Advice on post-service bad news......but subsequent NCT pass!

Fizman

Right lads currently I'm pretty confused over what to do after events over the past few days.

The '06 Golf GTI (FVWSH) I picked up 4 weeks ago was due a service(69k kms on the clock). It was also exactly 4 years old this week so NCT was due. So Friday night I had the car in for a service, and Saturday afternoon was the NCT. The front tyres looked pretty worn so I had two new ones in the boot that I had asked them to fit as well. Here's how it went....

VW main dealer service (reputable garage) and I went for all filters to be changed, and I also requested for the spark plugs to be done. Full health check done with the following 'notes':

- Needs rear wishbone bushes €160
- Front shocks as left one is leaking €335
- 4 new tyres - rear are unevenly worn
- F+R left wheels are slightly buckled
- Supplied tyres from customer were not fitted due to back wishbone bushings being worn as well as requiring front shocks as well as tracking


The lad I spoke to who showed me this report said there was no point putting on the new tyres for now, as tracking will be required when I get the other stuff done. Said the results were the hallmarks of the car having several nasty encounters with potholes. I was unsure as to put it through the test, but eventually convince myself to do it. He said that the leaking shock should show up, as well as the tyre thread conditions.

Thank christ I did go though. It passed, and the test mechanic didn't bat an eye lid when handing me the results.

Now I'm unsure as to what to do. Get a second opinion is what I'm thinking?? I could bring it to my indy mechanic I used on my old Golf, who could lift the car and check for buckles as well as shocks and bushes??

Any ideas? Sorry for long post but this was a lot of info for me to receive in 2 days so I wanted to get it all up here!!!!

Any suggestions appreciated lads!

BrianD3

So you were given a list of things that were wrong yet the car still passed the NCT

Re: tyres - unevenly worn tyres is not necessarily an NCT failure as long as the middle 75% of the tyre has at least 1.6 mm of tread. The garage should know this and should advise. Obviously it is preferable not to run your tyres to the bare minimum. But if the garage was trying to imply that the car would fail the NCT and it subsequently passed, that would set off alarm bells for me.

It is quite surprising that the NCT did not spot the supposedly leaking shock.

Is the garage quoting you to replace both front shocks? No need to do this if the other one is not leaking, especially on a car with only 69k kms.

Overall I would have enough doubts about this to be bringing the car for a 2nd opinion.

Fizman

Yes the guy who spoke with me said that he recommended that both front shocks get replaced.

He also gave me the number of a wheel specialist to sort out the buckles.

I think I'll certainly be getting a second opinion as what he is speaking of comes to over €500. Add two rear tyres to that and I'm talking another €200.

falabo

A couple of years ago a considerate motorist reversed into the front of my car and drove away. The impact done no visible damage but broke the reflectors in the front headlamps. I failed the NCT due to the focus and beam height which could no longer be adjusted. So I took the car to a well reputed dealer in Dublin.

The dealer told me I needed both headlamps replaced and that the automatically levelling lamps were needed. This was not right, there was no levelling feature in the car. So I told the dealer to order ONE of the cheaper items without the self levelling feature and when I could afford it I'd return for the second. Both headlamps would have to be delivered from Belgium.

When the dealer fitted the first headlamp it cost me about €500 all in. I decided that I wasn't going to return for the second headlamp because when they fitted the first one they had scraped the paint around the lamp badly. I decided to buy and have the second lamp fitted elsewhere.

However, the dealer repeatedly called me to tell me my second headlamp had been delivered and they were waiting for me to come in and have it fitted. I refused to on the grounds that they had damaged the paintwork first time and I had found them rather surly and unpleasant to deal with.

A couple of weeks later I was doing the first evening time and reasonably long distance journey home to Dublin from Kilkenny. With the headlights in use because it was dusk, the master fuse blew under the bonnet. Why? Because a fire had started in the headlamp that was to be replaced. When I inspected the lamp the following day in daylight, I discovered a small piece of soft and clearly highly flammable fabric had been stuffed into the lamp at the back of the bulb around the wiring. The pattern on the fabric looked like something from a toddler or baby's clothing. This was not a modification I had made and I don't have any kids. Clearly, someone in the garage wanted to ensure I was returning for the headlamp they had decided I was going to be forced to buy from them. But I had no proof that the garage had done this, so I never returned to them with a complaint.

In the end I put the car through the NCT with just one new headlamp and it passed.

Something similarly devious thing happened to my dad years ago too when he had his tyres replaced in Kilkenny. A couple of miles down the road he hit the brakes only for sparks to pour off both front wheels. When he examined the car at home he discovered the garage had placed coins between the front brake discs and pads on each side. My dad DID return to the garage to tackle them on it and only met with abuse and denial of any wrongdoing.

It is quite terrifying to think that this sort of stuff goes on.

Andrew33

I wouldnt worry about the buckled alloys as long as they dont effect the tyres.

WTF!!!!!

Fizman

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I wouldnt worry about the buckled alloys as long as they dont effect the tyres.

Surely buckled alloys will affect the tyres in that there will be uneven thread wear, similar to the issue he brought up regarding my rear tyres?

That's some scary stuff there falabo. I'm not suggesting there is any ulterior motive with the dealer here, but something does feel very odd.

I think I'll give the indy mechanic I had been using a buzz tomorrow and see what he thinks. I'll definitely be leaving off my two new tyres until I get all this sorted!

Just because it passed the NCT would not mean that the garages comments were untrue. Shocks should be replaced in pairs, I would be surprised if a main dealer only replaced one, if the imbalance across the axle was not too far out the car would pass the shocktest, a leaking shock may well go unnoticed in an NCT with the visual inspection. The rear suspension components are no doubt worn too as observed by the garage.

You'd be surprised what passes the NCT

BrianD3

RoverJames wrote: »

Just because it passed the NCT would not mean that the garages comments were untrue. Shocks should be replaced in pairs, I would be surprised if a main dealer only replaced one, if the imbalance across the axle was not too far out the car would pass the shocktest, a leaking shock may well go unnoticed in an NCT with the visual inspection. The rear suspension components are no doubt worn too as observed by the garage.

You'd be surprised what passes the NCT

I'd have more faith in the competence of NCT testers than in that of many garages. Let's see what the 2nd garage says, then we'll have a better idea whether the first one was correct or not.

And there is no need to replace shocks in pairs if the one on the other side is OK and especially at low mileage. I have had one shock replaced by a main dealer and had 0% imbalance in the NCT shortly afterwards. The new shock had ~170k fewer miles on it than the one on the other side.

Indeed, we shall see what the 2nd garage says
Replacing shocks in pairs is good practice, having a single car with 0 imbalance across an axle when one shock is 170K miles fresher than the opposite is hardly evidence to suggest otherwise. Still as the one on the Golf is leaking at an early age one would be fine, still on a high performance car not doing both is hardly wise, on a ropey thing with the guts of 170K miles on it I can fully understand why you went with only one. Someone wins the lotto most weeks, there is still practically f all chance I'll win it.

The test equipment in the NCT centres have fairly loose tolerances too I imagine, I had the a car retested within an hour of the fail last summer and it was 160kg heavier on the lane next to the one it failed on earlier. The difference in tester weight was about 30kg being generous.

Fizman

The one thing that made me nearly fall off my seat in the service office.....initially when he came over he had a scribbled list, and on it he had the price of 2 new 18" Monzas.

€1250!!!

I was like "eh"?

He said the two left wheels were buckled, but didn't look like they were beyond repair. Gave me the number of an alloy specialist and said it'd be about €60-70 a wheel to sort out the buckle.

This guy is based in Cork, although I'm aware that there is a guy in Tipp Town who is apparently the dogs when it comes to wheels.

Before contacting them I might get my indy mechanic to hoist the car and inspect the wheels, shocks and bushes.

Oh the joys of motoring!