Another rant from me - this time regarding a so-called specialist that has wound me up.
This story stems from my Grandad, who has owned his B5 A4 1.8 for the past 12 years.
Its always garaged up and has only covered around 20,000 miles since he bought it, it has only covered 2,000 miles over the past 12 months.
Every year, he takes it to a specialist located in Liverpool for an annual service and MOT.
I have never really enquired or asked about this annual service until my grandad asked if I could change the cambelt for him. Immediatley I told him that the 1.8 20v was timed by a chain which should never need replacing under normal circumstances.
He said that the garage recommended that the cambelt needed changing as it was looking perished - normally I would forgive a garage for mistaking the auxilary belt and cambelt when talking to a customer, however they had quoted my grandad over £400 - so they obviously didnt mean an auxilary belt!
(I wonder if they would have taken the money)
From this point onwards I was dubious, so asked if I could have a look through the invoicing - baring in mind he has taken the car to this "specialist" for the past 9 years!
What I found angered me - I found every single invoice, every 12 months listing the following work;
Replace oil filter
Replace air filter
Replace fuel filter
Replace spark plugs
Replace PD engine oil (the car isnt a diesel!)
Check and top up all levels
Strip and check brakes
Check tyre pressures etc
Stamp service record
Road test.
Now, over the past 9 years the car has driven 12,000 miles, so according to the service invoicing the car has had 9 fuel filters and 9 sets of spark plugs! - a little excessive dont you think?
Upon looking further, the manufacture date of the air-filter is dated 2004, the spark plugs certainly dont look new (ceramic browning up the body of the plug).
Which makes me question wether the oil and filter has been changed as regularly as they say it had!
The body of the fuel filter is rusty too, not great when it was supposedly replaced 2 months ago and every year prior to that.
The comments at the bottom of the invoice (below) make me laugh too;
1 - All discs slightly worn - this was an advisory on the MOT aswell (The brake discs on my own A4 are a month old, im sure they are "slightly worn" too!
2 - "Has cam belt been done" - Well, no - and never will be either as this engine has a cam chain!
We should have a section of the site to name and shame traders like this - if it was a small indipendent garage then you expect a few shoddy ones, however the fact this place call themselves a specialist annoys me.
This story stems from my Grandad, who has owned his B5 A4 1.8 for the past 12 years.
Its always garaged up and has only covered around 20,000 miles since he bought it, it has only covered 2,000 miles over the past 12 months.
Every year, he takes it to a specialist located in Liverpool for an annual service and MOT.
I have never really enquired or asked about this annual service until my grandad asked if I could change the cambelt for him. Immediatley I told him that the 1.8 20v was timed by a chain which should never need replacing under normal circumstances.
He said that the garage recommended that the cambelt needed changing as it was looking perished - normally I would forgive a garage for mistaking the auxilary belt and cambelt when talking to a customer, however they had quoted my grandad over £400 - so they obviously didnt mean an auxilary belt!
(I wonder if they would have taken the money)
From this point onwards I was dubious, so asked if I could have a look through the invoicing - baring in mind he has taken the car to this "specialist" for the past 9 years!
What I found angered me - I found every single invoice, every 12 months listing the following work;
Replace oil filter
Replace air filter
Replace fuel filter
Replace spark plugs
Replace PD engine oil (the car isnt a diesel!)
Check and top up all levels
Strip and check brakes
Check tyre pressures etc
Stamp service record
Road test.
Now, over the past 9 years the car has driven 12,000 miles, so according to the service invoicing the car has had 9 fuel filters and 9 sets of spark plugs! - a little excessive dont you think?
Upon looking further, the manufacture date of the air-filter is dated 2004, the spark plugs certainly dont look new (ceramic browning up the body of the plug).
Which makes me question wether the oil and filter has been changed as regularly as they say it had!
The body of the fuel filter is rusty too, not great when it was supposedly replaced 2 months ago and every year prior to that.
The comments at the bottom of the invoice (below) make me laugh too;
1 - All discs slightly worn - this was an advisory on the MOT aswell (The brake discs on my own A4 are a month old, im sure they are "slightly worn" too!
2 - "Has cam belt been done" - Well, no - and never will be either as this engine has a cam chain!
We should have a section of the site to name and shame traders like this - if it was a small indipendent garage then you expect a few shoddy ones, however the fact this place call themselves a specialist annoys me.
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