Thoughts on this garage's standard of work.........?
Discussion
You've paid someone £300 to bodge an exhaust on a £33,000 car. As above with regards to buy cheap, buy twice tbh.
Would I be happy, no, but then I wouldn't be trying to make a 2.0 diesel look more sporty, and if I was going to modify the exhaust of my £30,000 car, I would get a full system. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.
Would I be happy, no, but then I wouldn't be trying to make a 2.0 diesel look more sporty, and if I was going to modify the exhaust of my £30,000 car, I would get a full system. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.
titansport said:
Wanted the dual outlet exhaust (435i) look for my 420d.
So emailed the local exhaust dealer in Stockport (Manchester) the following picture to consider the existing back box and suitably advise as to what could be done. Plenty of room under there.
Yes we can modify it to a dual outlet, came the response. The cost will be £250.00. Great, I said lets get it booked in.
In the mean time, I buy a 435i diffuser from BMW at £100.00.
2 weeks later on (Saturday) arrive at the garage at 11am and closer inspection, the price goes up to £300.00 as "more work was required". Apparently.
By 1pm, 2 hours later the results of this garage's time and effort are as follows:-
The mechanic/ exhaust fitter was unable to re-fit the diffuser from the underside rear of the vehicle after tinkering with the exhaust. The vehicle also now buffets at speed on the motorway.
On getting the vehicle home I took a closer look at their work.
Essentially, a pipe has been run from the existing back box outlet to a second exhaust on the right.
The pipe is running below the back box (not sure why it has been run here and not via another less visible path), not much above the ground, clearly visible from behind the vehicle. The exhaust tips are also not straight and protroude to make the car appear to be a wheel barrow from some angles.
So question is, would you be happy with £300.00 spent on that and do you have any thoughts on the job that has been carried out?
Am I expecting too much for my hard earned £300.00 or have I had my pants pulled down? What would you expect for that sum?
Emailed the garage Monday morning that I am not happy. No response. Rang the garage Monday PM asking what are they going to do about it. Mechanic who answered the phone needs to speak to his colleague. Emailed the garage again Tuesday AM requesting a response. No response as yet.
OP for those who missed it.
So emailed the local exhaust dealer in Stockport (Manchester) the following picture to consider the existing back box and suitably advise as to what could be done. Plenty of room under there.
Yes we can modify it to a dual outlet, came the response. The cost will be £250.00. Great, I said lets get it booked in.
In the mean time, I buy a 435i diffuser from BMW at £100.00.
2 weeks later on (Saturday) arrive at the garage at 11am and closer inspection, the price goes up to £300.00 as "more work was required". Apparently.
By 1pm, 2 hours later the results of this garage's time and effort are as follows:-
The mechanic/ exhaust fitter was unable to re-fit the diffuser from the underside rear of the vehicle after tinkering with the exhaust. The vehicle also now buffets at speed on the motorway.
On getting the vehicle home I took a closer look at their work.
Essentially, a pipe has been run from the existing back box outlet to a second exhaust on the right.
The pipe is running below the back box (not sure why it has been run here and not via another less visible path), not much above the ground, clearly visible from behind the vehicle. The exhaust tips are also not straight and protroude to make the car appear to be a wheel barrow from some angles.
So question is, would you be happy with £300.00 spent on that and do you have any thoughts on the job that has been carried out?
Am I expecting too much for my hard earned £300.00 or have I had my pants pulled down? What would you expect for that sum?
Emailed the garage Monday morning that I am not happy. No response. Rang the garage Monday PM asking what are they going to do about it. Mechanic who answered the phone needs to speak to his colleague. Emailed the garage again Tuesday AM requesting a response. No response as yet.
Edited by titansport on Wednesday 14th January 23:51
I think you got exactly what you paid for if it was £300.
The quality of the job actually isn't bad but the issue of the pipes sticking out too much is a subjective taste thing. Maybe the fitter thought it looked good like that in the absence of exact instructions from yourself.
As for your complaint about the second pipe just coming off the backbox outlet, where else did you think it would come from? It had to come off there unless you envisaged the actual backbox being replaced with something else with a dual outlet which would of cost a bit more than £300...
The quality of the job actually isn't bad but the issue of the pipes sticking out too much is a subjective taste thing. Maybe the fitter thought it looked good like that in the absence of exact instructions from yourself.
As for your complaint about the second pipe just coming off the backbox outlet, where else did you think it would come from? It had to come off there unless you envisaged the actual backbox being replaced with something else with a dual outlet which would of cost a bit more than £300...
Surely this is a wind-up!
You email a crappy pic of the underside of your car to some backstreet bodgers in Stockport, hand them three hundred quid and expect them to alter your car to replicate what BMW's hundreds of designers and engineers have done with a car of the same general shape but with a totally different engine, exhaust and rear diffuser / bumper??
I'm not surprised you've taken down your original post...(well done Jamoor for quoting it).
On the plus side this is the sort of thing that makes Pistonheads such a joy to browse...so we have to thank you for that.
You email a crappy pic of the underside of your car to some backstreet bodgers in Stockport, hand them three hundred quid and expect them to alter your car to replicate what BMW's hundreds of designers and engineers have done with a car of the same general shape but with a totally different engine, exhaust and rear diffuser / bumper??
I'm not surprised you've taken down your original post...(well done Jamoor for quoting it).
On the plus side this is the sort of thing that makes Pistonheads such a joy to browse...so we have to thank you for that.
As some others have said, I think you got a good effort for £300. If you wanted a new "cat-back" type system built you should have clarified that with them and they'd have done it differently. You imply that you asked for dual tail pipes like a 335 and they've given you dual tailpipes a lot like a 335.
Unrealistic expectation maybe? I don't think you would be justified in complaining or asking for a refund, save any minor alignment issues but they're not obvious from your photo.
Unrealistic expectation maybe? I don't think you would be justified in complaining or asking for a refund, save any minor alignment issues but they're not obvious from your photo.
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