V6 servicing

[Craig B]

Hello

I need to book my V6 in for a 24k service soon. I live in SW London and wondered if anyone could recommend any dealers in the area. The only ones I know of are SMC Woking (as used by Evo) and SMC Guildford (noted in the Evo buying guide). Does anyone have any experience of these dealers?

thanks for any help

Craig

 

[stusV6]

Hi Craig..............SMC Woking supplied and serviced my car for the previous owner.................he spoke VERY highly of them the car had 2 services there the costs were 12,000 £134 and 24,000 £144 (I think) the exact costs are on the forum somewhere

Cya Stu

PS I spoke to them about the car before actually buying it and they could not have been more helpfull.

 

[Spammy]

I used SMC Guildford for my last problem, they sorted it all out, interior was all covered with plastic covering and they valeted the car! So my experience with them was good.

 

[Jeremy Townsend]

Theyre very good.

 

[Craig B]

thanks for all the help

now I just need to decide which one to choose!

 

[stusV6]

Who ever gives you the best price Craig

Cya Stu

 

[Craig B]

Well I just picked up the car from SMC Woking after a 24k service and Im not happy!

They had to change the tyre and ended up scraping the alloy - they didnt own up to this - I luckily picked it up.

I also had 3 other problems that they failed to rectify - all they stated was further investigation required - very helpful!

And to cap it all off the car was returned to me filthy even though they claim to have valeted it...

Needless to say I will not be using these people again

 

[stusV6]

Very bad Craig.........sorry..........as I mentioned it was the previous owner who had used them and he did speak very highly of them.............you live and learn eh

As for the tyre we have had this discussion before...............all 4 of my wheels were damaged when they changed the tyres and, based on what I said, Liam182 had his tyres replaced at a Reno dealer and went overboard making the point that he did not want the wheels damaged..................well gues what they went and did exactly that damaged both

Maybe a call customer services is in order?

Cya Stu

PS what did they charge you for the this?

 

[Craig B]

Quote: Originally posted by stusV6 on 25 June 2005


Very bad Craig.........sorry..........as I mentioned it was the previous owner who had used them and he did speak very highly of them.............you live and learn eh

As for the tyre we have had this discussion before...............all 4 of my wheels were damaged when they changed the tyres and, based on what I said, Liam182 had his tyres replaced at a Reno dealer and went overboard making the point that he did not want the wheels damaged..................well gues what they went and did exactly that damaged both

Maybe a call customer services is in order?

Cya Stu

PS what did they charge you for the this?





You live and learn indeed. I suppose I am partly to blame as I did not realise the tyre tread was so low - normally I would never get a dealer to change tyres.

The service total including the tyres was £375. The one thing I was surprised about is they didnt change the air filter - I would have thought this should have been done? (the service book says every 25k/ 4 yrs)

 

[137699]

Did they contact you for authorisation before they changed the tyres? Id NEVER get my tyres changed at a dealer as A) they usually claim legal tyres to be illegal, B) they usually over-charge for replacement tyres, and C) as you found out, theyre not actually a tyre fitting outfit, so they tend to make a balls up of either the changing (scraped alloys) or balancing the new tyres up properly!

 

[137699]

P.S. What are the other faults they logged which "require further investigation" (just out of interest?).

If its any consolation to you, Martins Renault in Basingstoke were equally useless in diagnosing faults on my vee... and it took 4 visits (last time leaving the car with them for a WHOLE DAY!) before they could work out how to code up a spare key for it!

 

[stusV6]

Quote: Originally posted by Craig B on 25 June 2005

The service total including the tyres was £375. The one thing I was surprised about is they didnt change the air filter - I would have thought this should have been done? (the service book says every 25k/ 4 yrs)

I take it you mean 2 tyres Craig...............if yes then the price WOULD have been a pretty good deal cause tyres aint cheap especially from a Reno dealer.................as well as servicing my car for the previous owner they also fitted a full set of Michelin tyres costing £874 + vat..............so they can fit tyres.

Cya Stu

 

[Craig B]

The price was including ONE tyre. The other faults that they couldny find/ rectify were - air con causing engine revs to jump significantly and make driving slowly difficult; coolant smell on hot days; whsitling noise on certain throttle openings.

I also noticed yesterday that the tyre theyve fitted has a different tread pattern to my other tyres even though they are all Michelin Pilot Sport. The new tyre is a Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 though - is this the incorrect tyre or have they updated the tread pattern?

 

[137699]

Tyre manufacturers do have a habit of oing that - I had a car a few years ago with Goodyear NCT tyres on it, when one popped, I asked for a like-for-like replacement, was told theat the NCT had been replaced by NCT2, and the tread pattern was completely different. NCT3 followed subsequently!

As for your other points, Ive also noticed driving slowly can be difficult with the Air Con on, and a lot of vee owners have reported smelling coolant from time to time - apparently Elise owners report the same.

The coolant does go down on mine and Ive noticed the occasional whiff also, so Id suggest you keep an eye on the header tank, as if you can smell it, theres a fair chance its because its escaping somewhere!
Oh and I think Clarkie V6 has Nankangs on his vee which he raves about, and I think he said he paid about £90 each for the rears, and less still for the fronts!

 

[137699]

Quick update folks, apparently there is a software upgrade at Renault, which overcomes drivability issues when the A/C is switched on, though Ive not had it done myself yet.

Also, my coolant (like many Vee owners it seems) had a habit of dropping slowly, and giving off the occasional smell, so I put the tiniest amount of Radweld in the header tank (maybe 30ml at the very most) and its sorted it (for now at least) - no more consumption, no more whiffs!