DeeJayDready

I got a quote from a trusted local garage saying that a couple of hours (about £60 + materials) should do a basic underseal including the chassis legs and all key areas; but that it would cost more to do a more thorough job (wheel arch liners off etc.). He said he reckoned about 3L should do it. We were talking Waxoyl, as he didn't know the Bilt Hamber stuff. You can currently get 5L of clear Waxoyl on ebay for £23.27. However like ilogikal1 above, a friend of mine also recommended I go for Bilt Hamber (dynax-UC), which is £50 for 5L. Sounds reasonable enough.

A standard service provided by any decent car wash / detailer which includes cleaning underneath the car to remove all the dirt and probably most importantly winter salts.

£500.. Yowza! I'm looking to spend £100 max. Surely it's only an hours labour + materials once the car has been 'MOT washed' underneath and allowed to dry thoroughly?

To be honest I think it was me that said the word 'waxoyl' first, because I'd had it done before on a previous vehicle . I'm certainly not wedded to it specifically. Whatever the best quality product is that I can get applied by a local mechanic / bodyshop for a decent price will be what I ultimately go with. Not looking to spend big money on this to be honest. But I don't have the ability to properly get underneath the car, certainly not enough to do the job to the standard I'd want.

I recently had my MOT and pleased to say it successfully passed with no issues. While the car was on the ramp I asked the tech whether he thought it could do with being waxoyled or undersealed in some way. He said he thought it was starting get to the point where a coat of waxoyl would be a good idea, particularly if I was looking to hold on to the car for the longer term. I had my previous car ('91 Scirocco GTII) waxoyled underneath a long time ago, and it seemed to be a very good job. Do people think this would be worthwhile? What sort of price should I expect to pay? Any tips or specific things to look out for or request?

It is bizarre alright. It wasted as much of the master tech's time as it did mine. In a sense, I'll be so relieved this is finally over (still talking future tense as it's too soon to relax completely..), that I'll be content. But in one sense I paid £464 to have a basic weld done. Doesn't sound too good when you say it that way... I'm actually pleased I've an MOT coming up next week. I'd rather fail it than be driving an unsafe car or be doing more damage to my beloved Z! Hopefully that'll act as some level of counter-check on this guys work. Not sure if there are any 'trusted specialists' in and around Belfast, but certainly I have a relationship with a couple of good quality independent mechanics. I don't always go to Charles Hurst. I did this time as (ironically) I wanted someone knowledgeable and accountable as it was an Engine Management Light issue...

Well I think this may finally be resolved (hopefully I'm not speaking too soon!), but in case this helps anyone in future, here's how things went for me. I called them back the next day with an ultimatum; a sizeable refund and I take the car (and any future custom) elsewhere, or they continue to work on this until it's resolved free of charge (unless parts are required), and I only pay the bill once I've verified that this issue is actually resolved. Both options had to go through the Service Manager. He had someone call me the next day to say they'd go with the latter. After several update calls with a flummoxed Master Tech he called their tech support who suggested checking for hairline cracks in and around the catalytic converter, which can expand with the heat, causing an air leak. He did find one and has since welded it and following test drives with the diagnostic gear attached, it seems to be saying the sensors are now content. Fortunately I had use of my girlfriend's TSIII for this time, as it took the car being with them for almost another week to get it all sorted.

Many thanks for the replies guys. Looks like I'm going to have to dust off my copy of The Riot Act tomorrow morning! Don't go anywhere. This may not be over... Pretty sure I'm completely done with Charles Hurst after this though. It's the last straw... I'm absolutely disgusted at how this has been handled so far. The fact that after two misdiagnoses so far their offer is to fart about for a good few hours tomorrow and then bill me for some/all of that time is scandalous. P.S. The original story above omits the bit where they also fitted new brake discs & pads all round during this time. I sourced the parts myself (hopefully correctly) from Europarts (see below). Charles Hurst charged about £180 to fit the lot (which is reasonable to be fair), as they knew I was shopping around on that one. Their original price to source and fit though..? £2150!! A 'saving' of almost £1700. I have a copy of the 'Vehicle Health Check' document showing their quote. I should send the bloody thing to Trading Standards.

My engine management light came on before Christmas and upon taking it to Charles Hurst Nissan was told it needed a replacement oxygen sensor (P/N 22693CD700). After a bit of haggling this was done for £250 all in. A day or two later the engine management light came back on, just in time that I couldn't get anything sorted due to the holidays... Eventually I got it back in and was then told that often when you you replace the front sensor the rear can then fail. Approximately £220 later and with a new rear sensor (P/N 226A1AM601) apparently onboard I drive away (Friday afternoon). Less than 10 minutes later and the back on comes the engine management light..! F#&@!! Naturally I immediately phoned Charles Hurst and gave off. The car was then booked straight back in for Monday morning (today). After not hearing from them all day, I contacted them and the 'master tech' has proposed switching the injectors on each side of the car to see if the error code moves to the other side, with me paying 50% of the 5 hours labour required and if needs be then sourcing the parts myself (as them sourcing them would be very expensive by their own admission) and them then fitting the parts for free. What to people make of this? Other than the fact that I've almost certainly had two perfectly good sensors replaced on the car already for in and around £470, with likely another £200+ to pay for investigatory work tomorrow. Pretty sure I'll not be paying another bill until I sure the car is 100% and driven for a good distance. Oh and I have the MOT booked for Friday... Will most likely have to cancel that I'd say.

Looking at the 'view detail' section it seems as though two of the sets (the square shape) are for a Brembo brake system, whereas the other two (longer/curved shape) are for Sumitomo & Akebono systems. Presumably I need the ones for a Brembo system.

Yes, mine currently has Brembo callipers, discs and possibly pads. I'm inclined to fit Brembo brand replacement discs and pads as, bar the stereo, I have kept the the car stock and fitted genuine Nissan / NISMO parts where possible. That is unless for similar money an alternative set of discs and pads would give a significant improvement in performance..? Not sure what the difference between the two shapes of pads are though on the links above?

Charles Hurst Nissan have advised that I need new discs & pads all round. In fact they also advised me the same thing almost a year ago, but following a second opinion, an independent mechanic said they had about a year left. Now the brake pedal is pulsing while braking and they're saying the discs are warped. It seems like now is the time to get the work done... Naturally Charles Hurst are looking to charge a seemingly outrageous amount to source and fit these, and there's no chance I'll be paying that. I'm inclined to go for the like-for-like stock option (i.e. Brembo), unless someone here advises strongly against it? The car is used for regular road driving / occasional fast road driving. It looks like I can get the four Brembo discs from EuroParts for £230.98 right now as there seems to be a 50% discount code (SALE90), which seems like a pretty great price? As for the pads, I'm getting two different options for both front and rear which are different shapes (see links below). Any tips on which way to go here? (I've a 2007 model) Links I've tried so far: https://www.eurocarparts.com/brake-discs https://www.eurocarparts.com/brake-pads https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/brake-discs https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/brake-pads https://www.cougarstore.co.uk/nissan-350z-brakes-5-c.asp

Never knew that! Nice to know the history.

Finally got round to fitting the genuine Nismo decal this week that I'd sourced from eBay some time ago, and I am very pleased with the result. If anyone needs to do the same, first I recommend apply some masking tape to help give you an indication of the correct placement of the decal for when you are applying the new one. Gently remove the old decal slowly by picking and pealing it off. Then give it a good rub down with some white spirit and a cloth to remove any remaining sticker residue. Even following this I could still see a faint outline of the sticker, so I gave it a quick rub down with T-Cut, which really did the trick. Before applying the new decal give the area a quick buff with clean cloth to ensure there is no product residue remaining. Then just carefully apply the new decal ensuring no air bubbles and give each letter a firm rub with your thumb before very slowly and carefully peel the paper away at an angle, ensuring that none of the corners of any of the letters are lifting off the bodywork with the paper.

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PM sent.

No problem. I'll get them wrapped up and get a quote for postage.

Price drop - £40

Still available for free folks.

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Thanks for the tip. I reckon you're probably right. I think I will source a genuine Nismo decal and then try and remove what is currently there before applying. I'm not sure if it is a genuine Nismo special edition; there seems to be some debate whether or not that is even a thing. But I do want to keep it as it is, and as you say, removing the current one and replacing it with a new genuine one close to that size is likely to be the best way to go.

SOLD

I think it should fit ok, yeah. Certainly the fitting holes appear to be in the same place. You would just need to lift the centre console away from the rest of the dash and remove the SatNav from the back. Then you can fit the cubby into place from behind.