Lucky Escape (1 Viewer)

[lorger]

Took the mh in for its MOT and service on Wednesday guy was going to do it on Thursday, but told him no hurry just whenever. Well comes to Friday afternoon and no call from him so gave him a call, he told me i was really lucky as the front passenger side wheel bearing was only held on and no more. i had said to him i had heard a noise from it and wondered if it was a flat spot on tyre as not really loud and no vibration or grinding when turning.

So just need to get the bill now.

Forgot to say its a peugeot 2.2d on a 06 plate and only 15k.

So i have bought a euro ticket for tonight see how lucky i am.

Gerry

 

[pappajohn]

unlikely the wheel/hub would have come off gerry, but it would make an expensive mess of the disc and caliper.

 

[Dalek]

Pleased you didnt have any mishaps whilst on a long journey, and lucky you took it to the garage when you did. Good luck with the Euro, wouldnt it be nice to win 90 million. Will tell you tomorrow after I've won it

Dale

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[rainbow chasers]

Before everyone panics and checks their bearings....do remember that citroen/fiat/pug vehicles do have a fair bit of play in the bearings!!

When I first started working at citroen, I thought it was vastly too much, and ordered more - but one of the citroen lads said that movement it had was normal!

 

[lorger]

Thanks for the replys hope i haven't scared anyone as that wasn't the intention, but what it does show is its worth getting it serviced regularly even if not doing a load of miles.

 

[aba]

surly with these being front wheel drive the drive shaft holds the bearings in place i have heard of bearings collapsing but i find it very unlikely you would loose the wheel and hub as they just tend to get noisy and rough

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[Jaws]

Honest truth ?
I am REALLY suspect of the whole thing.. A van wheel bearing 'just on' at 16k miles ???

I am afraid I would have said ok, leave it.. and take the van else where ( yes I know, but I simply do not trust any MOT station unless I know the tester personally and can stand over him !

And I never take any vehicle for MOT anywhere that does repairs as well

 

[pappajohn]

Honest truth ?
I am REALLY suspect of the whole thing.. A van wheel bearing 'just on' at 16k miles ???

I am afraid I would have said ok, leave it.. and take the van else where ( yes I know, but I simply do not trust any MOT station unless I know the tester personally and can stand over him !

And I never take any vehicle for MOT anywhere that does repairs as well

i know exactly what you mean John, but as Geo will confirm...it aint worth their while to fail for the sake of a bit of repair work.

stooge cars and on the spot checks are Vosa's way of keeping test stations on their toes.

as Geo says...Vosa will come down on any garage that bucks the system and the penalties are great.

Not worth the risk for a couple of hours repair work.

same applies the other way too....passing when it should fail.

 

[Jaws]

PJ, do a search on complaints about Quickfit !!!

They are a bloody joke.. VOSA are SICK to the teeth of them yet they still manage to carry on doing MOT's.. How ? I have no idea at all mate....

Last one that came to my attention. A good friend tooks his wifes old Skoda to a QF place..
They failed it on rear disks and charged a small fortune to replace disks and re MOT

Guess what ? Car has drum brakes !

The list of issues agin them is huge.....
And if THEY are doing it you can bet others are.

Folk like Geo are as honest as the day is long... And it is an absolute fact that birds of a feather will fly together.. I personally know of 3 garages that it is possible to fone up and get the van 'MOTd' !!!

Equally I know several places that run a tight and honest ship .. Never had a fail from any of them without them ringing me, telling me to pop in and take a look before they touch the motor..
Sorry to say human nature being what it is, there are a good many bent MOT stations out there that WILL rip people off if they get a chance..

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[lorger]

Hi Thanks for all the reply's yes maybe a bit quick for the bearing to go but i trust this guy very much family have used him for years and his son works with me. He is a local independent hgv garage and has a really good name in the town so i dont think for 1 second he would try and pull a fast one.

Surely all garages aren't out to con people, im sure even garage owners on here who have a very good reputation have had to change parts long before they would have thought due, surely thinks like hitting pot holes or going over speed bumps could cause some parts to wear quicker.

Gerry

 

[Jaws]

Not all.. In fact proly the vast majority are fine.. But a clever scumbag will never be spotted.. Not too greedy but just enough to add a good few shillings in the coffers

Wheel bearings are a classic as folk rarely check them themselves and are not exactly likely to whip a wheel off and check for marks to see if it really has been changed..

I have worked in and around the automotive industry too long I guess... have become very cynical to say the least after years of watching the crappy end of the trade rip people off ( and that is usually big places.. main [STRIKE]stealers[/STRIKE] sorry, dealers, places like Quick Fit etc etc..

Wheel bearings do take a hammering but by ANY measure 16k is almost unprecedented for a van though as they are pretty heavy duty.. and have a life cycle in the many many tens of thousands of miles

But none of that really matters if you are happy, and have confidence in the chap :thumb:

 

[Chris]

I think I will avoid Quick Fit from now on then

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[callumwa]

I too have read the many tales on the web of MOT places, like certain high street chains and dodgy independents, failing vehicles and charging for repairs that were not necessary.

If you have a test station or garage that you have good experience with then of course you will use them in confidence.

However having moved back from France to a town where I did not know who was the "best" or most "trustworthy" local MOT tester, I was a little wary after hearing all these worrying tales.

A couple of months ago I had to MOT my Elddis Autoquest on a Peugeot chassis before I sold it. I opted for the local council testing station, mainly as they have no financial interest in the vehicle failing as they do not do repairs. I was very impressed. They tested all the local council vehicles from HGV's to Coaches, Bin vans to small cars. They had all the gear for every type of vehicle, so my motorhome was no problem for them.

Happily the van passed with flying colours, the only thing he did was adjust the headlight beam on one light. A friend of mine had a MOT fail for headlight alignment at QF and was charged a re-test fee as he adjusted it himself on their forecourt.

The council testing guy was very helpful and informative. He said the van was like new underneath, but he pointed out many areas where I should keep an eye on things, as they were known places where problems could develop on that type of van. He also spent a couple of minutes discussing the new emissions rules and other things whilst I paid and he did the paperwork.

One satisfied customer. :thumb:.

 

[656]

I had a wheel bearing changed by Fiat under warranty at 16000 miles. Mine was the N/S front and apparently it is a common Fiat fault. I did have to argue the point and printed off quiet a few replies on other Fiat forums about this. Search the forums and you will see lots of the same problem.

 

[lorger]

Yes Jaws i am very happy with him and the fact i had been hearing a slight noise coming from that wheel i have no doubt he is correct in what he is saying maybe he made it sound worse than it was but im sure when he has his usual pint with my dad he will tell him how bad it was. He also does the vans for my dad and brothers businesses so dont think he would want to jeopardies that. There again as he knows we wont question him he might be conning us

Im not totally a novice either as i did serve my time as a plant fitter even though i havent had a spanner in my hand for 20 years as i hated it, and as soon as i had done time i left and have never went back to it. Mainly worked on cement mixers and other small plant dont think id even know what end to put cement now

Gerry

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[Jaws]

LOL !!!!! Fair enough Gerry ! :thumb:

 

[mikebeaches]

A few years ago I had a brand new Renault Laguna, and a front wheel bearing failed with 600 miles on the clock, ten days after i took delivery!

Oh, and I always use the local council MOT station these days and find the staff very helpful. They have on occasion re-aligned headlights. And once I was handed both a fail certificate and a pass certificate at the same time. Apparently my sat-nav craddle on the windscreen was in the wrong place. So they took it off so they could issue a pass certificate - no extra charges.

And they're always happy to discuss the condition of the vehicle and give valuable advice. As long as the facility remains available I'll continue to go there (Bristol City Council).