post by **admiral51** » 26 Jun 2009, 23:01

To be honest i dont think this is just a Citroen problem although it may be more prevalent with them due to their "quirkiness" as percieved by the general public

Im only 42 but i can remember being at school in the early 80's when computers (BBC/ZX81/Oric/Commodore) were becoming more available and i did take a passing interest but only as a pastime

At the time i had a Ford Cortina MK2 and can remember changing/replacing the piston rings and big ends/reseating the valves(got loads of splinters

)with the help of my Dad and the car was off the road for 36 hours

Nowadays i think we live in a throw away society where everything is electronically controlled and unless you have the "expertise" to do the job yourself(self belief

) then you trust the "experts"

A little knowledge goes a long way but i think the younger mechanics of today have never been brought up to "feel" whats wrong with a car they just plug it in and get a result,they dont have the savvy to question the result with any degree of logic ie the original post.....computer says fans not working...replace ...not find out why they are not working

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant but my mechanical/electrical skills are very limited(HGV Driver dont get paid to think just drive

) but just an honest opinion

Colin

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 27 Jun 2009, 20:12

The same thing has happened to my trade. I have been a TV engineer for over 50 years, in the early days you could and did fix everything, then came transistors which I slowly got to grips with, and then IC's, at this point there is no way you can tell whats going on so fault diagnosis is mostly guesswork, the difference with TV repairs is that you couldn't charge the cutomer unless you found the fault! Many hours were wasted, as the sets became more complicated the viability of repairing them decreased. I dont understand the new sets at all and wouldn't attempt to repair one, or at least, not witout a very comprehensive service manual.

Peter

ACTIVE8 · Unread post by **ACTIVE8** » 27 Jun 2009, 23:42

admiral51 wrote:To be honest i dont think this is just a Citroen problem although it may be more prevalent with them due to their "quirkiness" as percieved by the general public
Im only 42 but i can remember being at school in the early 80's when computers (BBC/ZX81/Oric/Commodore) were becoming more available and i did take a passing interest but only as a pastime
At the time i had a Ford Cortina MK2 and can remember changing/replacing the piston rings and big ends/reseating the valves(got loads of splinters )with the help of my Dad and the car was off the road for 36 hours
Nowadays i think we live in a throw away society where everything is electronically controlled and unless you have the "expertise" to do the job yourself(self belief ) then you trust the "experts"
A little knowledge goes a long way but i think the younger mechanics of today have never been brought up to "feel" whats wrong with a car they just plug it in and get a result,they dont have the savvy to question the result with any degree of logic ie the original post.....computer says fans not working...replace ...not find out why they are not working

Sorry if this is a bit of a rant but my mechanical/electrical skills are very limited(HGV Driver dont get paid to think just drive ) but just an honest opinion

Colin

So these experts will get even worse, & what with different cars like Citroens confusing them, & with the complexity level, & the consumers expectations going higher & higher the future looks.........so good not!

Looks like we could be heading for........the throwaway car, perish the thought, & scrappage is not helping this, even causing some classics to get scrapped.

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 28 Jun 2009, 09:04

That's one of the primary reasons I run XMs, my estates were all registered in Jan '96, the last model with fully mechanical fuel injection, I have found nothing yet that I can't repair or replace myself. I couldn't live with a car that I had to take to a garage every time it went wrong or that would stop for no apparant reason and needed a computer to restart it. I think that the best cars for reliability and durability were made in the mid '90s

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 28 Jun 2009, 11:28

I tend to agree! The biggest shortcomings are skin panel thickness (a little thin) minimum spec cabling and obsolete plastic bits.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 28 Jun 2009, 11:40

Activa8 wrote
" & what with different cars like Citroens confusing them, & with the complexity"

trouble is CITROEN's are becomeing more like run of the mill EURO box's, and loosing there identity,

i think every one should drive a dersh (points/condensor and carb's, and you can even lift the engine out without liftting tackle

regards malcolm

Unread post by **Peter.N.** » 28 Jun 2009, 13:52

... or something with an XUD engine.