Advance Pitstop Horror Stories

Frank_Leach · 10-02-2010 12:22AM #1

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 · 10-02-2010 12:25AM

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

Gary ITR · 10-02-2010 12:25AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:28AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:28AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:28AM

FunnyStuff wrote: »

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

Wow...that's a fair achievement!

Spanish Eyes · 10-02-2010 12:29AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:29AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:32AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:33AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:35AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:35AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:47AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:47AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:52AM

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 · 10-02-2010 12:56AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:00AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:07AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:07AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:12AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:44AM

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 · 10-02-2010 01:57AM

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!

10-02-2010 02:28AM

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 · 10-02-2010 03:27AM

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

Magenta · 10-02-2010 05:05AM

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 · 10-02-2010 09:23AM

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 · 10-02-2010 09:37AM

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 · 10-02-2010 09:39AM

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 · 10-02-2010 09:55AM

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 · 10-02-2010 10:21AM

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 · 10-02-2010 10:24AM

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?

Advance Pitstop Horror Stories

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