Garage repair costs

The_Jester

Just trying to pre-empt a situation that may or may not arise tomorrow.

When a garage quotes you for car repairs and it takes them longer than first thought can they then charge you more more after the work is completed without consulting you first?

I wouldn't have thought so as the garage should have the experience in pricing the job in the first place but I'd appreciate any one's views?

johnnyroper

The_Jester wrote: »

Just trying to pre-empt a situation that may or may not arise tomorrow.

When a garage quotes you for car repairs and it takes them longer than first thought can they then charge you more more after the work is completed without consulting you first?

I wouldn't have thought so as the garage should have the experience in pricing the job in the first place but I'd appreciate any one's views?

if they quote for a job then it should not cost anymore unless another part has had to be changed due to it breaking or something while doing the repairs they quoted for.If this is the case they should have been in touch to get auth.

when i worked at vaux sometimes jobs took longer due to starting other work while waiting for auth this then pushed work back to later in the day so needed to have car longer.

did they give a reason for it taking longer?

The_Jester

They're changing the axle bushes on a Ford Courier Van. I knew it would be difficult because they've probably not moved since the day the van was built. I shopped around for a quote and they were the cheapest at £320. They reckoned 6 hrs labour. The ford Garage wanted £430!

I dropped off the van this morning and the receptionist clarified my mobile number just in case "there were any seizures or something". I stopped by about 2pm but was told it probably wouldn't be ready until tomorrow.

A guy I know who works there told me this evening they started it at 9:30am and they had a really tough job getting the bushes out because they were stuck solid. However they managed to get them off but the axle is out and they need to put it back on and get the right height on the torsion bar.

I had a funny feeling they would have problems getting them off but in my mind they should have the experience to know how long it would take and charge me accordingly. An interesting thought I had was that if they managed to repair it quicker than first thought then would they charge me less than quoted? Probably not!

Of course I'm only speculating and they may not try and charge me more but I wanted to know where I stood before going in tomorrow half cocked. I have a funny feeling they'll try and charge more though as most do. As with most people this time of year money is tight just now so I don't think it's fair to charge more than what was quoted regardless of the time taken.

It's a dealership garage by the way and not a back street job.