Nightmare car bill please help..

gabyjane

Ok have had a niggly noise on my car (Fiat Punto 2001) for a while and have sent it to the garage today as don't need it as much as i normally do! hoped nothing serious but had a call to say it was going to be in the region of £600..with just over 8 weeks till i get married i am not happy!
The brakes ALL need doing and their is a prob with the oil and something else, so i have 3 options:

OPTION 1: Get the dad of one of my minded children to do it far cheaper, he looked at my oil etc before it went in and said it was fine yet i have a prob with it which is looking pricey..not sure reading that, that it's an option but still!

OPTION 2: Pay the bill and keep the car, we were planning on changing it when we got back for a lease car and weren't expecting this! I am also not sure that having the work done will get us what we wanted for it or prob even less now even though they seem to sell quite well where we are..

OPTION 3: Use the £600 we will have to find for the deposit on the lease car and have a new car and have done with it..the Fiat has yesterday had 12 months tax put on but unsure what we would get if we don't do the work and who would buy it? don't really want it just sat round though..

Aaah help please..

harveybobbles

Whats the niggly noise...? Punto's are generally full of them and folk on here may have the simple fix

gabyjane

harveybobbles wrote: »

Whats the niggly noise...? Punto's are generally full of them and folk on here may have the simple fix

Lol that's the ironic thing i have no idea! they picked up not what i thougth it was! the brakes, the oil and something else are wrong but none of those are the niggly noise!!

steveo3002

who quoted the big bill?

the likes of quick fit will quote 3x or more what diy will cost

new brakes on a punto shouldnt be that expensive

jeannieblue

Get them to write down exactly what the problems are and then come back to the forum.

Niggly noise - what do they say it is? Brakes? what needs doing? And oil - could be a leak or anything.

They can't quote £600 and then not tell you what they are doing/repairing!

Better still, ask for a written quote.

vansboy

Agree with the itemised estimates.

It'd be unusual for the brakes to all NEED doing, maybe new front discs/pads, but rears, unless a problem here, might still have life in them.

Oil problem, obviously need to know whats what, here, 'cos without oil, you won't go anywhere!!

& is it £600 PLUS VAT!!!!!???? = £700!!

Think I'd be inclined to spend some £$£$ on it now, get the wedding & other plans over, then think again!!

You've enough to be concerned with, without going car shopping just yet!!

VB

Little_John

Defiantly get a 2nd opinion, take it to another garrage and have them check it out also. the large national chains will often tell you your breaks need replaceing when they don't as most people will jus say well its up there may as well do them when most of the time they are fine..

gabyjane

Ok i take it to the local Fiat dealer as i know him, he has been very good in the past and i feel as though i am not usually being ripped off!
the niggly noise is something i have noticed when driving round, i thought it may be something to do with the brakes, as it happens when i stop so i mentioned this to them on the phone..

the invoice they have given me for what they have found reads:
Replace front pads and disks and replace rear shoes, this is inclusive of VAT £360-00.
Oil leak from front and rear crankshaft oil seals £?
Possible blocked engine breather £?

The brakes i was cross about as it went in in january for a check and it was MOT'd i queryed the brakes then as i thought i heard them grinding and was told they flew straight through and were fine, i asked yesterday how they had ALL worn in 7 months and needed replacing to be told 'they just have'..

The oil as i said was serviced by a friend not so long ago and he never picked anything up

The possible blockage..i have no idea and neither do they, with the total bill of £600 this makes the oil and the possible blockage around £200 each.

SO i either sell it explaining the probs and get ? or get it fixed where we will then sell it anyway..i am really tempted to use the £600 to pay for the lease deposit as this is what we were doing in Nov anyway when we had returned from our wedding..ahhhh decisions!

jeannieblue

All sounds a bit over priced...

The oil seals in themselves, parts wise - shouldn't be expensive. No idea on the labour tho. Sadly brakes do wear and they probably would've been fine for the MOT seven months ago. You can get them done for much cheaper elsewhere.

The breather? Get your friend to take a look.

gabyjane

Little_John wrote: »

Defiantly get a 2nd opinion, take it to another garrage and have them check it out also. the large national chains will often tell you your breaks need replaceing when they don't as most people will just say well its up there may as well do them when most of the time they are fine..

Did think of this BUT don't think i said im my OP that they billed us £80 just to look at it.. will i be shelling out another £80 for them just to look at it?

steveo3002

sounds like you need to find a local independant garage thats honest

maybe post up your rough location and see if anyone can suggest a place

£80 couldve bought most of the brake parts for the repair