Some advice please? Advisories after my MOT and service

[jettica]

Hello folks.

While I love cars, when it comes to the mechanical side I'm completely baffled. I've just had an MOT and service on my 2007 Fiat Punto.

While it passed and is driveable there are a few advisories and I wondered which were completely necessary.

Spark plug change
Wheel alignment
Wheel balance - Apparently my tyres are wearing out more quickly on one side.
Front brake discs are worn
Front brake pads are also worn
Break fluid should be topped up

It all sounds important to me. But with the cost of the MOT and service it'd be £450 for all of that.

Is there any of that that's going to get so bad that it's going to cost me a fortune in the future and is best to sort now? If I leave the brakes am I going to end up careering into the back of something/into a river etc? Surely my car wouldn't pass the MOT if that were the case.

And you won't be surprised to know that I'm a girl.
Jet.

[slipstream 1985]

top up fluid get the wheels alligned,

leave the pads and discs the same they still work dont they? its a scare tactic to make you buy new ones you dont need

[edo]

Hi

I'd be asking why they think the sparks need doing. If the car is running fine, then I wouldnt be too concerned about that.

Regarding pads and disks, again ask how many miles left - get a second opinion. If you can feel the disks - do they have a "lip" around the edge you can feel - if not, (or not much) then they probably dont need doing.

Getting all the wheels balanced and the tracking done could solve the tyre wear issue, and is probably money well spent (and will mean your tyres last longer).

Edited by edo on Tuesday 14th September 14:23

[shouldbworking]

Garage is most likely taking out of its ass.

Post the emissions results of the MOT, and get a tyre depth gauge and see if they are actually telling the truth about uneven wear.

[V88Dicky]

jettica said:

Hello folks.

While I love cars, when it comes to the mechanical side I'm completely baffled. I've just had an MOT and service on my 2007 Fiat Punto.

While it passed and is driveable there are a few advisories and I wondered which were completely necessary.

Spark plug change - DIY £20
Wheel alignment - £60
Wheel balance - Apparently my tyres are wearing out more quickly on one side. £10
Front brake discs are worn - £60 New front discs and pads
Front brake pads are also worn - See above
Break fluid should be topped up - Top up yourself, £10

It all sounds important to me. But with the cost of the MOT and service it'd be £450 for all of that.

Is there any of that that's going to get so bad that it's going to cost me a fortune in the future and is best to sort now? If I leave the brakes am I going to end up careering into the back of something/into a river etc? Surely my car wouldn't pass the MOT if that were the case.

And you won't be surprised to know that I'm a girl.
Jet.

Get it done now. These are regular occurences on any car really. Its no big deal

ETA. Do you do regular checks on your car? Incorrect tyre pressures can lead to unevenly worn tread etc.

Edited by V88Dicky on Tuesday 14th September 14:27

[Jonny671]

I was going to ask how the hell they found all that on an MOT, then realised it was a service at the same time.

Where was it? Or give us a clue as we're not allowed to N&S.

V88Dicky said:

jettica said:

Hello folks.

While I love cars, when it comes to the mechanical side I'm completely baffled. I've just had an MOT and service on my 2007 Fiat Punto.

While it passed and is driveable there are a few advisories and I wondered which were completely necessary.

Spark plug change - DIY £20
Wheel alignment - £60
Wheel balance - Apparently my tyres are wearing out more quickly on one side. £10
Front brake discs are worn - £60 New front discs and pads
Front brake pads are also worn - See above
Break fluid should be topped up - Top up yourself, £10

It all sounds important to me. But with the cost of the MOT and service it'd be £450 for all of that.

Is there any of that that's going to get so bad that it's going to cost me a fortune in the future and is best to sort now? If I leave the brakes am I going to end up careering into the back of something/into a river etc? Surely my car wouldn't pass the MOT if that were the case.

And you won't be surprised to know that I'm a girl.
Jet.

Get it done now. These are regular occurences on any car really. Its no big deal

+1 on this, no need to re-write it all.. This is what you need to know

[jettica]

Yeah. I don't trust garages. I will ask all of that.

Would any of this contribute to the fact that my car pulls and sometimes feels quite slippery in turning? The wheel stuff isn't the really expensive part.

But the brake discs/pads would cost me about £150 to get fixed at this garage (is that reasonable?)

As for prices I've been quoted:
Spark plug change - £27.95
Wheel alignment - £29.99
Wheel balance - 39,95
Front brake discs are worn - £102
Front brake pads are also worn - £51
Break fluid should be topped up - £34.95

Seems I might be being ripped off.
It's a chain garage. F1.

Might call local garage see what they say.

Edited by jettica on Tuesday 14th September 14:31

[hornetrider]

Disks/pads is probably parts plus an hours labour + vat so £150 sounds about right if you don't do them yourself.

How did they know the plugs needed doing?

Uneven tyre wear can mean alignment or pressure issues so you'd best get that sorted or you'll keep chewing up tyres.

[hornetrider]

£35 for brake fluid top up!!!!!

[shouldbworking]

Definately get a second opinion.

Worn is not an adequate description for a garage to give for 2 parts that rub against each other as part of their normal operation and can be expected to last a good 20000 + miles of wear before actually needing replacement.

[DrTre]

is the brake fluid a top up or, as should be done, a change?
If it's a full change, £35 isn't unreasonable.

[jettica]

I ask how many miles left on the brake pads/discs. But my car has done about 26000 miles so I guess it makes sense to get them sorted.

Brake fluid top up easy to do myself? As simple as opening something and putting brake fluid in?

[8400rpm]

None of what is quoted I would class as a complete rip off.

Some of it is kind of expensive, but then unlike people on here who do work themselves, the garage needs to pay for labour and overheads.

As a part of the service, it sounds good that they're actually checking the plugs and state of the tyres, not just doing an oil change and shipping it out.

Without actually seeing all of the quoted items, I couldn't possibly say whether they really need doing or not. How many miles are on the car?

Things like plugs people totally overlook, and the gaps are consequently enormous.

[Matt_N]

jettica said:

Yeah. I don't trust garages. I will ask all of that.

Would any of this contribute to the fact that my car pulls and sometimes feels quite slippery in turning? The wheel stuff isn't the really expensive part.

But the brake discs/pads would cost me about £150 to get fixed at this garage (is that reasonable?)

As for prices I've been quoted:
Spark plug change - £27.95
Wheel alignment - £29.99
Wheel balance - 39,95
Front brake discs are worn - £102
Front brake pads are also worn - £51
Break fluid should be topped up - £34.95

Seems I might be being ripped off.
It's a chain garage. F1.

Might call local garage see what they say.

I'm curious to know how they determined the wheels are out of balance?

If they took them off and put them on a balance machine then surely they would have re-balanced them there and then. It also does not cost £10 a wheel to balance them, all they do is attach a few little weights in strategic places.

Wheel alignment is about right, my local tyre fitter charges about £20.

£34.95 for brake fluid top up? That seems more like the charge for a brake fluid change? Brake fluid is under £5 for a litre, top it up yourself if that is what is required or pay them to change it completely.

Spark plugs are no more than £3 each, so they're charging you £15 or so to fit which is reasonable in my opinion.

[jettica]

About 26k on the car but I do about 10k a year now so if that stuff is wearing now it probably won't last until my next MOT and service.

[Cotty]

hornetrider said:

£35 for brake fluid top up!!!!!

Or more to the point why didn't they just top it up when they were doing the service.

[alfa pint]

The alignment will affect tyre wear, so it's worth getting it done (~£50)although I've seen some garages charge as low as £20. Wheel balancing doesn't affect tyre wear, just the way the wheels vibrate at low-ish speeds i.e. sub motorway.

I would look at sorting out the brakes for the winter. Spark plugs will affect damp starting, so if it's an issue now, it's likely to get worse in the winter. If it's not an issue, don't bother.

[jettica]

I did actually think the point of a service was that everything got topped up...

I wanted to take my car to Nationwide for their full service where all sorts of things would've been topped up. But their MOT stuff wasn't working and wouldn't be for 2 weeks and I didn't want to wait. But that service was about £150 more expensive than this one.

I'll probably get it all done. Unless the brake fluid thing is just a top up.

[mmm-five]

How 'worn' is 'worn'?

Any disc or pad put on today will be 'worn' tomorrow - if these are all advisaries then you can do them any time before the next MOT.

I've had 2 MOTs on an M5 where the dealer stated the discs and pads had less than 1,000 miles remaining, yet they next MOT didn't even mention them.

If it's a main dealer and they've supposedly done a service (which is usually 15 minutes for an oil change and then 2 hours inspecting the car to see what else they can sell you) then they should be able to tell you what the minimum thickness is for the discs & pads and what the new thickness is so you can work out how much you've used in say 10,000 miles/1 year and work out how much remaining life.

[AndrewTait]

If the service schedule says replace the spark plugs, and I'd asked them to service the car as per the service interval, I would expect them to be included in the price they quoted. After all that would be what I am paying for!

Top up of the brake fluid at £35 would be expensive. If you can pour liquid out of a bottle, you can top up your brake fluid. Just don't get it on any paint work. Complete replacement of brake fluid, including bleeding of the brakes for £35, fair enough.