Sold gf's car, new owner is being awkward

Darragh29

I've just looked at both these links. In the case of the second link you have provided, I have never read such utter sh*te and nonsense in my entire life.

Firstly:

You might be taking your car in for a service. Or perhaps you've noticed a problem with the brakes or something else. You leave your car at the garage. An hour or two later your phone rings, and you hear a list of work that needs to be done on your car - with the initial problem far down that list.


A service in a quality garage means a full check of all systems on your vehicle, consider it like an NCT. It is the job of a mechanic servicing your car to do up a list of what parts need to be replaced on your car. Some people don't understand this simple notion, but car's are in fact made of parts that are meant to wear and reach an end of life condiiton, like brake pads, discs, shoes, drums, shock absorbers, suspension ball joints, track rod ends, alternator belts, windscreen wipers, brake hoses/pipes, tyres, bushings, just to throw out a few components that are considered to be "servicable items".

It is this simple, if you can't deal with the fact that owning a car means having car maintenance responsibilities, DON'T BUY A CAR!!!

When we do a service, we use the NCT as the pass or fail criteria. After a service, it is normal for us to have a list or parts that would have to be replaced that would be required for that car to pass an NCT an hour later. We call the customer and inform them of this. We explain in as much detail as the customer requires, what we need to replace for the car to meet that criteria and why they need to have this part replaced. What we want is an instruction to bring the car up to the NCT pass standard, or an instruction to the contrary. This is not a "scam" as alleged in your link, this is a mechanic doing what you've instructed him to do, which is to service your car!!!


The problem is that your car is now in the mechanic's hands. You need the work done, and you certainly don't want to be driving something unsafe. But most of us simply don't know enough to ask the right questions. So you go ahead, bite the bullet and authorise the work.

It sounds to me like the person who wrote this article full of complete and utter crap, would rather bury his head in the sand and wait for parts to fall off his car when told that his car needs parts replaced. Is it the fault of the garage that a customer isn't also a mechanic??? Is it the fault of the mechanic that the car needs extra parts??? Also, the point above about the car being in the mechanics hands is simply not true, the car is still you property and you are perfectly entitled to say, "no, I don't that additional work done, I'm going to go to another garage and get a second opinion". The writer of this article is obviously too dumb to put this option to his readers, instead he writes up a stupid sentence only designed to scare readers into thinking that the mechanic is going to thrash the car if the customer refuses to authorise the work.


These days, cars are such complex machines that require diagnosis by computer that questioning your mechanic becomes almost like questioning your doctor. After all, he has the data right in front of him. We take what they say on trust.


This is the mother of them all! All good engine diagnostic systems have a little thing called a printer in them, which allows you to print out the DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code), which you can show the customer. There is nothing innordinately complicated about an engine management system that cannot be broken down into simple english and explained to a customer. Also, the customer can always ask for and should be encouraged to ask for the old part to take away with them.

I've never in my life read such a woodenheaded and dumb article relating to motoring in all my life. This guy should go off and get himself a set of good walking shoes, I wouldn't say he has the intelligence to ride a bike or catch a bus going by that article.

The writer of this article ought to be ashamed of himself because it is obvious to the most gullible and ill informed rearer that he simply hasn't a clue what he is talking about.

scitpo

So no argument with the first article then?

Darragh29

scitpo wrote:

So no argument with the first article then?

The first article refers to a study done in the UK. Thankfully I don't live there. These two articles completely oppose each other. The first one speaks of I think it said 34 out of 45 garages that missed known defects, the second article absolutely slates every garage that gives you a list of defects, the longer the list, the bigger the scam apparently! How on earth can you reconcile these two completely opposing arguments???

By the way, I do a lot of NCT work, often I get NCT fails that come to me after failing but did not come in before the NCT. It's not uncommon for me to find defects that should have been found by the NCT but this doesn't always happen.

old boy

i have been in both positions, some people would not know when you are doing them a favour, then you have the person thats out to make cash, common scense MUST rule, not hotheadedness etc in my opion this thread needs to be closed, as some cannot see the trees with the forest

The tax man

ned78 wrote:

Anyway, getting back On Topic,

Just in case anyone missed what ned said.:rolleyes:

ZENER

I feel for the OP - I made the worst mistake you can think of 4 years ago, I sold my car to a work colleague - I won't make that mistake again.

The guy reckons he's a bit of a Stirling Moss type and knows everything about cars so his first thing to do with my car was to service it even though I'd just done it and told him so. He comes at me ball headed crying that I'd screwed up the rear brake cylinders on both rear wheels.

Him: "I used a crowbar and still couldn't get the cylinders to go back to fit new pads, what the f*** did you do to them ?"

Me: "erm . . they screw back in like any car with rear disc brakes, didn't you notice the groove in the cylinders ? Have you never had a car with rear disc brakes before ? It's all explained in the Chiltons manual I gave you with the car, didn't you read it ?"

Anyway I wouldn't worry too much about it, the deal is done and your conscience is clear that there's nothing untoward in the deal.

SCITPO wrote:

If a garage owner knows your not a soft touch then they will think twice about messing up your service or doing unessecary work to bump up your bill. . . .

That reminds me of a mate who used work in McDonalds - he told me that if a customer was being a pain he would get extra sauce on his burger . . . and it wouldn't be red sauce either Moral being, be nice . . .

SCIPTO you have had bad service - or think you have had at least - and are tarring everyone with the same brush, that's unfair. People go to service providers because they can't/don't want to do it themselves, not every one is trying to rip you off.

I can see Darraghs POV and I have been in his situation - people are always suspicious, but some take it to the extreme - for them it's the door for the rest well you just do your best, be as honest and proficient as you can be and hope that you have earned some good will and word of mouth recommendations.

ZEN

Owen

nipplenuts wrote:

Ask to see the receipt again. Take it from him and eat it. It's a receipt for tyres. WTF would you give it to him anyway - he can see if they're good.

Eat the receipt.

I absolutely love this post. It's 2am, I'm sweaty from playing with my band all night (Well, something has to pay for her new MINI), and this has me laughing for the last ten minutes. Brilliant nipplenuts, absolutely brilliant!

redman

One alternative is send him to Advance tyres , anyone I know and both my wife and I never get the right mileage unless you ask for it. All he has to do is ask around on that.

Anan1

redman wrote:

One alternative is send him to Advance tyres , anyone I know and both my wife and I never get the right mileage unless you ask for it. All he has to do is ask around on that.

A guy I know went down there once, his surname is Doheny. I found the receipt on the back seat of his car, made out to 'Mr. Dorothy'...

cantdecide

You should remind the buyer that it isn't one of them fangled veyron yokes. It's a decade old starlet that was probably a very reasonable price with a misprint by a tyre monkey. It isn't exactly within the realms of the great train robbery even if it were true.

As previously posted, some people are determined to not get ripped off to the point of deep paranoia. I was waiting in the service area of a main dealer recently and a fella was asking a salesman about a 3 yr old 307. He was making a holy show of himself parrotting on about the timing belt.

"It's due on that car" said the (genuinely helpful) salesman, "it will be done as part of the full service if it hasn't been done already".

"The only way I'm buying that car is if you get the timing belt done whether it needs it or not", he must have said half a dozen times for all to hear, while the salesman was trying to find out if it had already been done.

Some people have to win in every deal. This is the person I thought of when I read the first post. Again, it wasn't a quarter million supercar we were talking about it was a used Pug hatch.

DonJose

33k is VERY low mileage for a 9 year old car. I'd also be suspicious if I came across such discrepancies. Was this car off the road for a couple of years or are the 33k miles, M50 miles

colm_mcm

A lot of Starlets are bought by people who either don't drive or can't drive.
The non-turbo models tend to be bought by the former.

Owen

DonJose wrote:

33k is VERY low mileage for a 9 year old car. I'd also be suspicious if I came across such discrepancies. Was this car off the road for a couple of years or are the 33k miles, M50 miles

My mother's Starlet which she refuses to part with no matter how hard I try, has 56k Miles on it for a 1991 vehicle!

Owen

colm_mcm wrote:

A lot of Starlets are bought by people who either don't drive or can't drive.
The non-turbo models tend to be bought by the former.

Driving to work last week, through an industrial area, a Starlet 'Glanza' tore up behind me at a rate of knots, and I couldn't believe what was driving it. A little old dear, head leaned over to one side, blue rinse, hands at 11 and 1, mouth hanging open, and then she overtook me!

SMERSH

ned78 wrote:

Driving to work last week, through an industrial area, a Starlet 'Glanza' tore up behind me at a rate of knots, and I couldn't believe what was driving it. A little old dear, head leaned over to one side, blue rinse, hands at 11 and 1, mouth hanging open, and then she overtook me!

That would be some sight! What speeds are we talking here?

Owen

I was doing about 60kph, she was doing at least 90-100kph. Impressive stuff, she probably managed to keep her huggies pull ups in place all the time too.

Henry Ford III

Drink is bad ned

unkel

ned78 wrote:

'Glanza' tore up behind me at a rate of knots, and I couldn't believe what was driving it. A little old dear, head leaned over to one side, blue rinse, hands at 11 and 1, mouth hanging open, and then she overtook me!

ROFL

We all know Darwin was right. Skangers have skanger parents, and even skanger grand parents