£1400 repair bill

[timboss]

alright everyone i took my car to the carlisle benfield about a creak from the steering collum ( how the hell do you spell it?)

after an hour and parted £80 odd quid they came back with this:

play in the o/s/f ball joint = needs replacing
bad oil leak from head gasket area
battery has low voltage/not charging properly = needs replacing
front brake pads AND disc's 85% worn = needs reaplacing
slight play in steering rack arms

this came to a total of £1400 !!!! WTF!!!! this includes VAT and labour

EH!?!?!?!

so if anyone knows where i can get it done cheaper and done well please let me know , ive been round honda (civic sport 1.6 ) and toyota (corolla 1.6) now because it would be better if i bought a new car instead.... makes me frikin sick!!!

thing is i can trade the car in a garage and they wouldnt be any wiser

think thats a good idea or not? surely they cant bill me after everything has been signed for?....

 

[martynh]

Column.

Sounds a bit steep!

 

[timboss]

thanks man, you must have a degree or something , in fact i typed that but it didnt look right ....

 

[Matt_Pleece]

OMG i have a creak in my Stearing column neva heard anyone say anything bout a squeak like this b4, if any one knows the reason or remidy please tell
me.

Matt

 

[martynh]

I have a something.

 

[Cookie]

alright everyone i took my car to the carlisle benfield about a creak from the steering collum ( how the hell do you spell it?)

after an hour and parted £80 odd quid they came back with this:

play in the o/s/f ball joint = needs replacing
bad oil leak from head gasket area
battery has low voltage/not charging properly = needs replacing
front brake pads AND disc's 85% worn = needs reaplacing
slight play in steering rack arms

this came to a total of £1400 !!!! WTF!!!! this includes VAT and labour

EH!?!?!?!

so if anyone knows where i can get it done cheaper and done well please let me know , ive been round honda (civic sport 1.6 ) and toyota (corolla 1.6) now because it would be better if i bought a new car instead.... makes me frikin sick!!!

thing is i can trade the car in a garage and they wouldnt be any wiser

think thats a good idea or not? surely they cant bill me after everything has been signed for?....

1 - Don't let them fix it
2 - Take it to somewhere thats not a Renault garage for a second opinion, only mention the noise in the steering column
3 - How did they discover a leaky head gasket when they shouldn't have even needed to take the head off

 

[Leeshez]

Christ that is steep

 

[Christopher]

fook!

steap! ...even for a main dealer!

 

[timboss]

oh yeah , they said that the oil from the leak has damaged the timing belt so i need a timing kit or something, the thing is thou the main problem is the leak from the head gasket and the timing belt, the creak can wait i guess but i'd rather get it all fix at the same time, its a freaking joke, i might just trade it in and get myself a new car or something

 

[TomTom]

Tim you could do that lot yourself in a weekend not even rushing.

Even if your not that good with the spanners you should be able to

1. Fit battery (10 minutes)
2. Fit front brake pads & discs (1 to 1.5hours)
3. Replace the ball joint (1 hour say to be safe)

Those times are way over what they should be, but you could save some £££

Theres a guide on here for pads & discs somewhere, batterys easy peasy and if need be I could knock up a guide for the Balljoint for you.

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

That's way out of order! IF they are correct in their findings, most of those jobs you could do yourself, or get a friend to do for you. I just did a quick check on a random site for parts (didn't include battery or head gasket) and even without taking into consideration the discounts they are offering (using their standard prices) the bill came to £372.11 +VAT. A decent new battery cost me £50. If the head gasket does need doing and you can't do it yourself, that is going to be abit costly at most garages unfortunately.

Personally speaking I wouldn't let them touch it! Take it somewhere else for a second opinion. Dealers just take the piss BIG time.

 

[Steve]

Brakes, why do they always say you need them sorting:S

 

[_Kenny_]

Fook that. My steering column creaks, I just live with it

 

[timboss]

yeah tom that would be ace, yeah i figured that the head gasket thing would cost a bit, i take it that would need taken apart and resealed and that, i dont understand how the disc brakes would be worn down thou? surely only the pads would wear, considering my car is only 4 in september this year, this is a massive joke.
27000 miles on it
what kind of battery would you recommend? or just one from halfords or somit, in fact would one from the scrappy not be cheaper? the only thing wrong with my battery, according to renault, is that it inst charging properly.

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

Just get a battery from Halfords. If you get a maintenance free heavy duty battery it should last quite a while. Mine is guaranteed for 5 years and cost me £50.




Edit: Disks can wear if you are abit heavy on your brakes. If the pads get too low they can score and pit the disks. Dunc got through two sets of disks in 4 years when he had his Pug 306 D Turbo.

 

[zed-ster]

alright everyone i took my car to the carlisle benfield about a creak from the steering collum ( how the hell do you spell it?)

after an hour and parted £80 odd quid they came back with this:

play in the o/s/f ball joint = needs replacing
bad oil leak from head gasket area
battery has low voltage/not charging properly = needs replacing
front brake pads AND disc's 85% worn = needs reaplacing
slight play in steering rack arms

this came to a total of £1400 !!!! WTF!!!! this includes VAT and labour

EH!?!?!?!

so if anyone knows where i can get it done cheaper and done well please let me know , ive been round honda (civic sport 1.6 ) and toyota (corolla 1.6) now because it would be better if i bought a new car instead.... makes me frikin sick!!!

thing is i can trade the car in a garage and they wouldnt be any wiser

think thats a good idea or not? surely they cant bill me after everything has been signed for?....

1 - Don't let them fix it
2 - Take it to somewhere thats not a Renault garage for a second opinion, only mention the noise in the steering column
3 - How did they discover a leaky head gasket when they shouldn't have even needed to take the head off

you wouldnt need to take the head off to see the headgasket is leaking?


as for that price shocking deffo try some where else!

 

[timboss]

surely a battery from the scrappy would be ok, the prob with mine is that it aint charging, should i get it from a renault breaker? i dont have 5o quid at the min

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

The problem with getting a battery from a breakers is, you have no idea how long it has been standing about and could be no better than the one you already have. You don't have to pay £50 like I did, they do come cheaper , it all depends what you want really. Just look in the Halfords flip chart or go to the parts desk and ask what battery will be suitable for your car.

 

[timboss]

yeah i know what you mean, think reanault were going to charge 100+ for a new battry plus labour :S

i can definatly can change a battery, maybe the ball joint might be a bit hard, but well see what kinda of guide tom can bring up..

 

[DynamiqueDebz]

£100 + for a bloody battery? That's just seriously taking the piss!

 

[timboss]

tell me about it, was gonna cry when they told me it would cost £1400 , if i can cut the price down by loads then ill keep it untill its fixed then ill prob sell it private to get the most out of it, unless someone would like to buy it for cheap in this condition?

 

[AliasOmega]

This is usual renault drizzle..

They told me on my 182 that the left front CV gator was split, well i had it serviced by them, and they did not notice it, nor did the MOT tester notice it.

Therefore i suspect its an overactive mechanics imagination on what he / she thinks they can see.

Ignore the headgasket, take the car to halfords for a 'free battery check', get the disks replaced and ball joint replaced at a normal garage.

Not everything in life has to be done by renault.

 

[AliasOmega]

Dont forget..

The renault garage you think that is renault...certainly is not renault.

An example is Dixon Renault in Lincoln.... They simply are Dixon Motors, 'trading' as renault.

i tell them this when they quote me £65 per hr for work.

 

[Racingblue182]

Trade it in and say flip all, you should have seen the stuff hanging out of my old 1.2 when I traded it in, there was also a huge mark from where I'd rubbed along someones bumper in a car park which would have been needed resprayed, I just didn't wash the car for a month before I got rid of it to cover it up!
Stealers rob us blind often enough, it was nice to get some revenge.

 

[Ruffneck]

fook!

steap! ...even for a main dealer!

Steep????

That's F'n vertical!!!!!!

 

[timboss]

well i know the battery is fooked cause when i turn the wheel to full lock the lights dim slightly, ignore the head gasket?!? will that not eventualy fook up the engine!?!?

well i was thinking of trading it in for a corolla 1.6 / 1.8 but to a friend who works at honda, will he not be a little bit pissed off at me when he finds out that its almost dead?

for some reason they didnt found out any of this stuff on the MOT, and the several health checks that renault like doing throughout the year(s)

plus im thinking about fixing most of the stuff myself, gsfcarparts sell the parts cheap. well when i find the guide's too.

 

[dick]

well i know the battery is fooked cause when i turn the wheel to full lock the lights dim slightly, ignore the head gasket?!? will that not eventualy fook up the engine!?!?

well i was thinking of trading it in for a corolla 1.6 / 1.8 but to a friend who works at honda, will he not be a little bit pissed off at me when he finds out that its almost dead?

for some reason they didnt found out any of this stuff on the MOT, and the several health checks that renault like doing throughout the year(s)

plus im thinking about fixing most of the stuff myself, gsfcarparts sell the parts cheap. well when i find the guide's too.

thats coz theve got electric PAS not hydraulic PAS.
mines a brand new battery and does it. only on tickover tho. if you rev to fast idle ~2.5k ish then turn it wont.

it wasnt found because NONE OF IT IS PROBLY REAL!


theyve clearly bullshitted you.
dont buy a new battery, go to sumwhere get a free battery check. i bet its fine tho.
i bet HG is fine too.

get ya brakes checked eksewhere also tho. renault told me my brakes were 70% worn after 7 months. (6k) w*****s.

 

[timboss]

well the biggest thing im worried about is the head gasket and the timing belt, although i have no flipping idea what the rack arms are :s

 

[rory182]

back to basics, take it somewhere else as some have said and see what they come up with.

 

[timboss]

but that means giving more money to potentially telling me the same thing, or even more things wrong seeing the renault up here is crap...

 

[rory182]

well its that or spunk £1400 on ficticious repairs. Shouldn't cost much if anything to get it on a ramp in a local garage for them to check out stuff.

Kwik Fit would check brakes and battery for you for not a lot (possibly free)

 

[DaveLiquid182]

Is there a renault specialist near him that he could go to?

 

[ben_p]

LOL just take it to a local garage, there esay to work on. any garage could do it.

 

[edde]

well the biggest thing im worried about is the head gasket and the timing belt, although i have no flipping idea what the rack arms are :s

Means the things which jointthe stearing rack and the hubs togther easy to chnage there only cheap from GSF etc easyish to fit.

 

[Saundo]

As said above, go to another garage and ask them if your head gasket is knakered. WATCH them do the sniff teast and if the liquid goes yellow, soory mate your in for a big bill. If not happy days.

As for the full lock thing, all three of my clios have done that and none have had a battery prob. If you open both windows at idle the same happens.

Would have to ask the garage you went to what they were doing checking for all this when you went in for 1 problem. If they charged labour for finding all the other 'faults' i would tell them where to stick it! Same as when on my old 1.2 they used to try and charge for 'Cleaning the rear drum brakes' which does fook all.

 

[cat171]

Timboss - please,please get a second opinion, do not let them mug you like that. If what you say is true (and there's no reason not to believe you) they are mugging you off badly.

Get a local garage to have a look at it, if not take it to a specialist (there must be one of the specialists on here near to you) then see what they say.

 

[timboss]

well ive actually fallen in love with the corolla T sport now, so im very much thinking of trading my crap box in.... but that means more debt, :*(

i can try to fix most of it myself and save some money, but i just need some help, i think that tom rt is making me a guide on replacing the ball joint, i can defo change the brakes and pads, battery's piss easy.... the rest is a bit ....

 

[DARKO]

Is this more likely to be the usual rocker cover/cam seals oil leak rather than head gasket?

 

[timboss]

ive had work done on cam something relation done before, so i took the car to halfords to get the battery test, turns out i could do with one, it came back with 215 aac instead of 380aac, so that will need replaced but not urgent, went to kwick fit and got scared by the very dodgy looking skally mechanics so i didnt bother going inside, got the car on some ramps at another garage to have a look at the "oil leak" , there is oil coming from the head gasket and the bottom bit where the bits join onto the main block? but the guy said that its best if i clean the oil off first then start her back up and see where the oil is coming from before doing anything,

does anyone know where i can get guides for replacing the ball joint, disc brakes and pads, rack arms?

any info would be great

thanks everyone!

 

[TomTom]

Gavs thread here, the 3rd picture, thats the ball joint, Renault only sell you the arm now, so I'd goto GSF and just get the ball joint, really easy.
http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=166376
Its on a MK1 but the principles the same.

Simplified...

Soak the lot in penetrating fluid day before
Jacked/axle stands - safety
Wheel off
2 Bottom bolts out (Hold the BJ on the arm - see pic 3)
Nut off the bolt through the BJ - pull/tap the bolt through
Get the balljoint out the hub, get a BJ splitter if necessary
[Haines] Refitting is the reversal of removal [/Haines] :lolup:

Quick Pads/Pads & Discs Guide - Non-RS Models
Okay this is a quick one for the pads and discs - do a side at a time so you can refer back if you have to.


Jacked/axle stands - safety
Wheels off
Remove 13mm Bolt on bottom of caliper

Lift caliper up, slide off carrier

push back piston (keep eye on level under bonnet)

Remove old pads & shims as necessary
Remove 2 X 18mms in the carrier (Bit that holds the pads)
Remove carrier, clean up with wire brush

Beat the 2 X T30/40s holding the discs on with a knockometer, they can be a bit tricky
Remove 2 X T30/40s holding discs on
Remove both discs, again, use the hammer, gently not to damage the hub

New discs on, you should get new T30/40s
Bolt the carrier back on after you've given them a clean up, make sure 18mms are tight!
New shims in the carriers
Copper grease the pads where they sit in the shims
Refit & lower the caliper
Re-tighten the 13mm bolts both sides

Pump the brake pedal out
Refit wheels, torque wheels when on the floor
Bed in new pads & discs as nececarry go easy on them for a while

Disclaimer - I wont giveout compensation if you die because you followed this guide. Please see your local Renault dealer for advice... rarararar