Unfair costs in car repairs

[Drago]

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

That only resets the visible indicator, not the service counter. It will now be out of sync and telling you it needs servicing when it doesn't etc. It solves the visible issue, but doesn't actually fix the problem.

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.

And dealerships will guarantee their work, usually for 2 years or X miles, but in the case of timing belts etc they'll guarantee for the correct timing belt interval, which can be up to 10 years on some models. The 12 month 5-10,000 mike guarantee that Fred in a Shed offers is no use when the cambelt junks itself 4 years on.

To a large extent you get what you pay for.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

That only resets the visible indicator, not the service counter. It will now be out of sync and telling you it needs servicing when it doesn't etc. It solves the visible issue, but doesn't actually fix the problem.

He could buy his own Vauxhall diagnostic unit, like the garage have.

They're cheap right??

 

[Drago]

About 2 grand for a Snap On one, 6 or 7 for a pukka Vauxhall one with factory backup and updates.

That said, if you got big brains and time to invest you can do a lot yourself these days. I've been playing with Forcscan on the Fusion to change vehicle settings and parameters, but i got time to burn and Aspergers to motivate me. If I worked for a living I'd pay the half hours labour plus VAT and be quite happy.

 

[Dirk]

The Agila had a service reminder that popped up every x number of miles.
Nothing fancy. Reset by holding odometer button down and switching ignition on, until the display flashed.
If the vehicle was serviced at the correct intervals and the reminder was reset at that time, how could it be out of sync? It's only what the dealer would have done.
Hardly need a diagnostic unit for an oil and filter change....

 

[PhilDawson8270]

The Agila had a service reminder that popped up every x number of miles.
Nothing fancy. Reset by holding odometer button down and switching ignition on, until the display flashed.
If the vehicle was serviced at the correct intervals and the reminder was reset at that time, how could it be out of sync? It's only what the dealer would have done.
Hardly need a diagnostic unit for an oil and filter change....

Some Vauxhall need one to change the rear pads. Those with electric handbrake/automatic hand brake.

 

[Dirk]

Some Vauxhall need one to change the rear pads. Those with electric handbrake/automatic hand brake.

We're talking about an oil and filter change on a base level 1ltr 3 cylinder Agila from 2007 here.
No electric anything.

 

[Drago]

Acetelyne headlamps?

Looking at an online PDF for the Agila, how to reset the visible service indicator is in the handbook, so I can't understand why you were asking the Vauxhall dealer?

 

[Profpointy]

I don't have a problem with paying someone a fair rate for doing a job. I may lack the skills (eg dentistry) or simply don't have the time / too lazy (housepainting). I quite regularly pay someone a fiver to make me a sandwhich and a cup of coffee after all. That said, it is a piss take to charge excessively because you have the customer over a barrel. You do that to me once and all subsequent business goes elsewhere. My independant specialist garage has serviced and repaired my car for 6 or 7 years. Not cheap as such but fair for the skill, diligence and time spent. I get sensible advice, "leave this till next time" "I'd get this done as well whilst it's apart", "if you can find a 2nd hand part, we'll fit it". Car has now done 130000 miles and is running better than when I got it from him with 70000 on it. No doubt another few thousand quid will drop into his till over the next 100000 miles. Now if you claim "overheads" and charge me £40 for pressing a button or fitting wiper blades, the you can f-r-o for any subsequent work.

There's a saying "you can shear a sheep many times but you can only skin him once"

 

[Dirk]

Acetelyne headlamps?

Looking at an online PDF for the Agila, how to reset the visible service indicator is in the handbook, so I can't understand why you were asking the Vauxhall dealer?

It wasn't in the handbook, that I could see, when I bought the car new in 2007.
And if it's in the handbook, as you say, it's obviously a simple thing to do that doesn't require diagnostic equipment; so how do they justify £48? Why not say - 'It tells you in the handbook'.

 

[Dirk]

I don't have a problem with paying someone a fair rate for doing a job. I may lack the skills (eg dentistry) or simply don't have the time / too lazy (housepainting). I quite regularly pay someone a fiver to make me a sandwhich and a cup of coffee after all. That said, it is a piss take to charge excessively because you have the customer over a barrel. You do that to me once and all subsequent business goes elsewhere. My independant specialist garage has serviced and repaired my car for 6 or 7 years. Not cheap as such but fair for the skill, diligence and time spent. I get sensible advice, "leave this till next time" "I'd get this done as well whilst it's apart", "if you can find a 2nd hand part, we'll fit it". Car has now done 130000 miles and is running better than when I got it from him with 70000 on it. No doubt another few thousand quid will drop into his till over the next 100000 miles. Now if you claim "overheads" and charge me £40 for pressing a button or fitting wiper blades, the you can f-r-o for any subsequent work.

There's a saying "you can shear a sheep many times but you can only skin him once"

^^^^^
Absolutely!

 

[johnnyb47]

I usually do most of the basic servicing my self. Oil and filter at the garage usually costs around £70/80 but its cheap and easy to it myself. I bought an oil/ fluid extractor vacuum pump that sucks the old oil through the dipstick hole. It cost around £20.
I buy my oil from home/bargains which costs about a £10 and an oil filter for around £3.
In total it costs me around £13 to do an oil change against the £70/80 the garage wants.
Garages will use brand name oils as opposed the cheap offerings Home bargains sell but the oil that is just simply rebranded. It's meets the minimum spec and has done me good service for the 150k i have travelled in the car over the years.
Just the other week my car was in the garage for 5 hours to diagnose a rattle I could here. They came to the conclusion it was the Dual fly mass wheel and a new clutch was needed which was going to cost £££££s to sort it. The cars an Automatic!!.
They were red faced with embarrassment when I pointed out it doesn't have a clutch. I refused to pay a penny for their poor incompetence..
It turned out to be a seized tensioner on the aircon pump

 

[johnnyb47]

Motoring can cost an arm and a leg if you get sucked into the sales hype. I polish my car with furniture polish. Black the tyres with shoe polish and reset the service indicator with a paper clip on the obd port. The car is now 18 years old and I still get complimentary comments about it at car shows. When you walk into Halfords your bombarded by products that claim to the lastest and best and a be end to all, but its just sales hype. Buy a tin of Pledge lemon polish and shine your car up with it instead. 5 minutes each week and it will look just as good as the £20 tin of Nano technology rubbish these accessories shops will sell. ( and last as long).

 

[johnnyb47]

It's just a basic auto buddy. No tiptronic ect

 

[Profpointy]

Motoring can cost an arm and a leg if you get sucked into the sales hype. I polish my car with furniture polish. Black the tyres with shoe polish and reset the service indicator with a paper clip on the obd port. The car is now 18 years old and I still get complimentary comments about it at car shows. When you walk into Halfords your bombarded by products that claim to the lastest and best and a be end to all, but its just sales hype. Buy a tin of Pledge lemon polish and shine your car up with it instead. 5 minutes each week and it will look just as good as the £20 tin of Nano technology rubbish these accessories shops will sell. ( and last as long).

You must be made of money. Buying expensive boot polish to black your tyres, and furniture polish for the car itself. They saw you coming and no mistake.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Motoring can cost an arm and a leg if you get sucked into the sales hype. I polish my car with furniture polish. Black the tyres with shoe polish and reset the service indicator with a paper clip on the obd port. The car is now 18 years old and I still get complimentary comments about it at car shows. When you walk into Halfords your bombarded by products that claim to the lastest and best and a be end to all, but its just sales hype. Buy a tin of Pledge lemon polish and shine your car up with it instead. 5 minutes each week and it will look just as good as the £20 tin of Nano technology rubbish these accessories shops will sell. ( and last as long).

The paperclip and OBD port doesn't work with OBD2