ouch

1240 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by wob, Apr 6, 2005

wob

Discussion Starter · Apr 1, 2005

Just having a moan really.

I only got my 400 last weekend and it was a cheap as chips bargain, unfortunately it was lacking quite a bit of the history that goes with it. On that basis I decided to spend a good amount on a full service and get the timing belt changed at the same time (only done 37800 miles, but better safe than sorry).

Anyhow, here's the list of things that was done:

5 year service (oil, filters, plugs, etc)
Timing belt
2 * auxiliary belts replaced
Rocker cover gasket replaced
OSF brake stipped down and cleaned (it was binding)
Air con check and service
Full geometry check (tracking was stuffed)

All came to a grand total of........... £695!!!!

I was expecting a major service to cost me 200-300 quid.... My poor bank account. Will it ever recover?

To top it all off they found that my rear tracking arms have split bushes and quoted me £200+ for replacing them. The NSR seatbelt is slightly frayed (quoted £141 for a new belt). I need 3 new tyres in the near future as they are well worn (£53 each for cheapo Maxxis ones). AND the NSF fog light bulb is out, they wanted to charge me £22 for replacing it???!!!???

Anyhow, I'm sure I will be able to get the tyres and split bushes sorted fairly cheaply and the bulb I will sort out myself.

The only concern I have is the seat belt. Would the car fail its MOT with a frayed seatbelt (it is only very slight in the middle of the belt, as though it has been trapped in the door or something like that) ?

The car seems to be running nice and smooth after the service, but unfortunately there are a couple of minor niggles... My heater fan no longer works on settings 1 and 2, but works fine on 3 and 4. I assume they've broken it when playing with the air con (reading on a thread somewhere on here it is likely to be dodgy resistors or something?). Also, whilst there is a nice geometry report for the wheels, the tracking is still waaaayyyy out. I have to turn the steering wheel the best part of 45 degrees to the right in order to go in a straight line.

Anyhow, its going back to the dealer on Monday to get the heater and tracking sorted... hopefullyeverything will be ok then.

Sorry. Jus thaving a whinge. lol

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· #2 · Apr 1, 2005

Rule number one: if your car is out of warranty do NOT take it to the dealer for a service!

A good independent garage WOULD have done that lot for under £300.

Rear suspension bushes are under £15 each and will only take an hour or two to fit. Seatbelts are readily available used for less than £10 and take minutes to fit.

If the belt is frayed then it MUST be replaced. Never mind MOT - what about safety?

Search for threads on "heater resistor" and save yourself a packet by doing this very easy job yourself. Major Ingram did a "how to" on it.

Spend £15 on a Haynes manual and do bulbs etc for free!

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cmburgin

· #3 · Apr 1, 2005

as above, almost everything is do-able witrh a haynes manual and some elbow grease

save cash DIY

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wob

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 1, 2005

Yeah, I intend on doing as much as I can, but I just wanted to make sure everything was A-OK at the start of my ownership and then I can keep it regularly serviced thereafter at my local backstreet garage. Teah me to try and do things right. ho-hum.

Not bothered about the safety of the seatbelt as noone will be sitting there :lol:. Any ideas where my first port of call would be to get a new belt? Is it just a case of unbolting the old one off and replacing it with a new one?

I intend to purchase said Haynes manual this weekend

Thanks for the advice, it is much appreciated.

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Goldy.

· #5 · Apr 1, 2005

Breakers yard.Bolts on job.Best of luck.

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rover416si

· #6 · Apr 1, 2005

That was an expensive service

After the full geometry check is the car still steering to any direction when the steering wheel is left free? Any vibrations at all? If so bring it back and let them check it again.

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wob

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 3, 2005

Well, I now have some sparkly new tyres on my car and that seems to have improved the tracking by 95%. Which to me suggestts that rover should not have carried out a geometry check with dodgy tyres (they're the mechanics, they should know about these things??!!). Had the seat belt checked out at the garage my brother works for (Citroen) and they just laughed and asked what the problem with it was as they could see nothing wrong, just looks like a slight bit of bobbling on the belt - perfectly safe and an MOT pass.

I also got them to check out the bushes at the back end and whilst there is one on each side that is split apparently it will not affect the driving of the car as they are not hanging off at all and there are four bushes at each side anyhow. Won't fail its MOT on that either. Although the guy that looked at it didn't seem to keen on the idea of doing the job himself as the back end of the car has to be dropped out apparently (whatever that means).... Although he does work for a French car company and he's a lazy get

Its going back to Rover tomorrow to get the heater sorted and the tracking looked at again... I ain't forking out any more pennies though...

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grahamw48

· #8 · Apr 4, 2005

Now you know why it's in the news today about the 'Trade' as a whole, being investigated.

They've been getting away with it for too long.

My 420SLDi turbo has only been maintained at a (good) non-Rover garage,
and has cost less than what's quoted above in 50,000 miles and 2 MOTs.
That has included renewal of all drive belts, a new wheel bearing, new discs, and rear brake cylinders replacing.

Shop around or DIY.

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wob

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 4, 2005 (Edited)

I've never really used a main dealer before at all as there are a couple of good back street garages nearby, but I thought I would spend the money on this occassion to make sure everything was 100% a-ok from the beginning of owning the car. More fool me. Luckily I got the car so cheap that I have still not paid out book price even if I include the cost of the 'mega' service.

Just had them ring me up and say that the heater control is nothing to do with them servicing the air con and it is a coincidence that it broke at the same time as they had the car. They said it would cost £76.13 to repair!!!! Will be doing that one myself...

Also, they told me that the car will pull to the left because of the camber of the road!!!!! Thank you reception lady I have only been driving for the past 7 years and I hadn't even noticed that the road had a camber.... :banghead: They also told me I should get 2 new tyres on the front.... Bear in mind that I got them done on Saturday and they still have the little sticky out rubber bits on them!!!

I'm gonna see about getting them to refund the geomotry check fee as they shouldn't have done it with knackered tyres anyhow.

Lesson learned.... back to the back street garage... :irked:

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cosb6

· #10 · Apr 4, 2005

Seat Belts, certainly in the rear of the 200, do not take minutes to fit... it's a BIG job.

You have to remove the rear seat base, all the side panelling, and rear parcel shelf supports to even get to the seatbelt bolts..... a real nightmare....

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wob

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 6, 2005

Well, I was on a mission today and have got pretty much everything sorted now. I even repaired the heater resistors myself. Replaced all three resistors for less than a fiver (my local electronics shop is not the cheapest going, but its good when you want something now!). Took about 10 minutes to remove the old wires and replace with nice new wire wound resistors (most of that time was spent trying to clean up the terminals after removing the old wires).

Put it back in the car and the fan works on every setting. WOOHOO! Oi! Rover! Cost me less than a fiver to fix, so how can you justify charging 76 quid to do it??!!??

Got round to putting my stereo and CD changer in the car. Out with the 300 year old Alpine and in with the (probably worse quality, but its easier to use whilst driving and holds twice as many CDs) JVC. That was a nightmare as the wires had all been cut VERY short on the car to fit the Alpine. Was a real faff as I have put an ISO connector on the car (for easier upgrades in the future) and then stuffing everythign down the back was a nightmare, one of the worst cars I've come across for this. Luckily I had the glovebox out anyway as I did the resistors at the same time.

touched up all the little bits of chips and scrapes and given the inside a complete valeting.... Its starting to look and feel like a half decent car now

Anyone want an Alpine 7292LS and a 6 disc changer? It even has all the wires included :bgrin2:

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