Experience on auto forums tells me that Kwik Fit and the like go down about as well as a car alarm concert at 4 in the morning but I noticed something when I was in getting tyres put on the missus' car yesterday.

They have an offer on brake shoes and pads whereby they will replace them FOC for the life of the car as long as you still own it. Bear in mind that mine needed its first set of pads at just over 17k this looks like quite a good idea to me. Being a cynical sort of bloke I was expecting this to be built into the price but was pleasantly surprised when they told me it would be just shy of £80. I appreciate that these probably wont be the most long lasting of brake pads but surely this isnt an issue if they are being replaced FOC.

Would welcome anybody's thoughts & opinions on this - I have used Kwik Fit for a long time as they have always done me a relatively good deal (free puncture repairs - Lifetime replacements on batteries etc.) Is this deal too good to be true bearing in mind that I do close onto 25k per annum in me Freebie and diesel automatics are notoriously heavy on front brakes

Cheers Folks!

Is that 80 squid just for the first change of pads and shoes?
Or is that 80 quid every change ?
If it is, you can get em for about 40 per set front and back.
So yer right to be cynical if its 80 squid each time they just make up the cost for labour by charging you more for the bits !

that way they can get you in and tell you that yer discs need changing,yer hoses are fooked and the omm foo foo valve is badly out of adjustment. bewary of them finding faults that int really there!!

OK - its 80 quid for the first change then each change is FOC thereafter - I dunno if my Kwik Fit is differently from every other but whenever I have been in for brake or tyre work, they have always filled out a form showing exactly what the wear to the tyre or disk etc. is - I also know a chap who works there and he makes account that whilst, admittedly they have sales targets / bonuses to keep up, they have to allow random independent audits on worn parts taken from vehicles to ensure that they are not telling people things are worn when they are not. (Apparently they got caught out doing this by Trading Standards on quite a large scale years ago).

Up against my local main dealer price (approx £120) £80 dont sound too bad if they are replaced FOC for as long as I own the car


Anybody else find their Freebie eats thro brake pads?

I once took my landy to them and they said they couldn't do the tracking because it's too big.... so I thought ****em...came back with the mini and they said it was too small DICK!

the only good use i found fer **** quick was when they did oil changes including filter based on injun size.... i had a mini which as y'awl know takes a ****load of oil fer its size. so it wur cheaper to get them todo it that it was to buy the oil and filter and do it yerself