Problem after Service

Danbo!

I left my car (MkIV Golf) in for a service yesterday for which I was quoted €180. Got a phonecall half way through the day to clear up some issues I had told the guy about, and very quickly the price ended up at €330. I had mentioned shaking in steering at 110-120kmh, so he said balancing would be 30, the other extras were wipers which I said I'd do myself, new pollen filter, and a cv boot. He also swapped front and back tyres and told me I may need new back tyres soon (what were the front tyres).

Now I didnt pick up the car myself, but when I eventually got it last night I wanted to see if there was any shaking in the steering, so headed for the M50. As soon as I started driving I realised the steering wheel was off to the left by about 10 degrees, i.e. if I hold the wheel straight, car goes right. I rang him up and told him this and he said that there's wear on the tyres, he didnt do any aligning so I could drop it back in and he'd undo the tyre swap for €50. This is killing me financially as I insured the car on Friday (€800) and taxed it on saturday (€333).

Any advice?

ARGINITE

he didnt do any aligning so I could drop it back in and he'd undo the tyre swap for €50

WTF!
Go back and have a strong word with the guy.
If that fails change them yourself, all you need is a jack and a few blocks.

Danbo!

ARGINITE wrote: »

WTF!
Go back and have a strong word with the guy.
If that fails change them yourself, all you need is a jack and a few blocks.

Sorry I dont know a whole lot about servicing, would that mess up the balance he did? And while I'd like to have the steering problem fixed, I also assume he swapped front and back for a reason and I paid for it, so why undo it?

People may laugh at this, but is it ok to drive? Have to head up to Louth in a while.

ARGINITE

It should be fine to drive.
The tracking is most lightly out causing the problem you are experiencing.

I didn't thing switching the tires from the front to the back would have caused this problem though! If he did balance them then I guess there is no point switching them back.

But I would wonder why the tracking is off?

Bonito

Hang on. He charged you 30 euro for wheel balancing. Then another 50 for the tyre rotation. Then when you ring he tells you he didn't do the balance because there was wear on the tyres and if you pop back in to him he wants another 50 to put the tyres back to their original position?

My opinion: Tell him were to go. Feckin chancer! Rotate the wheels yourself.

Danbo!

Bonito wrote: »

Hang on. He charged you 30 euro for wheel balancing. Then another 50 for the tyre rotation. Then when you ring he tells you he didn't do the balance because there was wear on the tyres and if you pop back in to him he wants another 50 to put the tyres back to their original position?

My opinion: Tell him were to go. Feckin chancer! Rotate the wheels yourself.

No, it was 30 for balance and he said he didnt do an alignment. He said if I came back in he'd switch them back and then align them, and that'd be 50 quid. I've no idea the difference between balancing an alignment so I'd like to go up there like I know what I'm talking about. A relation who knows a bit more is gonna take a look tonight.

Bonito

Stee wrote: »

No, it was 30 for balance and he said he didnt do an alignment. He said if I came back in he'd switch them back and then align them, and that'd be 50 quid. I've no idea the difference between balancing an alignment so I'd like to go up there like I know what I'm talking about. A relation who knows a bit more is gonna take a look tonight.

Balance is having the tyre weight spread evenly to avoid steering wheel vibration

Alignment is having the tyres pointing in the proper direction in relation to the steering wheel. Check the studs are tight after they rotation.

biko

Well, to me it seems clear that whatever he did didn't work and even made it worse.
The least this joker can do is to put things back the way they were, for nothing.