Dont be fooled by 'fast-fit' centres

[MJ]

A colleauge of a friend of mine recently got in touch (on a sunday at 2pm) as her spring had snapped on her ibiza (the n/s/f), whilst at a certain well known 'fast-fit' centre they also said that her other spring was 'weak' and her shockers were worn - this i though was quite strange as i've worked on 100's of ibizas and have never found a 'weak' spring or a 'worn' shocker - a snapped spring or a leaking shocker yes.
I told her to get the spring replaced and to leave the rest as they were quite clearly trying to persuade her to have these other parts changed to cash in on her. Obviously when a lady enters a garage with a problem alot of dis-honest mechanics see £ signs.
Once the spring was fitted by this particular centre have a guess what?
The vehicle passed its MOT 2 days later without so much as an advisory - strange that all those parts suddenly fixed themselves or was she almost another victim of the fast-fit bull$h1t merchant?

Suspension parts that may go at some point on a mk4 ibiza (BUT ARE QUITE COMMON):
1. anti-roll bar - collars snap off so it bangs occasionally
2. rear wishbone bushes split (not cupra models) so the tracking is sent a mile out + knocks when going over bumps
3. the springs snap - making a horrible noise when they do but also clunking when cornering
4. the strut-top mount falls to pieces - normally as a result of the spring breaking

 

[DPJ]

Good points.

I'm uneasy about just replacing one spring. I do think they should be replaced in pairs.

 

[MJ]

True but springs + shockers? they were trying to get the fat end of £300 out of her.
Most people will only want one fitted anyway, especially when they're paying £130 at a dealer
They nearly fall over when they're quoted

 

[Torquemonster]

I don't use fast fit centres for anything.I'm sure there are lots of honest,decent and hard working folks who work in them.But there are also many rogues,ready to prey on the unwary,trusting,unknowledgeable people.
I don't even bother getting a quote for tyres off of them,they're almost always way too expensive.

Don't know how much they're driven by sales bonuses these days,but they used to be notorious for it.

 

[andycupra]

good advice,

i think its fair to say a fair few garages, fast fit or not try to get extra work.

I do think that there may be an argument for fitting the springs in pairs though.

And also bear in mind that just because a car passes an MOT, this does not mean its totally free of faults or potential faults. An MOT is not rocket science and does not check as much as many would think.

 

[Deleted member 33999]

Suspension parts that may go at some point on a mk4 ibiza (BUT ARE QUITE COMMON):
1. anti-roll bar - collars snap off so it bangs occasionally
2. rear wishbone bushes split (not cupra models) so the tracking is sent a mile out + knocks when going over bumps
3. the springs snap - making a horrible noise when they do but also clunking when cornering
4. the strut-top mount falls to pieces - normally as a result of the spring breaking

Just seen that point, my Ibiza pulls left all the time, I've checked tyre pressures are OK and that the tread isn't too worn etc, but when I took it to the stealers to have my traking looked at they said it was fine. I'm guessing that this wouldn't be picked up unless they checked all 4 wheels?

Ta.

Dave

 

[air121005]

Just seen that point, my Ibiza pulls left all the time, I've checked tyre pressures are OK and that the tread isn't too worn etc, but when I took it to the stealers to have my traking looked at they said it was fine. I'm guessing that this wouldn't be picked up unless they checked all 4 wheels?

Ta.

Dave

IIRC, there was a discussion about this topic a year or so ago.
general opinion is they all pull to the left , some sort of twisted "design feature"
have a search in the MK.4 forum

 

[Deleted member 33999]

Will do, it's in for service in Feb..... Mind you better than my old Corsa, pulled to the right... straight into traffic

Cheers!

 

[cheshire cat]

whilst it's good practice to fit pairs unless the car is as new, if the shocks have done much more than 40-50K it would be silly not to fit whilst the thing is in pieces, there must be thousands of shot shocks "passing" MOT's

 

[MJ]

The problem with checking shockers on an Mot is that the are far stiffer than they used to be, so if you were to bounce the front end of an old escort and it carried on bouncing then you would be able to point out that they were weak, but now because they are made to increase handling and road comfort (so they are designed to be stiff but then return to there origional position as smoothly as possible) you'll only be able to bounce the car very slightly - not giving a particularly good idea of there state.
The most obvious signs if the shocker is in need of changing is if its bent, leaking or severly damaged.

 

[depresion]

Was the spring broken when she took the car in or did they snap it?

 

[MJ]

Lol, it was broken when she took it in, though i see your point.

 

[depresion]

I just don't have much faith in them to do the simple things right after a frend took his Golf VR6 into one (probably 10 years back) with a flat and they juacked it up under the rear passenger footwell putting a big dent in the floor and partly crushing the brake or fuel lines (I can't remember now) he didn't notice till putting his son in the back the next day.

 

[andycupra]

you wouldnt believe some stuff that happens at dealers either.
Sadly no matter how flash a garage looks, its down to the person that works on your car. In fact, the better garages often dont look flash.
Ask friends / colleagues for recommendations, and when you find a god trustworthy garage use them!

 

[warren_cox]

Call me cynical, but you don't get as rich as this bloke (Tom Farmer, owner of the Kwik Fit chain), unless you have the worlds most immense idea (cure for cancer), or unless your a **** Turpin business man type.

He may be giving his money away now, and getting knighthoods and philanthropic awards, but I'd be having to give away free money if I owned a chain like Kwik Fit in fear I may not make it into heaven given the ethos of the business.

Makes me laugh, these people are treated like gods, and in some cases they're barely better than legalised theives with a questionable business ethos. When do you see ordinary decent people who may have truly helped people (nurses / teachers / firefighters / police) getting anything like the same kind of accolades for their community services.

I'd rather walk (than drive) before I'd ever consider using Kwik fit.

 

[Cupra_power]

Had the same treatment at main dealers, Renault main dealer in Basingstoke . Managing director domestic services ,i.e wife, takes car for service, phones me up telling me shocks are shot, brakes need replacing, bulbs have lost colour etc. Now I knew the brakes were fine as I had checked them not a week before and had driven the car as well so did not think the shocks "had gone" besides the total classic, the indicator bulbs have lost colour ! I phone them up and get the low down, utter, utter bovine excretia.

Tell them to leave it, get the car home, check the brakes, 6 mm on the pads, shocks not weeping, working fine, take them for testing on the weekend, nothing wrong at all. Brakes lasted another 40000 Miles, shocks, well they are still on the car. And the indicator bulbs are still F£cking yellow !

They see a gap and they will rip you off.

 

[RUM4MO]

Seem like 6>8mm friction material is the point that triggers main dealers, either service or MOT people, my daughter got an advisery at MOT time on the front pads of her 6K Ibiza, shame they missed the fact that both front discs were different p/ns - ie different "heights" and different thickness (that too must have have been from a main dealer changing them before she bought it (had been on a contract from a Seat dealer).

 

[MJ]

Most of the time the minimum thickness of pads is around 7mm but when you look at the pads its clear that they are not gonna fail when you drive round the corner and can last upto 5k miles - dependent on driving styles. More often than not your discs (especially on old-shaped leons) will reach there run-out limit before the pads, this is because of the super hard compound of friction materials used in production.

 

[Nath.]

IMO you should walk away from any car mechanic/garage that uses the words "shocks or shockers" it just shows that they don't know how suspension works.

The springs absorb the shocks from bumps in the road and the "DAMPERS" stop the springs from causing the road wheel to bounce and skip along the road.

In short, they are dampers not shockers.