Bearings

[Guest jitka]

:) Hi guys,

I've been a happy driver of a C3 1.1 petrol for 3 years now, it's got 26000 miles. I've got near zero knowledge about cars and the things that can go wrong... your usual young female driver :)

Just got a question.. I took my car to a garage for a break check, I knew that the front pads and discs needed doing, fair enough. The garage rang me and told me that both rear bearings were collapsed and suggested that I have it sorted out for a ridiculous price. My question is - how do I tell that the bearings have gone? I've done some research already that suggests that when this happens the car make noises and driving is dodgy.... well I noticed nothing like that.

Some garages have taken advantage of my naivity before, I'm getting fed up!

Any trusted garages around Woking/Guildford area???

[paul.h]

When wheel bearings start to wear they get noisy, often a whining noise a bit like an aeroplane which gets louder as you go faster. If you jack up the wheel and spin it by hand you may hear the noise and feel the wheel is a bit rough when being turned. Even if 1 bearing had failed (unlikely at such a very low mileage), the chance of the one on the other side also having failed is very low. Possibilities for repacing the rear wheel bearings include replacing them complete with the rear brake drum or replacing just the bearings in the drum but care needs to be taken with the ABS sensor in the drum - this is all in the Haynes manual. A new drum hub nut and hub cover needs to be used also since the old ones are damaged when being removed. However, as you suggest, the garage may be trying it on - there have been reports of companies such as Kwik Fit which do this a lot (a web search/Watchdog on TV have shown this) and I would tend to avoid them and go somewhere else.

 

Replacing your front pads and discs is at a low mileage unless you do a lot of start/stop driving using the brakes a lot, I did them on our C3 recently at 36k miles and that has been mainly short trips but they could have lasted longer.

 

It will pay you to obtain the Haynes manual for your car to learn a bit then if work is suggested you can read up on it before agreeing. You can get an idea of parts costs on the eurocarparts web site to see if you are also being overcharged although if you use a Citroen garage they will use their parts but at a higher price.

 

As for a garage, I would tend to use a Citroen dealer or an independant Citroen specialist but there is nothing difficult about the C3 but if familiar with the car they may do the work quicker so your labour charge may be lower.

[Guest jitka]

When wheel bearings start to wear they get noisy, often a whining noise a bit like an aeroplane which gets louder as you go faster. If you jack up the wheel and spin it by hand you may hear the noise and feel the wheel is a bit rough when being turned. Even if 1 bearing had failed (unlikely at such a very low mileage), the chance of the one on the other side also having failed is very low. Possibilities for repacing the rear wheel bearings include replacing them complete with the rear brake drum or replacing just the bearings in the drum but care needs to be taken with the ABS sensor in the drum - this is all in the Haynes manual. A new drum hub nut and hub cover needs to be used also since the old ones are damaged when being removed. However, as you suggest, the garage may be trying it on - there have been reports of companies such as Kwik Fit which do this a lot (a web search/Watchdog on TV have shown this) and I would tend to avoid them and go somewhere else.

 

Replacing your front pads and discs is at a low mileage unless you do a lot of start/stop driving using the brakes a lot, I did them on our C3 recently at 36k miles and that has been mainly short trips but they could have lasted longer.

 

It will pay you to obtain the Haynes manual for your car to learn a bit then if work is suggested you can read up on it before agreeing. You can get an idea of parts costs on the eurocarparts web site to see if you are also being overcharged although if you use a Citroen garage they will use their parts but at a higher price.

 

As for a garage, I would tend to use a Citroen dealer or an independant Citroen specialist but there is nothing difficult about the C3 but if familiar with the car they may do the work quicker so your labour charge may be lower.

 

 

Thanks for this, very useful!!

[Guest jitka]

Hi,

after reading the answer to my problem I took my car out of the garage (Kwik Fit, yes I know, stupid me). The guys there told me they could not put the car together, I insisted on having it back so they did - and before I left they told me my car was dangerous, the wheels might lock or even fall off!! I drove it to another garage without even the slightest noise from the wheels and had it checked - it came to light that there was nothing wrong with the car, and Kwik fit mechanics didn't even take the wheels off to diagnose the problem that never existed... I could have lost £454 if I listened to them.... I'm in a process of making an official complaint ..

[paul.h]

Good result. It is a pity you have been exposed to this scam but at least you had the sense to question it.

 

I am sure it was Kwit Fit that was featured on Watchdog for this very practice and it was happening in many of their garages. It would be interesting to see if they are still looking into this.

 

£454 is a lot of money for replacing the rear wheel bearings if they had needed doing, the bits (bearings) are £22 each side on eurocarparts website and includes the hub nuts and may only take an hour to do. However, as part of the scam if they took it to its conclusion, then maybe they would not have done the work and just given you the bill and put a few greasy handprints on the wheels. It is sometimes worth asking for the bits that have been replaced so you can see what was wrong with them.

 

Something else to be aware of on the C3. The rear brake shoe friction material is thinner on one of the shoes from new so it makes you think they need replacing yet they still have many miles left. New ones were about £70 from Citroen when I did ours.

[Guest womble]

Hi,

after reading the answer to my problem I took my car out of the garage (Kwik Fit, yes I know, stupid me). The guys there told me they could not put the car together, I insisted on having it back so they did - and before I left they told me my car was dangerous, the wheels might lock or even fall off!! I drove it to another garage without even the slightest noise from the wheels and had it checked - it came to light that there was nothing wrong with the car, and Kwik fit mechanics didn't even take the wheels off to diagnose the problem that never existed... I could have lost £454 if I listened to them.... I'm in a process of making an official complaint ..

Citizens Advice Bureau???

Trading Standards???

VOSA????

Retail Motor Trade Organisation???

Local Press???