To think they're trying to rip me off - shaking with rage!

[OneToughMudderFudder]

So booked car in for a full service before we set off on a road trip next week. Stupidly mentioned that to the guy when confirmed the booking [duh!].

Get called after an hour with the garage saying that they've found numerous things wrong with the car, including brakes needing stripping down, completely new brake fluid and engine flushing and they want an additional £700 to correct them (said very cheerily as if we have that just lying about).

Car sailed through its last MOT 6 months ago, all brakes were replaced last year, but apparently now its dangerous to drive . I haven't noticed any problems with the car apart from it being a little juddery very occasionally as it's an automatic diesel and needs a good long high speed run which it hasn't had recently, to burn off the diesel particulate filter, but it will get plenty of that over the next few weeks.

Guy was very rude when I said I would check with DH, saying the car was dangerous to drive, asking was I serious that I didn't want the work done! He was very annoyed I wasn't prepared to immediately agree to shell out there and then. I'm pretty sure they thought I would be freaked by them saying it was 'dangerous' because I'm a woman.

We had this a few years ago where we took both (different) our cars in for servicing and ended up paying nearly £2k for 'faults' they found. Not falling for that again.

Is this common when sending a car for a service? AIBU to think they were pulling a fast one?

Get a second opinion,but don't make the mistake of telling them what you are doing.
I have been ripped off by a local mechanic.
Cant trust these guys at all.

My dad got a flat tyre while visiting me in another city. He took it to Halfords and they somehow convinced him to pay an absolutely extortionate amount of money to fill the (one new) tyre with nitrogen (because nitrogen doesn’t contract and expand as much as air when the temperature changes, so they use it in race cars). The absolute idiot fell for it and we still laugh about his one “racing tyre” going round faster than the other 3 on his ancient Volvo V50 😂

The problem with your second opinion being from a chain place that you don’t seem to have chosen on recommendation but on the fact it does aircon on a Sunday, is that you’ll not know if it comes back OK because the mechanics aren’t well trained and experienced. And if it comes back confirming some of the issues, you won’t know if it’s just because they’re pulling the same trick. “Free summer check”, my arse!

@KUGA I agree that a local mechanic can also be bad. So I wouldn’t just book one because they were there. But local independents you can ask recommendations, and build up a relationship. My car is looked at by the owner and his team of 4, and that hasn’t changed in 5 years. My local fb page is full of praise for them.

I loved my local formula 1 garage. They never ripped me off and if it was something small they wouldn’t charge. Shame I moved

Kwik Fit did this to me, tried to tell me we needed over £1250 (ex VAT!) of work doing to our car, which we'd had regularly serviced and MOT'd at another garage. I only took it in for two new front tires because our other garage couldn't fit us in that day, and we were due to go on holiday. We told them not to do the work as we were going to get a second opinion and they were so rude and aggressive when I went in to fetch the car, that I ended up in tears on their forecourt. I had the car checked over by an independent garage who confirmed that absolutely none of the work we'd been told needed doing was necessary.

I do think the motor industry needs a massive shake up. I have had company cars for years and years and came out of the scheme and got a PCP using my car allowance.

I took the car into a main dealer for a service and they send you a video with a sad faced mechanic standing by your car pointing to faults. I needed two new tyres, all sorts of other stuff equating to nearly £600.

I hate the way this industry rips you off. Who has £600 just lying around with no notice?

Ski, so Kwik fit should be reported and called out on this sort of behaviour but to whom and how? Most people don't have the nerve or tbh can be bothered so these robbers get away with it time and time again.

If you were good with cars chances are that you would do any minor faults yourself. I often look at MoneySaving Expert and there are people on there saying that they have a car that is donkey's years old, only paid £1000 for it, nearly done 200k miles etc but they are probably people who are quite handy around cars.

The rest of us just muddle through all of this.

I had this too. We normally have servicing by our main dealer and it had a big service, few bits nothing major.

We took it to a local MOT place in walking distance to save having to book a courtesy car. It failed and they said we needed new tyres. We called the main dealer and questioned it as they had only just seen the car and we had asked them to check the tyres at the time. The manager drove down there with measuring tool and showed the garage the tyres definitely weren’t below the legal limit. An hour later we collected it with its MOT certificate.

I was told my brakes were 60% worn and needed replacing. My argument was they still had 40% wear which is fine- nowhere near needing to be done.

The bloke was apoplectic that I dared question his maths.

He's on commission. They do a checklist and identify anything that might need doing in the near future. Some things aren't checked on MOT (or are above the advisory level) but would still be better off carried out (e.g. Brake fluid)

Think how many individual parts a car has and how many of these are serviceable, compared with how many are checked by the MOT. MOTs don't check everything, only the real basics of safety.

Yes, it's a way for the garage to make money. I did that very job for about two years: "service advisor" aka upseller.

Shaking with rage is excessive. No one can force you into having extra repairs done. They're literally calling you to say you should have these things done (and when I did the job, they were all very real maintenance items but some people think if it's not falling off then it doesn't need doing) and if you don't want it, be firm.

It's a shitty part of the job, but you're just being told the truth about the condition of your car.

It's a shitty part of the job, but you're just being told the truth about the condition of your car

I definitely wasn't, Kwik Fit had quoted for several things that an independent garage said absolutely didn't need doing then, or anytime in the near future.

Just booked car into Formula 1 on Sunday

I used to know a guy who worked for Formule 1 and their mechanics were all told they had to claim every car needed at least £250 work doing.

That was a while ago so might have changed but just be wary.

Went to buy a car with MY work car allowance. (DH didn’t drive, not that it’s relevant, but anyway).

Car man: so when’s Mr Trooperslane coming for a test drive?

Me: ahahahahahah!

Car man: well we DO like to have both people in.

Me; he won’t be. Do you want the sale or not.

Car man: well, we have had lots of problems.

Me: really. How interesting

Wanker.

when I did the job, they were all very real maintenance items

That might have been the case in your eyes but it clearly wasn't the reality. Your job was to upsell so obviously you needed to find things to change or fix to upsell to the customer. If there was nothing wrong with the car I doubt you would have said that because that wasn't your job.

I'm under no illusions and neither are many posters on this thread that the majority of work outlined as urgent at a service is neither urgent or needed.

completely new brake fluid and engine flushing and they want an additional £700 to correct them

The whole "flushing" business is a complete scam. If a fluid (engine oil, brake fluid, etc.) needs to be replaced it only needs to be drained and replaced. The idea that every last molecule of the old fluid needs to be cleaned out is utter bollocks and just a trick to jack up the bill.

Every car comes with an owners manual that lists the required services and intervals. If it's not on that list it doesn't need to be done as a routine service.

We drive Subarus and take them to the dealer for service and repair. They have set standards for things like what degree of wear requires a replacement of brake parts. It costs a bit more than an independent garage for somethings but they've never tried to sell us things we don't actually need.

One of the advantages of fucking dating a diesel fitter in my 20s, growing up rebuilding racing motorbikes with my brother and being a techy qualified person is that I can still speak in a way that suggests I have a rough idea of what I'm talking about/am not going to fall for the usual bollocks.

It's all very amusing for the FIL (the only car we have dealings with), apparently, as he's watched me do it and jokes it's like a masterclass in method acting to see the change from 'normal' me to 'techy' me, even though it's just what normal me was like in my youth. His favourite bit was apparently when I stopped to breathe in the smell of oil, etc and then made the mechanic laugh by saying 'I'm not sure we can afford you with tastes like *that, mate', pointing at the very large and covetable shiny Snap On roll cab and top chest.

Sometimes it isn't a gender related rip off/patronising - the reason why I've entertained FIL is that he's had it for being old/suited and booted and obviously not experienced in anything mechanical. And on the occasion somebody was still a dick to me, I've told them I'll think about it and walked away. If they'd been hostile, I'd have let rip.

I suppose knowing enough at the start helps, but yes, they are probably trying to rip you off. If there's any doubt about it, I'd say hire a car for the duration of your holiday from a place with international presence, though.

I had a lease car that had less than 20k miles on the clock at three years. Took it for its MOT before handing it back to the company and they said it needed 4 new tyres. I was an Audi A3 on Continental tyres. I know the tyres were fine but they said it was to be expected with the brand of tyres I had. Really?

I didn't have to pay anything, but they definitely ripped off the lease company. If it was my money I would have angrily contested it.

They most likely just ripped off DH too with a service that ended up with new brakes, although we new they would need doing in the next 12-18 months so just sucked it up.

Won't be going back there Telford voluntarily though.

Always use a small local independent garage if possible. They rely on happy returning customers.

If you can find an independent garage that is VOSA registered you'll know they are of a good standard. It's quicker and less expensive as they can do the service, repairs and the MOT together.

You also know that the small independent garage will rely on is VOSA registration and shouldn't exploit you.

Upselling is different from being lied to though.

We've had this when took the car in to the dealership to have something replaced as part of a recall and was given a report after with £2ks worth of stuff that according to them needed doing immediately plus an additional £500 that was advisable. Took it to two independent places and both confirmed that only about £300 worth needed doing and even that wasn't essential for a few more months.

Brakes are an easy one for them to con you with - it sounds dangerous & you can’t see if they are telling the truth. Next time I’ll do what PP advised & ask them to send pictures.

Ooo interesting, it was formula 1 who tried to rip me off in my above post

It's not just women they target, they've got a nose for anyone they can bamboozle. My ex took his car to Kwik Fit to get the oil changed. This was a long time ago when KF did a good price on it. He knew nothing about cars and he came home with a finance agreement and a massive bill for all sorts of unnecessary work. The work was really poor too. I ended up making them redo it properly.

I went through a phase of low mileage, about 5-6k a year. 3 years running Kwikfit gave me an urgent advisory on the same tyres (not changed in all that time). Eventually I started using my fantastic local garage, who warned me I had maybe only another 2-3k miles left in them - nearly 20k miles after my first "urgent" advisory from Kwikfit.

My local garage isn't the very cheapest (though not the most expensive locally by far) but I've got to be desperate to go anywhere else. They drop me home & pick me up when the car goes in, they talk through options with me (e.g. can do stopgap for £x to last a few months, white label parts for £2x or big brand for £3x). The owner once stayed open on Saturday afternoon (normally close at noon) because my battery had packed in overnight & it took 4 hours to get one delivered, then fitted it himself for me.