Help in understanding recommended repairs for car

Mankysteve

As others have said most of the stuff on there in bum crumb. And other prices are incredibly over inflated. For instance I paid £150ish for new pads and discs recently where they want double.

I would do the can belt and the brake fluid, at decent inndy garage. The rest are just wish lists.

sacha28

Wow those prices are amazing!! Saw you coming, d'oh!
We've just had a new engine put in our 02 plate saxo and it only cost £500. That included all new belts, fluids, clutch, plugs etc etc (believe me paying £500 for a new engine was preferable to trying to get rid of that car and finding another car for £500 which would probably be a worse bag of !!!!!!)

Take it to a local garage, they will be happy for the custom.

Joe_Horner

The fact that there's no entry for the cam belt in the service book doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't been done, nly that the book hasn't been marked with it. Quite a lot of indies will simply do the change and use the sticker (usually) supplied with the belt to advise when the next change is due. Check around the cambelt area ofr a sticker with a date / mileage on it.

If there's no sign of it having been changed then you may be on borrowed time, but the rest of that list - not to mention the prices quoted - honestly reads more like a comedy script than a serious job quote. Lots of it is completely unnecessary:

You don't change core plugs just cos they look a little rusty for instance, not do you change brake pads that still have a fifth of their life left (assuming typical 12mm new thickness and changing at 2mm for safety). Quite how they gauged 20mm disk thickness left by a visual check would be interesting to know as well!

Not quite sure what "less than 2% green" means for brake fluid because it's the moisture content, not the sodding colour, that matters!

Wipers, as others have said, if they're smeary then clean the screen and wiper blades by hand. You can use neat screen wash for this, or vinegar does a good job but smells a little. Nearly 40 quid (presumably + VAT) to change them is outrageous in any case.

Most of the rest they're fairly obviously double quoting on the labour involved. The aux belt, for example, is about £15 retail for a genuine Ford part and has to be removed / refitted as part of the cambelt change. So they're quoting about £35 over the parts price for something they'd have to remove / refit anyway.

Similarly, retail for the (genuine) water pump is about £70, and all the work required to change it except undoing 3 bolts and cleaning up a sealing face is done anyway for the cambelt. So they're effectively adding over £110 to undo and do up 3 bolts.

Bottom line, find another garage!

AdrianC

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Not quite sure what "less than 2% green" means for brake fluid because it's the moisture content, not the sodding colour, that matters!

I'd assume some kind of hygrometer reading. But, really, the usual "every two years" recommendation is good enough.

Westmead_Fan

1. Front and rear wipers smeary - £38.28

wipe them down & test them, if they need replacing you are looking at about £15 tops for good quality wipers

2. Transmission n/s driveshaft oil seal weeping - £181.08
3. Transmission clutch bite high may possibly be slipping when hot and under load; advise new clutch and slave; this could be customer complaint of sluggish car - £679.20

is the clutch giving you problems? if not them don't worry until it does still very expensive

4. A/c service - £68.40

do you use the air con if you never do then there is no point getting it done, at Just Mot's Eastbourne this service cost £30 = bargin!!!

5. Belts & levels - cambelt overdue no record of change in svc book; must replace - £445.94
6. Engine - advise change aux belt with cam belt - £52.48

this is the most crucial one if it has not been done then this would need to be done pretty soon as mentioned your on a time bomb but way too expensive

7. Engine - reqs id code read for eml on intermittently - £57

this takes the !!!!, this should be part of the service health scan that you paid for most good local garages will do this with the service

8. Engine - core plugs in cylinder head rusty may start leaking soon - £276.30

really???

9. Engine - fuel filter advise replace - £48.62

this is disgusting fuel filters what £10 for good fuel filter & should be in any major service.

10. Brake fluid - Sp Dot 4 - 198C>Less than 2% green - £75.12

when the brakes need doing you might aswell get the brake fluid change at the same time cost way over the top.

11. Coolant - Advise water pump change with cambelt - £187.61

you do this with the cambelt change this price is a joke.

12. Brakes visual - Front pad 4mm remaining - £130.63
13. Brakes visual - Front discs at 20mm min req 20mm - £196.20
14. Brakes visual - rear clean and adjust as high handbrake travel - £63.30

for a mot, minimum is 1.5mm thick plenty left in yours pad change £70 still being over the for top branded brakes. discs prob about £25 each & don't add that much extra to change them.

to be frank you have been taken for a ride, these places make us the small independents given a bad name £179.99 for this service is a disgrace they should be named & shamed at my workplace a full service is about £170 on a 02 fiesta which includes oil,air,fuel,pollen,spark plugs,oil & health scan of vehicle & inspection of vehicle removing & cleaning brakes out.

another quick question, when was your last mot & was there any advisory's???

SLITHER99

mouche wrote: »

Our 11 year old car (36,500 miles) was serviced yesterday and we have been given a list of critical repairs costing £2,500. We are trying to decide whether we should get it repaired or buy a new one. We don't really have the money for either option so would appreciate feedback on the repairs list from people who understand cars. Which of them are really critical? Which of them must be fixed or it will be dangerous to drive? We travel with our toddler so safety is always top of the list.

Here is a list of repairs and costs. Would really appreciate your opinions:

1. Front and rear wipers smeary - £38.28
2. Transmission n/s driveshaft oil seal weeping - £181.08
3. Transmission clutch bite high may possibly be slipping when hot and under load; advise new clutch and slave; this could be customer complaint of sluggish car - £679.20
4. A/c service - £68.40
5. Belts & levels - cambelt overdue no record of change in svc book; must replace - £445.94
6. Engine - advise change aux belt with cam belt - £52.48
7. Engine - reqs id code read for eml on intermittently - £57
8. Engine - core plugs in cylinder head rusty may start leaking soon - £276.30
9. Engine - fuel filter advise replace - £48.62
10. Brake fluid - Sp Dot 4 - 198C>Less than 2% green - £75.12
11. Coolant - Advise water pump change with cambelt - £187.61
12. Brakes visual - Front pad 4mm remaining - £130.63
13. Brakes visual - Front discs at 20mm min req 20mm - £196.20
14. Brakes visual - rear clean and adjust as high handbrake travel - £63.30

Let me get this straight. You just paid £180 for a service and they didn't top up your levels!? FOR REAL?

A thought, if I may. A 1.4 Fiesta engine is actually REALLY easy to work on. In fact, most of those jobs can be done at the roadside. The first cambelt I ever did was on a 1.25l Fiesta (not too dissimilar to yours) I was very worried but when I got done, I wondered what I was so worried about.

A Haynes manual, some decent tools with the cam lock and a Saturday morning and I would wager you could sort that yourself!

The clutch, in fairness, I'd leave to an indie garage. But even then, I'd leave it until there's no bite at all.

Brakes too are fairly straightforward. Do the front ones first to cut your teeth.

colino

The garage will (might) have checked the antifreeze with their handy little refractometer, a surprisingly good little tool, but saying 2% green to a customer is like saying change the tyres because they are 70% black.

OddballJamie

colino wrote: »

The garage will (might) have checked the antifreeze with their handy little refractometer, a surprisingly good little tool, but saying 2% green to a customer is like saying change the tyres because they are 70% black.

It was brake fluid they tested, not antifreeze. The result was less than 2% water which is a green light meaning OK.
You can pick up testers quite cheaply.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brake-Fluid-Tester/dp/B005HVG4GQ

Moto2

As it's a main dealer, I'd write to the dealer principal and Ford's director of Customer Services outlining your concerns that you have apparently been a victim of an attempt to extort money from you using your lack of knowledge and naively.
Send them both copies of the list of essential work and point out that if you hadn't sought advice elsewhere to try to clarify the works, the dealer could now be looking at a possible fraud investigation and you would be severely out of pocket.

AdrianC

OddballJamie wrote: »

It was brake fluid they tested, not antifreeze. The result was less than 2% water which is a green light meaning OK.

Indeed. But that doesn't mean the fluid's great.

Dry, new fluid has a boil point of 230degC.
"Wet" fluid, with 3.5% water, has a boil point down to 160degC.

So, a boil point of 198degC sounds about right for 2% water. That 2% water not only reduces the boil point, increasing the risk of the fluid boiling and leaving no brakes in the event of prolonged heavy use (the steam formed in the lines is compressible, unlike liquid), but increases corrosion in the calipers and wheel cylinders. I don't think there's an easy calculation for time versus moisture content, but it's safe to say that that fluid is probably long overdue for replacement. It's not a big job. It's short-termist corner-cutting not to.

As I said earlier, the price quoted is another issue.