Hi folks,

I drive a 1999 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec and the other day the handbrake/brake fluid warning light started coming on while I was driving obviously with the handbrake off so I automatically assumed that there was something wrong with my brakes. I looked at the brake fluid resevoir and could see that my fluid was slightly under the min mark, but to cut a long story short, I've owned the car for years and never changed the fluyid so I thought I'd take it to quick fit to have them change the fluid for me which I did today.

Dropped the car off this morning and they said that they need to do a brake test because I might have a leak in the system. Long story short, they called me an hour later and informed me that I needed new front discs and pads, new shoes for the back and also 2 new rear wheel cylinders. All at a low cost of 537 Euro's ( I live abroad at the moment). That's almost 500 quid!

Anyway, I drive my 2 kids around in the car and as they had informed me that it wasn't safe I told them to go ahead and fix it which they have.

The only thing that gets me suspicious apart from the price is that on the receipt and the diagram everything is marked as "advies"which means recommended. This leads me to believe that I didn't need any of these things and that a top up of the fluid may have sufficed.

Have I been conned?

 

Yep probably have and i bet they used no lube on yer rusty bullet hole before humping ye

 

with out inspecting the parts we cannot say, but you should have told them exactly what you wanted them to do not the other way round.
thats how companys make there money up scaring the unsuspecting customer into parting with lots of cash..

steve

 

Seems a fair price for the work done,

but if it all needed doing thats another matter, as you didnt look at brakes and told them to get on with it, then quick fit aint really done much wrong

 

No idea without seeing the state of what they changed I'm afraid.

 

Well, it feels like the used sand instead of lube let me tell you :P

 

Sod me i need to up my game. I would of charged half that!

 

I take it your an independent garage, without all the big national adverts in papers and TV, and all the other glossyness involed, to lure people in?


Like any big business

 

That does seem like a lot of money. The parts would have cost less than 100 quid.

 

quick fit = rip off.

The fact the mechanics there are paid on commision says it all. They told my girlfriend she needed new disc's, pad's, cylinders etc.. I said "by all means change it all but keep all the parts so I can see the condition that they were removed in." his reply" tbh you could get away just with new pads at the front" yeah I thought as much.

 

Agree that you may have been ripped of............but it is your brakes and at the end of the day they save your life so best not having the worry!!!!

 

i agree, was charged about £270 for a MOt, all disks all round and all pads

 

I wouldn't go as far as calling them mechanics! Calling somebody that works for kwik fit a mechanic is a bit like calling a mcdonalds employee a chef

 

no not ripped off, if it saves your kids lives it must be worth it hey? thing is as brakes wear the fluid level will drop, if it got that low as you said they must be well worn, plus your wheel cylinders must of been leaking to, when you put the new brakes in the calipers have to be pushed back so the level will raise again. maybe you could of got it cheaper but then you could of crashed the car and the insurane company will use it as a way not to pay out.

 

you probably only needed front pads.

 

Price is a bit much,would think £330 would be more like it
but without seeing the parts removed it would be impossible to say if you were ripped off or not

Rough prices
Pads&discs £150
Rear shoes £60 + fitting kit
Wheel cylinders£40 each
Brake fluid change if needed £30

 

Sounds a proper ripoff to me,half that price at most after all quikfit don't use genuine parts.I'll check on the autodata cd for you to find out the hours involved but it sounds ridiculous.granted,it probably was just ur pads but it does make sense to change the lot if there's any doubt,normally I'll ring the customer or photograph said faults if it's going to differ from what I originally quoted and I always keep the old bits but there's plenty that don't.kwikfit etc really are proper wankers,ats even worse,I can't believe these places are still going.few tips,always get a written/verbal quote before you start,like me most places use autodata so they know the hours before they start but also be realistic and listen to what the garage tell you,some cars have known bitches like rusted in nuts etc that garages know about due to repetitive work,on some cars I like to recommend changing thermostats as I know they play up after time,I always recommend cambelt changes on the old ford diesels if people don't know when they were done as I know loads of people who've had them fail,missing locking wheelnut keys,cars with no petrol in them,crappy batteries all make the job far more difficult and time is money.Having had my own business now I never take anything for granted and charge for everything as sadly most people are so ungrateful when you tell them you've topped up all their fluids for them,checked tyre pressures etc that you may as well get something from it.

 

From a motorfactors for a focus you're talking;

Discs and pads..£70 at the most, 0.6 labour possibly?
Shoes..£30 at the most, 0.6 again?
Wheel cylinders...£15 each? Add like 0.1 each seen as youre doing the shoes at the same time.
You'd already be changing half of the fluid anyway so its not gonna cost them a huge whack :P

I'd say you got royally fucked my friend

 

Only cost me £400 to have my RS brakes fully re done. And thats with uprated discs and pads.

 

a few facts for this thread

the fitters are NOT on commision

you now have a lifelong guarantee on the pads and shoes which is nationwide

focus rear cylinders can take around 20mins each to replace as the shitty 8mm bolts rust and are a pain to access (i've changed 2 today)

 

here's another thread on kwik shit - i suspect you didnt need half of the stuff they changed.

But as you agreed to have it all changed, you havent got a leg to stand on i'm afraid

https://passionford.com/forum/genera...my-escort.html

 

i would have done that job for £185+vat, so fuck if they have a lifetime warranty the car will prob be in a scrap yard in 3 years and if he sells it the warranty no longer applies, kwik fit are a proper bunch of robbing cunts, yet people still use them, utter fools !!!

 

its also amazing how every car they look at seems to need discs/pads shoes drums and cylinders. and now there doing air con if the car gases up ok but still wont work they aint got a clue what to do with them, had 3 in this week that had been to kwik shit and we had to sort them.

 

couldnt agree more

they pray on the people who dont know they are being ripped off. I remember when me and my mate took his pug 205 into the local kiwk shit to have 1 tyre changed because of a slow puncture.

The bloke who served us said the front pads were low and needed chaning as they were dangerous. my mate had only had them changed a few weeks before. When i said "bollox, show me" he said some bullshit about customers not allowed in the workshop and then got in a huff

he knew he had been caught out and didnt speak to us after that and got some spotty 17 year old to finish the transaction

robbing barstards!!!!!!!

 

they are robbing bastards, the thing that pisses me of the most is when they prey on the young mums and old people on the breadline, easy pickings !

 

The prices I am quoting would be about what my place would charge

If we were talking prices for parts then there is prob about £100 but we arnt

Like I said £330 would be a fair price from a garage with a warranty etc

 

Fair does man

 

You had your pants properly pulled down!! Never, ever go to a Kwik-Shit!! I would bet a large sum of money that it needed a set of pads and a splash of fluid and nothing else.

 

£330 still steep in my opinion,as previously said,your halfway to taking the cylinders off with the shoes stripped so £40 per side seems heavy although your still £170 cheaper than shitfit!!!!