Guys I have sinned

[Jameszy]

Car was pulling a little to the left of late, so assumed that it was due it’s alignment.

A few choices round me for the Hunter set up, but thought I’d toss the KwikFit coin and go for their 4 wheel £120 offer since it gives you 8 free aligns over 2 years. This is quite useful as the roads can be poor round London, so it can need it more than once a year, especially if you hit a pothole.

Anyway, half an hour in and the chap comes out with a sheered camber bolt in his hand. He then told me he can’t fix it, and even if he could they’d need to supply the parts (main dealer only mate). Obviously not drivable, as I don’t know if there is any thread left in the bolt holding the bushing to the trailing arms.

I’m clumsy at times, but even I know to stop turning when a bolt is going to sheer. What the f**k is the matter with people?

I had plans to use the car this weekend to see friends now restrictions are being eased, so it’s a flatbed journey to my local Indy. Hopefully he can sort.

I realise that parts deteriorate with age, and corrosion is inevitable, but why the heck you push the limit on a bolt when you know you can’t fix it on site is beyond me.

Will report back on how I get on as it may be useful for other people in a similar situation.

 

[brillomaster]

sucky situation... though, it can easily happen. when i had a camber bolt sheared the mechanic warned me it might happen beforehand at least, and that if it did go i wouldnt be able to get it sorted for a few days - but it was a second car, so i said try it anyway.

 

[mr.tourette]

oh dear...I'd just about trust them to put a tyre on an already damaged/kerbed wheel but that is about as far as I would go, I guess you pays your money and take your chances

 

[buzyg]

A lesson learned the hard way. Would n't take my daily shed near them let alone the Z4. Hope it's not too much of a pain to get it sorted properly.

 

[Jameszy]

I don't mind that they broke it per se, but they did so knowing that they couldn't fix it on site. They already said they didn't want to adjust rear toe because the bolts looked corroded, so why have a crack at the camber pins if they were corroded too?

Much better to say look we can't sort this now, but get them replaced by a garage and bring it back for the alignment. And to think this is a bread and butter job for them and they managed to f**k it up to the point the car is undrivable.

 

[brillomaster]

how much of the bolt is still in the hole, and how far away is your preferred indy?

while i certainly wouldn't daily drive at motorway speeds on a snapped bolt, if it was just round the corner on the same industrial estate for example, i'd probably risk it. after all, if the bolt is so rusty that its sheared trying to take it out, i don't think its going anywhere any time soon, it'll need to be drilled out.

 

[Jameszy]

how much of the bolt is still in the hole, and how far away is your preferred indy?

while i certainly wouldn't daily drive at motorway speeds on a snapped bolt, if it was just round the corner on the same industrial estate for example, i'd probably risk it. after all, if the bolt is so rusty that its sheared trying to take it out, i don't think its going anywhere any time soon, it'll need to be drilled out.

My Indy was a couple of miles away - usually this means a quick trip on a 50mph dual carriageway, but there's no way I'd risk that. I'd never forgive myself if I lost control or something, as a young boy I witnessed (wasn't involved in) a serious motorway crash and the resultant graphic scenes including loss of life and it has really stuck with me since then.

I ended up planning a route along minor back roads and just drove at <15mph miles an hour, pulling in every now and then for any traffic to pass. Thankfully by mid morning there were barely any other cars on the road. Car made it fine, it is currently with the Indy to fix.

Have emailed KwikFit to ask them what they suggest. On the one hand I'd like some form of goodwill gesture here, but then again it would likely come in the form of a free MOT or oil service and I'd rather just not have them near the car again. Any suggestions here? Doubt they'd just fork out money.

 

[Greg 01]

The problem with kwikfit is .
i paid the £120 for that you get so meny adjustments over a 2 year period . and when i first had it done the guy was great and new his stuff and did a great job , next time i went the guy had left and so i got the new guy who was hopeless, the next time i went it was another guy who was shockingly hopeless and i was told they dont do the front camber adjustment . They didnt mention that before i paid though
The good guys dont stay there long .
Never again . :headbang:

 

[Jameszy]

The problem with kwikfit is .
i paid the £120 for that you get so meny adjustments over a 2 year period . and when i first had it done the guy was great and new his stuff and did a great job , next time i went the guy had left and so i got the new guy who was hopeless, the next time i went it was another guy who was shockingly hopeless and i was told they dont do the front camber adjustment . They didnt mention that before i paid though
Never again . :headbang:

We had the same motive - having free adjustments for the next couple of years seemed so worth it. Also, a camber adjustment is such a basic thing and I figured they do so many each day that they'd be a good place to go. WRONG

 

[brillomaster]

did you still pay the £120 even though they left you worse off than when you came in?

unfortunately i'd chalk it up to experience... doubt you'd be able to get anything out of Kwikfit for it, there is always a risk a bolt will snap when they try and loosen it. in future, you could tell a mechanic not to take any risks and do something that might make the car undrivable, but then they'll probably decline the work, knowing how easy it is to shear bolts.

 

[rdm05z4]

Jameszy- Look on the bright side they could have let it go. And you drove the car on your trip and the bolt sheared while driving?

 

[Jameszy]

did you still pay the £120 even though they left you worse off than when you came in?

unfortunately i'd chalk it up to experience... doubt you'd be able to get anything out of Kwikfit for it, there is always a risk a bolt will snap when they try and loosen it. in future, you could tell a mechanic not to take any risks and do something that might make the car undrivable, but then they'll probably decline the work, knowing how easy it is to shear bolts.

Ha I didn't hand over a penny. I'm not sure I agree there - I don't have a problem with them snapping it, but doing so without the facility to fix it after seems a bit silly. You leave the customer completely worse off than if they hadn't come in. Better to speak to the customer before trying to loosen it further - I would have said leave it as I need the car this weekend to see my parents for the first time in almost a year.

I left a Google Review, and Corporate responded telling me to get in touch. Will see what (if anything) comes of it.

 

[Jameszy]

Jameszy- Look on the bright side they could have let it go. And you drove the car on your trip and the bolt sheared while driving?

I 100% agree with you there, always good to balance the positives where we can!

 

[Mr Tidy]

Well the only good new is that you didn't have to pay and you managed to get to your Indy OK.

But I suspect once it's fixed you'll be going elsewhere for your alignment!

 

[firebobby]

They really are grease monkeys, I had an issue years ago and have never been back.