DeeJayDready Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Looks like you have had your pants pulled down I am afraid. Pull the car from Charles Hurst Nissan and take to someone who is not going to rip you off. By the way, it only takes 2 hours to swop over the injectors, so in theory, you are paying the whole labour charge and not 50% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 Well there you go. You've heard it from the Zman himself. He's probably spent more hours working on zeds than the master tech at Charles Hurst! If they're blagging you about the labour times needed, how can you trust them on the other stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 This is exactly why I only ever take my Zed to a well known and trusted independent specialist. It's almost criminal how main dealers rip people off, and the worst part is most people think they're getting the best possible service because they're paying a premium for everything. Like Alex has said, get the car out of there to someone you can trust and who actually knows what they're doing rather than playing diagnostic darts. Also, if they outright told you the O2 sensors were the cause then I'd be having firm words with the service manager to cover at least part of the costs seeing as they were clearly wrong. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeJayDready Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) 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. Edited January 15, 2019 by DeeJayDready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr v6 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Dealer = Parts cannon.. Not in all cases, but many. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeJayDready Posted January 22, 2019 Author Share Posted January 22, 2019 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran O'Quick Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Very interesting. Great info. Hopefully, that's the end of it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMANALEX Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Going by the photos I am surprised that they missed this and should have been one of the issues that they should have been looking for in the first instance. The good news is that it now appears to be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 Glad to hear you got it sorted in the end at no further cost! Like Alex has said though, it's pretty shocking that checking for cracks was the last thing they did seeing as it's one of the quickest/easiest things to do compared to removing the inlet manifold, swapping injectors etc. Hopefully this whole experience has highlighted their incompetence anyway and in the future I'd take the car to a trusted specialist in the first place to save yourself the hassle (and probably some money) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeJayDready Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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