Dipstick main dealers

[Phil H]

A few days ago my son had his MR2 serviced at the Halfords Autocentre in Swindon, and he'd only covered a few miles before smoke started pouring out of the engine bay. A quick inspection found the filler cap in the undertray and the whole of the bay covered in oil. The cap is threaded and it looked as though the seal was missing. Then the excuses started:

Receptionist:
"The car was seviced by our Senior Technician and he wouldn't make a mistake like that"

Snr Tech on inspecting the car:
"What happens is that the cap seal dries out and splits. Then it only takes a couple of hundred miles for the seal to fall out and then the cap spins out."

Son:
"I haven't done many miles"

Snr Tech:
"Oh, it could have happened within a few minutes" (of collecting the car)
"However, we'll clean it up and fit a new seal."

I collected the car and was told:
"The original seal is ok so a new one has not been fitted, but we had to use a wrench to remove the cap for oil top up as it was so tight, then after a road test it was loose"
"Your son needs to keep an eye on the cap" implying that the cap is somehow faulty.

It has been cleaned but not properly, and if the seal is in place I suspect it has suffered from compression set; although everything else is ok (we hope) Halfords would be wrong to assume that the matter is closed.

OK so it's a Toyota not a Maserati, and it's Halfords not a Main dealer. However, they are still supposed to be professional and they still take your money. Human nature dictates that folk make mistakes but the total bullsh*t they trot out when something goes wrong beggars belief. Do these so-called professionals not realise that they are simply destroying thier own credibility and reputation?

PH

 

[lozcb]

A few days ago my son had his MR2 serviced at the Halfords Autocentre in Swindon, and he'd only covered a few miles before smoke started pouring out of the engine bay. A quick inspection found the filler cap in the undertray and the whole of the bay covered in oil. The cap is threaded and it looked as though the seal was missing. Then the excuses started:

Receptionist:
"The car was seviced by our Senior Technician and he wouldn't make a mistake like that"

Snr Tech on inspecting the car:
"What happens is that the cap seal dries out and splits. Then it only takes a couple of hundred miles for the seal to fall out and then the cap spins out."

Son:
"I haven't done many miles"

Snr Tech:
"Oh, it could have happened within a few minutes" (of collecting the car)
"However, we'll clean it up and fit a new seal."

I collected the car and was told:
"The original seal is ok so a new one has not been fitted, but we had to use a wrench to remove the cap for oil top up as it was so tight, then after a road test it was loose"
"Your son needs to keep an eye on the cap" implying that the cap is somehow faulty.

It has been cleaned but not properly, and if the seal is in place I suspect it has suffered from compression set; although everything else is ok (we hope) Halfords would be wrong to assume that the matter is closed.

OK so it's a Toyota not a Maserati, and it's Halfords not a Main dealer. However, they are still supposed to be professional and they still take your money. Human nature dictates that folk make mistakes but the total bullsh*t they trot out when something goes wrong beggars belief. Do these so-called professionals not realise that they are simply destroying thier own credibility and reputation?

PH

My sentiments Phil , ive had the Kwikfit Tshirt , well atleast Kaz did , poor woman got suckered and lied to by them when she took the merc in , panicking when the brakes were squealing on the way to work one day , she duly paid the bill some £286 , when we both returned home and she told me , me being me questioned the bill we only had new discs 6 months before so i was surprised , on fiurther inspection no new discs and pads were fitted to the rear although they had charged us for them , i phoned the depot up staright away and asked for the old discs and pads to be kept as i wanted to collect them and inspect them , eh sorry sir they have been trown away in the bin , no problem i said , im coming down and i'll rummage through your bin , eh sorry sir ,l it might have been emptied , what on a monday i dont think so , leave it with me he said i'll do a check , and ring you tomorrow

Now im really sceptical cos i know they aren't there , they are still on the back of the merc hahah, twatt, so i get on straight away to their head office to log a complaint , following morning no telephone call so i ring them in the afternoon , sorry sir the bin was emptied by our collectors are the brakes working fine he asked , yes i said but the mercedes main dealer says the rears havent been changed discs or pads and you have charged us for them , so surely thats fraud , and ive already logged it with your head office , heard him gulp and then he started to wriggle and said yet again he would investigate and come back to me ,

Now im angry , i know he isn't going to phone me back , so i do some online checking about kwikfit and come across this blogging site specifically about them and the current brake scam they been operating for about a year something like 8000 posts/complaints similar to mine , so i ring the head office and luckily get some high ranking area manager , i tell him my story , and point him to the blogging site whilst were talking , he really didn't know it existed , needless to say within half an hour he phoned me back and then refunded the whole of the £286.00 end of , never been there since


regards loz

 

[NickP]

Maranello told me my car needed new brake pipes all round, quoted me £2k for the parts and labour, they also said it needed all kind of other work during the service checks, toatlling more than the car was worth. I said run it through the MOT, I'll get whatever it needs doing to pass that and I'll have advisories done over the course of the next few months. It passed the MOT with tyre wear being the only advisory item.

I have not been back to Maranello since...

They are all at it, not just the high street ranches!

 

[Parisien]

Shameful NickP......for them to act in such a fraudulent way.

P

 

[lozcb]

Worst is that every now and again they catch a poor unsuspecting chap whose pockets are too deep , thats what continues to make them think they can get away with it , i know a chap that could make up stainless steel copies of the entire braking system and fit them for under £200 ,



regards loz

 

[Parisien]

I know this sort of experience is debated and turns up endlessly on several forums and I really think that most MDs....do not give a fig about how they treat owners.

And its a great pity that a significant proportion of peoples experiences are at the hands of the uncaring and the unscrupulous, leading to great annoyance and financial loss.

The only up-side is, if prospective owners and enthusiasts find, read and join our forum we will do our best to help out and address the imbalance........

Long live Sportsmaserati......................


P

 

[Maser Sod]

I can recollect being given a lift from the dealership to the railway station by what I assumed to be the dealership's YTS lad. He then ran through all the things he had personally done on my car the last time I had put it in, mentioning how exciting it was to get the chance to do some of these things. I remember another dealership charging me 148GBP/hour inc VAT for a variety of labour items, including changing the windscreen wipers!

 

[Simon]

I can recollect being given a lift from the dealership to the railway station by what I assumed to be the dealership's YTS lad. He then ran through all the things he had personally done on my car the last time I had put it in, mentioning how exciting it was to get the chance to do some of these things. I remember another dealership charging me 148GBP/hour inc VAT for a variety of labour items, including changing the windscreen wipers!

At least he was excited to do the job and would probably do it properly. Main problem is when the person working on your car would rather be somewhere else and doesn't give a toss what they do is correct or not.

 

[Simon]

Well, car picked up as promised this morning wth the transporter, expected back tomorrow dinnertime. Their damage limitation mode is the "you must have just imagined it, everything is OK with the car" route.

 

[Woody]

Well, car picked up as promised this morning wth the transporter, expected back tomorrow dinnertime. Their damage limitation mode is the "you must have just imagined it, everything is OK with the car" route.

Did you take any pics of the oil spill? If so, thats a pretty impressive imagination you've got!

 

[Parisien]

Simon, you delivered your expensive pride and joy into their hands, you handed over a thick wad of dosh you worked hard to get........................they failed to meet the very minimum standard acceptable in any business situation.....deep skepticism and mistrust is now ingrained in your attitude towards them...............................very understandable.

P

 

[Simon]

Well they dropped the car off today. No phone call from the service manager to say they were on their way only the helpful people at Navtrak called to say my car was being moved with the ignition switched off (car was on the transporter) so I knew it was coming. Checked under the bonnet, they've cleaned up the oil from what I can see. Nobody from the dealership bothered to call and ask if all was OK or to say sorry for the episode.

 

[2b1ask1]

Head in the sand time! Shockingly bad service... Try and find the dealer principles name and send him a personal email with an account of the cockup... You can bet your bottom dollar he doesn't know about it but would want to! I've always found DP's to be 'thourough' when kicking staff up the jaxi!!!

 

[Parisien]

Each and every aspect of this debacle is breathtakingly terrible.........................how not to do it..in effect!!!!!...................feeling sorry for you Simon........these people are worse than amateurs.

Do follow Newtons advice above and keep us appraised.

P

 

[conaero]

Just read up on this thread, missed it the first time around. The only thing you can question is that the dipstick can blow out, I am assuming the QP is wet sump and not dry???..still, it means it was not pushed home properly.

I had the same thing happen, opened the bonnet to find no cap on the oil reservoir (being dry sump) and found it down on the undertray. No oil had sprayed out but I still got him to change the oil and filter to be on the safe side.

 

[RonnieMack]

AAAggghhh! this level of incompetence is staggering. It would be bad enough in some cut-price cheapo garage, but this is main dealers we are talking here! Agree with previous post that it's best to inform the garage of this debacle via written letter so that at least somewhere it's recorded and there's a chance that some lessons will be learned.
Regards
Ronnie

 

[Parisien]

The fact that it happened usually means its not a one off, more likely a good indicator of poor management, both in workshop, and in the dealership. Reflective of a lack of rigorous checking and training, a failure to take responsibility for mistakes and recognise the rights and needs of those who pay their wages.

Learn lessons?.........................are you serious RM................................not giving you a hard time...but am just very cynical of anything being done about this particular failing.

Check list....

Who did work? Who oversaw it/signed it off?

Who took call from Simon about problem, who else above the recipient of call was informed?

Who authorised follow up work, sending lorry out, doing check and clean up, scheduling lorry to take car back and NO further contact?

So maybe 5/6/7/8 people in total.....1/3 workforce in said main dealer........................and this is the standard of care, responsibility they take?

HORRIFIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


P

 

[ENZ525]

Just read up on this thread, missed it the first time around. The only thing you can question is that the dipstick can blow out, I am assuming the QP is wet sump and not dry???..still, it means it was not pushed home properly.

I had the same thing happen, opened the bonnet to find no cap on the oil reservoir (being dry sump) and found it down on the undertray. No oil had sprayed out but I still got him to change the oil and filter to be on the safe side.

Not sure what model Simon has Matt, but mine is the 4.2 which is dry sump...
If the dipstick is replaced properly, there is no way it would blow out.

 

[Simon]

Just read up on this thread, missed it the first time around. The only thing you can question is that the dipstick can blow out, I am assuming the QP is wet sump and not dry???..still, it means it was not pushed home properly.

I had the same thing happen, opened the bonnet to find no cap on the oil reservoir (being dry sump) and found it down on the undertray. No oil had sprayed out but I still got him to change the oil and filter to be on the safe side.

Hi , dry sump 4.2. The dipstick has two O rings, it was only pushed in as far as the first O ring, tipped to the side so there was no seal. When placed correctly it is very firm and needs a lot of effort to remove, skinned my fingers a few times doing this in the past.

 

[Simon]

Well today I got a missed call on my cell phone from the dealer. Thought it might have been a sorry is everything OK call. Got home , missus said JCT600 called asking if I wanted to book in for my MOT. Well, what can I say, talk about poor customer service.

Just checked under the car, the undertray immediately behind the front bumper is unfixed at one side and torn at the other. My memory seat was again in a silly position. My front seat now squeeks instead of rocking. Also lots of nice oily finger prints on the Crema leather here and there. More phone calls tomorrow!