Safe Speed Forums

On the way to see houses on the Wirral, my front brakes started grinding. I took the car to a brake fitter (one that ends with Fit) near Bromborough. I told him to change the pads, and he said he couldn't, company procedures etc. He said he "definately had to change the disks, they WILL be knackered". The bloke told me he had to use a checklist as long as his arm, that it would take two hours and he'd have to change the pads and disks as well. So I went down the road a mile and took it to National Tyres and Exhausts in Rock Ferry. They changed the pads in 15 minutes, and I had no lip at all.

So be warned. Some of those brake fitters will convince you to change your disks, when there's nothing wrong with them. The ****Fit firm is on my shit list for a year.

PS: I hope this helps someone else.

Would you believe that some people take their car in for a tyre, and then end up with 5 tyres, new brakes (front and back) and wheel alignment ?
(same company)
Oh, and don't take it in if the tax is out....they'll tell the law.

_________________
The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

I also had issues with a brake fitter - one that also ends with Fit; this instance was the one time I went to them and to date they remain the only company who have tried it on with me.

I needed some pads replaced, so took my car to them. They tried to convince me that the brake dust was actually a result of burning disks and all the disks needed replacing immediately... riiiight!
Since then my car has gone through many MOTs and pad changes (and I've had my specialist mechanic check them), needless to say no-one else thought this was a genuine issue; I'm still on the same disks!

_________________
Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Sounds like the same company that wanted to sell me 1 GT grade tyre for my old 4x4 when the other 3 were mud+snow spec.

Not atrocious, but poor practice, and the guy wouldn't back down when I pointed it out.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I never tried to argue, for once! I told him he'd "put me off the idea, so I'm going down the road a bit". I hope more people do the same thing.

That's it. They're on my shit list for ten years!

Neither did I. The man had obviously lost sight of the first rule of business, "the customer is always right", thus any further attempt to communicate or deal with him was pointless.

It was a polite query.... but it seems I was "wrong". I'm not interested in the marginal difference there may have been... I'm a businessman myself. I sometimes install what I could refer to as "truly appalling" fittings. But they all look fine to me when the customer asks what I think while reaching for the cheque book.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Where were they going to get 4 discs from on the day? I would be suprised if a main dealer stocks 4 discs for all their cars so either they were going to "pretend" to fit new discs or they stock discs for every car in the hope that EVERY car that comes in for brakes is driven by someone gullible enough to believe that the discs are worn.

_________________
My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Exactly. I don't hire brake fitters for their opinions - I hire them to fits new pads. If the disks are shot, fine, show me. Else just get on with it and shut up! Sorry for ranting, but the world is going mad. Thank God for National Tyres and Exhausts, Rock Ferry, at least.

Well of course, there's the liability angle which you have to appreciate- if they fitted brake pads to bad discs and you stuffed your car into something you could then claim ignorance and stupidity and sue them for £2.5million in hurt feelings. But given your discs were in fact fine, you think they'd have backtracked. I guess they work on the basis that one dumb customer can be wrung for 50 times the profit that a clued up customer can so don't mind you walking out the door. A bit like international call rates, 02 will charge you £1 a minute to call america because they earn more profit from the 2% of potential customers who use the service than the 100% who'd use it if they charged a more realistic 1p a minute.

_________________
Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

I appreciate that Aber got caught out, but I thought most people with an ounce of common sense changed their own?

I've had grinding discs/pads, no problem, it sounds worse than it is. Just take it steady and you can change them when you get home.

And when you buy a set of pads, get two so you always have a spare set. You wouldn't buy just one loo roll would you?

I'm 250 miles from home right now, and I'm already working 12 hour shifts to get around this credit crunch. Anyway, it's all very well clambering around under cars when you are a young pup, but it gets tiresome eventually. There's only so many times you can skin your knuckles before you get fed up with it.

PS: If you've stripped, reconditioned and rebuilt the whole engine and gearbox yourself, then we can have a chat!

I've given up crawling under cars too - eventually the novelty wears thin. I do however keep a spare set of pads in the boot (partly because I use EBC Red Stuff ceramic pads and you can't just pick them up anywhere) ready for someone else to fit for me

_________________
I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

Can't say I have, always brought and driven quality German Engineering and looked after it. Have MK2 Golf with 150,000 on it and its never broke down yet. You should know better than to buy British made junk!

150K ? barely run by Saab standards!

_________________
I won't slave for beggar's pay,
likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools

My MKII only lasted 85k, it was driven hard, but the Honda was being driven hard for a good while and now shows 91k, is way more reliable, uses no oil, is now older, uses less fuel though not as quick. I'd never go back to a German car after driving this Swindon made Civic. Once you go Jap, you never go back

Surely at least SOME of you should have pad wear warning lights on your cars? I thought almost all cars had them these days?!

Mole, there is a recession on! Not all of us can afford all bells and whistles cars. Some of us still rely on regular visual checks, even if we haven't re-built an engine.

Talking about tyre fitters, when a well known chain had a 4 for the price of 3 offer on a colleague thought he would take advantage of the offer.

After inspecting his old rubber they declared he only needed 3 tyres! The fool even fell for it. Wonder where that 4th tyre went.

I've done engine strips/ rebuilds and gearbox rebuilds, nothing to it, diffs require specialist tools though. I would think nothing of pad changes but usually a squeel is down to grit anyway. My toyotas normally do 200k without enginge probs but sometimes the head gasket fails....supras especially.

_________________
My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.