Having a strange noise on my98 2000 turbo for a couple ov days (woried me so never drove it) decided i would take it to a mechanic in the area who has a good reputation.Told him the problem and asked me to pop the bonnet and start her up so i did within seconds says"turbo,s fcuked mate".I though ohh now how much will that set me back he said about £500 notes to get it sent away and "reconned" and by the way he said your exhaust is blowing a bit.So i got back in the scoob with me jaw still dragging on the deck and started her up , within 200yds the noise had gone so decided to go to the local exhaust centre to get the exhaust looked at . Took about ten mins and the guy had found the problem..... are u ready for this.............................................. ..... a bolt had worked loose out ov the bottom manifold and was sitting in the tin tray rattling about(cause ov the noise)and had blown the gasket out.It was now4.45pm and the guy looked up the part and said u have to get it from the dealers if u get it come back and i will fit it for you at a cost ov a few quid. HOW LUCKY WAS I so its going in 2 morra and all will be well Anybody had any similer experiences?

 

The moral of the story is take your car to someone who knows what they are talking about.

 

or take it to a couple of garages to see if they differ in findings...

 

No such problems, my car goes to the boyz at API.

Rob

 

I would never take the word of one garage. I always get several quotes and then check with a specialist. Also most garages would take your car for agood half a day inspection and ring you with their findings... NOT just lift the bonnet.

Never had that problem cause i live down the road from TSL Motorsport

 

I think the first mechanic knew exactly what he was talking about

My recent experience. Misfire. Dealer recommendation: strip the engine. Final resolution = neutral position switch for £35 and DIY. DIY is always the best option if you can.

 

Lol how can he say the "turbo's fcuked" just startin her up ???

 

I got ripped off by a dealer in Guildford when I had the Honda, I was so anoyed I sold the Honda and bought a Subaru; much cheaper to service.

Complained to Honda who reimbursed the money for the parts and labour, said they would be having strong words with the dealer (maybe as I sent a cc of the letter to trading standards - should have been the police fraud squad)


I know Subaru's can be expensive, BUT there are many cases of a £2000+ for a service on a Honda Accord (same class as a Ford Mondeo) which is a complete rip off for a non-premium brand - they keep inventing parts of replace and the vtec system needs to be careful servicing -this is the expensive bit plus honda wishbone parts wear quickly, hence I will NEVER BUY or recommend Hondas! It would be cheaper to run a Fararri!

I'm very happy with the subaru and customer service from Subaru is excellent (on power with Toyota CS), i.e they care about their customers.

 

speye91

I'd go back and have a word with the first garage, tell him what the problem really was! And point out that he was an incompetent fool that you'll never use again!

Best time would be when he's really busy with lots of customers!

I only use a Subaru Specialist!

 

And who might that have been. PM me if you wouldnt mind. A scertain well know garage near me told me that my oil was low, there was a constant ticking noise from the engine bay. This was my 306 Rallye and i was still very wet behind the lugs shall we say.

Anyway, the noise was from the cams and cam shaft needed replacing. OK, well, time for some piper fast road ones. Bought them, £450 for the parts alone, i decided to get the head gasket done, timing belt and just general servicing work. 850 quid later, my car was ready and it took nearly a week.

Got it back and the noise was still there, returned to the garage, they said "oh, dont know mate, get peugeot to have a look with diagnostics.

It went to springfields, they said, oh, cams are knackered. nice one, just had them replaced, so surely not.

Then Richard Hardys and it was in 5 mins and they said "im not 100% certain, but i reckon its your plugs" He took the out 1 by 1, and aparts from realising they were not the ones i payed for, one plug was loose and it couldnt tighten up properly due to crap on the threads.....

cleaned it up fitted it again, and bingo noise gone.

So by my reckoning, that was about £750 quid down the drain.



Thieves

 

I was away for the weekend in my old Lotus Esprit when it started making a funny noise, I stopped at a small local garage just to see if they could identify it for me. The bloke said he'd worked on a few Lotus in the past and stood at the front of the car and said "pop the bonnet I'll have a look". I told him that the engine was actually in the back. It was one of those horribly embarrassing moments, needless to say after a quick listen he said he had no idea and I drove off.

 

aye when i was 18 and didnt know anything about cars at all i had a loud squeel every time i pressed the throttle to it to a mechanic and he said it was gearbox, car was in over xmas didnt have it for two weeks

when i got the car back the noise was back after 30 mins driving and over 400 quid for the gearbox, took it to an old mate he used to be a mechanic, he diagnosed the problem in less than a second........................ loose fan belt!

gearbox was in mint condition, nice to ripped off at xmas!

 

fixed now and back in buisness woo hooo

 

It could be a genuine mistake from someone in a hurry or not too enthusiastic or searching. You were clearly perturbed but at least you were lucky to get to the bottom of it without needless mega expenditure.

Last year I fiited a recon turbo and on starting up it was clear from the noise that we had issues. engine was shut down after less than a minute and restarted a couple of times for perhaps 15 secs just to confirm worst fears so I assure you that it is possible to listen to a turbo and ID a bearing failure on Garret derived units. Not as easy on TD05s etc.