Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
My nearest tyre dealer (to home) . Excellent service . Reasonable prices . |
| Disadvantages: |
None that I found . |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I would like to share my recent experience with these guys. Having had a somewhat 'dubious' reputation in the past they now seem to have got their act together.
I am the proud owner of a 'real' Mini Cooper. (Not one of those BMW fake things! - sorry I'm a bit of a purist.) The reason I mention this is because it is no longer a production car I find it increasingly difficult to find a stockist for the right size tyres.
About 18 months ago I needed a couple of new tyres for the rear of my car and phoned around every where to find stock but couldn't find any. Every one I tried said they could order them in for me by the next day which was pretty good. I decided to go with my local Kwik-Fit as they were within walking distance of my house and I could go home if I needed to leave the car for any length of time. They ordered the tyres in for me and I took the car in to have them fitted.
Service
When I arrived I said it was the rear tyres that had worn and needed replacing. They checked the front tyres for me (oh oh! I thought. Here we go with the 'You really need to replace these too madam……) but to my surprise said that the front ones were showing light wear but were still OK. However as my car was front wheel drive it would be better to put the new tyres on the front and move the front ones to the rear where they would receive less wear and would last longer. They also said that the wear was uneven and that I should get my tracking (wheel alignment) checked. OK I thought better to be safe than sorry.
The work was done very quickly and the manager explained all that had been done. He then said that as I lived locally he would keep a small stock of Mini sized tyres in for the future so that I would not have to wait for them.
Follow up
After 18 months or so had passed I didn't think it very likely that they would have any stock but decided to give them a call anyway. Lo and behold they had stock available and said to drop the car in anytime and they could do them for me. As I was at work I said I couldn't get to them until about 5.30pm and would that be ok (They close at 6.00pm). The manager said that would not be a problem and they would wait for me to arrive.
Due to the traffic I did not arrive until 5.40 but the guys were ready and ushered my car straight into the bay.
Again it was the rear tyres that needed replacing (as these were the oldest) and I mentioned that I was concerned about the uneven wear on the tyres and asked would the tracking need checking again. They inspected the tyres and asked if the rear tyres had previously been on the front of the vehicle. I said that they had and the guy said that the uneven wear had probably originally been caused whilst on the front of the vehicle by the tracking being out. Whilst on the rear they had just worn normally but the uneven wear showed up now that the rest of the tyres were worn. Spot On!!
He checked the front tyres and said that they were not showing uneven wear so the tracking should be OK but I could have it done if I wanted to. Again I decided to have it checked.
They fitted the tyres for me and by the time they had finished it was well past 6 o'clock but they didn't seem to mind and were not trying to rush the job through.
Again the manager explained everything they had done and how this appeared on my bill.
Talking of bill's, the price was also extremely reasonable. I only need little tyres for my little car and the total bill for two new tyres/valves, balanced and fitted came to less than £38.00. Bargain! (The tracking cost an extra £19.95).
Verdict
Being female I am always wary of garages/tyre fitters etc as I do feel that some do take advantage and believe that we will accept anything that we are told as we 'couldn't possibly know any better'.
Well I certainly did not feel like this at my local Kwik-Fit. All the guys were very courteous and helpful and genuinely seemed to want to provide a good service. In fact I was so impressed I am intending to write to Kwik-Fit and express my gratitude.
I can only give my experience of my local Kwik-Fit and not the company as a whole but if this is an example of how Kwik-Fit now want to treat their customers then hat's off to them.
very helpful
very helpful
