Garages Ripping People off, or trying to

[98elise]

A friend of my mother's put their car in for a service, and was told the cam belt need replacing soon at a cost of £800. They have zero mechanical knowledge so wanted to ask me if it was advisable to get it done.

I told them their car has a cam chain, so no it didn't need replacing!

When they went back to the garage to complain they were told it was a mistake, they just routinely tell people to have It done when a car gets to a certain age or mileage.

I'm not convinced. They should know if a car has a belt or not.

[119]

recordman said:

Sometimes I've found that main dealers can be quite competitive, especially for older cars (3 yrs+). They often have fixed price menus which aren't too bad, so it's worth checking before disregarding them totally.

Yep agreed.

Got a price for a local specialist indie for discs and pads on ours, and the local main dealer was considerably cheaper, even for other repairs.

[elanfan]

OP in particular and others with similar experiences I hope you leave brutally honest reviews. Maybe it will teach them a lesson but more importantly warn people off.

[The Hofff]

Local independent garage close to my work, advised worn front lower suspension arm bushes on our Tiguan.

Tries to convince me I should fit SuperPro poly bushes as the garage sells them, cost will be £250 all in. I request to go for WV ones but he tells me not to bother as they will just wear out again, at this point I do not play his game and tell him I'll let him know if I want it done later.

Later at home I order both sides for £17 ea, then when they are delivered to my door I proceed to fit them about 10 mins each side.

Not so much a rip off as an up-sell (+ the bushes I fitted are still going strong 30K miles later)

Did the same when the DPF went on the car, I asked them to quote for a replacement. They quote around £1K but advise it wouldnt be worth it as it would go wrong again in a few years. Then goes on to tell me he can map it out and fit a blanking plate for £500, if I want a performance map at the same time it would be an extra £150.. so £650 total, keeps on saying how it was a good saving and it would be the best option.

I phone a VW performance tuner about 5 miles away talk to them about the DPF issue. He can delete the DPF in the map and blank it off for £400, when I ask how much extra for a performance map he tells me no extra as the cost is for a remap (standard or performance) is £350 and the blanking plate inc labour to fit would be an extra £50. We then discussed if I wanted an standard map, mild performance or all out. Took some time to discuss with me how the car is driven, how many miles, length of journeys etc.
Worlds apart from the other garage who had no such conversation to review what would be best for the car in the long term.

Needless to say I booked it in to the performance tuner garage, whilst it was there I also asked them to look at a lumpy start up when cold. Turns out it was two duff glow plugs, they offered to change all four of them out for new whilst it was there.... cost was slightly less than I could get them for on AutoDoc etc and they only charged 30 mins labour on top. Have been a returning customer ever since!

Edited by The Hofff on Thursday 22 February 13:16

[sooty61]

A couple of years ago my wife's Merc SLK went in for its annual service and they left a message on my voicemail saying the water pump had a "major leak" and needed replacing at a cost of £550. I could not get through so sent an email authorising the work. When I thought about it I asked on picking it up

Me: "Why didn't I see coolant on my drive"
Receptionist: "It was leaking internally"
Me: "So you took the engine apart to find it? Can I speak to the mechanic?"
Mechanic shows me a water pump with the tiniest weep. As the car was about to be traded in I would not have done it

Motorbikes seem worse though - my bike needed a 10k service and they called me up to say it needed new front brake pads (main dealer). Bill for service and pads - £750. Needless to say I have not been back

[Cotty]

Geoffcapes said:

Checks the car in, 30 minutes later get a call, "your car needs discs and pads all round and new hand brake shoes on the rear as well as the sensors, your pads are about 90% worn all round".

I had that on a Lotus Elise I had. Needed disks and pads all round. I knew the disks were ok as I had checked them recently, asked them to just do the pads. The same dealer serviced the car three more times and never mentions the disks again, so they were obviously fine, the pads probably were as well.

[3GGy]

I've come to realise "we can't find anything wrong" to mean, 'it's not dics and pads or an oil change, so we can't be arsed".

That's been my struggle. I get it, it's good business, I just wish they would tell me that before I've wasted a day leaving a car with them.

[NRG1976]

Are people really surprised they can do a job a lot cheaper themselves as opposed to going to a garage?

[Cotty]

NRG1976 said:

Are people really surprised they can do a job a lot cheaper themselves as opposed to going to a garage?

No, what people are objecting to is garages wanting to undertake work that is not needed. Purely as a money grab.

[Ifinishposts]

recordman said:

Sometimes I've found that main dealers can be quite competitive, especially for older cars (3 yrs+). They often have fixed price menus which aren't too bad, so it's worth checking before disregarding them totally.

I tried this recently when looking to get an oil service done. Booked online, appointment the same week, all good, no price came up on the booking.
It was praying on my mind a bit so I thought I had just better check the price.
Oil and filter change? £300.
I cancelled and decided another three weeks won't matter and booked into the usual indy'.

[Tango13]

My 370Z was in for a service and my mechanic expected me to pay for the mid-morning sausage rolls from the bakery and walk the 120 yards to fetch them!!

[Bobupndown]

98elise said:

A friend of my mother's put their car in for a service, and was told the cam belt need replacing soon at a cost of £800. They have zero mechanical knowledge so wanted to ask me if it was advisable to get it done.

I told them their car has a cam chain, so no it didn't need replacing!

When they went back to the garage to complain they were told it was a mistake, they just routinely tell people to have It done when a car gets to a certain age or mileage.

I'm not convinced. They should know if a car has a belt or not.

I'd have told them to go ahead, change the cam belt and then ask to examine the old one when the bill was presented. Tw@ts.

[Biggy Stardust]

A bunch of shysters wanted to charge me £40 for hooking up to their EOBD machine; when I protested they explained that it's standard procedure to do so and the charge was staying on the bill.

I pointed out that I would show the bill in my hand to Trading Standards and pointed out that my 1996 MGF didn't have an EOB port to connect to & they were rather clearly & provably lying. Cue some apologies & a reduction of several items on the bill.

[KTMsm]

It's endemic - it's not just garages it's all businesses

Designed in failures, hiding behind call centres, not selling certain parts only full assemblies (ie you can only buy a complete automatic gearbox not any of the parts inside it)

You (and I) are trying to find the 1% who will do a decent job for a fair price

[Hants PHer]

Someone commented that good independents are difficult to find, and I second that. If you do find one, my advice is to stick with them and build up a rapport with them. Cool story: our Toyota RAV4 snapped its drive belt on Saturday - this is a belt on the side of the engine that drives the water, power steering, aircon pumps and the alternator (not the camshafts which are chain driven). Wife managed to limp the car home.

We've used a local Toyota/Lexus specialist for donkey's years so I called them on Saturday morning. On Tuesday lunchtime he turns up at our house complete with tools, jack and a new drive belt. New belt fitted on the drive, job done and the bill was £100 including £55 for the belt itself. OK, not a difficult repair but not all garages are out to rip you off.

[lornemalvo]

Biggy Stardust said:

A bunch of shysters wanted to charge me £40 for hooking up to their EOBD machine; when I protested they explained that it's standard procedure to do so and the charge was staying on the bill.

I pointed out that I would show the bill in my hand to Trading Standards and pointed out that my 1996 MGF didn't have an EOB port to connect to & they were rather clearly & provably lying. Cue some apologies & a reduction of several items on the bill.

I think that when garages blatantly lie and, for example, try to sell new brake pads etc when not needed it is as fraudulent as someone hacking your bank account. Most local authorities have MOT testing stations and if we had a proper country in which things work they could be utilised by consumers, in cases of doubt, for a second opinion. They could liaise with local authority Trading Standards and when it's confirmed that a garage has attempted a ripoff, Trading Standards and the police should prosecute for fraud. Garages should also have a licence to operate, given they work on safety critical equipment, which could be removed, perhaps for a second offence or for unsafe, shoddy work. Sadly, we don't have a proper country any more and it's like the wild west for all sorts of thieves and ripoff merchants. I feel for the elderly and those who have no idea about mechanical issues. They are like the injured wildebeest at the back pof the herd.

[Geoffcapes]

lornemalvo said:

I think that when garages blatantly lie and, for example, try to sell new brake pads etc when not needed it is as fraudulent as someone hacking your bank account. Most local authorities have MOT testing stations and if we had a proper country in which things work they could be utilised by consumers, in cases of doubt, for a second opinion. They could liaise with local authority Trading Standards and when it's confirmed that a garage has attempted a ripoff, Trading Standards and the police should prosecute for fraud. Garages should also have a licence to operate, given they work on safety critical equipment, which could be removed, perhaps for a second offence or for unsafe, shoddy work. Sadly, we don't have a proper country any more and it's like the wild west for all sorts of thieves and ripoff merchants. I feel for the elderly and those who have no idea about mechanical issues. They are like the injured wildebeest at the back pof the herd.

Totally agree.

On a slightly separate note, my mother in law had signed up to have an air source heat pump installed at the cost of 14 grand a few years ago and paid a £800 deposit after being given the hard sell by the company who installed her solar panels (that's a story for a whole new thread).

I looked at the figures and worked out that it would be 37 years before she would actually break even based on her energy consumption.
With her being 72 at the time I suggested that she'd never see any savings from it so it was utterly pointless.
So my wife rang the company up and told them she'd changed her mind and that she wanted the deposit back.

At first they refused and then said we have to keep £200 for admin, then were reminded about Trading Standards cooling off periods, and reluctantly agreed to refund the lot.
Even arguing with my wife about the fact that the return on investment was much quicker than 37 years! Their figures suggested between 16 & 29 years!

Literally these guys are con men and fraudsters who should be investigated by the police.

But the police are too busy going after people who have said hurty words to someone on Facebook!

[James_N]

My elderly neighbour got bored in lock down and purchased himself a 2019 Volvo V60. Lovely car, Diesel.

He does about 700 miles a year (yes a year!) In it. He doesn't go far due to health conditions.

He always has it collected from his house, MOTed at the main dealer 20 miles away, and delivered back to him.

Talking this morning, he said it's passed MOT but had some advisories (there are none as I checked online) but volvo told him his rear brakes are at 70%.

I said "70% worn?" My neighbour replied "No, 70% good but 30% worn and they recommended changing them".

I said "Jesus, on your annual mileage, they will last longer than you!"

I think that's shocking advising a brake change when they are only 30% worn.

Wipers were also smearing the screen apparently but they changed those for ONLY £38!!

[captain_cynic]

Agree with you on the brake pads but a set of Bosch wipers can easily be £25. So £13 labour and VAT.

I paid near £30 to ECP for the two wipers on my SLK but fitted them myself.

[cobra kid]

Glass hammer......sparks for the grinder etc.........