Does £750 sound reasonable?

Mrs_Optimist

Car has failed MOT today. It is a VW Passat TDI Estate. The front suspension ball joint needs replacing - at a cost of £750. I know that VW parts are expensive, but not sure whether the price quoted to replace this is reasonable or not.

Can anyone help please?

Technical_Dave

No, rip off. Part is about £30 to £50 + 1h labour would easily cover it. Expect to pay around £100 all in.

mikey72

An hour for a passat. Are you sure about that?

I'd get a couple more quotes though, from decent independent garages.

s_b

quotes a joke but its not an hour fix
easier with a gas torch of course
its usually an upper arm joint that fails
book time less than 2 hours all in

get 3 quotes

Mrs_Optimist

Thanks for your advice guys- much appreciated. It is our usual garage and they are usually pretty reasonable. It is the front lower suspension ball/arm joint that needs replacing so not sure how much work is necessary, or how much the part will. Just that it will cost around £750. Need to make a decision in next 10 days after which time we will be charged for an MOT re-test.

s_b

Mrs_Optimist wrote: »

Thanks for your advice guys- much appreciated. It is our usual garage and they are usually pretty reasonable. It is the front lower suspension ball/arm joint that needs replacing so not sure how much work is necessary, or how much the part will. Just that it will cost around £750. Need to make a decision in next 10 days after which time we will be charged for an MOT re-test.

watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mpjfOFaOe8
they will have had one where the bolt shown in the first minute wouldnt come out and probably struggled all day with it
if they used a bit of oxy-acetaline on it then they come out easy,unfortunately a lot of garages dont want to spend on this equipment these days or their insurer wont allow it on the premises

you really dont want to go with that quote though please

cb1979

£750 sounds far too much,the garage owner must be about to book his holiday

colino

It sounds like they've had a tough one recently and are trying to price themselves out of the job. If you say yes at £750, they'll shrug their shoulders and are covered anyway.

pendulum

£750 is a joke, either there's more work that needs doing and there has been a misunderstanding, or he thinks you're a mug.

cb1979

have a look on eurocar parts website and put your reg no in then search for the parts,you will then see how cheap the parts are

avantra

Paid £220 two years ago for the same job on our Passat PD 130 Estate. They are taking you for a ride mate.