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Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - 72 dudes

Last week, my Merc Specialist noted feathering on the inside edge of the front tyres of my A180. Recommended wheel alignment (which they don't do).

Rang round the usual suspects this morning including two Independent Tyre outlets for a quote for front wheel alignment.

Prices ranged from £27.60 to £39.99.

F1 Autocentres said they would beat any price with their "superior" optical method which measures in degrees and minutes as opposed to the usual laser method which measures in milimetres.

Now this may be Marketing cow poo but I thought if they match the £27.60 quote, I'll be happy.

Quoted £25, had it done within the hour and all seems good.

At no point was I subjected to the usual "your car needs new shock absorbers and tyres, and the discs and pads have no life left" nonsense. Quite refreshing.

Will definitely use them again for tyres, batteries, exhausts etc

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - elekie&a/c doctor

Interesting," degrees and minutes".Did they use a sextant?

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - RT

The laser alignments I've had done have all measured in degrees and minutes.

Millimetre specs can be used for toe measurement - but not for camber, castor or thrust angles.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - quizman

The first and last time I went to F1 for a tyre I watched them taking an oil can under the car and then told me the shockers were leaking. I told them that they were gas filled and left the building.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - RT

Gas-filled dampers still use oil as their damping medium - the gas pressure is used to give more consistency due to the varying volume as the piston goes up/down.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - brum

F1 autocentres do not use hunter equipment as they advertise. I think its called supertracker.

The toe in measurements are definitely in mm and not degrees. I know this following an argument about what the correct setting should be and supervising the adjustments after fetching it back to complain that the car steering centre and drifting was even worse then when I first brought it in.

In the case of my Alhambra their machines database of settings are different to manufacturers official workshop data, not vastly but still significantly. I put this down to their database only having one set of figures for a car/year with no model variations.

I also doubt the accuracy of their equipment as it has consistently shown rear geometry to be way out (on my fabia and alhambra). Three weeks later the fabia had a full alignment check on official vag factory equipment and the rear was only very slighty out, nowhere near f1's measurement

F1 also try to sell a full alignment, "because the car wont run straight without doing the rear alignment as well" only for me to point out that in both cases no rear adjustment is possible. In fact I suspect many cars only front toe is adjustable.

The alignment check is "free" with a £15 charge for each adjustment. Except to adjust toe ,steering alignment always requires 2 adjustments, track rods both sides.

In the end I got a satisfactory result, but their printer hadnt been working for weeks so I have no printed results, which is not really acceptable.

Having said all that, I do use them for tyres, and they are a reasonably friendly bunch.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - 72 dudes

quizman - your experience is why I started out saying "not a fan of FF centres". I guess much depends on who/how the place is managed and whether the dreaded target/bonus structure is in place.

Brum - interesting comments. All I can say is the printout I was given shows it was the castor that was out as opposed to toe in.

They checked the rears and I was told they were spot on.

The steering wheel is dead centre - this is a pet hate of mine so it was the first thing I checked afterwards.

This particular F1 Autocentre is new and right next to a Kwik Fit, so perhaps they are trying harder.

Edited by 72 dudes on 30/11/2016 at 12:51

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - FP

"I guess much depends on who/how the place is managed..."

Absolutely. Until a few years ago I would also have steered clear. However, I had little choice when my alternator failed on the M1 in heavy rain one Friday evening; we limped off at the next exit, made it to the local town, at the edge of which was a Kwik Fit.

They did a quick check, said they would order a new one and fit it the following morning. We found a hotel and returned the next day. We were on our way soon after eleven.

Back home, I got my trusted indie to check and he found everything spot-on. The alternator has run perfectly ever since.

Kwik Fit is of course franchise-based. The manager sets the tone.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - Falkirk Bairn

A son's 3 series has runflats - puncture & as he lives 100 yds from KF

he dropped in. They phoned him 30 mins afterr dropping off car to say the tyre is a write-off.

That will be £255 for a replacemnt - make, tread pattern,

HOWEVER

He had checked Black Circles £187 - KF dropped to £189 - £66 off their 1st offer. Ordered tyre as not in stock - fitted & returned in 2 hours - good service but over egging by £66 is very poor.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - NARU

Back in the days when I ran a company car, the lease company used kwikfit.

I'm a (Chartered) Engineer, and well used to quietly observing what goes on.

I saw a continuum from dire (routinely not balancing wheels, for instance) to excellent. The top branch I found was Chesterfield. I'm not going to name the worst.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - SLO76
Their staff are on commission and have targets to encourage up selling and overcharging. It's a firm I actively avoid and advise customers and friend to do the same.

I could recite numerous cases of blatant dishonesty involving them but one fairly recent one involved the wife of an old school friend who dropped in to get a new tyre then left in a near panic after being told her car was dangerous to drive and required four new shock absorbers!!!! There was b***** all wrong with any of them and she could ill afford to be ripped off.
Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - oldroverboy.

Having worked in the "Trade" have seen both sides.

I saw (in the oil change bay) a collection of new filters... not been changed...

work invoiced that was not done, mechanics changing parts unnecessarily to have parts for their own cars.. stores staff stealing parts to sell/give to family/friends and management on the fiddle too..

All were ignored so as to have everything running smoothly.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - FoxyJukebox

I always find Kwik f. FINE--BUT for the life of me--I don't see them being any quicker than any other fast chain--in fact my gut sense is that they can often be slower.

Not a fan of Fast Fit chains but......... - Bolt

I always find Kwik f. FINE--BUT for the life of me--I don't see them being any quicker than any other fast chain--in fact my gut sense is that they can often be slower.

I worked for an outfit similar but only for an inbetween job changing garages, rule of thumb used to be the fastest fitter got the best bonus jobs (which also meant they were the best earners) but it didn`t always mean the best of workmanship

Some of the most skilled were always left behind because they did a good job but were not quick enough, but you couldnt have it both ways

I left after a fortnight as they would not give me enough work, and I hated standing about