41 replies to this topic

[Pelvisgt]

Like people have said it does sound about right as its lots of small jobs,

It might be too late to get it back but these things happen as its saved you doing it and your car will be back on the road soon !

I got destroyed by a £980 bill for my 106 gti as the rear suspension had gone badly wrong and with that and lots of other bits it added up quick,

What I said to myself was I will learn how to do some jobs as I don't want to be in the position ever again lol,

Servicing is an easy thing to do and can save you a pretty penny as the years go on (if you keep with older cars),

But don't worry about it too much its only money

[steven]

They did ask but they didn't inform me on how quickly the price was rising from their original quote till they had done the work.

well that's not right I would have thought that they would have kept you updated as they went along

[Carlsmini]

Like people have said it does sound about right as its lots of small jobs,

It might be too late to get it back but these things happen as its saved you doing it and your car will be back on the road soon !

I got destroyed by a £980 bill for my 106 gti as the rear suspension had gone badly wrong and with that and lots of other bits it added up quick,

What I said to myself was I will learn how to do some jobs as I don't want to be in the position ever again lol,

Servicing is an easy thing to do and can save you a pretty penny as the years go on (if you keep with older cars),

But don't worry about it too much its only money

That's true. To be honest, they have done a good job. I will learn how to do these jobs to save my money in the future.

They did ask but they didn't inform me on how quickly the price was rising from their original quote till they had done the work.

well that's not right I would have thought that they would have kept you updated as they went along

That's why I'm annoyed with them. They said to me, ' we might be looking at a bit more than £200 for these jobs' so I said ' well what kind of cost am I looking at??'

They were like well I have to work it out so give me some time...
They waited till they had finished the work and then asked for 750. They gave me no idea about how much the price was rising...

Edited by Carlsmini, 16 April 2013 - 01:01 PM.

[Carlsmini]

I'll post up my invoice I get from the garage later to see if you guys think the cost is fair for the jobs they did

[steven]

Like people have said it does sound about right as its lots of small jobs,

It might be too late to get it back but these things happen as its saved you doing it and your car will be back on the road soon !

I got destroyed by a £980 bill for my 106 gti as the rear suspension had gone badly wrong and with that and lots of other bits it added up quick,

What I said to myself was I will learn how to do some jobs as I don't want to be in the position ever again lol,

Servicing is an easy thing to do and can save you a pretty penny as the years go on (if you keep with older cars),

But don't worry about it too much its only money

That's true. To be honest, they have done a good job. I will learn how to do these jobs to save my money in the future.

They did ask but they didn't inform me on how quickly the price was rising from their original quote till they had done the work.

well that's not right I would have thought that they would have kept you updated as they went along

That's why I'm annoyed with them. They said to me, ' we might be looking at a bit more than £200 for these jobs' so I said ' well what kind of cost am I looking at'

They were like well I have to work it out so give me some time...
They waited till they had finished the work and then asked for 750. They gave me no idea about how much the price was rising...

that's not really the way they should have gone about it

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Sounds about right to me; try and do all of that yourself and I think you'll see where the labour costs come from, that's with proper equipment and easy access to all areas of the car via a lift.

I think one of those jobs would take the average home mechanic aslong as it would take them to complete the list

Edited by Mini-Mad-Craig, 16 April 2013 - 01:08 PM.

[Carlsmini]

Is it an engine to gearbox leak? That's quite a job to sort. Talking engine out and block split from box casing are we not?
I'll bet it's just the usual leak from the rod and that can be sorted pretty easily. Minispares do a gaiter kit for around a fiver.

Al

its the gear leaver oil seal just before sump underneath car. It can be reached without taking engine out otherwise the price would be a lot more! lol

[Old Bob]

If you are happy with the work they have done - and the price certainly doesn't seem unreasonable - then chalk it down to experience and perhaps learn how to do some of these jobs yourself next time.

However; from the list you posted there are a couple of items which are safety critical so they may well have saved your (or someone else's) life. Reckon that's got to be worth a few pounds!

Bob

[Carlsmini]

Ok picked up my car just now and reluctantly paid the £750. The car does sound and feel amazing so I guess its good that these problems are sorted now rather than later.

Heres my receipt:

• Replaced worn dist cap and rotor arm
• Replaced spark plugs, checked and cleaned K&N air filter
• Replaced top engine stabiliser and tightened exhaust
• Changed gear level oil seal and changed oil and filter
• Adjusted tappets and changed rocker cover gasket (oil was leaking badly down engine block from the old gasket)
• Replaced n/s rack gaitor and tightened up wheel bearing
• Stripped o/s wheel bearing and replaced with new
• Greased up all joints and washed down engine
• Replaced o/s lower ball joint
• Fitted missing cover behind grill that protects distributor
• Fitted upper steering column bush
• Removed petrol tank and welded n/s and o/s boot floor
• Also welded o/s inner back wheel arches
• Adjusted tracking and welded drivers door window frame
• Changed and fitted new alternator
• Fitted new brake fluid container cap and wired it to brake fluid warning level

Parts I supplied to garage:

• Front wheel bearing
• Steering column bush
• Oil filter
• Alternator
• New brake fluid container cap with float warning

Advisories:

• C-V joints wear and tear which causes a clicking noise when wheels are turned to full lock
• The o/s front hub is worn
• Rear exhaust rubber needs changing

13h labour = £585.
Parts = £165

Total =£750

Edited by Carlsmini, 16 April 2013 - 04:57 PM.

[Carlsmini]

However; from the list you posted there are a couple of items which are safety critical so they may well have saved your (or someone else's) life. Reckon that's got to be worth a few pounds!

Bob

I am glad that they fixed those parts that they noticed weren't safe so yes definitely worth paying for those. Just would have liked more information on the cost as they were working on my car.

[alicetheauto]

That seems like a fair price for a garage to do that amount of work. I am slightly surprised they didn't replace the other wheel bearing as they have generally done the same distance. They REALLY should have told you before carrying out that much work though. If I ever get stuck and have to pay a garage, I go in and say do anything upto £x. Any more and the place I use and trust knows to call me first.

[Carlsmini]

That seems like a fair price for a garage to do that amount of work. I am slightly surprised they didn't replace the other wheel bearing as they have generally done the same distance. They REALLY should have told you before carrying out that much work though. If I ever get stuck and have to pay a garage, I go in and say do anything upto £x. Any more and the place I use and trust knows to call me first.

The only problem with the front bearings was that they had a bit of movement in them. They weren't badly worn. They managed to tighten up one of the bearings and remove all the play in it but they couldn't tighten up fully the other one. I decided to change that one as they warned me it may be picked up in an MOT. They told me it would cost £50 per bearing so I didn't really want to pay more and didn't see much point to change both if one was ok.

Will prob change the other soon.

I should have gone in saying I only intend to pay up to £.. but they told me certain jobs had to be done to keep the car safe. I agree tho, they really should have kept me informed about the price as I did keep asking during the work. Their reply was always I haven't had time to work it out yet, I'll have to work it out. When they eventually did, it was too late to argue the price.

[Lukie-J]

About right really. As said, only thing different would be to let you know. Not a bad price. Only thing I would question personally is the dizzy cover. Not everyone uses them anyway but that wouldn't add a lot to the bill anyway.

[alicetheauto]

Wow, wheel bearings have gone up! I thought nearer £20 a side, and if you are paying a garage to do the labour once it's apart you may as well stick a new one in. The bearings in theory shouldn't work loose. If they have, its worth replacing.

[lsto]

Just take it on the chin and you'll know better for next time...

To be fair for the amount of work that price ain't too sad, just next time get them to contact you before ANY new work is carried out, and remember your NOT abliged to pay for any work that has been done without your consent.

On the other side of the coin if the garage finds something dangerous on your car and you refuse to have it repaired then they are also within their right to refuse to do any work on the car as they'll be held responsible for its maintance...

Next time try cracking out the spanners yourself, its not much to spend an hour looking over your car once a month to make sure its looked after, it can also save a lot on recovery bills lol