Unfair costs in car repairs

[Broadside]

The headlamps on the Ford Fusion Pensionbook GTi are milky and cloudy. £100 for a new pair, or 2 hours polishing the old ones and sealing them with Spraymax 2 pack clear for £15. OK, I don't charge myself labour, but the principle is good - make do and mend.

I had some pretty bad car park damage on the passenger door of my car, quoted £1600 for a body shop to fit and spray a new door. I found a salvage door in the right colour code on eBay for £60 and fitted it myself, 3 hours of my time but over £1500 better off, I was quite happy with that :-)

 

[screenman]

Good too see you lot are helping keep people in jobs.

Out of interest did you know you can rent a policeman for £51 per hour going up to £98 for officers.

 

[Drago]

I'd be more likely to keep your ilk in jobs, Mr Screenman. Targeted, cost effective repairs are good.

Police forces are clever. Say you're running a big football match and want a police presence of 10 officers. They'll charge you for 10 x officers on max PC (about £20 and hour), but then staff it with specials for free.

 

[screenman]

I'd be more likely to keep your ilk in jobs, Mr Screenman. Targeted, cost effective repairs are good.

Police forces are clever. Say you're running a big football match and want a police presence of 10 officers. They'll charge you for 10 x officers on max PC (about £20 and hour), but then staff it with specials for free.

You mean make a profit, surely that is illegal.

 

[Drago]

I don't know. Questionable at the very least.

 

[screenman]

I don't know. Questionable at the very least.

I may report them to the police..

 

[Dirk]

Vauxhall dealer wanted to charge me £40+vat for resetting the service warning on my old Agila about 8 years ago.
Quick Google and I did it myself in about 30 seconds.
Rip off!

 

[Drago]

Of course Papa Dirkie, you don't have staff to pay, rent to pay, NI contributions to pay, pension contributions to pay, business rates to pay, tax to pay, equipment to buy, and you won't want to make a profit at the end of it.

 

[Dirk]

Of course Papa Dirkie, you don't have staff to pay, rent to pay, NI contributions to pay, pension contributions to pay, business rates to pay, tax to pay, equipment to buy, and you won't want to make a profit at the end of it.

No I don't; I also never used that dealership again and made sure all my mates knew about it, so they sort of shot themselves in the foot.
Out of interest, I dropped into my local garage at the time and asked how to reset the service warning. The boss, who happened to be in reception at the time, told me how to do it.
I now use this garage for all my MOT'S and servicing.
So which garage had the best customer service?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

The for all these saying it's a rip off.

I'm assuming when you fix stuff yourself. You factor in rent on a unit, business council rates, paying staff a decent wage, holiday pay, pension and NI contributions, thousands of pounds of equipment, etc.

Yes it may be more expensive, but a rip off. I don't think so.

 

[Dirk]

Yes it may be more expensive, but a rip off. I don't think so.

£48 for 30 seconds work, which involved pressing a button and turning a key? I'd call that a rip off.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

£48 for 30 seconds work, which involved pressing a button and turning a key? I'd call that a rip off.

30 seconds work plus paying to open the place, and the receptionist, and get mechanics off other jobs, and other overheads.

Mechanics don't make a lot of money, and garages aren't rolling around with their pots of gold.

If you're going to a car dealer rather than an independent garage you also need to consider the rest of their business plan. They have to pay for all the sales staff too, and the space for a show room, and there's not a lot of profit in selling cars. So that money also needs to be made by the workshops.

 

[Drago]

Exactly Mr D. By and large they aren't a rip off, they're just businesses. We could all bake our own cakes, knit our own clothes, even build pour own radios, but that doesn't mean Gregg's, Next or Curry's are a rip off.

Interesting point about the chao telling Papa Dirkie how to do a job on his car. I know a bloke who owns his own tyre and exhaust place in Leicester. You're personally liable - not the business - if you tell someone how to do something and it goes wrong, so he politely declines to tell customers how to do stuff themselves when they ask. The business he loses from snotty sorts who get affronted is nothing compared to the financial risk if it goes wrong and ended up being sued.

They're businesses, not charities. People baulk at paying a garage £40 for half an hours work, but merrily pay a solicitor £200 for a letter that their secretary types for them from a template.

I don't pay it because thanks to my Dad I can do it all myself (except for welding, I just haven't the knack) but I don't complain about people charging to be able to do exactly the same for someone else.

 

[byegad]

Going back a few years, while driving Lady Byegad's 3 month old Corsa I noticed that the steering wheel was moving up and down. (Lady Byegad would only have noticed when it had detached from the mount in her hand.) I took it into the main dealer where I'd bought it and they duly tightened it up The two mounting bolts under the facia had clearly not been torqued up as it was built. They presented me with a bill for £85+VAT which I duly refused to pay as it was warranty work. The jobsworth grudgingly decided he could refer it to Vauxhall o see if they would cover it.

I told him to get on with it and could I have the address of the office it was being referred to please? My letter to Vauxhall must have landed on a fairly high up's desk as the grovelling letter of apology from their warranty department arrived the same day that the garage rang me to tell me that 'on this occasion' I would not be charged. Funnily enough we've never bought another Vauxhall.

 

[Moodyman]

Another thing, dealerships have to do things properly - buy genuine parts and offer warranties on them and the work they do.

An old car I once owned had a rattly exhaust pipe. The clamp on the rear section had rotten away and the pipe was hanging freely.

Dealership said it would cost £100+ to source and fit the proper clamp. But the gentleman also advised he had "heard some home mechanics use a metal coat hanger to tie the exhaust to the bottom of the car (wink wink)".

I thanked him for the tip and saved me some wonga.