I was really pleased about getting my aircon fixed today for a reasonable price - until I got home and noticed this:

*sigh*

My sympathies mate. I had the same done to mine when the local garage did the timing belt. I was gutted as had only had the car for 1 week and it was mint.

I now carry a couple of bits of wood in the boot that protect the sills when jacking. Shouldn't have to though, you'd think a garage could jack a car up.

Cheers,

iep

There's a subframe mounting point mere inches from where it's been jacked!

I'd be taking it back and demanding they fix it.

I had a long argument with a mechanic over this! I ended up driving away because he refused to listen to what I was explaining to him.

It's normally fine to jack the rear of the car on the sills, but there is so much weight up front it makes it impossible to do the front without damaging the car.

We need some of those "No step here" stickers you see on military aircraft!

Mine went in for its MOT last week and I told them if they were putting it up on hydraulic lifts to place the lift rubbers under the axle stand points further under the body instead of the sills. The place that serviced it earlier this year (VAG tuners who have quite a good reputation and should have known better) did it on the sills and bent them leaving me to spend an afternoon bending them back and undersealing them :thumbdwn:

Sills are part of the problem, you should see the state of my front bumper underneath. Scratched really badly from garage ramps. Oh and I have one folded sill, but don't know when that occured.

Unavoidable as it seems some garages know best, luckily I have found good ones locally that actually know what damage can be done from careless jacking.

It is bloody annoying. Especially for you Rob, weren't there some sill "issues" when your car arrive in NZ? :(

you'd think a garage could jack a car up.

I had my tyres done & the guy started jacking on the sill. I asked him not to & he got a bit stroppy. "I've been doing this for 15yrs, blah, blah ,blah". I felt like saying "Well you should have bloody well learnt how to do it properly by now then", but I bit my tongue.

Then while they were doing the tyres his mate was making quips like "careful you don't scratch his wheelnuts".

Sure enough, when I checked the car afterwards, the offside sill was flattened.

I think in some ways it's to do with the car & the 'culture' in garages. If you had a banger it wouldn't matter. If you had a mega-money motor & asked them to be careful they would do so. An Octy RS (or similar) is something these guys might drive or aspire to & I think they just take it personally if you ask them to be careful. Kind of like "What's so special about your bloody car!"

It's because most garages are staffed by people who left school at age 14 because they were advised to "take up a trade" since their GCSE results would be... well.... non-existant!

My dad's been mechanic-ing for 30 years and has luckily found a small set of reliable people in and around Newport. But up here in Preston... not sure! Few guys at ATS seemed pretty good, but my car won't fit on their ramps

Gutting mate. One of my sills has been flattened when I had some tyres sorted out. The guy doing it couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him jack the other side up to swap the other wheel over

Yep, same thing happened on mine when I got the suspension done.

I was a newbie know-nothing (still am) and didn't think about it when I dropped it off, but when i got the car back I knew they weren't meant to be bent on both sides like they were.

Complaints got me nowhere

It is bloody annoying. Especially for you Rob, weren't there some sill "issues" when your car arrive in NZ? :(

Yeah - lifted with a forklift!!

It's because most garages are staffed by people who left school at age 14 because they were advised to "take up a trade" since their GCSE results would be... well.... non-existant!

Harsh?

People that jack on sills are careless though FACT

Edited 5 November, 200916 yr by Tom_vRS
Quote fixed

Must of re bent mine back at least 4 times now. And then re undersealed.

As mine is lowered the garages look at it is my fault when they can't jack it up from the sills.

Skoda have not helped as to get to the chassis is some way under the car and it sits higher than the sill, so numpty mechanics work blindly without bending down to the floor to see where the jack is going(too much hard work).

If they can get under the sills, then surely they can get to the main jacking points under the body?

I've the mk2 octy, but my sills are bent too.

One point is admittedly bent worse than that and its bent the actualy underside of the main sill upwards :(

Its the same excuse every time with garages, unless you can find someone you trust. Which i find difficult to do so.

Have you spoken to the guys responsible for the damage yet Rob? Can it be fixed? It's so

Annoying when you spend alot of hard earned readies trying to keep your pride and joy looking sweet like yourself for some mindless fool to ruin it for you. I had the same problem with my last car and it just makes you feel different towards your motor coz you know it's not perfect anymore.

I'm going to go back today in my lunch hour - I'll call at the local repair shop on the way and ask their opinion.

Not happy :(

Harsh?

People that jack on sills are careless though FACT

Lol

Just my experience. Your usual chains are staffed my brainless apes, but specialists (such as yourselves) generally know what they're doing in my experience

I'm going to go back today in my lunch hour - I'll call at the local repair shop on the way and ask their opinion.

Not happy :(

Especially when it's money that could be spent on another Mod.

I'm going to go back today in my lunch hour - I'll call at the local repair shop on the way and ask their opinion.

Not happy :(

That's gutting - useless tossers

You can quote me on that if you want :(

Just called at the bodyshop and they said no probs to sort out - $80 ish for the labour.

Went to the place that did it and he said "Yep we always jack them there, never had a problem before"

But then said "Get it sorted to your satisfaction, bring the receipt and we'll pay you", so all good, no arguments.

Result at least but annoying!

Just called at the bodyshop and they said no probs to sort out - $80 ish for the labour.

Went to the place that did it and he said "Yep we always jack them there, never had a problem before"

But then said "Get it sorted to your satisfaction, bring the receipt and we'll pay you", so all good, no arguments.

Result at least but annoying!

Did you get that in writing matey?

It could have been worse I suppose:

An idea - here:

"Do not jack on sills" Stickers - any interest? - BRISKODA - The Skoda Forums

The problem is, it's perfectly ok to jack on the sills, if you do it properly.

What you need is a set of 'Do it F'ing properly!' stickers