Who "supervises" their car when its being worked on?

[shaneg 0]

Bought 4 toyos the other week (thanks gastkr)

Rang around a few places to ask fitting and balancing costs, while one place quoted me $32 and then said they dont balance rear wheel usually as its not necessary being rears and all.

So i decided not to use them and went to Firestone instead, at $25 it was cheaper too.

Decided to hang out and watch them do it, which im sure they didnt like but my wheels so tough tittie.

First i caught them about to put them on the wrong way, "oh are they directional?"

Then i caught them about to stick a 255 on the other front wheel "oh are the rear tyres wider?"

Didnt seem to notice the wheels are staggered.. ok

Ended up chatting to the manager for a bit whilst they fitted the rears.

Car all finished, made sure they torqued the nuts when the car was on the ground

Getting in the car the next morning i notice the rears were put on the wrong way, just needed to swap the left and right over, no biggie but christ it couldve been a lot worse, i wouldve ended up with a 235/255 front and 255/235 rear with them going in the wrong direction if i had left it up to them.

Anyone else watch their car like a hawk when unspecialised people are doing things to your car?

[EVILRE30 0]

Hi that sort of stuff is common over here either they damage your wheels,car, or just get it wrong etc. It's also common to see them rattle gun your wheel nuts and ruin them.You have to ask and ask them to use a t bar and even watch them too.The best thing is find a Tyre shop that you can trust and are happy with the work they do downside is a little bit more pricey sometimes.Over here most of the Tyre shops are franchises so everyone is run different cause of the owner,manager,and staff.Don't get me wrong some are great but not many best to supervise your self or take just the wheels to the shop leave the car at home on stands.

[Greg111 13]

We have policys about customers in our workshop, big no no, i hate customers watching me work! Just ignor them if they're standing outside my bay.

[Ben 0]

Hi that sort of stuff is common over here either they damage your wheels,car, or just get it wrong etc. It's also common to see them rattle gun your wheel nuts and ruin them.You have to ask and ask them to use a t bar and even watch them too.The best thing is find a Tyre shop that you can trust and are happy with the work they do downside is a little bit more pricey sometimes.Over here most of the Tyre shops are franchises so everyone is run different cause of the owner,manager,and staff.Don't get me wrong some are great but not many best to supervise your self or take just the wheels to the shop leave the car at home on stands.

A rattle guns not going to wreck your wheel nuts pal

unless theyre using the wrong size socket

its common practice to use one and if a shop didnt use one

I would question their expertise

If theyre not torquing them up with a strong arm after

the rattle gun then theres a problem........

If I get stuff done anywhere Ill only watch them if the

workers look like rednecks or flat peak muppets

Edited March 11, 2012 by Ben

[E30-323ti 66]

Seen the OP's prob's all too often.

I found a place that has a wheel align tech who knows what he is doing, and tyre fitters that work on euro's all day long, so when presented with a asymmetric tyre they know what you are saying.

I had to leave a note on an E36 M3 vert a few years back.

Had a brand new set of Goodyear GSD-3 *cringe*.

All were the same size (wrong 235/45's), and the 8.5" rear wheels were on the front and 7.5's on the rear.

Looked so bad, but I guess not all 'know' what they are looking at, as it appeared immaculate *facepalm*

Edited March 11, 2012 by E30-323ti

[M5V8 337]

Yup. Last time I watched them wreak the steel valve on my rays rims, then replace with a rubber one that would have fouled on the brake caliper. I got the guy and asked what was wrong with this picture and he looked at it all confused until I pointed it out.

After that I found they "forgot" to replace one of the locknuts on one wheel.

Last warrant I stayed and chatted with the guy as he did it. He was actually really good. So it's really the professionalism of the mechanic more than anything. If you think you might need to keep any eye on them maybe you should be taking it somewhere else.

[Docile 64]

a tires place put a big knick the stainless steel lip on my mags on that tire remover machine. was so f**kin pissed off.

[Michael. 2313]

Yeah I hate leaving certain people to do the work on my cars.

I guess thats why it pays to know the right people you can trust and not go to any old place.

[elmarco 56]

Large well known tyre shop managed to leave all the wheel bolts on one side finger tight on wifes Golf last year. I was less than pleased with this and will never use any of the services or product again.

[kevinator9 57]

I often watch to learn. I assume I do not know as much as the person who has the job to do it (I am just starting to do my own oil changes and minor repairs etc) so am very eager to see what is going on when it is getting worked on by someone else. I often ask if I can watch and I let them know it's so I can understand as I know some people do not like people watching while they work.

[dreadful1 7]

I tend to always supervise my car if I take it to somewhere I don't trust, thats why I take to to Glenn for work on cars as I trust in his team 100% to do a good job and same with jono for tyres.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2957]

If you think you might need to keep any eye on them maybe you should be taking it somewhere else.

^^ This.

Don't choose the people to work on your car purely on price, otherwise you will end up in the position of the OP.

If a workshop is not prepared for you to have a look around I would be asking what is it they have to hide?

[Docile 64]

my local mechanic lets me in the mechanics bay been with him for years now. lets me look around even when the car is hoisted up. especially on WOFs. i can check the under body with the full car hoist . and me just being mindful as well not to be in his way:)

[shaneg 0]

I was only watching as they were just out of high school, and firestone have the nicerbalancing machine , the other place had an old shitty one and werent using the nice stick-on weights.

Being in qtown there arent a great deal to choose from and no bmw specialist either.

Nearest is 3 hours away, i usually try and do things myself, the last time i took it in was to get the osv changed, i supplied the part coutesy of ray, and asked to talk to the mechanic beforehand to explain how to do it as id researched it and ray had given me some pointers, without lifting off the intake plenum which he was suprised at, they are a range rover specialist so are familiar with the m62 engine.

[Allanw 1071]

I pretty much always watch, but there is only limited places I let do work. Mostly it's people I know quite well.

If I use someone new, I pretend I know less than I do, and don't comment much - I still decide whether they are good enoughbased on how they do it, and am willing to pay for better work.

I have a WOF guy I trust - He knows me, I know him. Pretty rare he fails anything, because he KNOWS I will fix it. I once had a balljoint on the VW Transporter which he said I would need to do before next WOF, because it does low milage, it's OK for now. When I took it in 6 months later, it had 4 new balljoints, all the rubber bushes, two new shocks, power steering installed, lowering springs and was all painted.

He said he KNEW it would be done overkill when I took it back :-)

[E30-323ti 66]

Large well known tyre shop managed to leave all the wheel bolts on one side finger tight on wifes Golf last year. I was less than pleased with this and will never use any of the services or product again.

Reminds me of my youth.

Picking up the old mans work ute after getting new tyres put on it.

Then having all 6 wheel studs shear off and loose the right front wheel pulling to the the driveway.

[westy 614]

A rattle guns not going to wreck your wheel nuts pal

unless theyre using the wrong size socket

its common practice to use one and if a shop didnt use one

I would question their expertise

If theyre not torquing them up with a strong arm after

the rattle gun then theres a problem........

If I get stuff done anywhere Ill only watch them if the

workers look like rednecks or flat peak muppets

They can. They'll make a mess of locknuts in particular.

Also, not much point in using a torque wrench if they've rattle gunned passed the set torque.

[DRTDVL 0]

Or the Click + 1/4 turn people with torque wrenches also

[Apex 693]

I have been on the opposite side of the coin when muppets have tightened my wheel nuts so tight I could not get them off.

I don't worry about leaving my cars with people, they cant drive my car as hard as I do and if they break something I hold them accountable.

[Ben 0]

They can. They'll make a mess of locknuts in particular.

Also, not much point in using a torque wrench if they've rattle gunned passed the set torque.

Ive never damaged a wheel nut with a rattle gun

and every gun ive used i wouldnt trust the torque settings on

Lol who uses a torque wrench on wheel nuts?

[Greg111 13]

Ive never damaged a wheel nut with a rattle gun

and every gun ive used i wouldnt trust the torque settings on

Lol who uses a torque wrench on wheel nuts?

Everytime i take a wheel off then put on with rattle gun i recheck torque with a torque wrench, never trust a gun.

[elmarco 56]

Reminds me of my youth.

Picking up the old mans work ute after getting new tyres put on it.

Then having all 6 wheel studs shear off and loose the right front wheel pulling to the the driveway.

My wife had done around 150km up and down the motorway before we found it. And was 7 months pregnant... The manager apologised (he had actually worked on the car), but their head office didn't give a flying f**k when I notified them. Loose wheels have killed people before now.

Lol who uses a torque wrench on wheel nuts?

Everyone should....

[Ben 0]

Everyone should....

There's a difference between text book and practice

eg. I "should" use filler rod in my welds at work but 99% of my work it isnt

necessary as its sanded off and polished

[elmarco 56]

Explain that to the family of the person who gets nailed by a wheel that comes off and bounces over the motorway median barrier.

[kiwi535 538]

There's a difference between text book and practice

eg. I "should" use filler rod in my welds at work but 99% of my work it isnt

necessary as its sanded off and polished

the last two tyres places i have used torque the nuts with a torque wrench after a quick brrrp with the gun.and they use a star type patten.

Edited March 12, 2012 by kiwi535