Good old kwik Fit

[chriswt]

Got the new car home last week and a friendly neighbour pointed out that I had low tyre pressure on the front and rear n/s wheels.

These were almost new Conti Sports 2's and I didn't fancy replacing them.

As kwik kit are were just down the road I popped the car in to get it checked out thinking most things can be repaired..."nar mate, too close to the edge, you gonna need new tyres geez and I can't see a puncha on the fronn, must be a rim leak"

After tapping on his computer he found some matching conti's for £180 each

Now I am well aware avoiding kwik fit and so told him just to pump them and I'd get them cheaper else where. He said he could reduce them to £160 but I declined.

Anyway after a call to Queens Park Tyres in Billericay in Essex I got the tyres for £105 front and £129 rear so I asked them to order them in for me. Went to get them fitted yesterday (drove all the way from the edge of North London) and they said they could repair the tyres instead which cost £19 all in even though I was ready to part with £235 cash.

The moral of the story is too support our small indie businesses because good honest ones seem to be like Gold dust. Queens park tyres have never let me down in 10 years and despite being an hour drive away I'll probably use them for another 10.

 

[janner]

Kwik-Fit exhausts last one month longer than whatever the warranty is.
They've got it down to a fine art.

 

[imadoofus]

But they do offer lifetime warranty on brakes and exhausts.

 

[television]

But they do offer lifetime warranty on brakes and exhausts.

Thats easy for them to do, as they make such a lousy job of what ever they touch. the car never drives the same again, and the owners often just get peeded off and sell the car

 

[imadoofus]

We've been down this particular road before. I have used Kwik Fit for many years on a variety of cars, and I have never had any reason to complain; I've always been very happy witht he owrk they have done.

I am not prepared to be called a tw@t by association because I continue to use them, even though everybody apparently knows better than me!

 

[television]

We've been down this particular road before. I have used Kwik Fit for many years on a variety of cars, and I have never had any reason to complain; I've always been very happy witht he owrk they have done.

I am not prepared to be called a tw@t by association because I continue to use them, even though everybody apparently knows better than me!

I think that is fair comment, as it does depend on the team that run the branch,,, most complaints are about wheel balancing

 

[robert.saunders]

I haven't used kwik for ages, but my local ATS is just fine, very small outlet, good guys; lad I know there does ace job, inc fitting 'on the side' bless 'im

Did I have the MB balanced at Kwik or ATS? No

 

[crockers]

Kwik Fit have supplied all my Company car tyres - but privately I just find them too expensive. I can only assume corporate discounts and all that....

No complaints about quality of their work in Swindon - just their prices

Oh ...and welcome home Malcolm...........

 

[ddentrec]

You are being ripped off. Full stop.

New Continental Sport Contact 2's are £52 each from Saxon Gate Tyres in Biggleswade, fitted and balanced.

No fancy waiting lounge, broken coffee machine but helpful staff.

Address: Unit 7, London Road Trading Estate, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8PS, UK
Telephone: (01767) 314125

 

[robert.saunders]

Gosh, Saxon Gate! That brings back memories! (I grew up in Everton, my sister lived at Biggleswade once!)

 

[rf065]

You are being ripped off. Full stop.

New Continental Sport Contact 2's are £52 each from Saxon Gate Tyres in Biggleswade, fitted and balanced.

No fancy waiting lounge, broken coffee machine but helpful staff.

Address: Unit 7, London Road Trading Estate, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8PS, UK
Telephone: (01767) 314125

Does that mean I could have got my 245/40X17's for £52 each?
For that price I would have had a look at the broken coffee machine while I waited.

Russ

 

[Dryce]

Thats easy for them to do, as they make such a lousy job of what ever they touch. the car never drives the same again, and the owners often just get peeded off and sell the car

You're Waaa.....aaay to cynical.

The lifetime guarantee is a scam of sorts but only in terms of customer expectation. The majority of the cars will have been sold or passed on well before there would be any claim barring a few exceptions (typically an old codger who keeps his Ford Sierra or Nissan Bluebird going year after year after year and remembers he paid for the guarantee).

Kwik Fit are highly variable. We use them on and off depending on whether we get to know the local staff. Our local shop has helped me out on a couple of occasions and been quite willing to repair tyres.

Problem is that the organisation's customer strategy is based on the local branches trying to screw people and then back down once a customer starts to haggle. It creates a bad taste on those who get gouged and a cynical attitude amongst those willing to put in the energy to push.

Of course this is true of the car market as well.

 

[Will]

I'm sure there's plenty of bad Kwik-Fits out there, but like Imadoofus, I personally haven't got a complaint against them from the dealings I've had over the years.

They fitted a complete exhaust to a 3.9 V8 Range Rover that I owned over 4 years ago, and it was a tidy job

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=4862&highlight=kwik-fit+range+rover

My father now has the car, and it's still doing well today, no rust, no rattles or blows, looks like it'll last a good few more years yet (the car and the exhuast!)

I have had much worse experiences with Audi main dealers personally

Will

 

[crockers]

You are being ripped off. Full stop.

New Continental Sport Contact 2's are £52 each from Saxon Gate Tyres in Biggleswade, fitted and balanced.

No fancy waiting lounge, broken coffee machine but helpful staff.

Address: Unit 7, London Road Trading Estate, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8PS, UK
Telephone: (01767) 314125

That's an amazing price.............almost too good to be true...

 

[Will]

I would say so too, never heard of continental tyres for those size AMG wheels (17") being available so cheaply?

Ddentrec, are you sure they're not for smaller wheels - eg 15" or something?

Will

 

[chriswt]

You are being ripped off. Full stop.

New Continental Sport Contact 2's are £52 each from Saxon Gate Tyres in Biggleswade, fitted and balanced.

No fancy waiting lounge, broken coffee machine but helpful staff.

Address: Unit 7, London Road Trading Estate, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8PS, UK
Telephone: (01767) 314125

Which size are £52?

I don't think I could trust buying 225/45/17's and 245/40/17's at that price!!

 

[Shude]

I took a car into Kwik Fit a few years ago to have a broken handbrake cable replaced. I told them the exhaust was blowing a bit and the brakes sometimes made a bit of a grinding noise too. "No problem!" I was told, "we will give it a free brake and exhaust check!". Fully expecting them to tell me I needed a new backbox and a full new set of discs and pads I was told that the car was fine and was charged about £20-30 or something for the handbrake repair. Not bad really.

I took my (different) car into Kwik Fit back in late 2004 with a grinding noise at the back and was told that the rear pads were 100% gone and I was braking with calipers straight onto the discs (suspected this was so...) and the rear discs and pads were replaced for a pretty reasonable amount of money. Later the fronts were done by MB during a service. See if you can guess which set started squeaking after only a couple of weeks... Yep, the ones MB changed!

Meanwhile Kwik Fit were the company that told another member on this forum that Winter tyres weren't made any more (!) so they still have some work to do. Also their aircon recharge service makes no mathematical sense.

Conclusion: they are all different, if one seems good then stick to it but don't expect them all to be good. Bit like everything else really!

 

[jaymanek]

its even more variable than that. Our local one has one experienced mechanic and the rest are all teenage monkeys that havent a clue.. it depends on WHO actually works on your car too, not just which branch.. but this is true for any garage you may go to..

 

[jeremytaylor]

Queens park tyres have never let me down in 10 years and despite being an hour drive away I'll probably use them for another 10.

We've used them for over 20 years now and know the proprietor. The Queens Park branch is just down the road from work in ... er Queens Park (well, more Kensal Green really) and they have branches in Harlesden and Hammersmith as well. Didn't know they were out east as well, though.

 

[chriswt]

We've used them for over 20 years now and know the proprietor. The Queens Park branch is just down the road from work in ... er Queens Park (well, more Kensal Green really) and they have branches in Harlesden and Hammersmith as well. Didn't know they were out east as well, though.

I couldn't say whether they were the same company, the place in Billericay certainly doesn't look like it belongs to a bigger chain but then again its cheap because its basic.

As for Kwik-Fit being different from place to place, it all comes down to the guys that work their and the attitude of their management. I didn't mean to tar each and every Kwik-fit with the same brush.