The Great 'How much should you pay for common car repairs' Hunt

Sapphire70

I always queried what garages were charging and, as a result, rarely paid what they first quoted.

Things that should be watched for are the 'helpful' info at the bottom of your bill saying things which are likely to terrify you into booking further repairs:-
I had a Vauxhall Nova which went into a dealership for a new distributor. The bill said "gearbox bearings had FAILED". When I asked how they knew and if they had seen them, they told me they were noisy and they could tell this by driving the car. I didn't get the repair done and happily drove the car for another 5 years with absolutely no problem from gearbox.

If you are advised of any problems you were unaware of, ALWAYS take it somewhere else for 2nd opinion. Despite loads of advisory problems from dealerships I never had to get any of them fixed.

You can always query labour charges. For example, I had to get wiper linkages repaired, I knew this would only take about 20 mins. Garage told me they charge min 1 hr labour. I refused to pay that as I knew it would take less time and I stood and watched them do it. They then charged me for just 1/2 hr.

Also ask to see the faulty part, preferably in situ, and what the problem is.

I am a self confessed petrol head and know a little about cars. I have many times experienced the patronising attitude from garages that because I'm female I know nothing.

SO. Make sure you know your car and always have a rough idea of the cost of a repair and the time it takes to fix. I find the owners forums absolutely invaluable for this. It's far better to go into a garage armed with the knowledge that a replacement gearbox is between 3-5 hrs work, than not having a clue and being charged too much.

I've had a Honda Civic type R for over 10 years and it has a full service history but it has never been near a Honda dealer. The first service was an oil service - I rang dealer for quote, was told £139 (10 years ago). I asked what this service involved and was told oil change etc. and "1 HOURS CHECKING OF CAR" this did not include removing wheels or anything. Sorry, not paying for that.

Google everything! When I first owned cars 20+ years ago there was no easy way of getting the knowledge so I queried everything. Now it's much easier to protect yourself with a very small amount of homework.

vickssinex

Sapphire70 wrote: »

If you are advised of any problems you were unaware of, ALWAYS take it somewhere else for 2nd opinion. Despite loads of advisory problems from dealerships I never had to get any of them fixed.

Good point. A local tyre place told me a couple of months ago that I needed a new set as they were showing wear round the sidewalls. The car was due a service in July so I hung on - to find out from another garage that they were fine, so £300+ saved.

smala01

scottyqt wrote: »

I now use a garage near to my in-laws that they have been using for years and have been nothing but pleased with his services.

For example, I recently needed new discs and brake pads for my two front wheels and this cost me £125 (inclusive of VAT and labour).

Also my exhaust was a bit wobbly and he just fixed this for free, what a legend.

You have paid £100 labour for a 30 minute job...

Of course, we all value our time differently, and it varies vastly across the country, but to me thats double the price you should pay.

OddballJamie

vickssinex wrote: »

Good point. A local tyre place told me a couple of months ago that I needed a new set as they were showing wear round the sidewalls. The car was due a service in July so I hung on - to find out from another garage that they were fine, so £300+ saved.

I don't think I could go a couple of months to get a second opinion with something as important as tyres. Dread to think what could've happened if the first garage hadn't been lying.

OddballJamie

smala01 wrote: »

You have paid £100 labour for a 30 minute job...

Of course, we all value our time differently, and it varies vastly across the country, but to me thats double the price you should pay.

You don't even know what car they have to work out the parts/labour cost.

My last cars discs were £115 trade price, if a mechanic had offered to change my discs and pads for £125 all in, I would've bitten their hand, arm and shoulder off.

Mobeer

Spent £330 getting rear suspension fixed in a main dealership. Got a free hire care for 4 days whilst my car was being repaired.

Whether this was good value depends a lot on the value assigned to the hire car. To me it seemed excellent; even saved about £20 on fuel thanks to the efficiency of the hire car. If I had of been content to go without a car then this would have been much less of a benefit.

Billy_Bonkers

Weird_Nev wrote: »

They run a car CALLED "Silver Ghost". I very much doubt that it IS a Silver ghost!

Battleaxe44 wrote: »

Let me clarify. The Silver Ghost is not the 1912 Roller (sigh)

It is a BMW with a very large engine, leather upholstery and a beautiful interior finish and she is silver. We decided to go for this car because overall the running costs are very low and it will be our last car barring any unfortunate happenings. It was a toss up between this car or a Jag. :rotfl:. the Hobbit had very bad driving habits, a wanna be white van driver and I had to bully him into this car for my own sanity. The only way we could afford it was to buy it second hand, and yes we paid cash for it. No HP for the Hobbits...:T This car and our wonderful mechanic have cured the Hobbit of his need for aggression on the road. Fuel now costs £30.00 a week against the £70.00 he used to help SG guzzle, he has removed the lead from his accelerator foot and learned not everyone on the road is a fool...I have threatened to put him on an advanced safety drivers course if he didn't change his habits. Nothing worse than a scream old Battleaxe telling to slow down and he doesn't have to overtake every other car on the road...

Sadly not one of these:



I guess one of these:


6.6 litre V12 twin turbo. How elegant. However, never, ever a Roller please, if you must shorten, always a Royce.

I would respectfully suggest that the Hobbit would still greatly benefit (as would the fuel budget) from a RoSPA advanced driving course. He will learn a lot he didn't know he didn't know and become a safer, more relaxed driver with more vehicle sympathy.

Billy_Bonkers

Wonder how many of you knew that some Audi Main [STRIKE]Stealers[/STRIKE] Dealers charge a higher hourly workshop rate for work on "high end" cars than they do on the more moderate cost range?
This on the basis that the customer who buys and runs a high end car can afford the higher rate.

OddballJamie

Just bought four winter tyres for £200. What do I win?

adjust

This is my first time on here, but I would like someone to give me some advice, I took my car to the garage because it wasn't running properly, the chap gave it a diagnostic check but couldn't fine the fault so suggested I went to another garage, which I did and on arrival asked the chap if he could look at my car and let me know if he could fix it, he said take a seat and he would have a look, after waiting for half an hour I asked when he was going to look at it , he then put his diagnostic on it and 10 mins later came and told me I needed a new throttle pedal which would cost £100, I said I couldn't afford this at the moment but would get back to him when I could, so he then said that will cost £36, I said what will you haven't fixed it, he said I had to pay for his time [ 10mins ] and no-one worked for free, I said I wasn't told on arrival that he would charge me so much for 10 minutes work and that if I had been informed up front I would have taken my car elsewhere. he has now sent me a bill as I had to give my name and address whilst I was there. What do your members think, Is he at fault for not informing me before looking at the car that it would cost me so much for so little time, and am I within my rights not to pay.