nissan micra front crossmember rusty, failed mot

[SIRAZ]

Hi All,
I had my mot few days ago and failed on the front crossmember ,as it had rust, so the MOT said you need to have it welded to pass the MOT test and also the front both light were beaming low, so they need adjusting, as all these years it was fine for the light, do they get moved around.

It was about 30.0cm as i can not remember now.

However he said it welded to strenghthen and then pasted fibre glass and then he applied some rubber stuff like hammerite. Some said to replace the front Membrane then you would be looking at the part of £200-250 for the labour £100-150, as you need to take the front bumper off and so on. It all depends how long you are going to keep the car.

he said it will last you another good few years or more, as the car is in good condition.

It costed me around total £90.00.

see image 3407-3414.

http://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/siraz_bucket/

 

[SIRAZ]

Just pasted the picture to make it easy for you.

 

[mckenziecz]

what kinda garage is doing job like this? by the look of thinks i doubt they touched it.

 

[MrMigs08]

Certainly looks fishy eh

Scrape some of that crud off and see if they've actually done anything as mckenz says

 

[SIRAZ]

Oh my God , so you are saying he has not welded, as he said to me he had welded, i think he was going to add metal plates on the section where it was rusted, but when i went after an hour he said to me, he had already welded it and he already applied yellow colour fibre glass to fill it up to make it level. Then he was going to apply the rubber stuff like hammerite.

How will i know if he has welded or not now, as i trusted this garage, as he has 2 garages and i went one to near my work place.

This garage always takes out fault on the lights, as all my work colleague said they all had the same comments on the light beam too low and fails the MOT.

Thank you for your reply.

Please advise if you have any other information how to check if he has welded or not, as i was not there at the time, as i just drop the car off, as i have to get back to work.

 

[SIRAZ]

I took picture of this when the Mechanic he went to answer his telephone, so i took picture from my phone. However he had to paint the rubber stuff on top of the fibreglass and all round the front cross member, where visible.

In order for me to look at this, i will have to take the rubber off and the fibreglass, is this right.

How will i then get the garage back to do the fibreglass filler and paint the hammerite or i will have to Do it myself by buying it from the Shop.

 

[hoopdub]

welded my aris, he has just banged fibreglass in there, dodgy bugger

 

[SIRAZ]

I will have to go back to him next week and ask him, as if he did weld the plates then there is no need for the fibreglass filler, as this would cover the holes/ Depression. I think he just filled it up with filler and pass the MOT.

 

[Rob]

Bloody hell!

Why not just replace the front cross member, its easy. Thats looks bodgetastic!

 

[SIRAZ]

Hi Rally,
Thank you for your reply.

I do not know, but the mot guy said it will cost you 200 pounds for the part and then labour on top, so he said i will weld you crossmember, which going from the comment i think without checking he may have filled it up with the fibreglass, but he said to me he has done the welding and then pasted this fibreglass.

If he told me you need to replace the cross memebr i would of took his advice, as he said you do not needed it, as it is still in good nick, as it only needed few spot weld.

 

[Rob]

I suppose its different if you are paying a garage because you have the labour cost to worry about.

To be honest "if" he has welded that id be VERY suprised. You dont need to cover welds like he has, i nice coat of underseal is fine.

I'd scrape that off and see if he has welded it.

 

[joakwin]

mines going for mot next week, here's what i did to my crossmember

 

[Rob]

Proper repair

 

[joakwin]

 

[Rob]

haha its turning into a "show me your rusty crossmember thread"

 

[hoopdub]

new part £15 off ebay, pattern but good quality

 

[SIRAZ]

Thank you all for your replies, as i will print these pictures out and show it to the Mechanic, as i am sure he will be offended and upset.

I did see the pictures of this while i was searching the website and the crossmemeber from Ebay is about £20.00.

So i do not where he got the 200.00 from, unless if you go to dealership to buy the original nissan parts.

 

[andy]

your been ripped off mate find another garage. if they want £200 to weld a xmember on they having your eyes out..

and that work you have had done is terrible

 

[Scott]

that has NOT been welded. If it had been welded, all the surrounding metal would have been cleaned back before welding.

If you wanna be sure then hit that chunk of fibreglass with a hammer or screwdriver, if he hasnt welded it then its gonna go right through.

I changed my front crossmember about a month ago and it cost me £27 for the part and a day of my time to fit it.

 

[Rob]

scrape off that fiberglass before going to see him.

 

[Shaun]

That's why i never goto garages.

 

[Rob]

That's why i never goto garages.

Sorry mate but thats a very narrow minded view!

You need to find a garage that isnt out to rip you off and gives sound advice, the cheapest repair isnt always the best.

 

[Shaun]

Sorry mate but thats a very narrow minded view!

You need to find a garage that isnt out to rip you off and gives sound advice, the cheapest repair isnt always the best.

I'm sure there are garages out there that are fantastic.
But paying someone else for labour when most things you can do yourself is ridiculous.
The only way you can find a garage that is good is by being ripped off in the first place.
Saying that the garage itself might be okay.
Perhaps that one guy is dodgy.
But if you don't know a lot about cars how can anyone tell if that 'repair' is good enough or not.
You won't find out till its too late.

 

[mike-f]

you'll find most of the time any dodgy garages see if someone knows what they are talking about before trying to rip them off that way they are less likely to get found out but it is always good to be able to do stuff yourself having access to a workshop and ramp is even better

 

[mckenziecz]

Sorry mate but thats a very narrow minded view!

You need to find a garage that isnt out to rip you off and gives sound advice, the cheapest repair isnt always the best.

still looking to find one.

 

[SIRAZ]

There are good garages and bad garages, where you do not know your stuff, then the mechanic will try and ripp you apart and do a dodgy job. which will not last. This will be the same in the building as well. I do not why they do this, as there is no Honesty!!, i did go to few garages for an estimate and some said you need to cut it and re weld a new piece and some said , before they price it up they need to look at it by taking the bumper out and so on. Due to time which i have 10 days and most garages are closed on Saturday, so i did not want to waste more time and wanted my MOT passed, so i just gave it to the Garage who did my MOT. Majority of garage said £40.00 to £70.00 labour to weld and another garage said £70.00 for the part and another £100.00 for labour. I wanted the car back on the road and the price were similar and i thought this garage would do a good job.

 

[MrMigs08]

Garages are a waste of time imo, The Marea i had before this micra, was off the road for about a year, it had stopped idling completely so that it wasn't usable, and unstartable, my nan had put it into the garage with a bill of around 450 quid and she got it back with nothing changed just loads of trash not related swapped out,

After i got given that car, 30 minutes later i had that car completely funtioning and idling again, the garage that had been working on the car had been my nans regular garage for the past couple of year, i refuse to take any of my cars to garages now which is why im trying to learn Mechanic on my own, but i hear the odd garage can be alright, i've only got 1 garage i trust at the minute as he was the bloke that sorted my first micra out after my first accident doing a nice job.

 

[SIRAZ]

See image i took and he never put the guard back, as i noticed today.

 

[SIRAZ]

http://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/siraz_bucket/

 

[mckenziecz]

welded or not, if someone did this to my car id go mental

 

[Deleted member]

DOGEY F**KS ..FULL NEW CROSS MEMBER IS ONLY £80..IF NOT UHE SHOULD OF RE WELDED NEW METAL PLATE IN AND SHILTED THE FLOOR ALSO..

 

[SIRAZ]

What does Shilted the floor mean.

i went to the Garage today and asked him why is the guard missing underneath is missing and he said, as i have welded it, there is no hole to place the plastic shield guard back, as the holes are all covered.

This was it , as he said he has welded the crossmember and passed the Mot, as he would not pass the Mot if the job was not right.

 

[torqueisch]

As said previously theres no need to fibreglass the crossmember if hes welded it, you just cover the welding in stonechip/waxoil. Hes just slapped that on to hide his 'work'. Fibreglass has no structural use in a cross member! Tell him youre reporting him to VOSA, for the standard of work, just make sure no welding has been done, im 99% sure it hasnt been welded though, theres just no need to fibreglass it unless youre hiding something

 

[frank]

he might be covering his birds#it welding with the P40 eh, but the crossmembers on k11,s are a grey area on mot,s tho, so be carefull if accusing him on a legailty