Main dealer mechanics, waste of time.

[johnik]

Had that on a FIAT company van, pulled over and rang the office while i had a nap in the nice warm sunshine, they rang back to say it meant it was due a service, went on my merry way and the light went out again.
it reviews what sort of driving you are doing, ie, motorway, town etc and works out when it,s due, throw some new data into the computer and it decides the service is not that urgent.

 

[whm_fab]

its not a new model w213 e-class by any chance?

 

[RonA]

I’ve already posted my daughters experience with her second hand but relatively new Audi A1 & the local main Audi dealer. After suffering a turbo failure, the dealer changed it under warranty. What they didn’t change was the oil, oil filter & investigate what had restricted lubrication to the turbo to cause it to fail in the first place.
Basic stuff which any fitter worth his spanner’s should have done.
Needless to say the replacement failed in less than 9000 miles.
Given what happened I was surprised it lasted that long.
RonA

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

My Volvo became a very unreliable car....until I stopped taking it to the Volvo indy garage....all I do now is MOT and oil change once a year at my local garage. When the crank oil seal blew (2 days after they serviced the car...hmmm) they changed the DMF which cost £1500. Unfortunately they "forgot" to tighten the hub bolts...the hub moving caused an ABS issue....I took the wheel off and the hub bolt fell out on the floor...I replaced the used bolts for new bolts as these are use once items....you would think a volvo indy garage would know that wouldn't you!

That was the last straw...since I stopped going there nothing serious has gone wrong with the car....coincidence I wonder? They also fitted new brakes front and back including the handbrake...2 weeks later the brakes failed the MOT!

 

[doubleboost]

If I am presented with a car displaying low oil pressure warning light
The first check is oil level
If this is ok is the engine noise above what you would expect (nocking its brests off)
If not replace the pressure sensor
If it is driving with no oil pressure it will be rattling
It only takes seconds with no oil to spoil the job properly

 

[frank horton]

in my old days, with a bag of spanners u could earn a living anywhere in the world.........have done just that.........now, no chance..........I only work on pre 1999 stuff......
have u seen how much trouble it's causing the farmers these day's....... up to ur txx's in mud and always wet, just the place for electronic's.......
stop the world I want to get off.........hahaha........
Frank

 

[normspanners]

Had that on a FIAT company van, pulled over and rang the office while i had a nap in the nice warm sunshine, they rang back to say it meant it was due a service, went on my merry way and the light went out again.
it reviews what sort of driving you are doing, ie, motorway, town etc and works out when it,s due, throw some new data into the computer and it decides the service is not that urgent.

Hum they dont usually go out again, on a fiat that is a flashing red oil light, to tell when the mileage is up for service , but also can mean the oil is... in the 'computers mind' not of sufficient quality to do a regen, so it doesnt !! this can be due to the way it is driven.
but not many diagnostic tools can reset it !! means you have to go back to the dealer, even if you change the oil...it doesnt know because they dont have an oil testing facility in the the sump !!

 

[8ob]

Trucks are as bad now, a friend of mine has upgraded his Scanias and has regretted it, he has a bill on the table for north of 10K for an injection problem thats still there. After changing just about everything they decided it was an ecu fault, and thats a Scania main dealer. Gave him back the truck on three occasions after changing loads of bits for him to find the problem still there. Another friend with a Daf pulled across a dual carriageway, his trailer was blocking the two lanes northbound and the cab one lane southbound when it just stopped (mayem ensued). Daf tech van turned up two hours later to plug it in and get it started, mate asked him the problem and he shrugged his shoulders and said he didn`t know , truck has not done it since but wtf . Old school for me with a cable pull stop.

I ripped the battery tray/batteries clean off this old girl once and it still got me home. Keep yer urlektronics.





Bob

 

[rtbcomp]

I set the points on a Ford Cortina in a layby with a half-brick and a piece of steel rod I found lying around.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

8ob...I tend to agree....simpler is better in many cases.

A lot of "computer problems" can usually be traced to very bad/sloppy programming. Just like you get a bad weld repair you also get bad coding where people just throw things together. This is especially true when the code itself will never be seen publicly. If the code isn't written to "fail safe" then basically anything could happen when something unexpected happens.

There is really nothing worse than realising that the person who coded something wasn't too smart....

 

[rtbcomp]

Programmers fall into the "I'll make it do this because I can" trap, hidden links and buttons seem to the current fashion, what's the point of having a control if you can't see it? You have to waft your mouse all over the screen just in case there's a button you need.

 

[taxi ray]

A bit of an update.
Spoke to someone this morning, they said it is down for first job today.
They ring me up about an hour later, still no joy, but they offer to do an oil and filter change as it is possibly a blocked filter, I ask them to renew the oil pressure sender at the same time, they say that it will be tomorrow as they need to order the part.
I decide to collect the car back, within 200 yards of leaving the garage the warning light comes on, possibly due to the car moving and the oil moving about.

I take car to a local vw specialist. on explaining the symptons, he thinks it is a partially blocked oil pick up pipe.
He agrees to do a pressure test and go on from there.

I was originally going to take the car to them yesterday, but they don't open till 9.00. What a mistake that was.

 

[colnerov]

Hi, This thread is indicative of the deep mistrust between the motor trade, not just main dealers, and the customers. As well as the above there is the other side of the coin. I've lost count of the misinformation and accusations from the customer, "there's a funny noise when I open the window" = it's dragging the back box along behind it. "Since you did the alternator the clutch is slipping", the list goes on but they won't believe that it's not connected and want it fixed. I'm not saying any of the above is right or wrong but I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it any more. Garages are even filming round the car for body damage before it goes in the workshop and then a under it when they do an inspection for a service or MOT to prove what they did or found. I can't see it getting any better when both sides are convinced they are being turned over by the other.

Colin

 

[Am333rcr]

Hi

It' funny is was at the skoda dealer for the software update and the did a health check.I know that I need discs and pads at some point. " Sir they are 70% worn. Would you like us to do the work." Is it just me or what is up with the other 30%

 

[carbon]

Could wear out in the next 5 miles

 

[DrDeAtH]

Main dealers aren't work the cost. For what you get, you'd be better off with an independent garage full of mechanics that know their stuff. Just use genuine parts...

 

[normspanners]

My mate daughter took her audi in for service and mot ?? to sell it!! she wanted a full dealer history it was a few weeks ago and they came back and said it needed rear discs and calipers and it would be £700 on top of the other charges, for it to go through the test, my mate said ------WOOOW tell them to leave it coz she was crying !! they also said they had already stripped it to diagnose it !! well ... rebuild it !! and lets have a word with Norm, I told him to get the bits and I would give him a hand, so we had a look, firstly the wheels had to be hammered off with lumps of oak and the caliper bolts had not been touched with a spanner !! then I just worked the calipers back and too, a few times a little lube and it all went silky smooth new discs and pads, thats it job done, take the calipers back he gave me a drink and still had change from 80 quid

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Yea there are lots of stories the other way too I think....my mechanic basically won't touch anything if the plastic looks brittle or cracked because he'll get the blame if it breaks.

I've also hear of a "prestigious" car dealership which has a 360 degree high definition photo booth that they use to photo every car before they do anything on it...same after too. I've also heard that they video the work they do too....presume this is due to the number of damages claims they've had.

 

[R-D-R]

Stop Start hasn't worked on my Disco for over a year, its been in the dealers 4 times probably for 3 weeks in total and they are still none the wiser. Last time they had it 3 days and sent me a technicians update video basically him showing me a laptop saying he cant diagnose the fault because the laptop diagnostic routine cant get past stage one due to a low cranking voltage error. So they put it on charge and gave it me back, they didn't put it on charge and try the diagnostics again just assumed that would fix it. IT DIDNT!

 

[brightspark]

I took my van in for servicing under warranty no marks on it it came back with a dent in front wing . some nurd had leaned over with something in his pocket next time I went they gave me a load car . went round with his sketchpad to show 2 scratches only before I took it . I said something to him go round my van and check for marks theres only 2 on it so mark them down . that's how I want it back he was well choked off