Sytner Newport - Recommended work that wasn't required

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ihadablackdog

Senior member
So I had to take my new (to me) Z4 to Sytner Newport to repair the drivers door lock under warranty.

Whilst there, they did the health check......

They said the rear discs were 17.7mm and needed replacing as the BMW specification states 18.4mm

As I had only bought the car the previous week from Sytner Leicester, I contacted them asking why they supplied it like this. I got a copy of the approved used car pdi checks and that said they were 19mm

So it was one against the other.

Took it to a local garage who measured them at 19.3mm, which isn't 19mm, but obviously means they are nearer 19mm than 17.7mm

So I won't be going to Sytner Newport again.
 
Annoying to hear that, you should contact ther customer services and let them know, or do it via an online review
 
Had a similar experience with my Volvo at a main dealer..they almost refused to release the car when I said I’d get it done elsewhere..
 
I nearly bought a BMW Z4M from Sytner Leicester a few years back. It was being sold as an approved used car despite the age.

I asked for the approved used checklist and they sent it over. The mechanic had measured the discs, noted the size and put a large astrix next to the dimension.

In the box for minimum thickness someone had changed the minimum thickness. It was clear as day they had written over the correct number.

Basically the mechanic had measured the discs as too thin, marked the issue with an astrix, then someone else has changed the minimum thickness to make it appear as if the discs were still within acceptable wear.

I have had a few dealings with Sytner garages and none of them have been acceptable. They seem like a right dodgy outfit.
 
Beerman said:
I have had a few dealings with Sytner garages and none of them have been acceptable. They seem like a right dodgy outfit.
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It's not just Shytner's, it's all of them. Although I've never heard a good word about that lot.
I bought a Polo for my daughter last month. It came with one of these 'multi-point health check' bollox. They had put the torque settings of the wheel nuts down as 140nm on all four wheels in big bold writing. The day I picked it up I went to remove all the wheels and had to use a 6ft bar to 'crack' the wheelnuts. Not only had they been put on with a windy gun at max, but hadn't been off the car in months, it was obvious.
So the garage just wrote some numbers on the sheet to make it look good!

Also had a Mazda main dealer try to sell me four new tyres on a car that was in for it's first service at 10k miles, as they noted 'stones in all four tyres'. I told them to remove the stones (which were in the tread grooves like 99.9% of all cars on the road get).
 
I wouldn’t trust any of them at all with any of my cars.
My missus took her I4 to North Oxford BMW and they couldn’t even write down the correct make of tyres on the form. Bunch of clowns.
It also took them over 3.5 hours to service an electric car!
 
If your South Wales based you are welcome to join our Zedshed Cymru Whats App Group of enthusiasts spread across South Wales and beyond, we are made up with Z3 and Z4 owners who help each other out with jobs on our cars when its required. The Shed is my home garage with a lift in it and owners supply parts etc and the jobs get done a donation to shed running costs is usually made, I don't charge for my time. We avoid the Stealers. Currently we have around 90 members. As you have a warranty on the car its understandable you needed the Stealer on this occasion but once that's expired you would get an honest opinion on any problems going forward. Obviously services carried out post warranty would not be officially recorded in the vehicles service record.
 
Bmwz4ruby said:
My missus took her I4 to North Oxford BMW and they couldn’t even write down the correct make of tyres on the form. Bunch of clowns.
It also took them over 3.5 hours to service an electric car!
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That's cos they spent 2.5 hours trying to change the oil.
North Oxford was my local BMW dealer for many years. I avoided them like the plague. Now my local is Sycamore, Peterborough. They are no better.
 
I bought my first E89 from Sytner Maidenhead. It was great.

I've had pressure to do work that's not needed from all different kinds of garage - indies and dealers.
 
Sytner in Sunningdale seemed to be OK when Mrs Tidy took her Minis there and when I had newish cars, all with Service Packs on them.

I last used them in 2016 when I was selling my first Z4 as it was due a service and I gave the buyer the option of Sytner or a good Indy. As it had full BMWSH he wanted me to use Sytner to keep that intact - although when he sold it he hadn't maintained BMW history!

Ever since then I've only been there for 3 Series recalls and the last time I wanted to book one of those they couldn't give me a date so I went to Group 1 in Farnborough, and I've used good BMW Indies for everything else. Ross since he set up RBM, and am much more confident about the standard of work done.
 
Mr Tidy said:
Sytner in Sunningdale seemed to be OK when Mrs Tidy took her Minis there and when I had newish cars, all with Service Packs on them.

I last used them in 2016 when I was selling my first Z4 as it was due a service and I gave the buyer the option of Sytner or a good Indy. As it had full BMWSH he wanted me to use Sytner to keep that intact - although when he sold it he hadn't maintained BMW history!

Ever since then I've only been there for 3 Series recalls and the last time I wanted to book one of those they couldn't give me a date so I went to Group 1 in Farnborough, and I've used good BMW Indies for everything else. Ross since he set up RBM, and am much more confident about the standard of work done.
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That reminds me of taking my E90 to Sytner in High Wycombe for a recall. Car has been owned by me for over 11 years and this was the only time it has been to a garage (MOT’s excluded).
The guy handed me the keys and said it’s all ready to go. I said thanks and went to the car. As soon as I sat down I noticed the OBD cover was missing. Went back in to tell the chap it wasn’t all good as it was missing. They resolved it quickly but it left a very sour taste, what else had they failed to do up, clip together, fit etc.
I cannot trust garages easily. Some of the indies (RBM included) I feel I could but would rather do it all myself (for now at least). I have another 15 years of crawling under cars for sure.
 
Bmwz4ruby said:
I cannot trust garages easily. Some of the indies (RBM included) I feel I could but would rather do it all myself (for now at least). I have another 15 years of crawling under cars for sure.
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I've not had a problem using RBM for my MC and E90 in 6 years, as I've lost the desire (and some of the ability) for crawling under cars!
 
Bmwz4ruby said:
That reminds me of taking my E90 to Sytner in High Wycombe
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They used to be Hughenden BMW (Wycombe) and had a BMW bike dealership; Hughenden M40 (Milton Common; J7 M40).
In the old days before all garages had a 'one machine does everything' for their A/C work, I did a lot of work for Hughenden.
My old boss bought his 7 series' BMWs from them aswell.

Happy days!! ;)
 
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It’s ubiquitous. Our Jaguar has different tyre brands between axles, but identical tyres in terms of brand, model and age on a single axel. At least it did until the Jaguar main dealer serviced it last. They ‘rotated’ the wheels so that one side of the car had one brand and the other side the other brand. They then tried to cold weld the nuts to the studs.
 
It's almost as if humans make mistakes sometimes. Hard for me to understand, because I've never made one.
 
tiglon said:
It's almost as if humans make mistakes sometimes. Hard for me to understand, because I've never made one.
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True, people do make innocent mistakes, but this one would've meant a bitter battle between the original dealer and myself, or me shelling out £600+.

My local dealer, used to be part of Westerly, later to be Vertue were brilliant when I first got into BMW's, but they slowly went downhill. Even when they were Westerly, I bought a brand new Z4 in 2011....was leaking within a week and that took 6 months to get the car replaced (they tried about 4 times to fix it).

I bought a used Z4 from Marshalls in Hook...they had bodged the brakes completely. They agreed to pay for the work.

Then this experience...left me wondering if all Z4's are just jinxed!

The indy I went to had the opportunity to stitch me up, as they knew why it was there (proof that discs are too low, or proof that they are ok). They did a full check on the car and said it was in very good condition and the brakes were fine. I was a free check as well, so they've earned my trust.

The car came with no service book but it was all on BMW systems, so I've told them I want a service book, completed and stamped and also the little toolkit that should be in the boot....they are going to get me those.
 
BMWZ4MC said:
It almost as if most people couldn’t give a stuff and take no pride in their work! Perhaps I should try that too…
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You still work accoring to the rule that if you ask if they are happy as soon as you put the tools down, that if they don't answer, they agree?
 
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