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The Truth Revealed


artscot79
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Interesting program on bbc1 proving the mpg figures are in many cases unachievable and that ford was the worst for telling people that they are achievable and exceedable when testing showed its just not possible

Also showed how kwik fit are telling customers they need work done which they dont and when you take youre car in for the free check they dont even check the cars yet claim parts such as disks and pads and shock absorbers are needed they want dealers to tell customers which some do that the figures shouldnt be taken as fact

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I saw the programme too, although the MPG figures are highly unlikely to be achieved in the "real world" (in real life conditions, with avarage drivers) they are, however, possible, - as people often buy cars based on the advertised MPG, and may favour purchasing one car with even a slightly better MPG over another, there is a lot of pressure to make the MPG figures look as good as possible - so the "best possible case senario" is used rather than the worst



As driving conditions, driving style etc and many other factors can affect MPG, it is difficullt to acheive a general test that reflects typical conditions and what a customer/ driver could expect MPG-wise (as there is no "typical" conditions)



However, since there seems to be a massive difference between manufacturers' published figures and those thgat the general public/ independant testers are achieving, something should be done to correct this, to make it fairer for the consumer,


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a neighbour of mine took her Ka for a for a squeking dash (warranty work) at plymouths local ford dealership .. as a courtesy gesture they carried out a free health check and gave her an amber warning for a n/s/f tyre ..its got 5.2mm of tread on it .. no cracks or foriegn objects . she declined their offer to replace it and gave then some advise of her own

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I saw that programme, and am not surprised at Kwik Fit.

However, I'm also wary of any garage/dealership offering a 'free' check up of your car - 9 times out of 10, they'll no doubt find something they can try and make some money out of you for.

As for the MPG figures, I know that the quoted figures are achieved in almost 'laboratory' conditions, not real world, but I have owned Renault Diesels in the past that achieved very close to the claimed figures.

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I think they should simply publish a real world test figure as a rule of thumb I've found most will do the lowest figure qouted ie town driving is the most likely achievable figure sure youll get more but as a guide its usually in that area

We see the posts on here constantly i bought a focus they say 65mpg i only get 40mpg and as said many now purchase a car based on economy to sometimes wish they just kept there old car its very misleading and in a way a con getting 25mpg less than qouted isnt close yet my mk1 focus got very close to the figures qouted between then and now something changed and the figures got ridiculous.

The prius on top gear around town had worse fuel economy than a mondeo diesel yet cost a lot more to buy thats just not right and in which its the biggest complaint over the last 2 years even there tests say the figures are highly optomistic

kwik fit has always been a con i still remember getting an exhaust clamp done to be told you need new pads and disks wasnt too happy when i asked how he came to that conclusion and was told they were visibly low i had steel wheels i replied oh really they went down that much since i replaced them last week needless to say i did not pay for the clamp nor ever return

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a neighbour of mine took her Ka for a for a squeking dash (warranty work) at plymouths local ford dealership .. as a courtesy gesture they carried out a free health check and gave her an amber warning for a n/s/f tyre ..its got 5.2mm of tread on it .. no cracks or foriegn objects . she declined their offer to replace it and gave then some advise of her own

Totally not surprised, that particular dealership is full of right pirates.

They're more concerned with Fiats nowadays anyway.

I always go to the dealer in Kingsbridge if any dealer only work needs doing.

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I also watched this programme last night. The mpg issue has been going on for years, designed as a ploy to sell cars obviously. The Kwik Fit thing is scary. It can work differently from region to region. My brother in law took his Megane to the Renault dealer in our town which is on the same road as our local Kwik Fit, less than half a mile along the road. He needed front pads and discs. Thats what he went in for. He mentioned to boss man that he was going to be taking his car to the dealership for a service within the next couple of weeks and the manager of Kwik Fit said they could do it for less. He got the pads, discs and a service for £180 less than the main dealer was wanting for the same work.

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Only time I go to kwik-fit is with my work car.

If i get a puncture on duty i have to call the RAC to change the wheel for the spare and then if it's daytime then go to kwik-fit to repair or replace the tyre under a fleet contract.

Other than that I stay well away from them.

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It has been covered before about the publishing of real world mpg and test figures, manufacture has the right to publish real world figures or actual test figures, there is no law or rule against this it is a choice for them and since their test figures are always higher than real world it is therefore accepted.

I agree Kwik-fit is a scammy garage however saying that i feel that they do this to people who don't know or aren't aware of what they are actually talking about. I use kwit-fit alot, anything i need i go there and i question every bit of detail, i go round the back and look at the car myself on the ramp etc, i then get a price and go else where. They will carry out the free checks properly if you watch them do it and you are always welcome to watch, if any garage won't allow you to watch them... walk away.

On my previous car i have had several free checks done, brakes, exhaust, wheel bearing checks, all free directly done before me and it was done correctly, i either did the work myself or somewhere else if i don't have the equipment to do it

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My Local Quick fit is a wierd one. had an astra a year back they wanted £180 to fix it yet went to an independant and it was only £110.

However went theier recently about my brakes as was having issue with winding in the Piston on the caliper and they cleaned them both up and wound them for free.

Guess it depends who you see

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Sorry EGR went on the astra :P

they were however the only dealership that didnt charge to inspect it

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Didn't have to watch the programme to know about the shady dealings of quick flit as they have been doing it for decades rip off merchants in the extreme would not touch with the proverbial barge pole .in my option only mugs give them business .

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Ive personally never had any issues with kwik fit, mind i only went in after one thing only i dont let them do any other checks, free or not...

Peugeot dealers are really bad, one said i need £1200 of work on both front wheels in my 307. you may think yeah you may have needed alot of work, yet it went for an MOT 2 weeks prior and after Peugeot advised me of the above the fella (who is a good mate of mine) said there is nothing wrong they saw a young lad with a silver credit card and though "we can get some dough here" and another said they need to hook the computer on to check why the locking nut on wheel was stuck and was going to cost £90!!! i laughed and walked out.

No problems with ford dealers at all, i typically ignore the warnings they give on free checks...one week it would say wheel bearing noise and the next it says nothing is wrong but you do need an oil change?!? even though i just changed it haha

MPG figures are acheived in a wind tunnel on a rolling road with a computer controlling the speed etc. there is hardly any resistance given by a rolling road and has some momentum helping it where in real world you have wind resistance and road resistance so you will never get that...i can remember smart cars were on watchdog about it and they have now revised their measuring methods etc.

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Missed that one!! I'll have to take a look on iplayer.

I'm not at all surprised at Kwik Fit. My Dad took his Citroen in for an MOT - they claimed it needed £600 worth of stuff doing to it. I suggested he try somewhere else before entrusting them to do the work.

Local Independent garage down the road, still failed - but on rear discs and a corroded brake line and a few niggly advisories. Cost (including MOT and advisories) £150. Kwik fit claimed the work was all needed up front. What made me suspicious was the fact they said front nearside balljoint - that'd only been changed a couple of months before!

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You need to remember that mpg calculations are done on a bench with optimum air temp/pressure, optimum fuel and does not take into consideration loading for car weight, battery/electrical charging or loading.

It's a measure of what the engine can achieve not the car itself.

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It has been covered before about the publishing of real world mpg and test figures, manufacture has the right to publish real world figures or actual test figures, there is no law or rule against this it is a choice for them and since their test figures are always higher than real world it is therefore accepted.

Hi, oh since when? It is the government and the EU who have forced all the manufacturers to publish mpg figures that are not real world and only representitive. I am also surprised at the statement by Ford, and I wonder where the BBC got it from, as they quite clearly state in the car manual and on the back of a brochure that the mpg figures aren't representative of real world driving.

Having said that I must be one of the few that achieve, and can surpass, the quoted figures when I wish too.

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kwikfit were the cheapest place i managed to find for new tyres on my car , being that i replaced like for like they were not cheap , they replaced them . But !!! they said my tracking was out and wanted £40 , i declined :)

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