shane_o 
Member 
 
Registered: 15th Sep 05
 Location: Yeovil, Somerset 
User status: Offline 
 
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i work as a apprentice at a vauxhall garage and i would never pay half of what is charged, been told to try sell as much as i can which really annoys me and i refuse to do it. we have silly policies like 3mm tread depth is a serious advise to replace and the ring people up and say that they need tyres ffs 3mm most could make that last 5k easily, now brake pads/discs loads of bs with them to 70% worn is the offical replace them now time and a 1mm lip on either side of the disc contituets to requiring new discs and most sane people know thats a con but unfortunly on a day to day basis i have to make said suggestions and most people go for it, i could go on for a week on why you shouldnt bother going to a main dealer and i work for one ffs
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by shane_o 
i work as a apprentice at a vauxhall garage and i would never pay half of what is charged, been told to try sell as much as i can which really annoys me and i refuse to do it. we have silly policies like 3mm tread depth is a serious advise to replace and the ring people up and say that they need tyres ffs 3mm most could make that last 5k easily, now brake pads/discs loads of bs with them to 70% worn is the offical replace them now time and a 1mm lip on either side of the disc contituets to requiring new discs and most sane people know thats a con but unfortunly on a day to day basis i have to make said suggestions and most people go for it, i could go on for a week on why you shouldnt bother going to a main dealer and i work for one ffs 
   
 
in ref to 3mm on  tyres-its been proven  that with 3mm  stopping distances in cases  can  be doubled-hence why the  1.6mm law  is  in  the process of  maybe bein changed  to 3mm
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shane_o 
Member 
 
Registered: 15th Sep 05
 Location: Yeovil, Somerset 
User status: Offline 
 
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is it really i never knew that, i actually learnt somthing today thanks
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mav 
Member 
 
Registered: 19th Jun 01
 Location: Scotland 
User status: Offline 
 
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Bubblevaux 
 
our current labour rate is 65+vat p/hr  + £76 per hour   
 
TBH I think that is a rip off...
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by mav 
Bubblevaux 
 
our current labour rate is 65+vat p/hr  + £76 per hour   
 
TBH I think that is a rip off... 
   
 
its cheaper than  nearby ford,vw,toyota and renault though 
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mav 
Member 
 
Registered: 19th Jun 01
 Location: Scotland 
User status: Offline 
 
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Is it, well they are even worse 
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by mav 
Is it, well they are even worse  
   
 
our  dealership is in middle  of very profitable CBD(central business district)  though, so  prices are high. ie  in  the Hanley CBD u  can  go shopping,  but  its so much cheaper 3 miles down the road.  stupid-but i understand why prices and labour rates are high.
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Steve 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 30th Mar 02
 Location: Worcestershire             Drives: Defender 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by bubblevaux 
quote: Originally posted by shane_o 
i work as a apprentice at a vauxhall garage and i would never pay half of what is charged, been told to try sell as much as i can which really annoys me and i refuse to do it. we have silly policies like 3mm tread depth is a serious advise to replace and the ring people up and say that they need tyres ffs 3mm most could make that last 5k easily, now brake pads/discs loads of bs with them to 70% worn is the offical replace them now time and a 1mm lip on either side of the disc contituets to requiring new discs and most sane people know thats a con but unfortunly on a day to day basis i have to make said suggestions and most people go for it, i could go on for a week on why you shouldnt bother going to a main dealer and i work for one ffs 
   
 
in ref to 3mm on  tyres-its been proven  that with 3mm  stopping distances in cases  can  be doubled-hence why the  1.6mm law  is  in  the process of  maybe bein changed  to 3mm 
   
 
iv seen that report when they showed it on TV and it looked like bollocks.  
 
How does tread affect stopping distances? fucking race cars can use slicks, you dont see them sliding everywhere 
 
tread is only purposeful in wet roads, stops the water building up under the tyres 
 
[Edited on 21-10-2006 by Steve]
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Steve 
quote: Originally posted by bubblevaux 
quote: Originally posted by shane_o 
i work as a apprentice at a vauxhall garage and i would never pay half of what is charged, been told to try sell as much as i can which really annoys me and i refuse to do it. we have silly policies like 3mm tread depth is a serious advise to replace and the ring people up and say that they need tyres ffs 3mm most could make that last 5k easily, now brake pads/discs loads of bs with them to 70% worn is the offical replace them now time and a 1mm lip on either side of the disc contituets to requiring new discs and most sane people know thats a con but unfortunly on a day to day basis i have to make said suggestions and most people go for it, i could go on for a week on why you shouldnt bother going to a main dealer and i work for one ffs 
   
 
in ref to 3mm on  tyres-its been proven  that with 3mm  stopping distances in cases  can  be doubled-hence why the  1.6mm law  is  in  the process of  maybe bein changed  to 3mm 
   
 
iv seen that report when they showed it on TV and it looked like bollocks. o 
   
 
http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advice/motorvehicles/tread_depth.htm
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Steve 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 30th Mar 02
 Location: Worcestershire             Drives: Defender 
User status: Offline 
 
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yes thats in the wet, in the dry if anything it will be better
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Steve 
yes thats in the wet, in the dry if anything it will be better 
   
 
we live in uk though-it rains a lot here 
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Eck 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 17th Apr 06
 Location: Lundin Links, Fife 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by bubblevaux 
quote: Originally posted by Steve 
yes thats in the wet, in the dry if anything it will be better 
   
 
we live in uk though-it rains a lot here  
   
 
but surely you can't base a change in the minimum tyre depth on the chances of it raining  
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Robin 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 7th Jan 04
 Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup 
User status: Offline 
 
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its worse in the dry too. the 'rubber' compound is too hard. slicks are soft, so they work well. a slick tyre made of normal road compound will not grip as well as the treaded tyre, even in the dry.
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bubble 
Member 
 
Registered: 24th Jan 04
 Location: Darwin, NT Australia. 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Eckmcmann 
quote: Originally posted by bubblevaux 
quote: Originally posted by Steve 
yes thats in the wet, in the dry if anything it will be better 
   
 
we live in uk though-it rains a lot here  
   
 
but surely you can't base a change in the minimum tyre depth on the chances of it raining   
   
 
i dont know? just what is beiinng planned-its  4 or 5mm in some european countries  fudge  that!
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Steve 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 30th Mar 02
 Location: Worcestershire             Drives: Defender 
User status: Offline 
 
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its not going to be worse in the dry than it was with tread, there is less surface area with tread
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Robin 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 7th Jan 04
 Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup 
User status: Offline 
 
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Michelin published figures proving that 3mm drops the stopping distance dramatically, and when I was working as a tyre fitter, we were sent on a driving day, where we drove the same car, with the same set of tyres, firstly with 8mm, then 3mm, then 1.6. 
 
In the wet AND dry, the 1.6mm were far worse then the 3mm. 
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Robin 
Premium Member
 
Registered: 7th Jan 04
 Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Steve 
its not going to be worse in the dry than it was with tread, there is less surface area with tread 
   
 
the edges of the blocks in the tread add to the lateral grip.
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Mattb 
Member 
 
Registered: 2nd Feb 03
 Location: Under your sisters bed 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by mav 
Bubblevaux 
 
our current labour rate is 65+vat p/hr  + £76 per hour   
 
TBH I think that is a rip off... 
   
 
Thats cheap! 
 
£110 + Vat here for your run of the mill VW 
£125 + Vat for your touareg or phaeton  
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lee mitchell 
Member 
 
Registered: 26th Jan 01
 Location: kent...drive's: eveyones conversion cars hard lol 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Ojc 
Just a little update here with regards to the brakes. 
 
Rachel was told by this Vauxhall main dealership that her brake pads were worn 90% on the front 80% on the rear. 
 
Last week a friend of her family was around who is a mechanic, so he goes out and checks the pads for her, takes the wheels off and guess what? 
 
Front pads worn 50% rear pads worn 40%, said to her shes got a good year left on them   
 
Seriously question EVERYTHING that Vauxhall tell you because it will be a load of absolute bollocks. 
 
If she hadn't been in the know about how they try it on she would have wasted 215 quid on something that didn't need doing   
  when i was on the phone to u i said they were probably only half worn. everything percentage wise is doubled up dont forget  
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Ludacris Turbo 
Member 
 
Registered: 28th May 04
 Location: High Green, Sheffield 
User status: Offline 
 
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The only time i've been to a main dealer was when i had my pug. Got it serviced and they told me it needed £640+vat worth of work doin. So i took the car to my dads mate and he charged me £40 and said the dealer were takin the piss.  The day i take my car to a main dealer to have work done on it is the day i win the lottery. 
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Cybermonkey 
Member 
 
Registered: 22nd Sep 02
 Location: Sydney, Australia 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Steve 
 
 
How does tread affect stopping distances? fucking race cars can use slicks, you dont see them sliding everywhere 
 
tread is only purposeful in wet roads, stops the water building up under the tyres 
 
   
 
steve im shocked at this comment, i thought you were relatively smart     road rubber is vastly different to track slicks, the tread compound is the stickiest rubber on the tyre, containing mostly silicon these days. the base rubber is too hard to offer any form of resistance against the tarmac.
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Matt H 
Member 
 
Registered: 11th Sep 01
 Location: South Yorkshire 
User status: Offline 
 
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My local vauxhall garage have pretty much wrote my mums car off & then refused to accept responsibility  
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CorsAsh 
Member 
 
Registered: 19th Apr 02
 Location: Munich 
User status: Offline 
 
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quote: Originally posted by Ojc 
Bad experience Ash? 
   
 
Explained briefly back on page one mate: 
 
quote: Originally posted by CorsAsh 
Tell me about it Ollie, took dad's car for a service, some monkey changed the air filter and removed the entire AFM for some reason, then reassembled it with the AFM in backwards   There's a sodding arrow on it FFS: 
 
  
 
Took it back 6 times as the EML kept coming on, they replaced throttle body, ICV and ECU, wanted to charge us as it was just coming off warranty, but none of it helped, EML still came on and car ran like shit. 
 
In the end, I was cleaning under the bonnet, saw as soon as I lifted it that the arrow was pointing the wrong way, took it back for them to change and surprise surprise, problem solved. Idiots.   
  
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