garage making work for themselves?

tinow

I have a Vauxhall, its been 100% until Feb this year when I took it to a vauxhall dealership for a service.

first the brake pipes needed changed (fair enough) because they were badly corroded (8 yr old vehicle) they changed and charged me, then:


-then the brake pads and holders needed changed (done maybe a yr ago)
-then the car ept cutting out and losing power - new coils and sparks
-it still cut out - new immobiliser code and key battery
-the steering fluid pipe leaked (due to the jubilee clip being overtightend when the steering rack was changed (2 yrs ago!!)) quoted £60 all in, bill was £185!!
- knocking after the pipe was replaced told it was 'nothing to worry about
-failed the MOT for 'badly corroded brake pipes' (- returned it to the garage who charged me £90 for the pleasure) and knocking noise was picked up and highlighted
-knocking noise investigated by the garage on sat - told it was the suspension (they were gona fix it)
-got a call today to say its not the suspension but in fact a new steering rack was needed.

Just replaced the steering rack 2 yrs ago - (the garage thought it was still in warranty to another garage and they could fix it for me and get the original garage to sort out the bill) now theyre kinda panicking because its not under warranty and offering to change it for a nominal fee. They also found out the power loss was in fact a position sensor fault.

What do I do? where do I stand?! Ive spent the guts of a grand since feb, and forecasting another £600 for steering rack etc.

Feel like Im being taken for a ride here - I know I should have gone elsewhere but the garages where I live are pretty unreliable and I thought being that its a Vauxhall dealership its better than going to cowboys.....wrong again!

LandyAndy

Vauxhalls = poor.
Vauxhall dealers = worse.

oldagetraveller

tinow wrote: »

I have a Vauxhall, its been 100% until Feb this year

Then you've been very lucky!
I've had my first, and last, Vauxhall from new, now 2 years old and it's been an absolute pile of poorly built, unreliable junk.:D
Only last Monday it was back at the dealers having more warranty work carried out.

mikey72

My Zafira's been abused for 6 years now with nothing other than a crank sensor and a thermostat, back shock absorbers, (I overload it) and one set of front discs in 80k miles, (and a few tyres and brake pads)
Still on the original exhaust and battery as well.
I service it myself after the warranty expired, and wash it every year for the MOT.
I wouldn't use a dealer after the warranty expires, but then it's hard to find a garage to trust. Keeping to one local garage is best, as you have the follow up if anything goes wrong later, at MOT and servicing.
8 years is a bit young for brake lines, but I've had similar, so worth getting done.
I would have argued over the steering leak if they fitted it originally, and if it had now gone again I'd be looking at how much I had spent on it and expecting a very good price now.

Strider590

Hmmm Vauxhalls are actually comparatively good cars, they've worked damn hard to shake of that bad reputation.... Hell.... Why would the Police force buy unreliable cars?

Anyway..... Stealerships are BAD news whatever car you own, the various car owners forums have lists of bad and good stealerships, I suggest joining the appropriate one for your car and finding out what's best in your area.

tinow

is there anything I can actually do?

Idiophreak

Your experience sounds worryingly like my own - my astra went great for a couple of years, then it needed a new coil pack, which was fair enough (but expensive).

Then it failed to start and they changed the starter. Then they changed the starter again. then they changed the starter and ignition. Then the starter again. Then they wanted to do the alternator and hoses and head gasket...and then there was £1500 worth of stuff they reckoned needed doing at the next MOT...so I cut my losses, sold the thing and bought a Honda. Won't be rushing back to Vauxhall. Ever.

Strider590

Idiophreak wrote: »

sold the thing and bought a Honda. Won't be rushing back to Vauxhall. Ever.

Oooooh, wait til it goes wrong

Honda have a "first time fix" policy, so if your window stops working they replace the windows, all the switches and the control unit.... A single switch pack is £198 from Honda, they purchase them from their supplier at £23 each....