Scoboblio Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Mr Lover's thread regarding a wheel falling off at 70mph got me thinking about everyone else's experiences with cowboy garages. Personally I've been very lucky and never had what I'd call a monumentally bad experience, but I was turned away from a wheel alignment centre because my Ford Mondeo was apparantly "too low" to fit on the ramps The fact I was also under 25 also led me to believe I wasn't welcome in their establishment so I left. So bring it on..... lets hear your stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supralookin Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I don't have a garage so I can't comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edd_t Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 oh god mines bad! i bought my MGF, someone reversed into me! ok so i took it to the garage to sort, they mended the rear quarter fine, but where the inpact was it had damaged a collant pipe, they didnt notice. i picked the car up all happy, drove 2 miles down the road, and bang! Head gasket went! grrrr. took it back to them, they repaired it, after trying to sell me a new engine. but whilst putting antifreeze in the system they spilt it all over the new rear quarter they just repaired!!! so that had to go in for another re-spray! i can home early to collect the car after that respray, only to find the mechanics doing a burnout in the car, and seeing in the same area some donut marks, was not pleased at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supragal Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoboblio Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 Sorry Rosie, just seeing if anyone can beat yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outatime Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Mine isn't that bad, my Jeep had a problem with the fuel sender so I took it to a Chrysler garage who proceeded to remove the fuel tank, which was full. It was somewhat heavier than they expected and smashed straight through the exhaust. A mate of mine works for a franchise VW/Audi garage, some of the stuff they get up to you would persuade you steer clear of any dealer approved places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
how_supra Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 5 weeks to swap an engine over on my FTO. Book time is 12 hours. But Rosie still wins hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Rosie, you really fuck up these threads don't you -Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
how_supra Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 okay lets go for the second worst garage tale then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Corsa I had and crashed the rear quarter panel in. Had to go back three times before they got it right. I couldn't believe that tried to hand it to me with massive marble type marks all in the lacquer. Same car Vauxhall changed the oil and tightened the sump plug up too much that it threaded the alloy sump causing it to leak all the time. B*stards wouldn't take responsibility for it though so I ended up fitting a new sump. My fault - Rebuilt my Pinto the first time around in the kitcar and missed out a small oil pump shaft location jobby. This then caused the shaft to snap..oil starvation and horrible grinding noises from the engine. Bottom end rebuild - luckily it wasn't too bad as I stopped very quickly. Took the kitcar to a supposedly good Ford tuner Seven Valley Motosport for setup and tuning. It came back worse. They hadn't spotted I'd used the wrong combination of ignition components and clearly didn't seem to know what a Webber 45 carb was. B*stards wouldn't refund me either despite my loudest voice. I'm sure there's more if I think hard enough.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Ok i'm new around these parts, Rosie can you spill? Or point me in the direction of the thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotasuprauk Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I think Suprawomen and Supragal are probably joint first! At least Supragal has some sort of car at the moment but Suprawomen's looks as if its been in the scrap yard for 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_y3k Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 i think i might be able to take second place ..... Took the supra to a local garage to get the radiator changed to a fluidyine one. They had the car for 2 days, and on day 2 called to say the head gasket had gone and did i want it sorted. Drove over to them had a chat and agreed that they could do it 4 weeks later they had taken most of the eingne apart, but couldn't remove the turbo's but were still trying ... during these 4 weeks the mechanic was ill the garage flooded his granny died in addition at this point I took or the blingy bits and set them up to TC to get polished. However Royal Snail lost the parcel. 5 days later they said it coudn't be found and did i want to claim for it ? Fortuantly that night I spoke to the pick up driver who promised to look out for it at the depot that evening - and luckily he found it stacked with loads of monitor boxes for their office. well ok so those bits are now at TC getting polished. meanwhile back at the garage they are telling me that to take the turbo's off they have to remove the engine, and at that point I removed the car from them. soo spoke to TC, who said he'd take it on and i sent the car up to him. He came back pretty quickly letting me know the Head was in fact fine. but my first turbo was dying which i knew. so he gives me 3 options .. to replace, go hybrid, go single. I go single and get the parts ordered in. a few weeks later of waiting for parts etc, TC calls it quits and closes the business down. I recover the car which turns up on my drive with the majority of the engine in the boot and along with Paul E spend a frantic week trying to find somewhere to take on the rebuild project. In step Thor - who've been doing a sterling job bringin her back to life against the odds. Initially the guys did an audit of the engine and found we were missing soo many original parts. off the top of my head - Throttle body / inlet manifold / cam covers / cams / the list is very duanting. and most of this has had to come via Ebay or CJ or MVP when they had there sale on. Replacine with new just wasn't financially feasible. During this time I have been away working in Texas, in France and elsewhere so making things difficult to progress. During the early months, I used our work pool car for transport but that abruptly ended when I had an 'off' on the way to the karting even that we held in Swindon, and soo shortly after i bought an Escort to bum around in. well last week, I toko the shed to get new rear pads, and found the suspension was gone, and the front tyres needed replacing, so spent 360 quid getting it sorted. Not bad, until the following thursday on the way to cardif the head gasket goes as I go over the bridge. so once again I'm carless, with a descion to make on what to do with the escort. But meanwhile the guys have been working away when they can, fabricating as needed and trouble shooting issues as and when required, and with a bit of luck I'll be seeing my proper car soon - after a long hard 18 months. do i win a prize ? I've had soo much help from people here, Thor, Paul E, CJ, Envy it's unbelivable - even thanks to Johnboy who keeps MSNing me asking how things are going and then sending me pics of his ! - I'm sure i've missed people who have helped keep me sane when all the normal people who live supra less lives tell me to sell it for scrap and walk away. oh and of course, in the early months I had bought a set of Do lucks from envy - which i had to sell to conintue finacning the quest for other parts. Which i'm happy to say look great on the car that there're on now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 told my story a few times before. EDITED HIGHLIGHTS: Crashed the supra (My fault - showing off) Toyota takes the car for repair. Car gets broken into and airbag stollen + damage to doors etc Toyota refuse responsibility due to missing 'handover recipe' WTFs that!. secrity cameras turned off insurace cost for BOTH incidents exceeds the cost of the car = Write off Managed to sort it in the end with numerous phone calls and letters etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotasuprauk Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Paul your story is pretty bad! I would have got rid of the Supra a long time ago if I'd had all those problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Walker Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I thought of you Paul when you mentioned this, you had a hell of a run of (bad) luck. I think Rosie claims top spot, with yourself and Yulia a joint second! Gaz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_y3k Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 do i get a sympathy discount Gaz ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Peace Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Oh God..where would I begin?????? Tuners, garages, Tyre fitters... I think I'll go have a cup of tea anda cigar instead..otherwise I might upset one of their 'licks' (and we all know who they are dont we) Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoboblio Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Actually I've just thought of one my sister dealt with a few years ago. Whilst she was at work her Micra had a concrete block chucked through the back window, irrepairably damaging the tailgate which needed replacing. After much haggeling with the insurance company they agreed to take it to a proper Nissan dealership to be repaired, rather than the cheapo cowboy garage they had in mind. After a couple of days of waiting she calls for an update to be told by the dealership "There's a low-loader just pulled up to collect it for repair" WTF? It turns out that the insurance company had decided to quietly ship the car off to their much cheaper garage to have the repairs done, then move it back to the dealership afterwards so she'd be convinced the work was done by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotasuprauk Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 Shocking Scoboblio! My local Toyota dealer doesn't have a body shop but there is a small back street garage literally 2 minutes away. If you go into Toyota for bodywork they get the guy from the back street garage to come round and quote you. No doubt it costs more to do it that way with the Toyota receipt rather than go straight to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_M Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I used to work on the breakdowns based at Toddington Services on the M1 (near Jct.12). One nice summers day we were sat outside the office when there was a mad screaching noise and a Mercedes comes flying into the car park at high velocity just managing to stop before the exit. We go over to find a very shaken woman climbing out of the car. She had had her brake pads replaced by her local (up North somewhere, can't remember where now) Mercedes dealer that morning, picked the car up and pulled out straight onto the M1 southbound heading for appointment in London. Thought she'd pull in before getting to the M25 for a break but couldn't stop. We checked out the brakes and found the the new pads had been fitted in METAL TO METAL! Called dealership for her and all they could do was blabber appologies and blame apprentice in the workshop. But why wasn't his work checked? Replaced discs and pads for her and took it for test drive for her before we sent her off again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted November 24, 2005 Share Posted November 24, 2005 I feel rather lucky after reading some of these..... what am I saying My first car I had some new rims fitted while living in Germany and 2 days later while doing ~35mph the back end drops, starts scraping the floor and I see one of my new rims rolling past the side of the car. I was very lucky as I was age 19 and normally "played" on the autobharn at warp speed most days just for fun (200KPH/125MPH) well, it was fast for my 1st car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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