Unfair costs in car repairs
- Thread starter User
- Start date
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Moodyman
Legendary Member
Yes, I've had that before. Only a small part was needed for an otherwise perfect suspension system. But nobody sold it and the main dealer only sold the the complete set and then...only if you had it fitted by them.
In the end I bought the required part from the scrapyard and paid a back street garage £15 to fit.
In the end I bought the required part from the scrapyard and paid a back street garage £15 to fit.
gbb
Legendary Member
- Location
- Peterborough
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (Tpms on your car) valves are apparently notoriously poor, made from aluminium and prone to corrosion / dirt.
Just had two new tyres fitted....but you valves are leaking they said (quite rightly...I knew I had a minor problem but assumed it was a slow puncture).
Ok, how much.....
If they had the right kit...maybe £10 a wheel.
New valves if available were more.
But Vauxhall won't just sell the valve you have to have the sensor as well.....
It'd have meant a circa £200 bill if I interpreted their coats right....it might have been £140 ish at best.
Can you put normal valves on for now I asked.
Oh yes....but your TPMS will alarm and it'll be an automatic MOT fail.
Ebay, new valves, £7.50 each.
I'll get my SIL to whip the tyres off sometime in the future and refit the TPMS sensors.
Ridiculous....but that's modern cars.
Just had two new tyres fitted....but you valves are leaking they said (quite rightly...I knew I had a minor problem but assumed it was a slow puncture).
Ok, how much.....
If they had the right kit...maybe £10 a wheel.
New valves if available were more.
But Vauxhall won't just sell the valve you have to have the sensor as well.....
It'd have meant a circa £200 bill if I interpreted their coats right....it might have been £140 ish at best.
Can you put normal valves on for now I asked.
Oh yes....but your TPMS will alarm and it'll be an automatic MOT fail.
Ebay, new valves, £7.50 each.
I'll get my SIL to whip the tyres off sometime in the future and refit the TPMS sensors.
Ridiculous....but that's modern cars.
rugby bloke
Veteran
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Too many to mention for our Mercedes R Class when it used to go to the main dealer. Now it goes to a local garage it is suddenly a lot cheaper ... funny that !
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Its what the market will support. As with solicitors, builders, boob jobs etc, people moan about the cost of jobs that most of them couldn't do themselves. Indeed, a top flight tech will have trained as long as a solicitor who charges £300 an hour, so in that regard their expertise is good value.
My Dad is an engineer, taught me how spanners work from an early age, and because I have the skills I've never had to trouble myself to ask a garage how much a job costs. I certainly wouldn't want to do it for a living for what they get paid though.
My Dad is an engineer, taught me how spanners work from an early age, and because I have the skills I've never had to trouble myself to ask a garage how much a job costs. I certainly wouldn't want to do it for a living for what they get paid though.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
It's not only cars. One of the reasons I'm changing my main bike from a Shimano Nexus hub gear to a Sturmey Archer is that Shimano will only sell complete new internals while SA still sell all the bits if you want them. That and parts availability for the Nexus consumables (bearings and so on) seems relatively slow, with little stock held by anyone in the UK so it's often a wait for things to come from Germany or Singapore (so far).
Profpointy
Legendary Member
A friend scrapped a car because the wiper motor bust. Part was only slightly costly at 50 quid or whatever but you had to take half the car apart to get at it which would have been £1500. French car needless to say
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
It is satisfying to DIY it, do a decent job, and save some pennies. Better for the environment too.
A small main dealer I was at today cost around £50,000 a month to open up, profit is something they hope for and seldom get. It is the manufacturer that sets what a dealer has to fit and supply. For example Audi dealer buy a car into sales stock wnatinga new screen genuine Audi £450 plus £100 fitting, non genuine £200 fitted, they have to go genuine, Audi rules.
Timber now that is pricey, where do they think money comes from, it does certainly not grow on tree's.
Timber now that is pricey, where do they think money comes from, it does certainly not grow on tree's.
I've just paid out £450 to have a belt tensioner replaced. The 2 bolts attaching it thread from the back into it and involved stripping half the engine components out to get to them. If the bolts where threaded in from the front it would of only been about 30 minutes works as opposed the 4 hours. I hate cars sometimes grrrrr
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
twentysix by twentyfive
Clinging on tightly
- Location
- Over the Hill
FTFY
HertzvanRental
Veteran
I have a Peugeot 308. Late last year, I had the battery replaced. This caused the screen to show that the abs had been compromised. Went to 2 local garages, recommended, for diagnostic checks and resetting. They replaced this and that but still I had the warning re abs! Went to local Peugeot dealer. In all, it cost me North of £200.00 to be told that a fuse had blown!!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
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.
