DISHONEST, UNRELIABLE and POOR Do not use!
Took my car in for an MOT and Service, HIQ insisted the brake pads needed changing which I did at their recommendation. After collecting the car I found the brakes screeched when braking lightly, this wasn't a slight sound either, it was ear piercing making the car highly embarrassing to drive.
I took the car back on 3 occasions, each time they had my car for the day and returned it no different from before. On the third visit they claimed it was the disks, not the pads that required changing, quoting me £1,200.00 to change four disks. After taking it to a different garage I was informed that there was nothing wrong with the disks, the pads used were extremely poor quality and not up to the job. As such the pads were overheating and glazing over. This now concerns me as to the quality of other parts used during the service.
When I questioned them on this they agreed to refund the cost of the pad if I supplied alternative pads. When I did so, they carried out the work and then refused to refund the pads (£120.00) as previously promised, on the basis they had fired the member of staff I had been dealing with?? Please note this cost of £120 does not include the additional £45.00 labour charged.
Upon fitting new pads, squealing still occurs after taking back to Nissan to rectify the problem it turns out they had thrown away the shims that sit between the pad and the calliper. Nissan do not sell this part separately and require you to purchase new callipers. After a lot of difficulty I bought these parts from America costing just under £180 due to them being titanium upgrades, I did not want upgrades but was the only thing I could source.
After nearly four months of stress and arguments they reluctantly refunded me £45.
To summarise, a £35 MOT with a £280 service has cost me an additional £165 (pads), £160 (second set of pads) and £180 (replacement shims) totalling £820. This is without the additional £1200 they attempted to charge me to cover up their mistake. Overall it has been an extremely unpleasant and stressful four months, leaving me no longer wanting to drive my car. read more