Renault massively overcharging for a car battery

Fella

moonrakerz wrote: »

That is the point - if you cannot see it then you are the one who is more likely to be ripped off.

These two batteries WILL NOT be the same !

Probably not however I'm perfectly content that the battery I purchased (complete with 2-year unlimited guarantee) is perfectly adequate for the job. We're talking about a car battery, not a halogen collider. It's not that complicated a piece of kit - as long as the model you buy is compatible with your car you're pretty much good to go.

And as I've said already, the fact that Renault charge £30 for a test that F1 do for free proves that they are overcharging even BEFORE you factor in the fact they charge nearly 300% as much for a battery.

But like I said, feel free to use Renault for your repairs if you want. I'll feel free not to.

cosmeticjunkie

I've had 3 Renualts all purchased as new cars and was quite loyal to the brand, that is until I got caught in that contaminated petrol malarkey a few years ago.

Once Renault had assertained that the fault was caused by the contaminated petrol they quoted me an astronomical amount to put it right. At the time I was strapped for cash so went through my insurance company as I was fully comp and then claimed the repair cost back from the petrol station.

When I went to collect my car after the repair they had to give me the invoice as I needed to send it off to make the claim. I was shocked to discover that Renualt had given my insurance company what amounted to a 60% discount on the cost of the repair.

Now Renualt must have still made a profit on the repair and I'm sure that the same parts were used and the same amount of time spent on it so why would I as an individual have to pay so much more for the same work.

I subsequently sold the car and would never buy another Renualt because of this incident.

Mibbly_Pibblies

Main dealers have extremely high overheads. I have seen the figures for a modest sized main dealer :eek:. Theat them like premium services!

malkie76

The overheads for a main dealer are higher because (a) they only use official parts, (b) their mechanics are trained to a higher standard which costs more, (c) their sites are usually premium sites rather than back-alley out of the way ones, (d) their mechanics are paid more and finally (e) they are technically a franchise and have franchise costs to Renault.

The sad part is using non-manufacturer parts de-values your car more than the cost of using official parts. It's a false economy to use local garages if you want to maintain the value of your car.

If you have an older car which you aren't bothered about, then the local garage is probably a better option.

andygb

When I replaced the battery in my Mondeo about four years ago, I phoned the main dealer, and then proceeded to phone the independents. I ended up with a Varta battery, which has been superb, cost about £55. The official Ford battery was around £80, and would not have done the job any better.
Using a local garage will not affect the value of your car at all, if they are competent, and the car can survive a thorough inspection, and it drives well.
If you find a good independent garage stick with them, this is the money saving forum after all.

nikki2804

This reminds me of the time my lil K plate clio started spewing steam and water everywhere. And overheating, phoned Renault, they wanted to charge £120 to LOOK at it then would advise of the price of fixing it. When to nice local mechanic, it was a core plug that had gone (99p to buy) and he took £20 of me!!!!
I learned my lesson then to shop around!!

movingforward2010

My brother used to work at a Vauxhall dealership as a mechanic, if you heard some of the stories he told me about the other monkeys working there, you would never take your car there again!!

Proc

Not really customer service related but still quite funny nonetheless;

One of my work collegues used to be National Sales Director for one of the large repair centres. He told me an interesting story about one of their branches. Basically, their manager did a stock take on tyres, realised that he had loads missing. Instead of reporting it, investigating it etc, he paniced. Later that night, he went back to the building and staged a break in; the idea being that he can blame the missing tyres on theft, and not on bad management control. Within a few hours, the local paper had cottoned on to the 'break-in' and there was a picture of the manager on the front page of the local newspaper saying he couldn't understand why thieves could steal tyres etc etc.

How was he found out? Auditors arrived at the store a couple of days later, to run a full stock search and quantify the 'theft'. Whilst they were checking stock histories they realised that one of the deliveries had been booked on twice. This was what initially caused his stock to appear wrong - when in reality his stock was correct all along. He confessed to everything there and then.

His immediate resignation was accepted

oldone_2

moonrakerz wrote: »

These two batteries WILL NOT be the same !

They may well be. Car manufacturers do not make their own batteries, they rebadge ones from major battery companies, and mark up the prices compared to the same battery bought elsewhere.

Volcano

Don't forget that Main Dealers have higher profits to go with their higher overheads!

malkie76 wrote: »

The sad part is using non-manufacturer parts de-values your car more than the cost of using official parts.

You are joking aren't you? How many people check whether the car they are about to buy has been maintained with genuine parts? Then try and knock a few quid off because (after crawling under the car) the oil filter hasn't got "Ford" printed on it?

You have to work for a Main Dealer surely?