Just had a new boiler quote from British Gas, too much?

[Johnnytheboy]

chris watton said:

Funny you should say that. I initially wanted our boiler repaired, but BG told us that, because it is 10 years old (!), they could no longer get the parts as it is now obsolete.

BG told my father the same thing. He found a local heating engineer who said "of course I can get the parts, it's only ten years old".

[bernhund]

Johnnytheboy said:

chris watton said:

Funny you should say that. I initially wanted our boiler repaired, but BG told us that, because it is 10 years old (!), they could no longer get the parts as it is now obsolete.

BG told my father the same thing. He found a local heating engineer who said "of course I can get the parts, it's only ten years old".

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, could they be talking about genuine spares only? Otherwise they need to be reported to Rogue Traders!!

[Busterbulldog]

A lot of boilers are considered obsolete by aged 10. Some even less.

[bernhund]

Busterbulldog said:

A lot of boilers are considered obsolete by aged 10. Some even less.

'I'm afraid to tell you sir, that although your car is only 10 years old and there's nothing wrong with it, we recommend you replace it immediately with a new one'.
Except in the case of a boiler, no one will be buying your old one either!

[LordHaveMurci]

When we moved into our current house 14yrs ago we transferred our BG contract, the Potterton system boiler was apparently end of life when fitted in the mid 80's, BG kept telling us it was obsolete etc etc.

When the boiler scrappage scheme came in we decided to change it, BG quoted over £3.5k! A Gas Safe plumber mate did it for less than £2k for a WB28ri.

Main advantage to us was the smaller size of the new boiler & it is much quiter, probably saves us a tenner a month or something as an added bonus.

[Greenmantle]

bernhund said:

Mother in law has BG contract. They've been telling her for the last couple of years she needs a new boiler because her Potterton Suprema is obsolete. There's nothing wrong with it, so why would she want to give them the £4k they've quoted for a Worcester! A mate of mine is gas registered & said he can still get parts for the Potterton, but if she decided on a boiler, he could supply & fit the same Worcester for £2300!

My Suprema is 17 years old. OK it ain't an Energy Efficient Boiler (what ones were 17 years ago). It is still going strong. Last failure was over 6 years ago (gas valve) and only one previous failure (motherboard - known issue)
My bills are very reasonable so I will just ignore any calls to swap it out for now.

John

[Fore Left]

Fore Left said:

chris watton said:

bernhund said:

Mother in law has BG contract. They've been telling her for the last couple of years she needs a new boiler because her Potterton Suprema is obsolete. There's nothing wrong with it, so why would she want to give them the £4k they've quoted for a Worcester! A mate of mine is gas registered & said he can still get parts for the Potterton, but if she decided on a boiler, he could supply & fit the same Worcester for £2300!

Funny you should say that. I initially wanted our boiler repaired, but BG told us that, because it is 10 years old (!), they could no longer get the parts as it is now obsolete.

I've recently signed up for a BG maintenance contract as my previously unreliable but turns up eventually heating engineer has gone completely awol. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they come round to service my 16 year old Suprima next week then

Sheepshanks said:

Fore Left said:

I've recently signed up for a BG maintenance contract as my previously unreliable but turns up eventually heating engineer has gone completely awol. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they come round to service my 16 year old Suprima next week then

Please let us know - I've got one of those too! I'm dreading it packing up as I doubt anything else would fit in the same space and there's really no-where else a boiler could go.

The British Gas engineer has been and serviced the boiler today. He said it was in excellent condition. No mention of it being obsolete, no suggestion I should buy a new one and the only issue being that some parts, such as the the casing, might no longer be available but everything required to make it work still is. Bit disappointing really, I was quite looking forward to a robust discussion about the longevity of old boilers

[anonymous-user]

OpulentBob said:

I had BG out for a quote 2 weeks ago. £4.3k for removing entire existing low pressure system, replacing the tank in the airing cupboard with a boiler, and all electrics.

Got an independent plumber over to quote for the same, and it came in at £2.1k, all in.

I won't be going with BG.

I should say, that included:

Remove 2xloft tanks.
Remove immersion tank etc in airing cupboard.
Remove boiler from kitchen.
Fit new 35kW Ideal boiler in loft.
Fit new flue, piping etc to suit.
Remote wifi thermostat.
All electricals inc certificate.
All making good up to plaster level (tiling extra).
10 year guarantee.

[Sheepshanks]

Fore Left said:

The British Gas engineer has been and serviced the boiler today. He said it was in excellent condition. No mention of it being obsolete, no suggestion I should buy a new one and the only issue being that some parts, such as the the casing, might no longer be available but everything required to make it work still is. Bit disappointing really, I was quite looking forward to a robust discussion about the longevity of old boilers

Thanks!

[bernhund]

Fore Left said:

Fore Left said:

chris watton said:

bernhund said:

Mother in law has BG contract. They've been telling her for the last couple of years she needs a new boiler because her Potterton Suprema is obsolete. There's nothing wrong with it, so why would she want to give them the £4k they've quoted for a Worcester! A mate of mine is gas registered & said he can still get parts for the Potterton, but if she decided on a boiler, he could supply & fit the same Worcester for £2300!

Funny you should say that. I initially wanted our boiler repaired, but BG told us that, because it is 10 years old (!), they could no longer get the parts as it is now obsolete.

I've recently signed up for a BG maintenance contract as my previously unreliable but turns up eventually heating engineer has gone completely awol. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they come round to service my 16 year old Suprima next week then

Sheepshanks said:

Fore Left said:

I've recently signed up for a BG maintenance contract as my previously unreliable but turns up eventually heating engineer has gone completely awol. It'll be interesting to see what they say when they come round to service my 16 year old Suprima next week then

Please let us know - I've got one of those too! I'm dreading it packing up as I doubt anything else would fit in the same space and there's really no-where else a boiler could go.

The British Gas engineer has been and serviced the boiler today. He said it was in excellent condition. No mention of it being obsolete, no suggestion I should buy a new one and the only issue being that some parts, such as the the casing, might no longer be available but everything required to make it work still is. Bit disappointing really, I was quite looking forward to a robust discussion about the longevity of old boilers

You must have had a BG engineer that follows PH!

[chris watton]

OK, had another quote from a local plumber/boiler fitter, and we got a price of £1800, inclusive of a more expensive Worcester boiler and new thermostats on all radiators.

[Fastchas]

chris watton said:

OK, had another quote from a local plumber/boiler fitter, and we got a price of £1800, inclusive of a more expensive Worcester boiler and new thermostats on all radiators.

Sounds about right to me. I had a new Ariston fitted last week, straight swap, kept everything the same even the wireless thermostat. Went for the cheaper Ariston as I don't plan to be staying in the property long. Plumber said he's fitted plenty with no probs and they're £400 cheaper than the Worcesters. Charged me £1350.

[PedroB]

We paid £2100 for a new boiler, system flush and two new rads two years ago. We specced an Ideal Logic + with a 7 year warranty. No scaffold but a new flue was put in.