ooh ya thievin Kwik Fit bastewards!

[Station]

Can I just say, as someone who used to work for Trading Standards, if you get stuff fixed/replaced, tell them you want to see the stuff that was taken off to be replaced when the work is done!!

[Renault18]

I've used Kwik Fit twice recently. Once to have an almost new set of Michelins swapped from one set of alloys to another and once to recharge aircon after I replaced a fractured pipe on a Megane. Have to say - the service here in Crewe was really good.Contrast this to Renault dealer - I stood next to a woman who was collecting her 55 plate Clio after a service. Done 30k. She was shown red warnings on service sheet as the car would very soon need:-Cambelt kit, waterpump, drive belt and drivebelt roller kit, wiper blades and two front tyres. She immediately booked it in as she "didn't want a new engine". What a load of shit, they were simply preying on her ignorance. Yes, Renault do specify cambelt at 5 years/72k - and recommend waterpump at the same time, but this car was only a 55 plate! This is the same dealership that quoted over £600 of work on a Scenic's brakes, odd that because the parts that actually needed replacing cost me 25 quid from CES - the expensive rear disc/hub assemblies were fine - as you'd expect from a 3 year old car with only 36k on the clock Barstewards.

[Guest]

Never used Kwik Fit or any other place of a similar nature, I just can't see the point. For any work I'm not capable of (pretty much anything past servicing), I use a local mechanic. The situation is usually that I ring up and tell them what I want to be done, track down the parts myself and leave the lot with them to be boshed on, then I pay them for the labour.Same idea with tyres. I buy them online myself, then take them and the wheels to an independent tyre fitters down the road who will fit the tyres to the wheels and balance them for about £10-15 all-in (price is plucked from the air and depends on their mood and whether I have any old tyres to get rid of). Then I just go home and bosh them on the car using a rubbish trolley jack and a Motorworld spider brace.I'd rather put some effort in myself and deal with proper people. Much prefer turning up and hearing "I've fitted that back box, call it £20" than "The exhaust cost £170 and our standard fitting fee is £50 but there's a 1-year guarantee and whilst we were doing that we gave your car a free winter check and found that you need a new set of discs and pads, they're usually £480 but there's a special offer so they're only £240 plus fitting and I would recommend you do so as your car will be dangerous, also we have inspected your cambelt and blah blah etc."

[55bloke]

I've used Kwik Fit twice recently. Once to have an almost new set of Michelins swapped from one set of alloys to another and once to recharge aircon after I replaced a fractured pipe on a Megane. Have to say - the service here in Crewe was really good.

I was beginning to think I was a loan voice in the wilderness!! I was even complimented on what a nice car the 25 is, how well cared for it is, and how they'd never even seen one before!

[Rusty Pelican]

Never used them , never will , i use a local garage and have done for many many years , the owner lives literally across the road so i can burn his house down if he tries to rip me off

[scooters]

Never used Kwik Fit or any other place of a similar nature, I just can't see the point. For any work I'm not capable of (pretty much anything past servicing), I use a local mechanic. The situation is usually that I ring up and tell them what I want to be done, track down the parts myself and leave the lot with them to be boshed on, then I pay them for the labour.Same idea with tyres. I buy them online myself, then take them and the wheels to an independent tyre fitters down the road who will fit the tyres to the wheels and balance them for about £10-15 all-in (price is plucked from the air and depends on their mood and whether I have any old tyres to get rid of). Then I just go home and bosh them on the car using a rubbish trolley jack and a Motorworld spider brace.I'd rather put some effort in myself and deal with proper people. Much prefer turning up and hearing "I've fitted that back box, call it £20" than "The exhaust cost £170 and our standard fitting fee is £50 but there's a 1-year guarantee and whilst we were doing that we gave your car a free winter check and found that you need a new set of discs and pads, they're usually £480 but there's a special offer so they're only £240 plus fitting and I would recommend you do so as your car will be dangerous, also we have inspected your cambelt and blah blah etc."

totally agree - one exception is when you need somthing done urgently like I did which is why I went there - ie that day. You have to keep your eyes wide open if you do.

[whitevanman]

I make a point of not letting anybody younger than the van work on it.....

PMSL.................well said Fred

[VWPowered]

sales, sales, sales....i worked for KF for 14 years (and ATS, Eurotyres, F1) and the reason i left the trade was that one day an ol' chap came in with a carlton only to be slammed by the boss, fer tyres, exhaust, pads etc which it didnt need, i'd had enough of the job anyway so thouyght sod it, told boss fuck off not doing it, needs a tyre nothing else, boss says get tools and go (but more fruitful) so i smacked him hard a i could took my tools never went back to the company again... sadly i may have ruined my chances that if i should ever need to return to UK i dont think they'd throw a job my way:lol: french speedy is no better, in fact so i'm hoping for a tyre machine next year and i'll do the buggers myself..

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'm mega glad I dont work in the motor trade. I love cars and faffing about with them but if I had to fix other peoples cars for a living i'd give myself a week before industrial-strength depression set in. I'm not supporting Kwak Phit, I have never used them, but at the end of the day they are there for people who are not interested in cars, they just want to roll up, get their car fixed STAT and roll out again. If the qqqk frat mechanic spots something that looks like it might 'begin to get a bit tired in 6 months' he ought to tell the owner rather than keep his gob shut, and once he's told them the first thing theyr gonna say is 'well can you sort it cos I dont want to be breaking down on the roadside', then he is in the dock for being on the make. I'm not saying they have never used some sharp parctices to boost the work content of some jobs, but equally some of what looks to us like blatant money-making is almost certainly standard 'best action under the circumstances' kwok-fud procedure.I think its fair so say shiters are not Qwik-fitz target demographic, in fact if I was them and there was some way of identifying customers who did a bit of DIY spannering, i'd probably choose to not deal with those customers as they are inevitably more bother than theyre worth. I'm no exception, I hate taking my cars to other folk to fix because I always think I can do it better than them, or that theyre trying to fleece me, or whatever. I'm sure its no fun for the garage/mechanic either, having some unqualified greebo telling him what to do and what not to do and quizzing him about how he's done stuff just in case hes ripping . This thread, which is yet another multi-page rant fest, shows why shiters and Kwig-Ffrit are simply not really compatible!I have worked as a mechanic for a short while when I was younger, and its a bloody awful job, for which you are expected to have a vast amount of knowledge, yet you get paid buttons and have to spend your days in freezing damp workshops up to your elbows in black gunge.At the end of the day, if you go to kwik fit you're gonna pay extra for the convenience of it all so cannot kick off too much if the final bill is more than if you went to someone you know and trust (it will be).

[whitevanman]

When I ran my own company I used KF quite a lot as the Manager was one of my mates, he left and a new bloke started, que the following...... the service was shit, the prices went up drastically and every tyre that needed changed was on a vehicle that " its dangerous as it needs Brakes/ Shocks etc, etc" really??damn there is me having my own mechanic on site and spending £100's every month on parts that are faulty, never would have thought it...I'll just go to the parts place and tell them you said their parts are shit and dangerous shall I ??err, well, err, I'm not saying......YES, you did.....goodbye you lying theiving Bastard....

[VWPowered]

I have worked as a mechanic for a short while when I was younger, and its a bloody awful job, for which you are expected to have a vast amount of knowledge, yet you get paid buttons and have to spend your days in freezing damp workshops up to your elbows in black gunge.

yeah suppose i should get my arse in the barn and get this gearbox into the passat, the barn ahh yes that cold, dark, and now wet barn.. nice

[HillmanImp]

It will also always depends on the person who is dealing with the car.

 

I have taken my car to the Kwik Fit in York on a couple of occassions and they have been very good.

 

The one in Chapel Allerton in Leeds seems to have a bunch of goons who have the personallity of a sloth after a headswap operation with a pitbull and have the mechanical ability to match.

 

Are they still doing that brakes for the rest of your life thing, or is there small print attached*

 

*Free brake pads for life or ownership fo the car once you use our services. Further fittings of more than 1 pair of brake pads (rrp £33.79) in any 15 yr period will result in an additional service charge of £150. **

 

** Labour not included.

[Rocket88]

It's not only the quack fart boys who are at it.................biggest main agent over here is not averse to a bit of chamfering.......some years ago a chap booked his 3 series Beemer in for a quiick pre continental trip check over and service, and told them to check EVERYTHING. a couple of days later he goes back to get his car, and gets presented with a bill running into a sum that would send Alistair Darling into a mild panic.He checks the lengthy spiel, and notices that "all four road wheels removed, all brakes cleaned, brake fluid changed, front discs and pads changed". He reaches into his pocket, and slaps the wheel nut locking key down on the counter [which he's forgotten to leave with the car] and shoots the srvice manager would could be described as an "old fashioned" look.There followed a brief free and frank exchange of views, a lot of feet shuffling, buck passing, and general grovelling by said service manager, the £1987 bill is reduced....................by £1987, the fact that the customers father in law was "something to do with Trading Standards" had, of course, nothing to do with this sudden benevolence....

[myglaren]

Used them a couple of times, first one to put a new exhaust on the R11, their quote was less than I could get the parts for, it was bucketing down and I drove into KF with the old exhaust (complete) on the roof rack, at 5pm and took the bus home. Done by 9am the following morning.Had a tyre and exhaust on the Xantia. Exhaust was blowing a bit but got a flat on the Tyne Bridge, can't stop there, not at tea-time anyway. Ruined th tyre.They were quick but pricey. If only I had known they were open until 8pm I could have avoided taking half a day off work.They never tried to sell me anything else.Took daughter #2 to them with a blowing exhaust, she lived a quarter of a mile from a depot. They treated her very well, showed her the hole in the center box with the car on the lift, fixed it while we watched and the charge was reasonable. She does belong to the outrageously cute gang, which may have had a bearing :)Gave them a miss when they quoted £96 for a back box for the Accord. A new one cost me £24 and took fifteen minutes to fit, including dragging the tools from where they hide and jacking the car up/dropping it onto the deck again.I was told a real horror story that is a bit too long to impart here, involving the wife of a motor factor owner who went to have the brake pads checked.

[55bloke]

It will also always depends on the person who is dealing with the car. I have taken my car to the Kwik Fit in York on a couple of occassions and they have been very good. The one in Chapel Allerton in Leeds seems to have a bunch of goons who have the personallity of a sloth after a headswap operation with a pitbull and have the mechanical ability to match.Are they still doing that brakes for the rest of your life thing, or is there small print attached**Free brake pads for life or ownership fo the car once you use our services. Further fittings of more than 1 pair of brake pads (rrp £33.79) in any 15 yr period will result in an additional service charge of £150. **** Labour not included.

Yes they are- see my post earlier in this thread. Pads and shoes fitted free, even though I had to source the shoes myself!

[scruff]

The only time mine goes into a garage is for the MoT. I do 'a Hirst' with the wheels and tyres, and about the only things I haven't done on it are welding and electrics - both of these a mate did while I 'helped' by supplying hot tea. That's the thing about driving a big Meccano kit, it's dead easy to fix. Swik Kit serve a purpose as Mr Bo11ox says; anyone with the slightest incling of how a car works is likely to be enraged and there's obv some chancers around. You pays your money and takes your choice...

[Richard]

I have taken my car to the Kwik Fit in York on a couple of occassions and they have been very good.

Which one? I went to a very old-fashioned looking one in a street (as opposed to a retail park/industrial estate) in York and I found them very pleasant. Cheap too, because I bought and paid for the tyres online. They didn't try to sell me anything even though the car could was needing a track rod end.

[hennabm]

I had to have a new tyre at a KF on my company Octavia Mk1.Only after I left the place and looked at the tyre did I realise it was a different size to the orginal When I took it back they did change it, but FFS something as simple as the size :xOMG I see I'm still on the japscrap listing

[CIH]

I just realised, while reading about that Jag pick-up in the 'tat thread, that FU**WIT is almost an anagram of kwik-fit. Or at the least sounds very similar.