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Dilemma
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:55 am
by beautyfiend
I posted a few months ago about an exhaust problem I was having (a droning noise when the car goes above 25mph- kwikfit

reckon it's a bent exhaust bracket) and I'm in a bit of a dilemma...
Went to VW dealer to order the bracket and told him about kwikfit (he looked at me as though I was a complete retard

) and he said it may be the actual exhaust- even though Kwikfit replaced the backbox...
Now money is tight yet again so do I
a) Get the bracket, take it to Kwikfit and hope they were right?
b) Pay VW god knows what to put it on a lift and take a look at the exhaust and see if actually is the bracket?
If I choose option a- I might get a cheap and quick fix or I might just be wasting money if it's not the real problem. If I choose option b- I'll have to pay them to look at it and have to wait ages for them to fit the car in...
What should I do???
Sidenote: Don't you just hate the snobbery of VW dealerships- the mere mention of Kwikfit made him roll his eyes... Yeah, they are a bit useless but they're cheap and I dunno about you but most of the time I can't afford dealership prices!!!
There was also a woman that came in to have a brake bulb changed

At least I'm not that useless!
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:00 am
by kipper
well i hate to say this to u but i feel totally the opposite......... the vw dealer where i live i always seem to find useful, they had my car for a whole day to see about some problems i had, they couldnt diagnose all of them but i never got charged n e money so i was happy.....
kwikfit on the other hand............ once i went in there to get my wheel allignment checked and he checked and showed me that it was out and the inside of the tyres were worn. he said he wont do the alignment unless the tyres are changed, so i thought thats fair enough cause the tyres wouldnt sit flat other wise. so i said yea ok then do the tyres....... then he said to me, ur brake pads are wearing and they need changing and if he changes them he has to do the discs to......... i wasnt happy..... so i got 2 new tyres, new front discs and new front pads..... fair enough it wouldnt of needed doing but i didnt wanna do it then.....
so i went in there to get somethign checked and came out with a £300 bill. never going back there again. but ig ot some other local friendly places around me ive had no problems with yet so its all good for now.
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:01 am
by kipper
oh and another thing, the only reason i believe kwikfit are around is to make money out of u for work u dont need....... or atleast dont need yet.
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 5:54 am
by SimonM
Never ever ever trust a kwikfit man he is only out to rob you!!!!!!
I once had dealings with them with my RS i wanted the tracking checked but the problem was with it being lowered it struggled to go on the ramps, So i explained this to said kwikfit man and he said "no worries we have a flush fit ramp" so of i pops into the waiting room then about 20 mins later this chimp in blue overalls came out and said theres nothing wrong with the tracking but did i know the exhaust was blowing badly. So i goes into the workshop and looked under my car and low and behold it was blowing at the cat right where this muppet had caught it on his "flush fit ramp" you could blatently see where it had been scraped as there was blue paint on it

so after much swearing and ranting they finally agreed it was there fault and took the cat off and refitted it with all new gaskets.
Now me being stupid and gullible had a puncture in my polo last week so i swapped it over for the spare then because i was working that night needed it fixed i had no choice but to take it to kwikfit. So i dropped the wheel off and said i'd be back in an hour, which i did, got my cash out to pay and

£17.50 for a god damn puncture repair (normal place charges a fiver)
So never ever trust a kwikfit man
simon
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:06 am
by willy g
Ah good old S!"t Fit. If i was you buy the bracket get it fitted , if it turns out its the backbox afterall i think Kwik fit have a three year warranty on there exhausts , i no i got one last month when my backbox and middlebox where replaced. Just tell them an they should replace it or fit it properly.
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 12:46 pm
by SAM_MK4_19D
Ah kwik fit. Avoid like the plague. I've used them twice out of desperation. They can always do the job straight away which should say something about them. Good garages will be fully booked for at least a week. They too wrecked my car on their ramps. Bent the new exhaust which they had just fitted on their flush fit ramps. Kept blowing then the cat rattled so had to have another new one. When it went in the second time one of the kwik fit gimps miss aligned my car approching the ramp and managed to kerb my wheels.
I've then had a puncture repair done out of desperation again and the bast**ds charged me £25.
How can they be summed up? Incompetent robbing scumbags.
If you want something doing proper do it yourself or find a good traditional back street garage with honest mechanics (yes they do exist I found one at long last!).
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:34 am
by beautyfiend
I decided to nip into a local tyre and exhaust place (not Kwikfit!) and they had a look at the exhaust for me. The guy said that the exhaust kwikfit fitted was a bit s**t (apparantly they fit exactly the same ones) and they only last about a year. There was no bent exhaust bracket
He basically said that the only way I could be sure of getting rid of the noise was to order a whole new exhaust and cat from VW and either get them or VW to fit it...Said it could cost between £400- £600; I told him the noise wasn't that annoying!

Guess I'm gonna have to live with it.
He also told me to watch my tyres cos one was cracking round the sides- BUT he said they didn't need replacing yet!!! I'm amazed I walked out with an honest answer and all my money in my wallet.
It was nice to find an honest mechanic- I'd begun to think they didn't exist

He also said that Kwikfit employees work on a comission basis which explains ALOT!!! Fair to say I don't think I'll be using them again.
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:22 am
by kipper
excellent. thanx for that beautyfiend. every time i drive past kwik fit i always swear at them. not loud enough for them to hear me tho. now i know they work on comission i'll tell people and they wont go there and kwik fit will loose out and have to shut down and go out of buisness mwha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! n e way........ i hate them after wat they did to me........ thiefing lying baistards....