Tuesday 13th January 2015

Subaru WRX STI: PH Fleet

Rusty nail unleashes a world of pain for Dan and the NotImpreza

---

I'd love to spend this second report on 'my' WRX STI talking about the moorland photoshoot that saw my brother and I burning half a tank of fuel in 60 rather enthusiastic miles. And the night time drive across North Yorkshire in a raging blizzard before ploughing through virgin snow covering the outside lane of the M62 while others slithered in the slush at 30mph beside us. Doing the kind of stuff any enthusiastic Subaru 'owner' would in the depths of a festive freeze, in other words.

Not an ideal start to the journey north

Instead I'm going to have to focus on a sodding rusty nail that punctured my nearside rear tyre and the unnecessarily tortuous process of sourcing a replacement.

When the TPMS flagged a low pressure warning barely a quarter of the way to Yorkshire I realised we had a problem, manifested as the head of said rusty nail in the tread of the nearside rear. A bootful of Christmas presents and other luggage was duly tipped out onto the verge of the A5 near Towcester in search of - yes! - a proper space saver. Thank God. Fitting the removed wheel and said clobber back in was a challenge but at least the enforced 50mph cruise up the M1 gave opportunity to ring ahead and get my brother to see if anyone in the area had a Dunlop SportMaxx RT in the necessary 245/40R18 97W. KwikFit did and I booked a slot for first thing next day - Christmas Eve. Job done, the only concern a flashing orange 'AWD' light in place of the Driver Controlled Central Differential display triggered by the system detecting the mismatched space saver. No biggie, I was assured by Subaru, it'll return to normal once the correct tyre is in place.

Insert 'deflating experience' gag here...

Next day the requested tyre was speedily fitted and I was on my way. But above 30mph or so the DCCD display disappeared and the AWD warning light came back. Twice I checked all the pressures were equal. Still it reappeared. Sure, replacing one out of four tyres on a four-wheel drive car like an STI is a risk but given the original set only had 2,000 easy miles on them I was surprised. Then I checked the sidewall and saw the tyre KwikFit had actually put on was a SportMaxx GT, with a 93Y speed rating. At no point in the fitting process had anyone said "That tyre we said we had in? Actually we haven't, but we've got this one and it says Dunlop on the side..." Further research indicated the GT is actually a completely different tyre from the RT. Subsequent enquiries to Dunlop revealed it is half a kilo lighter and 6mm less in diameter, meaning it was 'reading' as a tyre with 3mm less tread than the other three. No wonder the TPMS and AWD were asking WTF.

Small diversion from the Christmas shopping trip

Somewhat concerned KwikFit had been happy to take my £147.50 and send me on my way with the wrong tyre and inoperative four-wheel drive I called after the festivities and suggested they might want to source the correct RT, ASAP. They were obliging and next day a 245/40R18 SportMaxx RT was fitted, no further money changing hands. Job jobbed. Hang on, why's the AWD light still on? I checked the sidewall. Again they'd given me a 93Y, not the 97W I'd specified. Twice.

Sense of humour running thin I attempted to contact KwikFit, vowing not to abuse journalistic privilege and keen to see how they'd handle from a punter's perspective. Hateful online customer service form duly completed I waited. And waited. In the end KwikFit's PR responded, a 97W RT was sourced, dispatched to my local store, fitted and, would you believe it, the AWD light hasn't been seen since.

We were dreaming of a white Christmas...

Hands up, I should have been fussier in the first instance and checked the sidewall of the tyre (or the receipt) before driving away. Buyer beware and all that. But having been so specific about the tyre spec I needed, and been assured the same was in stock, I'd perhaps naively assumed that was what they'd fit. But no.

They got there in the end but, really, it'd have been a whole lot easier if they'd just fitted the right tyre in the first place. And, if they didn't have it, at least been upfront and offered the option of going elsewhere, waiting for them to order it or, if I wasn't that bothered, taking what they had. I've offered KwikFit right of reply; generously I'll consider it cock-up not conspiracy (or policy) but we'll see what they say. Credit where it's due though, the guys on the frontline were unfalteringly polite and efficient. But my faith is shaken. [Update - for KwikFit's subsequent response see below.]

Guess I'll have to wait until next month to tell you how much I'm enjoying the car and why. For now some hopefully inspirational pics and a little snippet of vid.

Vid clip

---

KwikFit's response to the saga, reproduced verbatim as supplied since this article was originally set live:
"We have looked into the case and the centre staff have said that when your brother first called they did advise him that the only Dunlop Sport Maxx tyre of that size we had in stock was an Audi fitting. The team assumed that he had passed on the message to you, but we accept that they should have raised it again when you came in. As you were on a space saver the team thought the tyre was a better option, but clearly not the right one. Unfortunately when the centre ordered the second tyre it was not clear that the OE tyre is currently a dealer only option so it appeared that the tyre was the correct one. We're glad we got it sorted in the end, and apologise again for the hassle in getting to that point. We've reminded our teams of the importance of checking the full specification even when only one option for a tyre is showing, and also double and triple checking whether a customer is happy with an alternative."

---

FACT SHEET
Car: 2014 Subaru WRX STI
Run by: Dan
On fleet since: December 2014
Mileage: 3,897
List price new: £28,995 (£30,007 as tested including £1,012 for Pioneer touchscreen navigation unit; c. £75 fitting charge applicable but varies according to dealership)
Last month at a glance: You can't get quicker than a KwikFit fitter - shame they don't check they're putting the right tyre on though

Previous updates:
New arrival - the NotImpreza has landed!

[ManicMunky]

What else did you expect from these knuckle-dragging simpletons?

It's a shame that you can't just get the correct job done well, but they have a reputation for being poor, and they're very good at keeping that reputation up!

[PistonBroker]

It's a good point ManicMunky, but the same thing happened to me at a well regarded local Indie. As it stands I have 3 x Toyo CF2s and 1x Toyo T1R on my MX5 because when I turned up with a nail in one of the nearly new CF2s and asked them to replace it with EXACTLY the same tyre, they clearly decided that as long as it had Toyo Proxes on the sidewall it was the same tyre.

I feel your pain Dan.

[crispyshark]

Another superb advert for Kwik-sh*t.

I remember them trying to tell my missus that our car was misfiring because it needed a new cat, which of course they'd be happy to replace and fit for discount sum of.....ra ra ra....

New coil pack fitted by me sorted the problem.

Great company...thumbs up *sigh*

[MustardCutter]

And if modern cars weren't full of electronic b0ll0cks would this not have even been a problem (sh!tty Kik-Fit aside)

[crispyshark]

MustardCutter said:

And if modern cars weren't full of electronic b0ll0cks would this not have even been a problem (sh!tty Kik-Fit aside)

Well a problem he wouldn't have known about....but yes, it would've been a problem as he would have had an unmatched corner on a AWD car.

[Uncle John]

My Dad had a similar incident over Christmas (Not Kwik Fit in this case), severe wheel wobble on the nearside front, tyre 2 months old. Went to the tyre place who went through all permutations, track rod ends etc, wobble still there so they swapped the tyre over......

Lo an behold wobble now on the offside front.

Tyre monkeys then said the MOT man was in the next day he'll take a look, Dad not happy at this point, states that it can't be anything to do with the geo setup as when the tyre was swapped the problem went form nearside to offside, so must be the tyre.

The penny dropped, they fitted a new tyre and the wobble went away. It was a rogue defective tyre, you'd think they would use their brains a bit more.....

Dan does sound a nightmare but you should've known better to check the tyres ratings I think!!

Edited by Uncle John on Tuesday 13th January 10:02

[Daniel1]

Name and shame rules dont apply to main articles then?

[plenty]

TBH as an enthusiast customer using a High Street chain, you should be more on the ball in checking what was fitted.

Once is understandable, but twice?

I'm not defending Kwik Fit but they have a specific type of target customer and it isn't the enthusiast looking for a specialist product. They are the Halfords of tyres and if you're going to use them (for example in an emergency) you should expect to have to keep an eye on things.

[Dan Trent]

plenty said:

TBH as an enthusiast customer using a High Street chain, you should be more on the ball in checking what was fitted.

Once is understandable, but twice?

I'm not defending Kwik Fit but they have a specific type of target customer and it isn't the enthusiast looking for a specialist product. They are the Halfords of tyres and if you're going to use them (for example in an emergency) you should expect to have to keep an eye on things.

Hands held up to that in the piece and, again, here. A lesson learned there and I accept I should have been rather fussier but having been so specific about the spec of the tyre I wanted I did hope that was what I'd get.

Cheers,

Dan

[crispyshark]

plenty said:

TBH as an enthusiast customer using a High Street chain, you should be more on the ball in checking what was fitted.

Once is understandable, but twice?

I'm not defending Kwik Fit but they have a specific type of target customer and it isn't the enthusiast looking for a specialist product. They are the Halfords of tyres and if you're going to use them (for example in an emergency) you should expect to have to keep an eye on things.

What about for all the non-enthusiasts out there...like my missus.

Sorry, you shouldn't HAVE to check a service if you have been clear with your instruction and paid good money for it....especially where safety is an issue. It is negligence on behalf on KF, simple as that.

[plenty]

crispyshark said:

What about for all the non-enthusiasts out there...like my missus.

Sorry, you shouldn't HAVE to check a service if you have been clear with your instruction and paid good money for it....especially where safety is an issue. It is negligence on behalf on KF, simple as that.

Like I said, I'm not defending KF. My comments aren't directed at your Mrs, and if it were my Mrs who experienced this I'd be pretty annoyed too (although I'd never let my Mrs buy tyres unsupervised).

My comments were directed at enthusiasts who should know better.

[Scottie - NW]

Kwik st are well known for such work.

To be fair a lot of the chains are equally bad. I always try to use local independents but they can be hit and miss as well.

My other half had an unrepairable puncture on the rear of the CLK, a RWD car with near 400 lb/ft of torque...so with Bridgestone RE050A on each rear they offered to replace the damaged one with a Nankang or Firestone!

Tried ATS, wanted to charge £185 for a 245/40/17 Bridgestone, so did what I always do...order from Camskill for not far of half that and pay local backstreet fitter to fit and balance.

[crispyshark]

plenty said:

Like I said, I'm not defending KF. My comments aren't directed at your Mrs, and if it were my Mrs who experienced this I'd be pretty annoyed too (although I'd never let my Mrs buy tyres unsupervised).

My comments were directed at enthusiasts who should know better.

fair enough.

[corcoran]

@plenty -- give the fella a break, it was bloody christmas. Probably busy thinking about festive blowjobs and whether the dress he'd bought his wife was gonna fit and how much golf he'd have to talk about with the Father in law..

and no, after you kick up a fuss about them fitting the wrong tyre the first time, you totally utterly don't expect it the second time. Unless he got the same lazy yoof fitter, both times..

anyhow. happy new year and all that.

Dan Trent said:

plenty said:

TBH as an enthusiast customer using a High Street chain, you should be more on the ball in checking what was fitted.

Once is understandable, but twice?

I'm not defending Kwik Fit but they have a specific type of target customer and it isn't the enthusiast looking for a specialist product. They are the Halfords of tyres and if you're going to use them (for example in an emergency) you should expect to have to keep an eye on things.

Hands held up to that in the piece and, again, here. A lesson learned there and I accept I should have been rather fussier but having been so specific about the spec of the tyre I wanted I did hope that was what I'd get.

Cheers,

Dan

[muppet42]

Had issues with an exhaust fitted there one time and the service was so bad, I got my dealer to sort it, which they didn't charge me for incidentally. Used to take my cars to Farmers Autocare but after the last visit where it took them four visits to balance a wheel properly, I don't think I'll bother next time.

I think in general the "skill" is being removed from these franchise garages. Customer service in general these days seems like an optional extra - I'm actually surprised when a business does something nice for me or goes out of their way to get something done. Hence why I've been with the same independent garage (CM Garage Services in East Kilbride) for 6 years plus now.

Tyres though, I'll be doing my ordering online now too and getting them fitted at said indie or other small garage. They actually make you feel like they want your custom and not just to grab the cash when they can.

[PistonBroker]

muppet42 said:

Tyres though, I'll be doing my ordering online now too and getting them fitted at said indie or other small garage.

This is what I've decided to do going forward. There's a mobile fitter in this area so I think I'll source the tyres and have him fit them.

[Dan Trent]

KwikFit has responded with a statement as follows.

KwikFit said:

"We have looked into the case and the centre staff have said that when your brother first called they did advise him that the only Dunlop Sport Maxx tyre of that size we had in stock was an Audi fitting. The team assumed that he had passed on the message to you, but we accept that they should have raised it again when you came in. As you were on a space saver the team thought the tyre was a better option, but clearly not the right one. Unfortunately when the centre ordered the second tyre it was not clear that the OE tyre is currently a dealer only option so it appeared that the tyre was the correct one. We’re glad we got it sorted in the end, and apologise again for the hassle in getting to that point. We’ve reminded our teams of the importance of checking the full specification even when only one option for a tyre is showing, and also double and triple checking whether a customer is happy with an alternative."

Credit to them for getting back.

Cheers!

Dan

[dukebox9reg]

Dan Trent said:

Credit to them for getting back.

Cheers!

Dan

I like how they open up with, 'it was your fault'.

Did they say that to your brother then?

[Dan Trent]

IIRC the conversation was something like "They've got it, they have that size in because it's a common Audi fit" but clearly the load rating wasn't picked up on, despite being specified on the ring around.

Cheers,

Dan

[loudlashadjuster]

Kwik-Fit are like any other place; there are good ones and bad ones, and even bad guys in some of the good ones.

I used branches before which have been staffed by total petrolheads and who took as much care as my well-regarded local independent does.

Similarly, I've been in branches where I wouldn't trust them to change the toner in my printer.

Daniel1 said:

Name and shame rules dont apply to main articles then?

Seemingly not.