Vectra Repair Pricing

pennypincher3562

Hi

I've just got my Vectra 1.7 petrol back from the garage, and was wondering if these were reasonable prices for repair:

Camshaft oil seal x 2= 120
Timing belt x 1 = 23
Inlet Camshaft Pulley x 1 = 187

The above does not include vat, and oddly I can't see any labour charges!?

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

forgotmyname

The seals wont be £120 so labour probably included in that.

Or they forgot and will send you a revised bill later.

flashg67

Looks like labour is included - repairs are related, so should only be one labour cost to cover the lot? Best to check first, but doesn't sound too bad.

pennypincher3562

Hi Forgotmyname

Yes, I reckon the labour was included with the seals. Does anyone know if it looks like a reasonable bill overall? With VAT it came to about 390 quid.

[EDIT: typed this at the same time as FlasgG67's reply]

Thanks
PennyPincher3562

welfayre

A new pulley from Vauxhall (I'm assuming that's where they would source it from as a lot of parts place don't do that type of thing) will probably be in excess of £100 to them. Oil seals likely to be under £10 each plus a £23 belt gives you a parts total of (very) roughly £150

You'll be looking at approx 3 hours labour (should be able to do it in less but that's probably what they can get away with charging). So 3 x hourly rate (it's around £40 for an indy around my bit) = £120

£120 + £150 = £270 + 20% VAT = £324. So depending on their hourly rate £390 would be about right (providing they've got a genuine new Vauxhall pulley).

Out of interest what was it in for? Why have the changed the timing belt and not the guides, tensioner and water pump?

pennypincher3562

Hi Welyfayre

Thanks. What was it in for? Quite a long story. 6 weeks supposedly the front crankshaft seal went, and the garage supposedly fixed it.

Drove about 350 miles last week, and there was oil all over the place. Put it back in, suspecting they had messed up the front crankshaft seal. This time they told me oil was leaking from front camshaft seals, and from within the camshaft pulley thing itself.

I actually got a 2nd opinion on this one from another garage, who told me my timing belt was covered in oil, hence the replacement. I reckon they were full of cr*p however (I've seen the removed timing belt, and it was almost spotless.)

So total damage for past 6 weeks, is in the region of £600 plus. It's so hard to prove if garages are making mistakes. What can you do??? To be honest, I've just stuck this one on my credit card, and want to forget it.

I will never go back to either garage again, the one who did the repair, or the one who gave the '2nd opinion.'

I'm thinking in future maybe I should just stick to 'big name' expensive places.

And finally when I got my 'fixed car' back (wonder how long it will last this time) it had next to no petrol left in it - no way did I drive it to the garage with that amount of petrol in it, I've never seen the needle so low.

[EDIT: Any tips on finding a garage you can trust, would be appreciated!]

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

colino

Is this the same car that had a heavy oil leak and needed to go back in for repair and they're charging you twice?

pennypincher3562

Hi Colino

Yes, it's the same car.

The first oil leak was supposedly from the front crankshaft seal (6 weeks ago.) The new oil leak was from the camshaft seals, and the camshaft pulley thing. So effectively, I've been charged an extra £400 for the 'new leak.'

I asked why has my car started leaking oil from multiple sources in the past 6 weeks, and they reckon cause it's not used much - it only does about 1100 miles a year.

[EDIT: me being the cynical type, suspects maybe the leak was always from the camshaft, and not the front crankshaft 6 weeks ago. of course this just speculation, and I can't prove anything..]

Cheers
PennyPincher3562

arcon5

Anythings possible with cars.

If you've had a second opinion which substantiates it though I don't see the problem. If it was the camshaft seals originally then surely it would still be leaking straight away after 'repair

colino

Hi OP, as I mentioned previously these type of seals while they may start to weep in old age, tend to leak massively when they are damaged in fitting (or re-fitting) or have marks or burrs on the journals and/or housings. While it appears you have suffered two major leaks from the crankshaft seal and now the camshaft seal, I don't, despite the complexities of mechanical things, believe in coincidences. Either this was a cover up for wrong/bad work, or you have blocked breathers on your car and unless attended to, your going to get another leak sometime soon.

AdrianC

Colino has probably hit the nail on the head in the last line of his post.

If the crankcase breather is blocked, then pressure is going to be building up, and is going to find the weakpoint to leak from. Initially, it was the crank seal. Next weakest is the cam seal. I wonder what's going to be next...? Rear crank seal, probably. And that's engine-out.