General Truly a Red Devil! A colourful rant

[ThRdDvl]

I've had my 1.2 8v 5dr Active just longer than a month now.

Begging for people to read and advise me!

After about a week of driving the car some squeaks appeared. Sent the car in for a 'service', they put a new exhaust bracket on and let me drive it away with no advice or other emergent problems.

So far i've had a friend look at it who used to be a mechanic but can't work now; he got the car on jacks and told me the shock absorbers are utterly nackered and bleeding oil on the front, probably the back too, and the exhaust is still 'knocking' in the middle... whatever that means to a layperson.

The mechanic who owns the garage I had the car serviced at took a quick glance at the front drivers side wheel arch and told me the shock needed replacing.... no jack, no inspection, just a quick look, and he only said the one on one side needed doing... I thought it was common knowledge that you should replace them in two's.

No shocks I could deal with... but now...

Wiper linkage on drivers side fell off 4 days ago; just got it back from (friend of a family member who's a mechanic), who had replaced the linkage and motor for near £100 ... everyone has been telling me you have to replace the lot but I now know WIPEX do a replacement linkage arm! for £26.50!

I seem to be getting screwed by everyone, and to top it all off I now have several hairline cracks on the drivers side of my windscreen at the bottom.... which is where the linkage was and presumably was being worked on.

Will I have to replace the entire windscreen thanks to this.... Tool?

Can anyone reccomend anywhere near Wolverhampton that is reputable and economic that will fix my Punto? Or any large chains?

Sorry if this is tl;dr but its just a rant... feel a little better now! Better to take the rage out here than on the car :bang:

Edit: Oh yeah! Apparently my car doesn't have a 5th gear? even though it has a 5th on the gearknob... there's no fifth gear?

Im starting to think.. how did the mechanic know about no 5th? must have been going pretty fast through town center, over speedbumps... when my car has no shocks.... sound plausible to anyone?

 

[Ziggy122]

If the mechanic friend had your car as a favour to him - he shud have said to you its broken - what do you want todo?

Anyway - any cracks on a screen will ONLY get worse, as winter hits - the hot and cold hot and cold along with any bumps in the road - you'll soon see it splitting further
A Bobby could also deam it unsafe and impound your car

so idearly? - get it done under the insurance, the screen is structual to the car - esp in an accident - if its got a weak spot then it'll do jack poo in a crash

Shocks - idearly YES you should replace in pairs, if 1 has gone, other cant be far off
It helps for bumps and handling purposes as well
but alot of people now cause repairs need to be done cheap - will have the 1 done

There £30 for front ones i think from shop4parts

Ziggy

 

[PuntoHowTo]

as ziggy said windscreen call autoglass or alike and get it done on your windscreen excess £60-70

Windscreen wiper linkage is a common problem both my mk2's have suffered from it
1st on I turned the linkage upside down and its fixed the problem, second one was far too worn so I used a bent bobby pin total cost for repairing both cars was stealing a bobby pin off other half, so in all a small amount of whinging.

now the knocking at the rear in all honesty is probably nothing to do with the exhaust. you say the front shocks have gone and maybe the rears? well the common problem with the rears is the rubber bushes go and the shocks then bang on the bolts that hold them on to the car, so get the back wheels off and take a look anyone can change them with a 19mm and a 17mm spanner / socket and a bit of time and cost £20-30 a side depending where you get them.

i'm sure many will disagree with me but try halfords auto centers they are a recent acquisition of halfords (having been nationwide auto centers previously) and standards are fairly high as a result,

basically don't ask 'friends of friends' to do things it ruins your car your pocket and your friendship

what i don't understand is why you sent the car for a 'service' only a week after getting it? or did you just send it in to have the squeak/knock looked at ?

 

[ThRdDvl]

Thanks for the fast reply Zig

I haven't checked my insurance policy but its TPFT and I really dont think it covers windscreens, any idea how much replacing the windscreen will cost?

Thanks for the tip about the shocks i'd been quoted £75 per shock plus labour but I am really thinking of just getting my friends jacks and doing it myself, what next.... garage replaces the shocks and the boot lid falls off? Replaces the windscreen and my pedals seize? I swear when they replaced the exhaust bracket it came back with 10% more scratches.

All my garage experiences so far have been awful and i've only been motoring for a month and some small change!

I knew cracks only get worse but you've really helped to emphasize importance of the screen to the cars structural integrity... and I realised i'm going to have to get the shocks done soon as to avoid any more cracked glass (if that is indeed what caused it).

So again thanks! and... any idea about the whole missing-5th-gear thing?

 

[Ziggy122]

A socket set might not be enough for a Rear shock change
I ended up needing a breaker bar (24") one to break my bottom bolts off, and that was still hard

The top nuts were reasonable tho

On mine there 15mm top and 18mm bottom
Plenty of WD40 and heat to aid removal as they often get seized in there

Ziggy

 

[ThRdDvl]

Thanks for you reply Andy wish i'd tried that would have saved myself a few quid!!!

I do indeed think its the back shocks as I can't imagine the front ones bleeding oil and the back ones being fine. I am feeling adventurous so im going to try and do some stuff myself with a little help.

And I am indeed going to stop using 'friend of a friend' or 'My mate John...'

Cheers for reading

 

[Ziggy122]

Could always ask as local tyre fitting garage if they could windy the bolts for you if needed?

As a said tho - make sure you use PLENTY of penatrating fluid now - severl time a day till you try it

Ziggy

 

[atom0007]

A good strategy for repairs is
1. visit this site with symptom list
2. Search
3. Post your problem

There are a lot of very experienced people here who can help you diagnose the issue, and give you your options.
You can then approach it in an informed way.

The issue with a service comes down to your expectation.

It should be a set minimum, which will be defined by the garage. You would also hope for a common-sense once over; but this depends on the shop and mechanic. In other words, I'm not surprised the exhaust fitter didn't look at the shocks (which if they're leaking oil, a quick glance is enough to diagnose).

Also, most workshops, for various reasons, will replace a unit, rather than repair it. You've seen this with the wipers, but it tends to be true in other areas (e.g. brake calipers).

Regarding the rears shocks, I also needed a breaker bar to free mine. As Ziggy said, lots of oil, and a fine brass brush to help it work through the rust. I find this to be way more effective than just the oil alone.

Good luck

 

[s and b]

Wiper linkage on drivers side fell off 4 days ago; just got it back from (friend of a family member who's a mechanic), who had replaced the linkage and motor for near £100 ... everyone has been telling me you have to replace the lot but I now know WIPEX do a replacement linkage arm! for £26.50!

youve been dun over a barrel
when your mechanic put the scuttle panel back on the car he didnt do it carefully enough (i remove bonnet to do these wipers) and hes stressed the windscreen and caused it to crack,this can literally happen minutes or days after the job is done so you need to make sure the screen and scuttle cover is clear of any mud etc before sliding it into place,i still make my customers understand that by fixing their wipers i might break their screen even though i am utmostly careful but i wont be held responsible
you should have bought off the bay in my opinion or local scrappy which is probably what he dide and gave it a clean and a bit of matt black before trousering you