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- Mar 25, 2018
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yep, mines the same, but I did the damage myself with a trolley jack, Its the first car ive had where the sills are that thin!
General Dented sills - incompetent garage
- Thread starter Ruckers
- Start date
Currently reading:
General Dented sills - incompetent garage
A lot of cars are like that these days the will are not a load beauty surface so don't need to be thick
The surface of the moon is 'imperfect' but it doesnt stop generations of people staring at it
gar074
Prominent member
The surface of the moon is 'imperfect' but it doesnt stop generations of people staring at it
Profound.
If you're in any doubt jrk's advice on jacking points has to be the "definitive" answer doesn't it? Whilst this works well for wheel changing it presents a problem when you then want to both jack the car up and then support it on stands. You have to get a wee bit inventive then.
I absolutely hate having to hand any of the family vehicles over to the "professionals" and never more so than with my Ibiza. It was only the second car I've bought new in my life and I felt/feel very "precious" about it but felt I had to let the first 3 year's servicing be done by Arnie's merry men to ensure there would be minimum problems should a warranty claim be necessary. In the event this was a wise decision as it turns out she was fitted with the earlier type turbo which was prone to failure (caused by a wastegate problem) so when mine failed it was replaced by the modified version free of charge under warranty (although it did take them a good fortnight to get hold of one of the new turbo).
We, the family that is, have bought used cars from AC before and I have to say the quality has been Ok. We've not had any "lemons", but then I've done all the service and repair work so we've had no personal experience of their workshops. Having read a lot of very unsatisfactory "stuff" on line about "Uncle Arnie's" poor performance, and the problems their customers had posted, I felt very nervous when it had to go in for it's first service - a simple oil change and inspection. Not being used to modern garages and how they work, I was very surprised to get an email from them with a video of the car up on a chassis lift (four arm type) whilst the chap wandered around underneath showing me that the exhaust was in good order, etc, etc. Pretty much all stuff I already knew but it was interesting to get such a good view of it all. What really pleased me though, was to see that the rubber pads on the ends of the arms were in very good condition and placed correctly on chassis points rather than just on the sills. For the following 2 years they sent me a video each time it was in and on each occasion the car was being supported correctly so when I took over the maintenance on it's fourth service I was delighted to see there was not a mark on the sills or anywhere else. So I have to say, Well Done The Seafield Branch Of Arnold Clark! and I never thought I'd be saying that!
Regarding "Fast Fit" type workshops? They are too much of a lottery for me. My youngest boy knows a foreman in one where he tends to go for his tyres and I was with him on one of these occasions. The chap obviously knew what he was doing and jacked the car sensibly as well as treating the alloy wheels with care, removing the old stickon weights and cleaning the rims properly before applying the new weights and tightening the wheel bolts by hand (not with a "rattle gun"). A text book example of how it should be done. However up on the ramp next to where my boy's car was being worked worked on (my boy's car was just on a trolley jack) was a Mk1 Jazz. Now I know the Mk1 jazz very well as we have one in the family fleet. This one was having a new rear silencer fitted. The joint is a flanged joint, similar to the Cat flange on the Punto, with 2 bolts through it. It's different to our Puntos though in that the bolts are stepped with springs and a semi spherical seal which allows the joint to flex to a degree to alleviate stress. I noticed the chap was having troubles with the stepped bolts - I think they were actually the wrong bolts, they looked too big, but I wasn't going to be rude enough to take a close look! - After a couple of attempts the stepped bolts were discarded and two ordinary bolts were substituted. Of course when these were tightened up the springs were tightened until they became coil bound so effectively could no longer act to allow the joint to articulate, the joint was now "solid". I doubt if the customer would have noticed anything but I wonder how long it would be before the pipe developed fatigue cracks? So there's your problem, You might get a chap like my boy's friend who obviously is skilled and knows what he's doing or you might get the chap who was working on the Honda next door. My perception is that you are far less likely to run into "bodgers" at dedicated independent specialists or main dealers?
Many years ago I stumbled across a really excellent small independent tyre company up here in Edinburgh called Auto Image and I went nowhere else for my tyres for years. Then, disaster, they stopped trading. So for the last few years I've been bouncing around various small independents with generally quite satisfactory results but I always take the wheels in loose in our other car then refit them myself so I'm doing the jacking up and bolt tightening. I think, for me, I've now found the "holy grail" though. He's a one man mobile tyre fitting business. I order the tyres I need - he seems to be able to get any make so is obviously not "tied" to certain makes like many of the "big boys" are - and the next day he comes to my house where I jack my car up and remove the wheel/wheels before he arrives so I can properly clean the inside of the rims so the weights can stick properly. He fits and balances the new tyres and I put the wheels back on the vehicle. His prices are considerably cheaper than the "big boys" and within a pound or two of the very cheapest I can find by trolling round all the other providers and that's good enough for me. He was recommended to me by Steven at the wee Honda Indy near me and it turns out he's well known to a lot of the wee garages around here many of whom seem to use him for their customer cars.
So, if you haven't tried a mobile fitter yet maybe you should? Especially if he's a small set up with a deeply vested interest therefore in doing the job properly?
I absolutely hate having to hand any of the family vehicles over to the "professionals" and never more so than with my Ibiza. It was only the second car I've bought new in my life and I felt/feel very "precious" about it but felt I had to let the first 3 year's servicing be done by Arnie's merry men to ensure there would be minimum problems should a warranty claim be necessary. In the event this was a wise decision as it turns out she was fitted with the earlier type turbo which was prone to failure (caused by a wastegate problem) so when mine failed it was replaced by the modified version free of charge under warranty (although it did take them a good fortnight to get hold of one of the new turbo).
We, the family that is, have bought used cars from AC before and I have to say the quality has been Ok. We've not had any "lemons", but then I've done all the service and repair work so we've had no personal experience of their workshops. Having read a lot of very unsatisfactory "stuff" on line about "Uncle Arnie's" poor performance, and the problems their customers had posted, I felt very nervous when it had to go in for it's first service - a simple oil change and inspection. Not being used to modern garages and how they work, I was very surprised to get an email from them with a video of the car up on a chassis lift (four arm type) whilst the chap wandered around underneath showing me that the exhaust was in good order, etc, etc. Pretty much all stuff I already knew but it was interesting to get such a good view of it all. What really pleased me though, was to see that the rubber pads on the ends of the arms were in very good condition and placed correctly on chassis points rather than just on the sills. For the following 2 years they sent me a video each time it was in and on each occasion the car was being supported correctly so when I took over the maintenance on it's fourth service I was delighted to see there was not a mark on the sills or anywhere else. So I have to say, Well Done The Seafield Branch Of Arnold Clark! and I never thought I'd be saying that!
Regarding "Fast Fit" type workshops? They are too much of a lottery for me. My youngest boy knows a foreman in one where he tends to go for his tyres and I was with him on one of these occasions. The chap obviously knew what he was doing and jacked the car sensibly as well as treating the alloy wheels with care, removing the old stickon weights and cleaning the rims properly before applying the new weights and tightening the wheel bolts by hand (not with a "rattle gun"). A text book example of how it should be done. However up on the ramp next to where my boy's car was being worked worked on (my boy's car was just on a trolley jack) was a Mk1 Jazz. Now I know the Mk1 jazz very well as we have one in the family fleet. This one was having a new rear silencer fitted. The joint is a flanged joint, similar to the Cat flange on the Punto, with 2 bolts through it. It's different to our Puntos though in that the bolts are stepped with springs and a semi spherical seal which allows the joint to flex to a degree to alleviate stress. I noticed the chap was having troubles with the stepped bolts - I think they were actually the wrong bolts, they looked too big, but I wasn't going to be rude enough to take a close look! - After a couple of attempts the stepped bolts were discarded and two ordinary bolts were substituted. Of course when these were tightened up the springs were tightened until they became coil bound so effectively could no longer act to allow the joint to articulate, the joint was now "solid". I doubt if the customer would have noticed anything but I wonder how long it would be before the pipe developed fatigue cracks? So there's your problem, You might get a chap like my boy's friend who obviously is skilled and knows what he's doing or you might get the chap who was working on the Honda next door. My perception is that you are far less likely to run into "bodgers" at dedicated independent specialists or main dealers?
Many years ago I stumbled across a really excellent small independent tyre company up here in Edinburgh called Auto Image and I went nowhere else for my tyres for years. Then, disaster, they stopped trading. So for the last few years I've been bouncing around various small independents with generally quite satisfactory results but I always take the wheels in loose in our other car then refit them myself so I'm doing the jacking up and bolt tightening. I think, for me, I've now found the "holy grail" though. He's a one man mobile tyre fitting business. I order the tyres I need - he seems to be able to get any make so is obviously not "tied" to certain makes like many of the "big boys" are - and the next day he comes to my house where I jack my car up and remove the wheel/wheels before he arrives so I can properly clean the inside of the rims so the weights can stick properly. He fits and balances the new tyres and I put the wheels back on the vehicle. His prices are considerably cheaper than the "big boys" and within a pound or two of the very cheapest I can find by trolling round all the other providers and that's good enough for me. He was recommended to me by Steven at the wee Honda Indy near me and it turns out he's well known to a lot of the wee garages around here many of whom seem to use him for their customer cars.
So, if you haven't tried a mobile fitter yet maybe you should? Especially if he's a small set up with a deeply vested interest therefore in doing the job properly?
Yeah I got one of them.
Missed it when I bought it from a hire company.
Previous renter had obviously had a puncture and took it to a local garage or may have borrowed a trolley jack....grrrr!
Oh well my fault for not spotting it.
Missed it when I bought it from a hire company.
Previous renter had obviously had a puncture and took it to a local garage or may have borrowed a trolley jack....grrrr!
Oh well my fault for not spotting it.
