Service recommendations from Advance Pitstop

Gecko13

Hi just looking for some information if anyone has some.I brought my car for a service with advance pitstop.I have been given a list of things that need to be done too my car for the nct in May.it's coming to the stage now where I might just have to hang up my keys as I can't keep pumping money into the car.had a exhaust fitted in January .there saying for the nct I need front and rear discs and break pads at the coat of €460.And the rest of the jobs can be done after the test including a gear box mount and caliper and some hoses.caliper is €190 and no price as yet for gear box mount but he said a couple of hundred.I'm so disappointed I've been driving since I was 21 and drive a 02 fiat stilo.unfortunately I've been stuck buying cars down the years as I can't afford to go up the years as most the money goes into keeping the cars on the road.this has really knocked me for six I drive very little mileage but its my independence and extortionate prices from garages driving me out of the market.has anyone experienced this?any info out there.

testicles

This post has been deleted.

Toyotafanboi

Don't do anything recommended by AP for the time being, take it to the NCT, they will tell you what needs doing, then get a quote for those items only and see where you are.

That said, you are right, a 02 Stilo that's in I'll health isn't much else than a money pit at this point.

mullingar

I'm convinced that Advance's business model is to replace parts that are NOT needed.

Throw it through the nct and find an independent garage.


Edit, does an 02 Stilo have rear discs?

CiniO

mullingar wrote: »

I'm convinced that Advance's business model is to replace parts that are NOT needed.

Throw it through the nct and find an independent garage.

Ideally find a a spec for minimum disc thickness, and measure them. That's the only way to know if they need replacing or not (maybe except from mechanical damage which can be seen visually)


Edit, does an 02 Stilo have rear discs?[/QUOTE]

Yes, it does.

RustyNut

Where are you based OP? Someone on here can probably recommend a good indy mechanic near you that could give you a second opinion.

enricoh

Get a scrap stilo, I Know a lad who collects scrap cars n a scrapper probably would drop one for e100
Rob everything off it n get him to collect the remains a week later.

khaldrogo

testicles wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Absolute rubbish.

How many years have you been working as a mechanic in a main dealer???

I have many years in various main dealers under my belt and I can promise you IF they don't give the service to the apprentice the mechanic will NOT be as thorough as me or my mechanic would be in my depot.

Wipe your mouth.....

khaldrogo

mullingar wrote:

I'm convinced that Advance's business model is to replace parts that are NOT needed.

Nope

khaldrogo

I've said this so many times it should be a sticky at this stage;

We measure min disc thickness and advise replacement accordingly.

The discs may be 2/3 mm below min thickness and as long as they are balanced they will past the NCT. This does NOT mean WHOEVER recommended the discs was wrong or trying to rob you. It means the NCT is a load of crap.

It also means that even if the pads are brand new(usually replaced by the main dealer mechanic) but the discs is below min then the pads AND discs need to be replaced as you can't use old pads on new discs.

I only had a lady in last week. She had it serviced in a Toyota main dealer and they put pads on to discs you could have eaten soup out of.

Bmw123d

Gecko13 wrote: »

Hi just looking for some information if anyone has some.I brought my car for a service with advance pitstop.I have been given a list of things that need to be done too my car for the nct in May.it's coming to the stage now where I might just have to hang up my keys as I can't keep pumping money into the car.had a exhaust fitted in January .there saying for the nct I need front and rear discs and break pads at the coat of €460.And the rest of the jobs can be done after the test including a gear box mount and caliper and some hoses.caliper is €190 and no price as yet for gear box mount but he said a couple of hundred.I'm so disappointed I've been driving since I was 21 and drive a 02 fiat stilo.unfortunately I've been stuck buying cars down the years as I can't afford to go up the years as most the money goes into keeping the cars on the road.this has really knocked me for six I drive very little mileage but its my independence and extortionate prices from garages driving me out of the market.has anyone experienced this?any info out there.

I wouldn’t let advance pit stop near a bike never mind a car. Trust me I’ve seen some of there handy work and there so called mechanics. Second thing is people always get sucked in by there price advertising. But it never works out.
Secondly how can they say oh it needs a caliper but it will be fine for the nct absolute gobs**ites if the caliper is seized it will be picked up on the nct. Don’t go back near them clowns.
I feel sorry for you because these boys are cowboys

EPAndlee

If its brakes hoses that needs changing then it will probably fail the test on them

Bmw123d

khaldrogo wrote: »

Absolute rubbish.

How many years have you been working as a mechanic in a main dealer???

I have many years in various main dealers under my belt and I can promise you IF they don't give the service to the apprentice the mechanic will NOT be as thorough as me or my mechanic would be in my depot.
No one took a personal dig at you

Wipe your mouth.....

No one took a personal dig at you.
People are just stating the facts and the information has being put out there for everyone to see not only today but for a long time. That advance pit stop are the pits.
I’m my place I hear horror story after horror story about the lads up there. And to be quite honest I’ve seen and spoke to some of there mechanics and talk about clueless it’s a understatement

khaldrogo

Jesus Christ!!! Paragraphs maybe? And a drop of punctuation would be good......

Also, their not there.

Lastly, you drive a BMW. You should be well used to disappointment.

Bmw123d wrote:

I wouldn’t let advance pit stop near a bike never mind a car. Trust me I’ve seen some of there handy work and there so called mechanics. Second thing is people always get sucked in by there price advertising. But it never works out. Secondly how can they say oh it needs a caliper but it will be fine for the nct absolute gobs**ites if the caliper is seized it will be picked up on the nct. Don’t go back near them clowns. I feel sorry for you because these boys are cowboys

khaldrogo

Bmw123d wrote:

.................... That advance pit stop are the pits. I’m my place I hear horror story after horror story about the lads up there. And to be quite honest I’ve seen and spoke to some of there mechanics and talk about clueless it’s a understatement

33 branches nation wide. You've spoken to how many mechanics in these places exactly?

Each branch has 1 or 2 qualified mechanics depending on the size. It may have 2/3/4/5 other staff there who, while well experienced and capable, are not qualified mechanics.

We hear plenty of horror stories from main dealers too. I've worked in 8 different main dealers in positions ranging from apprentice to Aftersales manager. I've seen it all, it just gets covered up easier due to access to warranty.

Now, if you want to supply me with a reg number or invoice number you have that supports your liable I can look into it on Tuesday. Otherwise be quiet.

Bmw123d

khaldrogo wrote: »

Jesus Christ!!! Paragraphs maybe? And a drop of punctuation would be good......

Also, their not there.

Lastly, you drive a BMW. You should be well used to disappointment.

Someone is very touchy. I’m just stating facts hear and there true facts. Yes I drive a bmw and yes I work on bmws but then again I’d guess someone working in advance pit stop wouldn’t get to work on a bmw.

Measure disc thickness haven’t seen anyone do that in years. A highly trained mechanic will no buy looking at a disc if it needs changing or if they can be let go till the next service.

Bmw123d

khaldrogo wrote: »

33 branches nation wide. You've spoken to how many mechanics in these places exactly?

Each branch has 1 or 2 qualified mechanics depending on the size. It may have 2/3/4/5 other staff there who, while well experienced and capable, are not qualified mechanics.

We hear plenty of horror stories from main dealers too. I've worked in 8 different main dealers in positions ranging from apprentice to Aftersales manager. I've seen it all, it just gets covered up easier due to access to warranty.

Now, if you want to supply me with a reg number or invoice number you have that supports your liable I can look into it on Tuesday. Otherwise be quiet.

Also my last point there is a reason I’d say you have worked in so many different places ...........

Now u quite. I was only trying to have a debate

khaldrogo

Bmw123d wrote:

Measure disc thickness haven’t seen anyone do that in years. A highly trained mechanic will no buy looking at a disc if it needs changing or if they can be let go till the next service.

This tells me everything I need to know about you.

Do you guess torque settings too? PM where you work so I can avoid it please.

Minimum thicknesses are set by the manufacturer of the part. If the discs get too thin they can get too hot under prolonged/extreme braking and can result in brake fade. Brake fade, despite popular belief, is not actually the discs heat causing the pads to become ineffective, it is actually the heat from the overheating discs causing the moisture/air in the brake line to expand, thus making the pedal soft/spongy.

Would you like me to pay your place a visit and explain this in person to you? I can bring a micrometer for you to measure the discs.

serfboard

OP, this happened to me several years ago.

Took my car to Advance Pitstop, because they were offering a free preNCT check and my mechanic didn't do that. They recommended that I needed a whole lot of stuff done that would cost several hundred euro.

Took their list down to my mechanic. For one of the items he told me: "To come to that conclusion they would need a roller and the only place in Galway that has a roller is the NCT centre itself".

He then said: "Put it through the test. If it fails, come back to me with the list and I'll sort it".

I put it through the NCT.

It passed.

khaldrogo

Bmw123d wrote:

Also my last point there is a reason I’d say you have worked in so many different places ...........

Yes, because I wanted to expand my knowledge base and not be an stuck to one make and have no clue about everything else. Also, being head hunted helps too.
I'm out of main dealers 9 years now and wouldn't go back if you paid me. The freedom of being able to turn away the crap work that main dealers HAVE to take is great. No days spent tracing wiring issues, no pulling dashes out to find a tiny rattle, no more PDIs.

Monokne

My experience with both advanced pitstop and fast fit/quick fit type places has been that you drop it in wanting X done and they then tell you it needs Y, Z and a whole bunch of other things done. I made the mistake of just blindly believing them a few times and paying the many hundreds of euro. One time, pre NCT, they advised me I had in excess of €900 worth of repairs due. I couldn't afford it so I said I'd gamble on the NCT and come back to them. The car passed the NCT and ran perfectly without anything done to it for a further 18 months until sold.

I had an issue with an engine light on a car that wasn't running right and brought it in. They told me the engine was misfiring and that plugs, coils & leads needed replacing. They said they'd do the lot for €290. I held off and brought it to my mechanic and asked him to replace them. He replaced all the above for less than a hundred quid, then discovered the issue was actually an injector that needed to be replaced. Replacing the rest made no difference.

From now on, I wouldn't use these places for anything other than tyres or bulbs.

I would not outright accuse them of making things up, but certainly the impression I and most people I have spoken with have about them is that they look for the most minuscule 'problems' to repair/replace & generate the max income possible. It would be fair to say I have not found them to be trustworthy.

khaldrogo

serfboard wrote:

He then said: "Put it through the test. If it fails, come back to me with the list and I'll sort it".

Me personally, and I don't work in Galway, would nearly always recommend the customer put the car through the NCT first if the car is over 10 years old or has massive mileage.

Also, if we did check a car over and the bill was crazy money, more than the car is worth, I would advise against spending the money.

Lastly, the NCT test is an absolute joke. They love failing on headlight alignment but can't find broken springs!

khaldrogo

Monokne wrote:

......He replaced all the above for less than a hundred quid.......

Of course he did cos he has little or no overheads. Probably isn't paying tax/PAYE/prsi or insurance or water charges or massive electric bills....

I suppose you post about Tesco ripping you off for selling a bag of carrots for 2.50 when it only cost them 15c???

khaldrogo

Listen, before I worked in these types of places I thought everything you think.

Some of the best lads I've worked with have been in these places. Some of the worst too, but there's bad and good everywhere. It just pisses me off with these baseless posts about how bad they/we are mostly from people who never used us or haven't in years but still hold the same opinion.

Germany wasn't great on human rights once upon a time........do we still form our present day opinion of them based on this or do we take them as we find them now?

I've had enough at this stage.......slate away

Bmw123d

Once a opinion has being formed it tends to stick that’s the problem.

The issue is what all these customers are mentioning they all can’t be making it up.

Me personally I don’t work in a main dealer we actually sick to 3 brands which are at the higher end of the market. And I don’t doubt for a second that’ there are good and bad people in every place the thing main dealers or Indy garages are they usually have most of the employees that are on top of there game to help out with the ones that are struggling abit.

Monokne

khaldrogo wrote: »

Listen, before I worked in these types of places I thought everything you think.

Some of the best lads I've worked with have been in these places. Some of the worst too, but there's bad and good everywhere. It just pisses me off with these baseless posts about how bad they/we are mostly from people who never used us or haven't in years but still hold the same opinion.

Germany wasn't great on human rights once upon a time........do we still form our present day opinion of them based on this or do we take them as we find them now?

I've had enough at this stage.......slate away

'Baseless posts' as in first hand customer experience?

Never used or haven't in years?

Can speak for no one else, but the issue I had with the engine light was in January.

I try very hard to debate issues rather than people on Boards because I find the latter obnoxious, but given that over your previous 5 or 6 posts you've dismissed everyone's experience as nonsense, slated someone for driving a BMW, made a derisory, and stupid remark about the price of carrots in tesco, sarcastically offered to show someone how to measure discs, etc, etc it feels like obnoxious is right up your street, so I'll be direct:

Could you consider the possibility that the experience's and opinons of the unbiased majority who've posted in this thread who have no specific reason to dislike these places other than the service they have received do, incredibly enough, have some merit, and it's possible that you are not 100% right, 100% of the time?

I get the impression you would not consider this were it not directly put to you so I thought I'd cut to the chase.

And for the record, I've two pet bunnies so I go through a LOT of carrots and I buy them all in Tesco because I find their prices reasonable, and best of all, I don't end up being conned into spending €200 on brocoli, cabbage and other assorted veg while I'm there.

CiniO

khaldrogo wrote: »

Of course he did cos he has little or no overheads. Probably isn't paying tax/PAYE/prsi or insurance or water charges or massive electric bills....

I suppose you post about Tesco ripping you off for selling a bag of carrots for 2.50 when it only cost them 15c???

How do you know he's not paying tax/PRSI?

And insurance - I didn't know it's obligatory for a mechanic/garage. Why would it be.

And how is he not paying water charges or electricity bills? Are you saying he's getting electricity for free?

Your reply makes little sense here.

CiniO

khaldrogo wrote: »

Listen, before I worked in these types of places I thought everything you think.

Some of the best lads I've worked with have been in these places. Some of the worst too, but there's bad and good everywhere. It just pisses me off with these baseless posts about how bad they/we are mostly from people who never used us or haven't in years but still hold the same opinion.

I actually used Advanced pitstop once for very simple job and was happy out.
I asked them to remove my locking nuts as locking key went missing. They removed it straight away and put standard nuts (second hand). They charged me literally few quid.
I wouldn't use them for any bigger jobs though, due to opinions I heard.

Germany wasn't great on human rights once upon a time........do we still form our present day opinion of them based on this or do we take them as we find them now?

I still base my opinion about them on their history.

DaveyDave

Several people have mentioned Advanced Pitstop have tried to con them out of money, there isn't really any defending that. They may well be good mechanics but the shady business practices negates their skills. If you don't have customers and customer service your skills are useless.

Damien360

How many times have we seen BMW and Audi threads about main dealers ripping off customers for a car service. Loads. Add pretty much every main dealer.

Advance pitstop is a brand. Saying one is crap and therefore all are crap is ridiculous. Just like main dealers you have good and bad ones.

There is a long running thread in here with comments from mechanics about people bringing in heaps of junk, expecting a fix for pennies and complaining about the cost of a fix that could save them. Dodgy brakes anyone ?

Advanced pitstop likely gets the vast majority of these people as they are beyond going to main dealers and their prices. And boy do we like to complain on the internet about the tyre dealer trying to tell us to remove the tyres with 1mm on them. Sure they still have life in them.

StereoSound

One of these tyre/exhaust type places made a balls of a steering gator for me a few years back. It got all twisted and tore a few days later and they had to redo it again. Luckily I checked and noticed it was torn. I wouldn't go near these type of places again. They are good for tyres and exhausts and that's it.

HappyAsLarE

Tis a thin line.

On one hand we have people that haven’t a bloody breeze saying they were told something is wrong with their car but it passed the NCT so Hah!

On the other you have Advance Pitstop places that are trying to rip people off by changing pads and disks regardless of condition.

There is a mix of both. The truth always falls somewhere in the middle.

I tend not to trust anyone with my car, which causes some personal hardship I must admit.

Toyotafanboi

The problem with the motor trade is it's such an easy trade for one person to berate another based on matter of opinion alone.

With plumbers, a pipe is either leaking or it is not
With carpenters, a joint is either tight or it is not

Etc etc,

Ask 5 different mechanics to inspect the same part worn tyre and you'll get 5 different opinions on its condition and none of them may be incorrect.

George Dalton

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The problem with the motor trade is it's such an easy trade for one person to berate another based on matter of opinion alone.

Agree completely. Another common example would be where Garage A recommends doing a job properly by replacing brake pads and discs costing €200 and then the customer takes the car to Garage B who just throws in a cheap set of pads for €65. Customer now thinks Garage A was trying to rip them off but the reality is that they were completely correct.