Marc's X7, C3 Aircross, Rants, Raves & Everything Else

[myglaren]

Did you check the dealer prices Marc?

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Steve

Yes, the OEM discs are £144.55 each, so £283.10 and the pads are £77.47, so £360.57 in all. Compared with £241 for the much better Brembo discs and matching pads, so over £120 saving.

Normally, as you know I generally opt for OEM parts, however having looked at the 'p' poor quality of both the front and rear original discs, there's no way I was fitting those as replacements. The gouges, grooves, pits and rust are the worst I have ever seen in my life at 16k mileage.

So I plumped for Brembos and pads for the front a month or so ago and these just look the business. They were coated for protection and they just look like they are a quality product.

So that was my thinking for getting the same brand for the rears too. I've also had a TSB applied at the last service in the nick of time, so got the rear mud and dust covers fitted under warranty to stop the crunching / sticking when moving off after releasing the brake in the mornings. That may afford some grit protection for the rear discs.

Just looking at the front discs now, they are silky smooth with not a blemish on them. So I don't know whether it was the poor quality OEM discs or the equally poor quality OEM pads that have caused so much damage, but I'm not going near OEM pads and discs for the Aircross again. Hopefully the rears will also be top quality. I mean I didn't even get 20k miles out of these - even my C5s fared way better.

[myglaren]

Sometimes the dealer can be cheaper for better stuff. Not here though, clearly.

[GiveMeABreak]

No, and these were the original OEM kit fitted from factory, so not impressed at all.

...and now for the next problem, rats, huge ones! Just ordered a bait box as I went out to get the cats in and was swamped by 6 of the buggers all scarpering in a different direction when they saw me!

Just ordered a Roshield bait box at the double. Won't be using poison, but peanut butter. It contains a solid trap and plenty of room for food to lay down at the rear. 2 Entrances and looks big enough for the beasties I've just seen.

[myglaren]

Hope they work for you. Rats can be very clever little buggers.

[moizeau]

Hope they work for you. Rats can be very clever little buggers.

They can indeed, we have them eating the grain for the chickens. If you move the food or change the pot they don't come close for a few days, very suspicious. We use a 1.77, pop one and the big ones stay away for a few days, the little buggers are more naive and still run around.

[Sloppysod]

..... I've also had a TSB applied at the last service in the nick of time,.....

You got me on this one, I don't think you mean a "Trusted Shoe Box", so what is TSB, please?

[GiveMeABreak]

A Technical Service Bulletin Stu.

Basically fixes, upgrades or action required for specific issues or problems with vehicles over their lifetime. In my case we always had a crunching noise as the wheels moved off after releasing the handbrake at the rear. The TSB recommends fitting dust / disc guards at the rear to prevent build up of debris that cause this.

[bobins]

I think TSBs are issued in preference to recalls wherever the manufacture can wangle it - mainly because it's cheaper that way

[GiveMeABreak]

It can be - but some TSBs are relatively small but nonetheless annoying things that would not be serious enough for a recall. So yes, cheaper as if the customer never notices or is concerned, they won't have to deal with it.

But some TSBs have included replacement of major and expensive parts like injectors and of course the notorious Adblue tanks!

[Gibbo2286]

I don't see this group in your parts supplier list, have you tried them.
This company started out as a small motor factor here locally and has gradually widened out into a countrywide business since I first used them back in the sixties, I think the son's of the founder are still 'on the board'.
https://www.gsfcarparts.com/?msclkid=b5 ... ct]%20MM

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Eric, yes, I've ordered the disc pads from them as they have a shop in town for click and collect, but they don't sell the Brembo rear brake discs for my vehicle (with bearing kit and ABS ring), so getting those from Amazon, thanks anyway.

[GiveMeABreak]

Well a slight update on my rear discs.

On my previous post, I mentioned that I decided to get these from Amazon at £113 each. Unfortunately, these have been out of stock and after leaving it for weeks, there was no sign of getting any stock soon. So I cancelled that order and back tot he drawing board.

As I mentioned, GSF do not have the rear Brembo discs for my Aircross (combined Wheel Bearings and ABS Ring in the Disc), so faced with £280 for these from other places, I waited another week or so and noticed Autodoc and their group of companies had them in at £114 each. But as the week went on they had a sale on and discounted these down to about £86 each!

As it turned out, if you download their app, you get a further discount, so I took the plunge and ordered them in at £162 for both discs including delivery.

Then I just sat back and waited for the nightmare to begin.

Surprisingly, these were delivered within 5 days to my door and even better, the parts were correct and undamaged. So the car has been booked in with my local today for fitting with the pads I ordered from GSF and I've just had a call to say it's ready.

But.... Just as I was checking my email before setting off, I had an email from Autodoc and it turns out they've just been hacked! Here's an extract...

We are contacting you today because unfortunately Autodoc has also suffered a cyber attack.

Our cybersecurity team registered an attack in which the criminals managed to gain access to an internally used communication tool. Through this channel, the attackers were able to view personal data in the central customer management software and possibly copy it.

The cybersecurity team was able to promptly detect and stop the attack and prevent further data leaks, but unfortunately, based on what we currently know, it cannot be ruled out that your data was viewed and copied by the attackers.

The data concerned are extracts from the customer master data stored in the customer management system, in particular title, surname, first name, street, house number, postcode, city, country, email address, telephone number (mobile and/or landline) and the internally assigned customer number.

No other data is affected, in particular no access data, passwords, credit card data, bank data, credit balances, or order details.

All necessary measures were immediately taken by our experts and the forensic investigation of the cyber attack is ongoing. Our data protection team is working in coordination with the cybersecurity team on the legal processing and has initiated the necessary legal steps; the competent data protection supervisory authority has already been informed about the attack.

Great, so thankfully I used an email alias for that company anyway, which I can just switch off, but not too keen on the other details being stolen

The problem is that the hackers will no doubt sell this off to scammers and use these details to initiate scam emails using your persona details in an attempt to obtain the more secure data from you. Luckily I'm au fait with lots of these scams so I won't be caught out, but it is worrying that others more vulnerable and not so tech savvy may get stitched up and lose substantial amounts of money.

I'll put a note up in the main Forum to make others aware of this as I know there are people who use Autodoc and their subsidiary companies

[GiveMeABreak]

Well this will probably be the last update of 2022, so I'm bunging all the latest hassles into one post:

• Ceiling collapsed in bedroom October - cracked roof tiles, Welsh rain, collapsed ceiling say no more. 2 months and only just got the ceiling replaced, the fixing and redecoration done, removed all the fitted units myself of course to allow ceiling replacement - so all that lot has to be replaced. All dismantled single headedly and 6 trips to the 'local' tip 30 miles away.
• Carpets only laid just over a week ago.
• Furniture arrived 4 days later. All heavy wood and had to assemble the wardrobe tops.
• We now have the task of emptying 3 sheds and storage rooms with all the 'stuff' to go back!
• Christmas cancelled this year.

On top of that ordered a new AVR Receiver & Speaker kit from a well known HiFi specialist. before Christmas.

• Speakers arrived without the AVR (DPD)
• AVR scheduled for the next day - waited in, had a time slot, never arrived.
• Finally arrived a day later. Set it up and there was an issue with the Receiver - setup menus not displaying, so couldn't configure it. Other glitches too, so arranged a replacement.
• That was supposed to be coming this Thursday. Had the old unit all packed up ready and never turned up.
• Rescheduled for Friday, time slot received, tracked driver to village graveyard (300 metres away) which is where he stayed (no doubt other customers had died awaiting DPD deliveries)
• Tracking went off, but when it did come back, the little bu**er was on his way back to the depot at Swansea!
• Thoroughly peed off at wasting 2 days waiting in for nothing I launched off a snotty email and review.
• Here I am now, day 3 and another scheduled delivery, which as I type this, the delivery slot has now passed and he is again stuck on the map and has been there for the last hour. Deja Vu or what?

So I have no idea whether this will be delivered as I've been here yesterday in the same situation. It has totally ruined the holiday period with no entertainment system up, so we've been focussing on other things like unpacking.

DPD has to be one of the worst companies I have dealt with. The fact that you get a time slot to me means that the goods are booked out on the run. So it has to be down to the driver's not being bothered to complete their rounds, and for the chap yesterday to be tracked 300 metres away and then to turn back is unforgivable, especially as I was waiting here with the exchange receiver all packaged up like a lemon.

The HiFi Company responded to my review and literally pleaded for me to take my review down. After a total rant about wasting all my time waiting around I calmed down a bit and they are waiting for me to call if it does not turn up. Well latest delivery window time is 14:22 and we are now at 14:55, with tracking no longer working.....

Oh, and I suppose I should mention:

First Car MOT on the Aircross - no issues, House Insurance, Car Insurance, Car Extended Warranty Purchase, Citroen Assistance Plus, and a recent service.

So a great end to 2022

Anyway all the best for a Happier New Year.

[myglaren]