Advance Pitstop Horror Stories

Frank_Leach

Having just read a post from a poor unfortunate who made the mistake of going to Advance Pitstop for a pre-nct check, it reminded me of my brother's costly mistake in actually assuming they may know anything about cars. Basically, he went to them with a warning light lit up, they told him to keep driving it and that it was nothing really. Being new to cars and a trusting sort, he took them at their word, and the car duly blew up a few days later.
Anyone got similar experiences, or some examples of the crazy prices quoted or shoddy work? I hear they are very creative with this pre-nct lark..the recent poster's thread on this makes for good reading..

Thanks folks..

FunnyStuff

i went in to get a new tyre, came out with two buckled alloys.

Gary ITR

What do you mean by 'blew up'?

Personally I have nothing but positive things to say about Advance, the one in JFK Industrial Estate in particular

Frank_Leach

Onkle wrote: »

What do you mean by 'blew up'?

Personally I have nothing but positive things to say about Advance, the one in JFK Industrial Estate in particular

I am quoting my brother there, but in short, the engine was rendered unusable by this professional advice. I believe they admitted half liability, though am not 100% on that.

allthedoyles

I bought a headlight bulb in the auto-factors and asked Advance to fit it in the headlight , and they refused .

Said that I would have to buy it from them

Frank_Leach

FunnyStuff wrote: »

i went in to get a new tyre, came out with two buckled alloys.

Wow...that's a fair achievement!

Spanish Eyes

Onkle wrote: »

What do you mean by 'blew up'?

Personally I have nothing but positive things to say about Advance, the one in JFK Industrial Estate in particular

Agree. Same place too. Could not be more professional and helpful. The OH has a 7yr old Nissan, no problems, (well a few that could be fixed for a very reasonable price), and passed test.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

allthedoyles wrote: »

I bought a headlight bulb in the auto-factors and asked Advance to fit it in the headlight , and they refused .

Said that I would have to buy it from them

That isn't just advance. A lot of places are like that

mickdw

allthedoyles wrote: »

I bought a headlight bulb in the auto-factors and asked Advance to fit it in the headlight , and they refused .

Said that I would have to buy it from them

Thats fair enough I would have though

jimmycrackcorm

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Having just read a post from a poor unfortunate who made the mistake of going to Advance Pitstop for a pre-nct check

My mechanic says that standard practice is to do the basic checks yourself and use the NCT itself as a pre-nct. This is because no matter what a mechanic does, the NCT guys will find something wrong.

Tails142

The girlfriends car ground to halt at the one on the Naas road, jammed valve in the engine (from incorrect oil that a 'local' garage had stuck in to fix noisy tappets) - anyway they sorted out the tappets and valve issue and the bill wasnt too bad considering the work they did. think the labour rate was around €70 p/h - not bad but I'm not sure I'd drop my own car into them

mickdw

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Having just read a post from a poor unfortunate who made the mistake of going to Advance Pitstop for a pre-nct check, it reminded me of my brother's costly mistake in actually assuming they may know anything about cars. Basically, he went to them with a warning light lit up, they told him to keep driving it and that it was nothing really. Being new to cars and a trusting sort, he took them at their word, and the car duly blew up a few days later.
Anyone got similar experiences, or some examples of the crazy prices quoted or shoddy work? I hear they are very creative with this pre-nct lark..the recent poster's thread on this makes for good reading..

Thanks folks..

Was that a golf with the oil light on, if so, that was very poor indeed.

Gary ITR

Frank_Leach wrote: »

I am quoting my brother there, but in short, the engine was rendered unusable by this professional advice. I believe they admitted half liability, though am not 100% on that.

So you're not really sure what happened yet felt the need to slate a company on a motoring forum?

nullzero

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Having just read a post from a poor unfortunate who made the mistake of going to Advance Pitstop for a pre-nct check, it reminded me of my brother's costly mistake in actually assuming they may know anything about cars. Basically, he went to them with a warning light lit up, they told him to keep driving it and that it was nothing really. Being new to cars and a trusting sort, he took them at their word, and the car duly blew up a few days later.
Anyone got similar experiences, or some examples of the crazy prices quoted or shoddy work? I hear they are very creative with this pre-nct lark..the recent poster's thread on this makes for good reading..

Thanks folks..

To be fair, if you get a warning light on your dash you should be going to a qualified mechanic for advice not a glorified tyre shop, which is something they should have advised him to do also in hindsight. I'm sure your brother will be more careful in future.

Frank_Leach

Onkle wrote: »

So you're not really sure what happened yet felt the need to slate a company on a motoring forum?

No, i am very sure what happened, just not sure how it was resolved. But as to Advanced Pitstop's advice, i am certain. Din't you read that part? Quite clear i thought..

Gary ITR

Frank_Leach wrote: »

No, i am very sure what happened, just not sure how it was resolved. But as to Advanced Pitstop's advice, i am certain. Din't you read that part? Quite clear i thought..

What light was on in the car?

Frank_Leach

Onkle wrote: »

What light was on in the car?

Onkle, you going to commend any "mechanic" for telling a customer to go ahead, that car is grand to drive, when it isn't?
I don't know which light. Does it matter? I might presume it was the oil light, but at this moment, i don't know, and won't lie.

You actually believe this level of service is acceptable? I mean...really??

Graham_B18C

Onkle wrote: »

What do you mean by 'blew up'?

Personally I have nothing but positive things to say about Advance, the one in JFK Industrial Estate in particular

I think they're a disaster too, Ripped me off for 2 tyres a few years ago, they charged me 150 for 2 tyres for a Punto, I needed em quick so I just bought them, got them for 110 about 6 months later in Campbells.

And they quoted me 330 to repair my exhaust, they said I needed the backbox and the centre part of the exhaust, I went to First Stop and they done the backbox for 110, problem solved.

I don't even consider them anymore if I need anything done

nullzero

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Onkle, you going to commend any "mechanic" for telling a customer to go ahead, that car is grand to drive, when it isn't?
I don't know which light. Does it matter? I might presume it was the oil light, but at this moment, i don't know, and won't lie.

You actually believe this level of service is acceptable? I mean...really??

Those advance pitstop lads probably aren't qualified to even look at your engine let alone give you advice on it. If you want to know the price differnce between Bridgestone and Pirelli those are they guys to ask, when it comes to your engine you may as well be asking your dog for advice.

Frank_Leach

Grahamo999 wrote: »

I think they're a disaster too, Ripped me off for 2 tyres a few years ago, they charged me 150 for 2 tyres for a Punto, I needed em quick so I just baught them, got them for 110 about 6 months later in a different Campbells.

And they quoted me 330 to repair my exhaust, they said I needed the backbox and the centre part of the exhaust, I went to First Stop and they done the backbox for 110, problem solved.

I don't even consider them anymore if I need anything done

I am actually forgetting my own experience with them...my current car, when i bought it, there was a noise in the exaust. Brought it to them, they quoted me 270 for new exaust.

Brought it to my local mechanic..he put a spot weld on the small hole where the noise was coming from. Twenty euro, please and thank you..
Good for him..now i trust him, and he gets any work i need.

Gary ITR

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Onkle, you going to commend any "mechanic" for telling a customer to go ahead, that car is grand to drive, when it isn't?
I don't know which light. Does it matter? I might presume it was the oil light, but at this moment, i don't know, and won't lie.

You actually believe this level of service is acceptable? I mean...really??

So it could have been a 'top up washer level' light? You know it is possible that the engine 'blowing up' is totally unrelated to the light

The-Game

Onkle wrote: »

So it could have been a 'top up washer level' light? You know it is possible that the engine 'blowing up' is totally unrelated to the light

It could also be possible he ran over a land mine causing it to blow up!

jimmycrackcorm

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

My mechanic says that standard practice is to do the basic checks yourself and use the NCT itself as a pre-nct. This is because no matter what a mechanic does, the NCT guys will find something wrong.

That's true, no point really going for these pre checks as the NCT centres have to fail a certain precentage of cars each month. I heard from a lot of people over the years that have been told there cars will pass no bother, went for the NCT and failed.

NCT centre went to fail a mate of mine a few years back for tracking and emissions, car had only be checked out that morning and it was 100%. Good job she had the print out of the pre NCT check with her, car was rechecked there and then and she got her cert, she was told the machine made an error :rolleyes:

high horse

My experience with Advance pitstop in Sligo couldn't be better. The lads there are very friendly, helpful and professional.

Magenta

I bought what I was told were 4 new tyres off them and later found out they were re-moulds.
Advance are too flashy to be any good, if you know what I mean! Better off going to the local mechanic I think.

Raiser

Onkle wrote: »

So it could have been a 'top up washer level' light? You know it is possible that the engine 'blowing up' is totally unrelated to the light

The-Game wrote: »

It could also be possible he ran over a land mine causing it to blow up!

There's Devils Advocate and then there's stretching imaginations past their limit in fairness Onkle. If ya want to consider event sequencing and probability, I've never had a lingering oil light or a seized engine in 17 years of driving - often while dabbling in bangernomics

- If the Advance Pitstop in Limerick was staffed by honest, competent Professionals I'd use them; Will probably play it safe though and wait the ~40 or so years for the present crowd of profiteering Gobdaws to retire first!!!

corktina

hellboy99 wrote: »

That's true, no point really going for these pre checks as the NCT centres have to fail a certain precentage of cars each month. I heard from a lot of people over the years that have been told there cars will pass no bother, went for the NCT and failed.

:rolleyes:

that must be a nonsense. Its all computer controlled...i just got my 10 year old escort NCTd ..had a pre-NCT check with my local garage, passed no problem at all

corktina

For the record, my local advance (Mallow) always give me good service and are very friendly and helpful.They are a bit pricey though i guess, I wouldnt dream of asking them to have a look at the engine though...

dirtydiesel

I have never had a problem with advance, have heard of people saying bad things and good things about them. I will continue to use them as I never take any notice of idle gossip.
OP you come on here slating a national tyre and exhaust company who must be doing something right or else they would be closed down by now.
You say your brothers car blew up! how?
What light was on? and yes it does matter.
You also say you are not sure what the outcome was, well IMO if you want to slate a garage have your facts right and give plenty of detail on the issue.

JHMEG

The only 'horror' story I heard about AP was this:
Advance tyre tender was one of most expensive for Garda

The one and only time I used them was for an exhaust problem and they couldn't have been better.

Magenta

corktina wrote: »

that must be a nonsense. Its all computer controlled...i just got my 10 year old escort NCTd ..had a pre-NCT check with my local garage, passed no problem at all

Out of curiosity how much did you pay for the pre-NCT?

Absurdum

hellboy99 wrote: »

That's true, no point really going for these pre checks as the NCT centres have to fail a certain precentage of cars each month.

absolute bs :rolleyes:

07Lapierre

Frank_Leach wrote: »

Having just read a post from a poor unfortunate who made the mistake of going to Advance Pitstop for a pre-nct check, it reminded me of my brother's costly mistake in actually assuming they may know anything about cars. Basically, he went to them with a warning light lit up, they told him to keep driving it and that it was nothing really. Being new to cars and a trusting sort, he took them at their word, and the car duly blew up a few days later.
Anyone got similar experiences, or some examples of the crazy prices quoted or shoddy work? I hear they are very creative with this pre-nct lark..the recent poster's thread on this makes for good reading..

Thanks folks..

Unless you know what Warning Light came on and what exactly "blew up"..this thread is pointless. I'm no fan of Advance, but with no facts to back you up theres no way you can blame the Advance guys for the problems with your brothers car.

Raiser

The below is on the pre-NCT thread where Advance were looking for €900 from some Fella on the strength of their say-so alone.

You're in dangerous territory when you start mixing Salesman Commission and its inherent temptation to pressurise or fabricate to make money with checks on Cars that People might just pay out of fears for the safety of themselves, Partners and Children.

- I was in the Advance in Limerick before and was told a marvellous story that stopped just short of having 3 Bears, a Wolf and a cuddly blanket!

I wonder how many of the pro Advance People on here would have been treated if they had gone in without happening to be fairly knowledgeable on their Cars and cost aware?

Yes my friends - lube time.......

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Yes. Advance are shysters, a family member left there because he was the only mechanic there (the others were just knuckle draggers who could hardly hold a spanner), he was sick of his pay being related to how much he could "sell" to customers.

I put a car through the NCT that was burning oil like crazy, had major knocking coming from the suspension etc... it passed no probs. Its worth just bringing it in for the NCT and have people who do not have a vested interest in selling you things tell you what needs to be done. Pre-NCT my hole. Why do people do this ?

biko

Whenever I go there I tell them I'll get it fixed somewhere else, just diagnose the issue. They haven't led me up the garden path yet.
The pre-nct lark is just to sell tyres imo.

Drummerboy08

Out of 3,000 cars or thereabouts, I've only came across one problem with Advance recently - they fitted the front pads to a RR Sport upside down.

After that I cant complain. They're generally ok to deal with. I've had more problems with the smaller independant guys to be honest.

Bonito

My sisters at the time boyf. got a new set of alloys with low profiles. Went to advance pit stop to get front tyres changed in advance in swords (my sis brought it up because he was busy with work) They buckled one alloy. Scraped the absolute bollox out of the other one and didn't even balance the tyres but yet they told my sis they done the allignment and tracking :rolleyes:

He went up and ripped into them big time. They then balanced the wheels and gave him a full refund to compensate for the damage done to his new alloys and paid to have the one they buckled replaced.

Suppose can't knock them for solving customer issues but seriously!

W.Shakes-Beer

went to get the tyre put back on after a puncture and came out with a nicely scratched/scuffed alloy rim. Only copped it after i got home unfortunately

blueband

I've had some bad experiences with them, but also with Fast Fit. To be honest, I'd say it's generally hit and miss wherever you go. Could be to do with the one mechanic they have is busy so they give it to an "apprentice" or just the wrong day of the week.

Got two tyres put on my last car, was told to turn up about 3.30 and they'd do it there and then. Got there 5minutes earlier and ended up sitting around til almost 6 cos they were "too busy".
Swore would never go to them again.

Went the next time to Fast Fit for tracking and balancing, dropped the car in the morning and collected at lunch. Drove the car out and around the corner to discover I had to have the steering wheel upside down to get her to go straight. Drove around the block and back in, no apologies or anything. Drove it out 30min later and this time the wheel was at 45degrees to go straight, so in I go third time and again no apologies.
After nearly 1.5 hours of wasting my time I got no refund, no apologies, and in the end the tracking was ALMOST 100% but not quite. Couldn't be bothered going back again for them to arse it up a fourth time.

For the poster who said these guys are national and can't be still running if sh*te, they're still running cos a lot of people know no better, or haven't got a range of choice for getting this stuff done. They get enough business to keep going, but not enough to pay for decent staff.

Bonito

W.Shakes-Beer wrote: »

went to get the tyre put back on after a puncture and came out with a nicely scratched/scuffed alloy rim. Only copped it after i got home unfortunately

Dunno about advance but my mechanic has in his shop "We will not be held responsible to any damage caused to alloys by the tyre fitting machine"

Then again I've never heard of anyone having their alloys damaged at my local mechanics place so trumps to him I guess and it's probably just precautionary. In the odd case where one of his regular customers had an issue of damage I'm more than sure he'd look after them. Very genuine and doesn't bull**** around the place!

Zubeneschamali

Went in with a bad rattle in the exhaust, thinking at least a welding job or maybe new parts needed: up on the lift, the lads called me over and pointed out a broken rubber support. Replaced it, all good and charged me...

€3

Magenta

Oh yeah apparently they tracked and balanced the wheels on my car but there was still the tiniest veer to the left. Although I have gotten conflicting advice off people that the car is supposed to be slightly set to the left so that if you fall asleep behind the wheel the car will go into the hard shoulder/ditch instead of into oncoming traffic. Dunno if it's true. It wasn't enough of a problem to complain about.

Run_to_da_hills

Advance Pitstop = a hands on version of Halfords.

Bonito

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Advance Pitstop = a hands on version of Halfrauds.

Frank_Leach

Onkle wrote: »

So it could have been a 'top up washer level' light? You know it is possible that the engine 'blowing up' is totally unrelated to the light

You got shares in Advance Pitstop or something?

Using your own logic (trying, anyway)....does that still make it alright to just say ah sure, go ahead, it's hardly anything at all....

Are you for real Onkle? Is this moderator playing devils advocate or are you actually being serious. I don't get your thinking here at all...

Theta

Magenta wrote: »

Oh yeah apparently they tracked and balanced the wheels on my car but there was still the tiniest veer to the left. Although I have gotten conflicting advice off people that the car is supposed to be slightly set to the left so that if you fall asleep behind the wheel the car will go into the hard shoulder/ditch instead of into oncoming traffic. Dunno if it's true. It wasn't enough of a problem to complain about.

Most of the time is the camber in the road is sloped towards the edges slighty to allow for drainage. This is why cars veer left I believe, I could be wrong.

mullingar

Theta wrote: »

Most of the time is the camber in the road is sloped towards the edges slighty to allow for drainage. This is why cars veer left I believe, I could be wrong.

You are 100% correct.

Its very dangerous to camber the road to allow water to pool, thats why there is at least 2-3 degrees of camber on 'modern' roads.


Just a general comment on tracking in Advance/Fast-fit etc:

Always, always, inspect the thread wear on your old tyres for even wear.

If they are all even per axle and your steering wheel is straight, IT DOES NOT NEED TRACKING as the tracking is perfect.

If 1 tyre is worn on one side it does need tracking.

Gary ITR

Frank_Leach wrote: »

You got shares in Advance Pitstop or something?

Using your own logic (trying, anyway)....does that still make it alright to just say ah sure, go ahead, it's hardly anything at all....

Are you for real Onkle? Is this moderator playing devils advocate or are you actually being serious. I don't get your thinking here at all...

Are you on drugs? I'm not trying to make anything alright, what I'm saying is you came on here without all of the facts, actually with no facts of the situation badmouthing a company. I personally used advance a lot (Field Sales last 6 years, lotta miles covered) and the biggest complaint I have is that their coffee tastes like what I would Imagine cow piss tastes like. I also brought my own car to them when I had a sticky back break, they took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together and charged me not one cent. Also somebody from the trade posted here commending them too. Of course they are going to make mistakes here and there, who here can honestly say they never made a balls of something in work? I certainly have.

What has me being a moderator got to do with any of this? Did you see me post in a mod capacity on this thread?

mickdw

I remember a thread ages ago relating to advance and a guy who turned up with a golf (I think) and the oil light on. He asks the advance 'mechanic' whether it would be safe to drive. They take car in, have a look and dip it for oil. Seeing that it was full of oil, the 'mechanic' then said it would be fine as it must be an electrical fualt becasue there was loads of oil in it. This may or may not be the story the OP is refering to but it is nothing short of criminal. The car in this case blew up shortly after obviously due to oiling problems.

Atlantic Dawn

JHMEG wrote: »

The only 'horror' story I heard about AP was this:
Advance tyre tender was one of most expensive for Garda

The one and only time I used them was for an exhaust problem and they couldn't have been better.

Nice "free" trips away for the boys in blue making the decisions on what tyres to purchase though :mad:

Advance Pitstop took Garda civilian fleet manager Oliver Hanlon and senior gardai from the Garda transport section on four annual all-expenses-paid golfing trips to England, Spain, Italy and Portugal.

The first trip was in late November 1997, two months before the GSA accepted Advance Pitstop as a government tyre supplier. The last three trips cost Advance £45,000.

Colonel Sanders

My experience of Advance has been horrendous pricing. Stopped going a long time ago. Got a special offer of a half price service once, even at half price it was barely cheaper than the cheapest full price service I was quoted!

They gave me a list of issues that I'd need to get sorted 'next service'. Showed it to my local mechanic (friend of a friend). He gave it the once over and told me most of it wasn't needed at all and one or two of the comments made no sense at all. Asked him hypothetically how much he'd charge to fix everything on the list. He reckons 150ish including one or two small parts, but unless I'd an NCT imminent there was no need. Advance had quoted me 470 + VAT!!