Prompted by the hilarious comment about it being normal to replace Ford locks every two years.
What's the worst / most implausible / most outrageous nonsense you've been fed by a manufacturer, dealer or mechanic?
Mine has to be when I ran out of fuel in a 2001 406 2.0 HDi. The computer was still showing a range of 20 miles, and when I added a gallon of diesel, the thing went haywire, went into a sulk in ECO mode and then died completely. It ended up having to be recovered to the local Peugeot dealer.
They called me the next day, and I quote
"We've been working on it all day, and managed to get around it for you this time, but if you run it out of fuel again, it'll definitely need a new ECU"
Eh?
Cheers
DP
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Driving to work one morning my 2.5 year old 02 Mondeo TDCi went into limp home mode. I stopped at the nearest Ford dealer and went to the service desk to see if they could have a look at it.
I told the service advisor it had lost power very suddenly, wouldn't go above 50mph and the engine management light was flashing - classic symptoms of a failed injector. After talking to the technican the verdict (without even seeing the car) was that the cat had collapsed, broken up and blocked the exhaust and they didn't have one in stock so couldn't look at it today. When I suggested it was more than likely an injector problem or a problem with the injection system the service advisor scowled and said "Our technicans are the experts on these cars". I just laughed and limped it round to my local dealer who I normally use and they replaced the injector the following day under warranty.
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I put a mini in for new track rod ends, and it came back able to turn left (indeed amazingly sharply) but not right - I had trouble getting around medium sized roundabouts.
When I suggested they hadn't set the tracking properly after the work the garage owner said that the car must have always been like that!
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Told the poor running of my Golf Anniversary was due to the fact it badly needed a service and was 'probably the sparkplugs'.
It was a diesel- nice work VW.
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I was told that (because there was no external sign of leakage) the rapid fall in the level of the brake fluid (it needed topping up nearly every day!) was caused by wear of the brake pads. I told the dealer I thought the fluid must be going into the brake servo. They topped up the reservoir and insisted I drove the car for another week without topping it up myself before they would remove the servo to investigate. I felt quite smug when they eventually admitted I was right and that they had had to fit a new servo and master cylinder. (And I felt a lot safer afterwards as well!)
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L\'escargot.
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having had the front brake pads replaced on an astra at the local garage they were spongy for ages , phoned them up there reply " let them bed in for at least 100 miles" took it to another garage , problem... the mechanic at the first garage hadnt tightened up the brake pipe hose at the caliper whilst fitting the new pads , so i was only god knows how long from brake failure!!!!!
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I remember when working at a Rover dealer back in 2000, we had sold a Renault Espace ( P reg ) on the Rover Approved Scheme.
Anyway, it came in with an oil leak - the owner was putting in half a litre of oil a day which is a fair bit we thought.
So it was looked at and THREE separate leaks were found.
Warranty advisor comes round and spent a fair while looking around the leaks, then decided that it wasnt bad enough and they wouldnt authorise any work on it - he said that 3 litres of oil a week wasnt serious!
Couple of weeks later, it came in on back of a lorry with NO oil..... makes you laugh because then they tried to argue that it should have been brought in sooner!
Needless to say the service manager was out for blood that day!
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Garage replaced a suspension component (forget which) on my F-I-Ls escort. 1000 miles later, the inside edges of his tyres were through to the wires. "Did you check the tracking?" I asked. "No, we didn't even touch the tracking adjustment, so it will have been OK after we replaced the part."
V
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Toyota told me that I needed new front pads when they were sticking slightly on one side...solved the problem for 6 months, then problem happened again and they said "pistons don't always return very quickly/well if they come out too far" (er surely they should be designed to work with pads that are only 60% worn!) . The fact that they stuck more in wet weather was mentioned, but they did not take any notice of this.
In the end stripped the brakes myself to find a split in the brake piston sealing rubber top boot.
Looked like it had been there a while.
Another dealer replaced these and removed corrosion from top of bore and problem went forever.
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Interesting one from my toyota dealer this week. Oxygen sensor failed at 20k, so they replaced it. It failed a day later (today in fact!) so they have replaced it again, but have said 'it probably won't last' so have booked the car in for next week again!
Ermm? 'probably won't last' doesn't inspire confidence!
Glad I'm trading it in tomorrow for a Ford now!
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Local Toyota dealer presented with my wifes Corolla with non-cancelling indicators. Changed the steering cam. When we picked it up it was just as bad. Phoned them up & got "can you come in and demonstrate the fault" My response was drive it down the road, indicate & you'll find they don't cancel! Ended up having a new steering coulmn.
Gearbox graunched from new, in 1st & 2nd, asked to look at it & said it's OK. In the end at 40K miles I asked them to look at it. At this point they rebuilt the whole box, must've cost a fortune.
Don't talk to me about Toyota reliability & good dealers!
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TGM left her lights on whilst doing a major shop (90% of her life according to TGF) and naturally called the AA - sharp AA man summd her up in 10 seconds (we suspect it was due to her standard "now my good man, can you sort my car out") and sold her a new battery. This was circa. 25 years ago and is why we tend to be RAC members as a family.
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When I asked the dealer to look at why my bluetooth phone would keep connecting and disconnecting the service manager said it was probably just going out of range of the satelite !!!
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I had oil leaking out from my intercooler ducting at the first service on my Passat PD (still have BTW).
I asked VW to fix it. They said it was a gasket or some such that had been leaking.
The oil carried on dripping and the service manager showed up at my work after I complained.
I pointed at the area and he said "That is not an oil leak- there is not meant to be any oil there".
That put me in my place .
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Snakey and Salt
Are you sure you are spelling Toyota correctly? Shouldn't it be spelled R-E-N-N-A-U-L-T ??
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Phil
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re Toyota - Things improved when I stopped dealing with the young know it all Service manager's apprentice and changed over to another Toyota dealer which always put customers in direct contact with the mechanic who worked on your car. Just goes to show that not all Toyota dealerships are spot on , as I guess not all Renault dealers are disinterested. Where I live, it is down to the actual garage what service you get, the expectations of who the manufacturer is does not work in my location!
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Snakey and Salt Are you sure you are spelling Toyota correctly? Shouldn't it be spelled R-E-N-N-A-U-L-T ?? -- Phil
phil shouldnt you be spelling renault correctly as well?
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VW had my golf in more than 6 times for a day each as the alarm didn't appear to work. After the 6th time of having it in and replacing the SAME component 3 times, they suddenly claimed it takes 2 minutes for the alarm to arm itself 'incase you have swinging fluffy dice'! Shouldn't that have been one of the first things to try?! Typical VW!
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Austin Maxi with a suspension knock - You'll need new shock absorbers.
Ford Focus with a suspension knock - It's a ball joint on the anti-roll bar "I don't know they fit them, anti-roll bars aren't necessary". From the workshop foreman who could save Ford £millions in R & D.
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My wife's aunt went to the main dealer, wanting a newish SH Polo 5 door.
"Sorry, we don't have any in stock, never do, far too popular, never see them SH, you'll have to buy a new one"
So she did.
I found six less than two years old for sale on AT within 40 miles...
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My (female) colleague at work took her one year old BMW 1 series into the dealer recently who told her that underinflation of the tyre was probably the cause of her recent puncture - and the tyre needed replacing of course.
MGs
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A few years ago I needed a new tyre for my Berlingo. I dropped into well known chain and asked if they could fit a Michelin Energy tyre. They didn't have one is stock, which was fair enough, but I was a bit surprised when he told me that they had been discontinued.
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A Ford salesman, who (in 1982) on our collecting a new Fiesta for SWMBO, told her the steering wheel could not be taken off and put on straight as "It would invalidate the warranty"
Without the complication of airbags, it took me all of 40 seconds when I got back home to my tool kit.
If I could find the salesman after all these years I would buy him a "golden steering wheel" as an award as re telling his statement to our respective colleagues/contacts all over the UK, Europe and Singapore has given so many laughs at Fords expense, when this very topic arises....
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During the 1970's my father worked as a parts deliveryman for a Ford dealer in Hull. He had a book with which he was able to cross reference Ford parts to other brand cars. Knowing this and needing a simple part, I went to the Ford dealer in Elgin, no they said, why would we have this part, I told them about Father's book, ah came the reply this is Scottish Ford.
Or, the true story of a friend of mine who took delivery of a duty free Ford car in Germany. The LH headlight was held in place by a used matchstick in the absence of a vital nut and bolt. On complaining to Ford UK, they sent him a box of matches.
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Opel Manta GTE as a Co. car. Both hedlights got stones through them so the dealer charged me for them, he got very flustered when I pointed out it had 2 headlights not the 3 he'd charged me for. It went downhill from there & I've never trusted Vauxhall dealers since!
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Sierra 2.0Inj (many moons ago) - asked to get the timing reset for unleaded fuel. Receptionist said that it needed a special lead for the distributor 'to advance the ignition'.
'Hang on', I say, 'you mean retard the ignition, as it's lower octane'
'Nah - advance. The thing is mate, this unleaded petrol is such 'rubbish' (pronounced to rhyme with 'pit') fuel, that you have to retard it so much, it's the same as advancing it.'
Picked jaw up from the floor, and exited quickly...
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On picking up my new Citroen C8 expecting it to have towbar electrics fitted; "We can't fit the electrics because the car has multiplex wiring". That one cost them a free service.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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"--quote---Worst excuse from a mfr/dealer/tech---"unquote"--------
Take it away and try it---------
while your doing that im going home quickly------- till tomorrow :-(
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An Astra I once had had an intermittent starting problem, a click but the engine didn't spin. On the 4th visit to a local Vauxhall dealer I insisted they sort it out once and for all. They got "Brains" on the job and concluded the problem was due to someone incorrectly wiring the immobiliser to the starter motor circuiting which was causing just enough of a power drain when trying to start the car. Upon asking "When was the work done ?" About 6 months ago. "And how long have you had this problem ?" For about 6 months, counting the 2 months you've been trying to fix it. "And who did the immobiliser installation work ?" You did. "Gulp, oh, the man who did that job no longer works for us." Well at least they traced the problem and sorted it out eventually.
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