A huge bill from the garage

dumpy

Head gasket on a Landrover...... £1150

Do I win a prize?

Still suffering the after effects of shock and it was two years ago

ooobedoo

Dumpy-I would have to sell my body(and trust me at 50p a go it would take a long time) to afford that bill. I feel much better now!!!!

code-a-holic

Being a daughter of a mechanic im stunned at these prices. I have never had to deal with a garage until last year becuase dads always done everything. In the past i have had a new head gasket - £350 quoted in a garage - £60 quid is all the parts were and daddy dearest did it.The difference is huge. I now have a newish '02 sharan, the dealer told me a service will be around £300. My dad did the service according to VW specs and it cost me £28 in parts. Garages charge awful prices, if you can make friends with a mechanic, do it!

Thought id just add - i crashed a 106 once - local garage did the once over for insurance parts and deemed it un economical to repair with a quote for £700. Me and dad sorced the new bonnet, windscreen, radiator and odds for just over £200, and the car went on until my brother rolled it - decided the car was unlucky so disposed of it! lol.

the_chauffer

dumpy wrote:

Head gasket on a Landrover...... £1150

Do I win a prize?

Still suffering the after effects of shock and it was two years ago

Blooming hell.

Do I win one for the cheepiest. £65, head gasket and tappits. And yes it was at a garage.

hobo28

code-a-holic wrote:

..... if you can make friends with a mechanic, do it!

Yup, my old neighbours were all car nuts and a family of car mechanics. The plus side was that they came in handy when we had car trouble. The one time I filled my diesel car with unleaded was fixed by them for free rather than hundreds a garage would have charged me.

The downside was their cars or bits of cars were littered outside their house.

I'd also recommend making friends with a plumber and an electrician too!

dumpy

Oobedoo, thank you for the sympathy much appreciated.

Fortunately as I am "So tight I squeak as I walk" (according to OH) I had the money stashed in an account so didn't have to go into debt. In fact I paid on a money back credit card to try and get something back!

Still hurts though........

code-a-holic

hobo28 wrote:

The downside was their cars or bits of cars were littered outside their house.

I'd also recommend making friends with a plumber and an electrician too!

I now have a house of my own and my dads car parts have managed to creep to my house!!! Selling some on ebay for him and the unsold seem to stay here!!!
Might be a option for some - AA have a parts cover which means they will cover the cost of major parts and garage costs.... i've had a glance at the cover in thew past it seems ok!

ollyshaw

I use "bangernomics" most expensive car ever bought was £700.

The idea is that you buy a sub £1k car. Run it till a large garage bill then get another one!

Olly