main dealers "safety checks"

[cheeky_chops]

took my 2007 93 into a saab dealer yesterday for a bit of work before the warranty expires. The rear discs are looking a bit sorry but not that bad. I didnt ask them to check discs but got the call:

"sir, we have done our free safety check and your rear pads and discs are shot"
"how bad?"
"Ooooooooh, 5% pads and severe corrosion/lips on discs"
"Riiiiight, how much?
"£295. But you are entitled to 10% discount"
"No thanks..."

Well was a little worried it was going to fail its MOT but took it into a local place today (driven a total of 12 miles from dealer) and guess what? It passed. Not even one advisory!!

Its not so much the price (could get them done for half at a trusting local), but the dealer would have me replace them when there is really feck all wrong with them. Is it not just legal daylight robbery??

[roscozs]

I have to do a safety check on every vehicle I work on. Im not on commision for upsale so dont and never would rip any one off. But I know it happens all too well. Personally these "saftey checks" arent worth the paper their written on. I usually make a check of the tyres, lights and levels and inspect any other part of the vehicle if it requires lifting on a ramp or the wheels to be removed. But otherwise its usually just a quick check.

However they mentioned that your rear pads were 5% worn. Could that be the pads were 5% worn and were nearly new? Also the MOT tester doesnt remove the wheels and so if they cant see the brake pads in the carrier, which is usually the case with rear brakes they cannot advise on brakes if the balance is ok on the brake rollers.

But I know I have a hell of a job trying to explain various issues to "service advisors" who usually end up dribbling on about how dangerous your vehicle is. Ive said it before, a lot of garages reputations and therefore the mechanics reputations are let down by poorly trained service advisors.

Edited by roscozs on Saturday 3rd April 00:17

[DP83]

I always wonder when i see KwikFit and Nationwide etc offering free brake checks, winter safety checks, battery checks etc

Surely you go in and they say "yeah, your brakes/battery/whatever is knackered so we'll need to replace them" whether they need it or not

I took my company car in for it's first MOT last week and it failed on brakes and tyres. Discs and pads all round and 3 new tyres. Weird, as i checked the tyres before i went in and they looked ok to me (though i suppose tyre places need to get their part worns from somewhere ). Brakes felt as st as you'd expect in a 1.7 diesel Astra and still feel no different now since they've been done.

Maybe they realised the lease company are picking up the tab so thought they'd board the gravy train?

Edited by DP83 on Saturday 3rd April 00:21

[redstu]

I took the passat for a sitcom service at the local be dealer. The safety check found a couple of items that I knew about (brakes) but also pointed out that one of the front wipers was the wrong size ( can't be far wrong) and that the rear wash didn't work. Quite impressed really. Regarding mots brakes do seem to be a bit discretionary, I had a fail on rear pads less than 3 mm, which I was doubtful of, and my current car had a warning on thin pads , went to change them and found plenty of life in them!

[paintman]

They will usually find something they would like to do to charge you for.
Same problem with MOTs at non MOT only places & in particular at the chain type Kwikwide's
My son had his car MOTd at one of them. Failed on CO & advisories on 3x tyre wear & 'rust on both front coil springs'. Would you like us to do them for you?
Brought the car back for me to fix - pattern cat was the emissions problem - & took it to my usual local MOT place. Who couldn't understand why it had advisories on tyres which were all fine & the springs still had all their original paint intact.

[courtster]

roscozs said:

Ive said it before, a lot of garages reputations and therefore the mechanics reputations are let down by poorly trained service advisors.

It's not that the service advisors are poorly trained - they know exactly what they're doing. As soon as my missus got a sniff of any extra work to bump up the department sales and her own bonus, she'd be on it. She was best upseller in the company of 6 dealers for 4 quarters in a row. That was her last job now anyway. She's just moved to a family owned Land Rover dealer, and they don't have a bonus structure.

Edited by courtster on Saturday 3rd April 09:01

[Ozzie Osmond]

paintman said:

MOTs at non MOT only places & in particular at the chain type Kwikwide's
My son had his car MOTd at one of them. Failed on CO & advisories on 3x tyre wear & 'rust on both front coil springs'. Would you like us to do them for you?

Agreed. The "free safety check" you can at least just shrug and drive away. Get tangled up in the MoT nonsense and it's much harder.

Choose your MoT testing station with care!

[bigdods]

IME they always find something to change when doing 'safety checks', just the word 'safety' gets your average punter in a receptive mood, mention brakes (which most people have no clue about) and you are usually on to a winner.

On the MOT front, I use a local garage in an industrial unit that does servicing, general repairs and MOTs. Over the years I've struck up a good working relationship with them. They know I know about cars and will show me exactly what is wrong for any advisory or fail item. They usually keep any parts removed during servicing to show me condition etc.

If you get to know the people doing your work you are less likely to be ripped off.

[Orb the Impaler]

I go to a friends garage for my MOTs or another local place that does MOTs only - they don't do repairs. Funny how I never hear this "rusty spring" and "worn pads" nonsense, isn't it.

That said I think I'm a lot more clued up than most on this stuff - I've never had a garage touch the brakes on anything I've ever owned. It's so cheap to do them yourself, I enjoy it and, of course, it leaves the money in my pocket.

[Deva Link]

cheeky_chops said:

Is it not just legal daylight robbery??

When I ran company cars I was told by one dealer doing a quick repair on something or other, that every car that goes into their workshop has to be safety checked to cover them in case something happens 5 mins after leaving the dealership.

Seems fair enough really. On a company lease cars the lease companies are very reluctant to pay for work so the dealer must know they're likely wasting their time but they still do it.

[Mr AJ]

DP83 said:

I always wonder when i see KwikFit and Nationwide etc offering free brake checks, winter safety checks, battery checks etc

Surely you go in and they say "yeah, your brakes/battery/whatever is knackered so we'll need to replace them" whether they need it or not

I took my company car in for it's first MOT last week and it failed on brakes and tyres. Discs and pads all round and 3 new tyres. Weird, as i checked the tyres before i went in and they looked ok to me (though i suppose tyre places need to get their part worns from somewhere ). Brakes felt as st as you'd expect in a 1.7 diesel Astra and still feel no different now since they've been done.

Maybe they realised the lease company are picking up the tab so thought they'd board the gravy train?

Edited by DP83 on Saturday 3rd April 00:21

Get that whenever i take the van in because its a lease company vehicle. ATS replaced all tyres incl spare. 2 and a bit months later kwikfit replace all tyres including spare. Neglected to refil washer bottle or replace the worn out wipers though (Not sure if they are supposed to though?) and didn't refil oil or anything i would of expected them to do. Took them all day too. We've been told not to use that branch anymore though, So i'm guessing the lease company sussed it.

Edited by Mr AJ on Saturday 3rd April 21:15

[550Hep]

The best example I have had of this was my ex Sister in Law took her 3 year old 206 with 29k on the clock to the main dealer in Leicester for its first MOT and a service. Brother rang me up his wife in a panic as they had told her discs and pads all round 2 new fronts tires and the front exhaust section needed replacing as it was causing an emissions failure, all told £950+VAT.

They had gone so far on the safety front she had burst into tears and she rang my brother in a panic as she was essentially told the car was an accident waiting to happen. He was up in Leeds and knew I was around asked me if I could go down see what was happening.

I polled up started speaking to this smirk ridden gimp who refused to let me look at the car at all on ramps etc citing saftey rules etc (which is fair enough in some respects). After about 25 mins of getting rather irate I insisted they put it together and get it out front ASAP. I rang the local council MOT station for an appointment which they could squeeze in if we could get there in 20 mins. They seriously tried it on making her sign a wiaver and all sorts.

The car went through with no issues or advisories at all!

I took the paper work down to the dealer and played merry hell, got her a free refurb on all her alloys and a full professional valet then I still shopped them! TBH don't think anything ever happened but it did rather boil the piss somewhat.

Edited by 550Hep on Saturday 3rd April 21:18

[GTstar]

Well kind of the opposite - I had 3 'safety' free checks at main dealers as the rear brakes were looking a bit thin. They said nothing was wrong with them but that the rear wiper was slightly torn.

MOT was due next week so after finding that the rear wiper was a honda direct part (i.e. non halfords) I bit my lip and got the main dealer to do the MOT at the same time. Guess what - fails on rear brakes. So why didn't the other dealers highlight this as I was basically giving them the go ahead to replace?!?

Any way after the new brakes and MOT pass the car felt alot better on the way home!

[anonymous-user]

I (and every mechanic I've worked with) report "lipped" discs if we spot them, no questions. It's upto the service advisor if they want to sell pads and discs or not, but our backs are covered .

First Rule of being a technician. Report EVERYTHING .

[ShadownINja]

Those greedy bankers... they get EVERYWHERE.

[Rich_W]

Simps said:

I (and every mechanic I've worked with) report "lipped" discs if we spot them, no questions. It's upto the service advisor if they want to sell pads and discs or not, but our backs are covered .

First Rule of being a technician. Report EVERYTHING .

First rule of being a GOOD technician. Use your judgement!

Or more specifically. Tell the service advisor what you mean. So don't just write "Front Pads worn and discs lipped" Write "Front pads approx 70% worn and front discs slightly lipped" or FP90% worn and discs badly lipped"

Got a 150K miles heap of st? Is there really any point in reporting a minor oil leak?

Oh, and to the person above. MOT fail is pads less than 1.5mm not 3mm, you were done. Sorry.