Does this sound like a con?
i took the car home and I still can't see dense blue smoke also I looked it up what the smoke can mean, its either oil being burnt or not (might be wrong) but that's what the manual said. When I phone them up to confront them they said that the manual is out of date and taht they were the mechanics.
What do you reckon, Trying to con me because there was nothing else wrong with the car and they wanted more money or I'm being silly?
Answers:
Sounds dodgy. You can really see when a car has that colour smoke, I have seen cars with it.
I had my car MOT'd last week. I took it to a ford garage and I won't be next year. My boyfriend followed me in his car to the garage so would have noticed if my break lights were out but when they were MOTing, they said that one was out and charged me £10 to change it! I had to pay as you have to pay for the MOT again if you take your car away and paying a tenner for a bulb is cheaper. It makes me so cross as I could have changed the bulb my self for a couple of quid. Also when I got my car back there was a knocking noise. I went straight back, they fixed it but they said they didn't do it and hadn't been near what was knocking! When I had it back to the second time I noticed that they had clocked up 4 miles since i had it back the first time! People just rip you off all the time!
just take it somewhere else, problem solved.
yes they are tryin to scam you
take it to another garage if your worried
yes .take it somwhere else if it is a con send round some heavys to kick the crap out of them
Go elsewhere for the MOT and don't even mention it. Then you'll know.
Yes it sounds like a con. Take the car to a government MOT test center and ask them to carry out the test. They only test the car, not sell you parts or fix anything, so they have no incentive to con you. You will find them in the yellow pages or call your local council to find their address. Some garages try to con women as they think they can tell them anything. Chances are you will pass the test at the gov center, if not, you will be given a certificate with the fault/faults on it and go to another garage and ask them to fix the problem areas ONLY. The other benefit of this is that its cheaper as well!
Take it to another garage maybe one that does MoT whilst you wait so if they say there's smoke you can ask to see it.
Yes, they are trying to scam you. Yes, you are silly.but there's hope.
My uncle is a mechanic and is always trying to get all he can from customers.
It is highly likely that they are just trying to get as much money out of you as possible.
I would reckomend going to a well known mechanic or garage and see what they say there.
If you dont feel confident with the information they have given you go somewhere else.
GOOD LUCK ANYWAY.
It's possible your car might not pass emissions without seeing smoke, but if they told you they saw it & you didn't, I think you're being scamed. Go somewhere else.
As long as they haven't fail it on any holes in your exhaust pipe, if they have failed it for holes in your exhaust pipe, that may be a reason why they couldn't do an emission test as with a hole they wouldn't get a proper reading, I had this problem and you have to get the exhaust fixed before the emission test can be done.
If the car is burning too much oil as you suggest and there is a lot of blue smoke, this also needs to be fixed before a proper emission test can be done, otherwise again they wont be able to get a true reading.
Don't be fobbed of just because you are female, ring them back and ask them to explain clearly why it couldn't be done. If they don't have the time to explain it properly, then go somewhere where they will, after all you are paying their wages and giving them your business you have a right for it to be explained.
If you are still in any doubt then take it somewhere else.
I think there is every possibility that you are being scammed and they are taking you for a ride, especially asd you know nothing about cars. Blue smoke means your oil rings are going or have gone and they need to be replaced. Usually it is quite obvious. To make sure you don't have that problem, get someone to pump the accelerator (while the car is in neutral of course) and you will see smoke if there is any. Usually oil rings are changed at your 30 000km service and every multiple of that afterwards, but as your car gets older other parts start to wear which could cause friction on the rings and they break sooner. I would definitely advise going for a second opinion and preferably with someone who has been referred to you by someone else who has had a good experience with that service station.
Get on to the AA> They'll sort it out - and the garage if necessary!
If you have a zetec engine , and it has not got the correct grade of oil in , then it will burn oil and blue smoke will come out of your exhaust , best thing you can do is flush and drain the engine oil , change the oil filter and replace the oil with oil grade 5W/30 , and this may sort your problem , as far as being ripped off , the garage should know of this fault and advise you the same , if this does not cure the fault then it's major engine work most likely , but give it a good service before spending loads on unnecessary work
get a second opinion
Usually on the emmisions test this would cause a fail but i personally would take it to another garage tell them whats up and get them to sort it.
blue smoke usually means to much oil in the cylinders but get a mate to follow you for a mile or two to check.
you could be looking around 200 pounds to replace the oil seals
Your not being silly. It does Not matter if your car is blowing pink,blue clouds with a cherry on top. The emissions testing machine decides if your car is exeeding the legal requirement, not some chimp in a boiler suit. They will charge you for a diagnosis for a smoking engine which will take about £90 of your cash (which you have already diagnosed, if it does smoke?) then an mot re test which costs what it is in your area.
My advice would be to take it to a honest relable garage (ask friends). Ive owned some smokey rubbish cars in the past a little tweak and they pass. Good luck.
You should buy a brand new catalytic converter. The best one you can find, then it'll pass and you'll be able to drive clean!
Dense Blue smoke I an oil problem, and they don't just come and go. You would know about it. Get somebody to stand behind the car while you maintain a stationary 3000revs. If it has a problem with oil that will show it up. If this doesn't happen then report the complaint to the ministry of transport and file a grievance. They will take it up with the garage, and have the car independantly inspected. You will probably have to pay for that inspection but if the results differ from the garages claims and no evidence is found of recent repairs to the engine the garage will have to refund you for the examination, the MOT test, compensation, and will be under close scrutiny. The only issue is that Fords con'rods will occasionally blow a cloud of blue smoke out at random to oil the system properly. It looks ugly but thats dhe design. There is an outside chance this happened right when they were doing the test but any proper mechanic would have known this and just re-tested it a few seconds later.
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