Another rant about Macklin Edinburgh West (now Vertu Newbridge)

[Rolfe]

That's an idea. One of our other members said that the Galashiels dealership had got handles painted for him elsewhere, and fitted them. It's an option.

I was certainly planning on reminding them whose car this is. Fortunately I bought Caliban outright with cash (or rather, a direct bank transfer), so there is no leasing company involved. He's mine, and I get to say who does what to him. They cannot possibly void the warranty for a refusal to have brakes replaced that have already been stripped and cleaned off and pronounced just fine by another garage. Or indeed for a refusal to have undertrays and a wheel arch lining replaced when these have also been inspected by a third party and pronounced safe.

I was stung by the dealer I bought my first Fiesta from, in 1985, who replaced all the brake pads at every service. I didn't know any better. In 1988, after I moved house, pennies started dropping very rapidly when my new local dealer said, the brake pads are OK, they'll do till the next service.

Andrew did say the brakes could do with stripping down and cleaning off, not that it was urgent, but as he had the wheels off anyway to change the tyres it was a good opportunity to do it while he was at it. And turn down that regeneration.

I don't know that that's really the answer though. Maybe we need a thread on the most effective routine for keeping EV brakes in tip-top condition?

 

[dsimpkins]

future victims costumers.

Costumers, LOL. My daughter is currently studying to be a costumer at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She's been costume assistant on two productions already and will be getting experience as a costume supervisor on a production next week.

 

[Rolfe]

Congratulations, I think that's a brilliant job if you can get it!

 

[Archev]

That's an idea. One of our other members said that the Galashiels dealership had got handles painted for him elsewhere, and fitted them. It's an option.

I was certainly planning on reminding them whose car this is. Fortunately I bought Caliban outright with cash (or rather, a direct bank transfer), so there is no leasing company involved. He's mine, and I get to say who does what to him. They cannot possibly void the warranty for a refusal to have brakes replaced that have already been stripped and cleaned off and pronounced just fine by another garage. Or indeed for a refusal to have undertrays and a wheel arch lining replaced when these have also been inspected by a third party and pronounced safe.

I was stung by the dealer I bought my first Fiesta from, in 1985, who replaced all the brake pads at every service. I didn't know any better. In 1988, after I moved house, pennies started dropping very rapidly when my new local dealer said, the brake pads are OK, they'll do till the next service.

Andrew did say the brakes could do with stripping down and cleaning off, not that it was urgent, but as he had the wheels off anyway to change the tyres it was a good opportunity to do it while he was at it. And turn down that regeneration.

I don't know that that's really the answer though. Maybe we need a thread on the most effective routine for keeping EV brakes in tip-top condition?

My MG5 that I called Magnette was a little over three years old with 32000 miles on the clock when it had its third service and first MOT at Frasers garage in Falkirk. Nothing was done to the brakes and there were no advisories reported. I always used eco and the strongest regen setting (and still do with the Berlingo) and actively endeavour to use the brakes as little as possible, relying instead on the regen.
In fact I’ve very rarely had to replace brake pads and think I’ve only ever replaced a pair of discs a couple of times on previous cars and vans.

There are some chips and scuffs on the anchor and chain that I throw out the window in extreme emergencies but that’s the same anchor I started with in the Morris Minor.

 

[dsimpkins]

Congratulations, I think that's a brilliant job if you can get it!

Thanks, she's worked really hard to get where she is. They are number 1 in the UK and only take 8 students per year for costume. I'm super proud of her if you couldn't tell.

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks, she's worked really hard to get where she is. They are number 1 in the UK and only take 8 students per year for costume. I'm super proud of her if you couldn't tell.

And rightfully so. I'm an opera fan and I've been to several open days where they show how costumes and props are created. It's fascinating and skilled and looks like a huge amount of fun too!

 

[dsimpkins]

We're getting off topic, but yes she's having lots of fun. Speaking of Opera, in her second year she has to do a placement, which we're hoping might be at the Royal College of Music in London. Her Uncle works there.

 

[Rolfe]

My MG5 that I called Magnette was a little over three years old with 32000 miles on the clock when it had its third service and first MOT at Frasers garage in Falkirk. Nothing was done to the brakes and there were no advisories reported. I always used eco and the strongest regen setting (and still do with the Berlingo) and actively endeavour to use the brakes as little as possible, relying instead on the regen.
In fact I’ve very rarely had to replace brake pads and think I’ve only ever replaced a pair of discs a couple of times on previous cars and vans.

There are some chips and scuffs on the anchor and chain that I throw out the window in extreme emergencies but that’s the same anchor I started with in the Morris Minor.

When I used the word "advisories", discussing these issues when I was first told about them, I was informed that they weren't "advisories", they were serious safety issues and could cause an accident. That last was mainly in relation to the slight damage to the wheel arch liner. Andrew said it's a hole literally an inch square. He said "I suppose if it got worse we'd have to replace it, but I don't see why it should." Then there was a meaningful look that said, clear as day, stay away from the Hardknott pass, doofus.

This was a well-rehearsed routine, in my view. Announce these things have to be done, they're "safety issues". If client hesitates, just assume we're going ahead, we have the brakes in stock and can do it right now. Any more hesitation and tell them that it has to be genuine MG parts and you can only get these from a dealer. Reservations about the cost are met with offers of a finance package. And if that damage gets any worse you will crash.

I suspect quite a lot of couturiers fall for it.

 

[Rolfe]

We're getting off topic, but yes she's having lots of fun. Speaking of Opera, in her second year she has to do a placement, which we're hoping might be at the Royal College of Music in London. Her Uncle works there.

Exciting!

 

[ReintjeWA]

Costumers, LOL. My daughter is currently studying to be a costumer at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She's been costume assistant on two productions already and will be getting experience as a costume supervisor on a production next week.

lol I should wait until I’m fully awake before I put my two cents in haha

 

[Rolfe]

Never mind, we had a pleasant derail out of it.

 

[rjb1970]

Speaking of brakes, hundreds of years ago I used to run a Vauxhall Corsa as a driving school car. I did 30k a year, which in those days meant 3 services a year. After the 1st year, the front brake pads suddenly needed replacing every service! They used to fob me off saying it was all the extra use, learners braking too hard, frequent emergency stops, etc. As soon as the warranty was up I started going to what was then called Apple Car Clinic, later taken over by Halfords. The guy there told me was Vauxhall trained, and that the replacement parts were inferior to the originals and would therefore need replacing more frequently. He said this was a strategy to get people to spend more money more often. Sure enough, they needed doing and he showed me the evidence, but after that they were back to lasting longer again.

 

[Archev]

Never mind, we had a pleasant derail out of it.

I thought we were witnessing the birth of the MG tu tu

 

[Rolfe]

Just had an absolutely steaming row with the service manager.

 

[ReintjeWA]

Just had an absolutely steaming row with the service manager.

Tell us all about it when you’re ready

 

[Rolfe]

Well, hopefully that's an end of it.

Naturally they weren't going to back down and say, oh sorry we tried to scam you, can we be friends now? They stuck to their guns that they were the authority and if they said it needed doing it wasn't for someone else to say anything different. But obviously they knew I wasn't going to cave in and ask them to do it after all.

The problem was that they were insisting on doing another "vehicle health check", despite one having been done only two weeks ago. I protested, and was told they had to do it if the car was on the premises because it was their responsibility. Anything could have happened in two weeks! I could have a ballooning tyre, anything! I just wanted the door handle job done and out of there, and I strongly suspect these vehicle health checks are being used as a way to find extra paying work. I said that this was my car, not theirs, and it was up to me to decide what work to authorise and what not. They made me sign a disclaimer that I had declined the vehicle health check. I had a nice therapeutic yell at them anyway.

They did the door handle and it's fine, and there is no way I am going to make an issue of the fact that the speed limit detection software doesn't seem to have been updated, because it's useless either way regardless so who cares. Bye-bye Macklin.

They couldn't really let it go though. The woman I'd been dealing with declared, as I was leaving, that my brakes were "almost 100% worn down". Now of course that's nonsense. The issue was rusting and some pitting due to underuse, not excessive wear. Andrew has stripped the brakes and cleaned them off since Macklin raised the issue and there is no way he would ever let me drive off in a car that had brakes that were almost 100% worn. I suspect this was more likely to be ignorance on the part of the woman who was talking to me, rather than a deliberate falsehood, but it just shows how ignorant some of these front-of-house staff are, and how they'll grab any story to try to frighten a customer into having unnecessary work done.

There was a funny post-script that thankfully didn't go all the way. I decided to stop the car when I'd gone a little way, just to check the door handle. I couldn't get the car to lock. Every time I tried it was giving that beep that means you've left the boot open or something, but I hadn't. (I suspected it was something I was doing wrong but couldn't figure out what.) I went back to Macklin's and parked the car and picked up my rucksack and lo and behold it locked no problem. So I drove off again, but thought I'd better check again. Wouldn't lock. So I went back to Macklin yet again, parked the car and tried again, this time without picking up the rucksack. Again it wouldn't lock. (You have probably figured it out by now.) I went in and said, I think there's something wrong, I can't get the car to lock.

They said, take a seat and we'll get someone to look at it. I did so, and a moment later the penny dropped with a resounding thud. I had both keys with me (just in case!) and the spare was in the rucksack. Obviously the car wasn't going to lock while the spare key was sitting on the passenger seat. So I said, wait a minute, I think I know what's wrong, I just need to check something. Went out, picked up rucksack, checked locking, absolutely fine. So I breezed back in and said, sorry, my mistake, it's absolutely fine thanks, and left for what I hope will be the absolutely last time. Just glad I realised before the guy actually came out to check it, my face would have been red.

The woman said something about emailing me the invoice for my records and I said OK. It only occurred to me later that while they had quoted about £441 for the service I had only paid about £301 at the time, something about keeping the job open because it wasn't finished. But of course the door handle was warranty work, so I don't know why she did that. I had expected to pay the balance today and was getting ready to load for bear if it was more than £140. However, I wasn't asked to pay anything before I drove off. No email has yet appeared. Obviously I'll pay it (up to the £140 balance) if asked, but it would be nice to be on the winning side somewhere on this.

I got home to an invoice from Andrew for £300 for labour only, to changing the tyres and stripping and cleaning off the brakes. That's somewhat more like it.

 

[Anon70]

The woman I'd been dealing with declared, as I was leaving, that my brakes were "almost 100% worn down"

I would be asking to see her calculations (like they do on exams) by using the following...
Initial pad thickness = A
Current pad thickness = B
% of wear = (B/A) * 100

Also where does "almost" appear on the % scale 70%, 80%, 90%?

 

[Rolfe]

I'm not going to be asking her anything. I'm never going to be speaking to her again. That final remark just showed how ignorant she was about the whole issue of brake wear in electric cars.