Car just been for service

Hi guys, i know i've posted a lot today, but im really pee'd off now.

Just took my escort to a ford dealer for a service, i've never serviced my car before so just went with a 'special offer' service very good price. They phoned me at 3pm and told me there was loads of stuff wrong, the brakes were gone, the discs were 'lipped', the caliper had siezed, the indicator lights were wrong colour, the sterring rack was 'damp' (NO idea what that means) the wipers were poor and i had low tread on one tyre. Cost just for brakes = £250.

I cant afford that at the moment, so declined and went to get the car. Just looking through Service book now and they havn't even stamped it! I dont understand, is this because it wasn't a full service, or because i didn't get the work done. I want to phone them but im a bit scared as they were a bit angry with me for taking the car away in the first place. What do i do?!?!

I would take it somewhere else for a second opinion.

I took mine to Ford - I bought the car brand new (Fiesta), took it for it's 1st service, and they told me I needed 4 brand new tires!
I don't think so - not for a car thats a year old and done less than 10,000 miles!!

Hi,
I think i would take for a second opinion too,£250 seems an awful lot to pay just for brakes.

Think they only stamp it if the work is done. Each service, depending on milage, has different things to check off and think they only stamp the book to say that the car passes all the criteria.

I'd get a second opinion. How old is the car? After my warrenty (sp) was up on my car I just took it to a local garage which is cheaper than the dealer garage - but you need to take it to get service there if you want to keep up to warrenty.

If it was a complete caliper change on your brakes then for sure it wasn't going to be cheap. I recently had my front nearside caliper replaced and with labour it was just under 400 of your English pounds. New front discs which were warped were costed on top of that.

But if you're not entirely satisfied then always seek a second opinion.

I phoned them (courage!) and he said they dont stamp it as it wasn't a complete service only an enconomy one. Which now annoys me even more as i know NOTHING about servicing, which i told him, and HE asked for the book.

My other half is phoning them up to have a rant now...

My car is 1998, full service. (until now) Such a nightmare

my OH would do them 4 £50. sorry about the can i hope you get it all sorted soon

Unless you have a warranty on the car and have no choice I'd go to a local garage every time. They charge about £100 for labour alone a lot of these main dealers!

Car things are a nightmare, I know my cars but know nothing about all the jargon they spout when they finding something wrong.

I got fleeced last year, took it to a big garage for it's MOT and service and when they phoned for me to collect it they mentioned they'd "accidentally" knocked the gear linkages off when putting the car on the ramp so I had to pay extra for that!!!

Then when I went to get the car it hadn't been fixed properly as it wouldn't go into 1st or 2nd gear, which left me with no car for two days!

Never went there again, I've now found a local garage that are not only cheap but honest about the car if ther's anything wrong with it.

I'd go by word of mouth to find a good one, it's the only way IMO!

Hmm i only took it there because in Winchester i work around 4 garages, all big names. Theres one small garage but he rags people cars about so i didn't want to risk it. I may try and find one closer to home.

Does anyone know if they do services on Saturdays?

most garages will do a service on a saturday,if it is the major service they may not be able to do it if they open half day.
the damp steering rack means that there is a wet/damp patch which would indicate fluid loss probably from the rack,sometimes you can just get the seals replaced but beings as it is damp i wouldn't worry too much(just keep an eye on your power steering fluid reservoir and check for wet patches on your drive)when i worked for a land rover dealership we serviced every 6000 miles and the way i see it is if you have had your oil and filter changed tyres and brakes checked and tyre pressures adjusted and screen wash levels checked/topped up then your book should be stamped.if you can't find a garage to do your brakes ask the ford dealership how much for labour if you supply your own parts you can try to free off the caliper and if you do get the work done ask for the old parts so you can check the yourself not to mention the fact that asking for the old parts bugs the hell out of garages
with regard to the tyre tread being low swap the spare wheel for the worn until you can afford a new tyre