Rip off garages alive and well.

Rip off garages alive and well.

Author
Discussion

catman

Original Poster:

2,490 posts

181 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Hi all,

My Friend at work had an unusual fault on his 2006 Toyota , when the drive shaft snapped. He got it towed to his local garage, and told them the problem and asked them to give him a quote.

£880! They seemed very surprised that he didn't bite their hand off at this bargain and offered to "help him out by shopping around for a cheaper part."


I sourced a drive shaft for £53 Including delivery and my Mechanic is charging around £50 to fit it. When he told the original garage that he was going elsewhere, they hit him with an £80 "diagnosis" fee...

Tim

R12many

182 posts

98 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
My sister was told her Fiesta need a new 'suspension belt'. I went back to the garage with her and asked them to show me exactly where this defective suspension belt was. They guy on the front desk went all shades of red!

texaxile

3,386 posts

156 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Happens a lot, a few bad apples etc. My 84 year old Dad went into a certain chain of tyre fitters whom "you can't get better than" according to their advertisment, for two new tyres.

Tyres replaced, balanced etc as asked (can't fault that) but a strong suggestion his brakes were faulty as the "mechanic" said they felt spongy going up the ramp and further inspection revealed really worn discs and pads on the front and he really should get them done for £460 that afternoon. He called me, I asked the service manager if he had the micrometer measurements for the disc wear and what tolerances they need to be on that model car , and also to double check because I was pretty sure they were replaced 11k miles ago, by me.

wkers.


anonymous-user

60 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
i went to a Peugeot main dealer. they charged me 350 quid to replace a droplink, at the time i didn't have a clue so paid up. Found out later they ripped me off, never going to buy a new PSA again, makes no difference to them but my principle.

Alucidnation

16,810 posts

176 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Not this st again.


anonymous-user

60 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Try any premium brand dealer, they are just as bad.

The more premium the brand the worse it gets, they will suggest new discs and pads more often than McDonalds ask if you want to go large on a meal deal. Even when your brakes have wear sensors they still try it on.


Yipper

5,964 posts

96 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
There is so much competition out there now, it's almost impossible to run a garage without ripping a few people off every week. That's where the profit comes from.

catman

Original Poster:

2,490 posts

181 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
He said that there were around 12 cars being worked on or waiting, so they're not short of work. They're Bosch approved apparently. Must make all the difference when they're replacing a drive shaft.

Tim

Shuvi McTupya

24,460 posts

253 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Alucidnation said:
Not this st again.
I would have thought that the thread title would have been enough to let you know this was a subject you don't want to discuss!!



Anyone tried 'ClickMechanic' ?
Prices seem pretty good, it's an online quote system provided you know what needs repairing.
I imagine it is luck of the draw whether you get a good mechanic or not.
I have booked a mechanic to come and replace my suspension bushes for less than £200 including parts.

Hopefully he is reliant on good feedback..





mac96

4,365 posts

149 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
texaxile said:
Happens a lot, a few bad apples etc. My 84 year old Dad went into a certain chain of tyre fitters whom "you can't get better than" according to their advertisment, for two new tyres.

Tyres replaced, balanced etc as asked (can't fault that) but a strong suggestion his brakes were faulty as the "mechanic" said they felt spongy going up the ramp and further inspection revealed really worn discs and pads on the front and he really should get them done for £460 that afternoon. He called me, I asked the service manager if he had the micrometer measurements for the disc wear and what tolerances they need to be on that model car , and also to double check because I was pretty sure they were replaced 11k miles ago, by me.

wkers.

With those guys I think it depends on which branch you get.
I have used my local twice in the last year or so. First- defective aircon. They tried to regas it, didn't work, spent maybe 20 mins on it- charged me nothing.
Second time- screw in back tyre. Made no attempt to sell me new tyre, fixed in half an hour for £25. Ok I might have got it done a little cheaper somewhere else, but they are 400 yards away and I was in a hurry so happy.

Strudul

1,596 posts

91 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Shuvi McTupya said:
Anyone tried 'ClickMechanic' ?
Prices seem pretty good, it's an online quote system provided you know what needs repairing.
I imagine it is luck of the draw whether you get a good mechanic or not.
I have booked a mechanic to come and replace my suspension bushes for less than £200 including parts.

Hopefully he is reliant on good feedback..
Used them for a basic service (oil+filter change) as warranty provider said it had to be done by a garage. Provided my own oil and filter, the labour cost me £18 in the end.

Shuvi McTupya

24,460 posts

253 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Strudul said:
Used them for a basic service (oil+filter change) as warranty provider said it had to be done by a garage. Provided my own oil and filter, the labour cost me £18 in the end.
How did you arrange that?

The only way I could make the booking was to accept the quote that included parts.



Strudul

1,596 posts

91 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Shuvi McTupya said:
How did you arrange that?

The only way I could make the booking was to accept the quote that included parts.
Can't remember exactly, was a year ago.

Think I used the live chat and just asked for a price if I provided my own parts. Not sure if I did this before or after booking,

Was already really cheap as they were having a Black Friday sale, but it knocked off a bit more.



Shuvi McTupya

24,460 posts

253 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Cool, ta.

If this guy is any good I will be asking him to do my clutch too, but obviously I would like to source my own to save some cash..

njw1

2,223 posts

117 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Yipper said:
There is so much competition out there now, it's almost impossible to run a garage without ripping a few people off every week. That's where the profit comes from.

If a garage is honest and does a good job that's where the profit comes from, if a garage needs to rip someone off to make money then they are doing something wrong imo. If they think it's ok to rip someone off then they deserve to go bust.

f1nn

2,693 posts

198 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
There is just so much bullst spouted on threads like these.

Suspension belt, yeah of course...

Lots of people who freely admit they know nothing about the car, the fault, the parts, have no tools or facilities and no ability to diagnose or solve the problem, yet are experts when it comes to the price.

I can't wait to hear the myriad of tales about how the main dealer wanted more for an oil change than what it cost to do it yourself using oil from the pound shop.

FFS, buying your own parts to save a couple of quid...how tight do you have to be!

Shuvi McTupya

24,460 posts

253 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
f1nn said:
FFS, buying your own parts to save a couple of quid...how tight do you have to be!
Let me see now..I have a mechanic coming to my house to fit a part, why should I pay him 100% mark up on the price of the part when I am perfectly capable of performing the necessary mouse click to 'buy it now' myself?

If you like to pay people for doing absolutely bugger all, be my guest.

Added: I am sure they don't all charge 100% mark up, but the point remains.







Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Tuesday 14th November 22:15

Brinyan

424 posts

99 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Strudul said:
Shuvi McTupya said:
Anyone tried 'ClickMechanic' ?
Prices seem pretty good, it's an online quote system provided you know what needs repairing.
I imagine it is luck of the draw whether you get a good mechanic or not.
I have booked a mechanic to come and replace my suspension bushes for less than £200 including parts.

Hopefully he is reliant on good feedback..
Used them for a basic service (oil+filter change) as warranty provider said it had to be done by a garage. Provided my own oil and filter, the labour cost me £18 in the end.
The guy came to your house, did an oil & filter change & his labour charge was £18?! Hope you gave him a decent tip.

Section 8

541 posts

195 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
My snotter Primera farted a hole through it's back box the other week. I called a local garage chain to see what they could do and after much sucking of teeth and dramatic ooohing and ahhhhing came up with a comedy price of £137 fking British pounds! Utter pisstake.

1 call later to a local exhaust fitter i had the same part for £42. Places like that just prey on the non car savvy public who are sadly willing to pay out.

MG CHRIS

9,156 posts

173 months

Tuesday 14th November 2017
quotequote all
Shuvi McTupya said:
f1nn said:
FFS, buying your own parts to save a couple of quid...how tight do you have to be!
Let me see now..I have a mechanic coming to my house to fit a part, why should I pay him 100% mark up on the price of the part when I am perfectly capable of performing the necessary mouse click to 'buy it now' myself?

If you like to pay people for doing absolutely bugger all, be my guest.
Because a garage has to pay staff rent rates tools insurance equipment training courses do you?

Most garages won't fit 2nd hand parts and new driveshaft specially for Japanese cars are extremely expensive. Also the chance of 2nd hand parts being wrong so a ramp tied up not making any money is very frequent.

Garages have huge overheads and don't make much money they don't want customers that want you to fit their parts for £20 cash then when something goes wrong with said part moan to garage about it.
Yes there are some rip of garages but there are far more ahole customers about.