Much needed advice please!!

[sthomasj10]

Hi guys,

Over the last few weeks I've noticed a grinding sound coming from the front left of the car. Yesterday I'd noticed it'd got gradually worse and perched it up on a kerb to see if I could notice any damage.

First thing I'd noticed was that the front left wheel was moving quite out of place, so immediately took it to a trustworthy garage locally who confirmed it was the ball joint and nothing else.

After that, I got back to work where my bosses suggested I take it to their prefered garage to see if they could compete on price. They couldn't unfortunately but also confirmed it was the balljoint nothing else whatsoever.

By this time I'd made my mind up that I'd use the place I went too originally anyway, however I was recommended to go to one last place to see if they could price beat what I'd had previously..

Now, I don't cut corners on quality.. each and every garage I'd been too this far were reputable and I had full quality in their services..

I then went lastly to a garage local to me ( I'm not going to be slanderous so will not mention the name ) and was told that I'd need the whole front arm replacing, plus new discs, pads and calipers.. totalling up to nearly £500+

As you can imagine after being told by two garages that I quite simply needed just the balljoint doing I was a little taken back that I potentially needed a whole new brake setup on the car.

I then rang both the previous garages back and told them that I'd had a 2nd opinion elsewhere and that they had told me all my brake consumables were ****ed.. they both had the PERFECT opportunity to rip me off and simply said " No, we looked at the car and looked at the brakes as part of the checks.. we saw nothing wrong.. it sounds like you're being ripped off"

I'm pretty certain that it is itself the balljoint, but however being told that I need new brake consumables puts that uncertainty in my head.. Needless to say the last garage seemed totally pissed when I drove off without leaving my car with them, even to the extent of being rather rude when I left.

In your opinion with a ball joint going, is it likely that it will badly score the discs and ruin the brakes? Or have I just been fed a total crocko'****e?

I'm amateur with mechanics, I'm the sort of person who'll happily pay someone to do work on my car, but would really appreciate your opinions

 

[Ian_R]

I think you have answered your on question here mate, 2 garages said nope, just a ball joint, then a garage that says needs x,y & z, and when you don't go there are muppets!

I do most of the maintenance on my own cars and to my knowledge - nothing will be wrong with your brakes, have you noticed anything different about them? if they have mentioned them then if you already haven't done it, strip them down and clean them up as the pads are prone to sticking - good clean up and you'll be alright. Search on the forum with regards to the brakes and cleaning them up.

all IMO of coure.

 

[-Eddie-]

Could it be that your front pads need changing? The rear pads on my car started to make a grinding noise as they came to the end of their lifespan.

Change the balljoint first as it will be cheaper, failing that I would be pretty certain the pads need changed.

 

[sthomasj10]

I think you have answered your on question here mate, 2 garages said nope, just a ball joint, then a garage that says needs x,y & z, and when you don't go there are muppets!

I do most of the maintenance on my own cars and to my knowledge - nothing will be wrong with your brakes, have you noticed anything different about them? if they have mentioned them then if you already haven't done it, strip them down and clean them up as the pads are prone to sticking - good clean up and you'll be alright. Search on the forum with regards to the brakes and cleaning them up.

all IMO of coure.

Thanks dude, I'll give them a good clean once the balljoint is done.

Could it be that your front pads need changing? The rear pads on my car started to make a grinding noise as they came to the end of their lifespan.

Change the balljoint first as it will be cheaper, failing that I would be pretty certain the pads need changed.

My rears seem to click a little soon, and sometimes when I brake ridiculously hard they grind.. that's just the ABS kicking in though IMO.. others have said the same thing when being passengers.

The guy said they're scored badly, however both garages said that unless the discs were actually cracked or damaged it doesn't mean a ****.. correct?

 

[-Eddie-]

Personally I think they are trying to pull a fast one. Like you say, get the balljoint changed and give the brakes a good clean.

If you have a Renault dealer nearby they can perform a health check for free on the car also, this would flag up any problems with the brakes. At least then you won't have to find out the hard way after paying £500.

 

[sthomasj10]

Personally I think they are trying to pull a fast one. Like you say, get the balljoint changed and give the brakes a good clean.

If you have a Renault dealer nearby they can perform a health check for free on the car also, this would flag up any problems with the brakes. At least then you won't have to find out the hard way after paying £500.

It's nice to get some re-assurance.

I think you're right dude.

Scored discs are relatively normal so I've heard right?

My local dealer has packed up unfortunately but there is one in the next town I'll take it too!

 

[-Eddie-]

It's nice to get some re-assurance.

I think you're right dude.

Scored discs are relatively normal so I've heard right?

My local dealer has packed up unfortunately but there is one in the next town I'll take it too!

Yeah, a scored disc is nothing to worry about bud. For peace of mind I would take it to Renault just to have the health check done - I have taken mine twice in the 14 months I've had my car, does no harm.

 

[sthomasj10]

Yeah, a scored disc is nothing to worry about bud. For peace of mind I would take it to Renault just to have the health check done - I have taken mine twice in the 14 months I've had my car, does no harm.

Thanks Eddie, much appreciated my friend.

I had my dad look at just a minute ago who is an engineer for mercedes amg. He asked whether or not I told the last garage too get to f**k lol.

 

[-Eddie-]

No worries mate. All the best, and just make sure you put people off going to the last garage lol.

 

[sthomasj10]

No worries mate. All the best, and just make sure you put people off going to the last garage lol.

Yeah I will do, it just makes question things once they say things need doing.

 

[racer2011]

Sorry to hear about this mate.

I am a amature mechanic who likes to work on the car and learns off my friend who is a qualified mechanic and always willing to help me out. If I was you and had been given two quotes like tht and reflecting back on the feedback they gave you and 2 out of 3 garages said no about the brake set up being faulty I would deffinately go with just getting the balljoint replaced. Firstly this is a much cheaper option than a whole new brake set up and front arm, but like Ian_R said I doubt very much that all discs, pads and calipers are damaged.

Another way I would look at this situation in terms of deciding who to go with is

Process of elimination.

If you got the balljoint done and it still hasn't cured the problem you have only spent a small amount whereas if you got all brakes done and splashed out £500 and it still didn't cure the problem that would be MEGA frustrating and would regret not getting the balljoint done instead.

 

[sthomasj10]

Sorry to hear about this mate.

I am a amature mechanic who likes to work on the car and learns off my friend who is a qualified mechanic and always willing to help me out. If I was you and had been given two quotes like tht and reflecting back on the feedback they gave you and 2 out of 3 garages said no about the brake set up being faulty I would deffinately go with just getting the balljoint replaced. Firstly this is a much cheaper option than a whole new brake set up and front arm, but like Ian_R said I doubt very much that all discs, pads and calipers are damaged.

Another way I would look at this situation in terms of deciding who to go with is

Process of elimination.

If you got the balljoint done and it still hasn't cured the problem you have only spent a small amount whereas if you got all brakes done and splashed out £500 and it still didn't cure the problem that would be MEGA frustrating and would regret not getting the balljoint done instead.

Exactly mate, you hit the nail on the head there. I've had cowboy quotes of garages in the past before but this one hit a nerve a little today. Like I was saying to Eddie, sometimes it actually makes you doubt whether or not you need it doing.

It's definitely the ball joint anyway as it looked ****ed when I saw it.

 

[racer2011]

Exactly mate, you hit the nail on the head there. I've had cowboy quotes of garages in the past before but this one hit a nerve a little today. Like I was saying to Eddie, sometimes it actually makes you doubt whether or not you need it doing.

It's definitely the ball joint anyway as it looked ****ed when I saw it.

Yeah you do get some cowboy garages who are just picking at things to try and boost their profits rather than good honest advice on what actually NEEDS doing and what DOESN'T need repairing.

At the end of the day businesses can't afford to get a bad name for themselves in this economy as they need the business but at the same time from our point of view as drivers we work hard for our money and in this economy dnt wnt to be throwing money away in stuff tht don't need doing so we don't want to be ripped off.

I wish you all the best on the repair mate and i'm sure your clio will be right as rain and drive alot smoother when you get the balljoint replaced.

 

[sthomasj10]

Yeah you do get some cowboy garages who are just picking at things to try and boost their profits rather than good honest advice on what actually NEEDS doing and what DOESN'T need repairing.

At the end of the day businesses can't afford to get a bad name for themselves in this economy as they need the business but at the same time from our point of view as drivers we work hard for our money and in this economy dnt wnt to be throwing money away in stuff tht don't need doing so we don't want to be ripped off.

I wish you all the best on the repair mate and i'm sure your clio will be right as rain and drive alot smoother when you get the balljoint replaced.

Most definitely.. I certainly won't be recommending them to anyone put it that way. They're quite well known around the country for tuning, so can't afford negative reviews.

Thank you dude, I'm sure it will do - I haven't had the confidence in pushing it for ages, now I know what's wrong with it once it's repaired I'll be back out in it straight away

 

[Foxspeed]

a lot of garages have a "fit new" approach and hope of finding the fault by getting most of the parts changed...

sounds like one of them sees a money cow :swear:

if the ball joint is faulty get this sorted as soon as possible!!! it could pop apart if you hit a pot hole and cause a lot of damage!!!

any work you have done make sure they tell you before commencing ANY additional work and you want the old parts - this usually helps to keep them on their toes - any reputable garage wont have an issue with this approach

 

[sthomasj10]

a lot of garages have a "fit new" approach and hope of finding the fault by getting most of the parts changed...

sounds like one of them sees a money cow :swear:

if the ball joint is faulty get this sorted as soon as possible!!! it could pop apart if you hit a pot hole and cause a lot of damage!!!

any work you have done make sure they tell you before commencing ANY additional work and you want the old parts - this usually helps to keep them on their toes - any reputable garage wont have an issue with this approach

The car is sat on my drive and it's booked in Friday for the work to be done. My boss is currently driving me to and from work.

Foxspeed, I'll dm you the garages name as you'll know them.