Should I go back regarding service?
Discussion
This is a difficult one to ask, but I wanted to seek the collective wisdom of PistonHeads.
Without going into the back story, I was loaned a classic car to take to Goodwood Revival this year. I took it to a local specialist (who came highly regarded) for a service right before I went, but my trip culminated with breaking down on the way home on Saturday afternoon. It seems for whatever reason the dynamo is not charging the battery any more.
Now firstly I'll accept she is an old car. And things can go wrong. I just put it down to being 'one of those things' whilst being pretty sure the battery was charging fine prior to it going in for a service. But in my initial investigations this evening (was setting about removing the air cleaner to replace the brushes on the dynamo) I found that the air cleaner doesn't appear to have been touched during the service - it looks fairly old and manky.
The garage said that as part of the service they did they'd be ordering in a 'service kit' - I researched the service kit for the car from the established supplier of parts for these cars and can see that it not only costs 1/3rd of what I was billed for the service kit, it does indeed come with an air filter. I'm starting to feel a little screwed over. I feel that if the air cleaner hasn't been touched, then what else hasn't been touched?
I've deliberately omitted the make and model of car to avoid any detective work and of course not mentioned the garage but.. what should my plan of action be here? Should I be going back to question them on the air filter?! I'm a pretty mild mannered, quiet guy and I don't tend to do confrontation, but I feel a bit screwed here. How do you go about talking to a garage about a potential oversight in work they've done? After all they're the experts and I'm merely a punter..?
And if this job had cost £150, I wouldn't have really blinked at a shoddy job. But the service set me back just shy of £600 (!); I'm feeling quite aggrieved about what's occurred.
The thing is the garage in question had countless expensive cars in their courtyard and seem to have customers lining up, and as I say came well reviewed - it's making me question myself and maybe I'm wrong here.
Thanks.
Without going into the back story, I was loaned a classic car to take to Goodwood Revival this year. I took it to a local specialist (who came highly regarded) for a service right before I went, but my trip culminated with breaking down on the way home on Saturday afternoon. It seems for whatever reason the dynamo is not charging the battery any more.
Now firstly I'll accept she is an old car. And things can go wrong. I just put it down to being 'one of those things' whilst being pretty sure the battery was charging fine prior to it going in for a service. But in my initial investigations this evening (was setting about removing the air cleaner to replace the brushes on the dynamo) I found that the air cleaner doesn't appear to have been touched during the service - it looks fairly old and manky.
The garage said that as part of the service they did they'd be ordering in a 'service kit' - I researched the service kit for the car from the established supplier of parts for these cars and can see that it not only costs 1/3rd of what I was billed for the service kit, it does indeed come with an air filter. I'm starting to feel a little screwed over. I feel that if the air cleaner hasn't been touched, then what else hasn't been touched?
I've deliberately omitted the make and model of car to avoid any detective work and of course not mentioned the garage but.. what should my plan of action be here? Should I be going back to question them on the air filter?! I'm a pretty mild mannered, quiet guy and I don't tend to do confrontation, but I feel a bit screwed here. How do you go about talking to a garage about a potential oversight in work they've done? After all they're the experts and I'm merely a punter..?
And if this job had cost £150, I wouldn't have really blinked at a shoddy job. But the service set me back just shy of £600 (!); I'm feeling quite aggrieved about what's occurred.
The thing is the garage in question had countless expensive cars in their courtyard and seem to have customers lining up, and as I say came well reviewed - it's making me question myself and maybe I'm wrong here.
Thanks.
poing said:
Is there another garage you can take it to for a second opinion? They might have just missed the air filter and not even realised, honest mistake. If the other garage can check everything out and look for signs that the other work has been done then it might help.
I did wonder that but it'd be another charge for the inspection work, all adding up to a ridiculous bill for nothing more than a service. Certainly one to think about. The car belongs to my dad. He'd offered the car to me to use for as long as I wanted, as he basically just hadn't been using it enough, and wanted to see some miles put on it.
I took the decision to get it serviced prior to the trip to Goodwood as just a peace of mind exercise as it's a long round trip for the old girl, and there were some little issues outstanding, such as a water leak. I wasn't confident working on the car so figured it was best getting worked on by a specialist!
I'm unsure on the other service items - the fuel filter looks pretty new from what I can see, and I've not had a spark plug out to check it to be honest.
Sort of wish I hadn't mentioned that the car was 'loaned' to me as that's obviously only part of the story and really not that relevant to the situation. But the service was carried out with my dads blessing as he is the trusted mechanic, but thought a going over at a garage prior to the road trip was a sensible idea.
I took the decision to get it serviced prior to the trip to Goodwood as just a peace of mind exercise as it's a long round trip for the old girl, and there were some little issues outstanding, such as a water leak. I wasn't confident working on the car so figured it was best getting worked on by a specialist!
I'm unsure on the other service items - the fuel filter looks pretty new from what I can see, and I've not had a spark plug out to check it to be honest.
Sort of wish I hadn't mentioned that the car was 'loaned' to me as that's obviously only part of the story and really not that relevant to the situation. But the service was carried out with my dads blessing as he is the trusted mechanic, but thought a going over at a garage prior to the road trip was a sensible idea.
Edited by Chicane-UK on Sunday 28th September 22:46
If your dad is a mechanic, can you not ask him to take a lot at the serviceable items to check whether it has indeed been serviced?
If he raises concerns other than the air filter, I'd query the service altogether by the garage and see what they say.
If he doesn't raise a concern other than the air filter, I'd query with the garage why the air filter hadn't been touched and request a refund for that particular part of the service.
Did you pay by credit card?
If he raises concerns other than the air filter, I'd query the service altogether by the garage and see what they say.
If he doesn't raise a concern other than the air filter, I'd query with the garage why the air filter hadn't been touched and request a refund for that particular part of the service.
Did you pay by credit card?
Any garage that doesn't change or clean (in some cases) the air filter on ANY service isn't worth a w
k to be honest - For the cost they are (around a fiver or less on a trade account) Why the hell would you not change it? As far as i'm concerned they should always be changed every time a service is done no matter how big or how small
k to be honest - For the cost they are (around a fiver or less on a trade account) Why the hell would you not change it? As far as i'm concerned they should always be changed every time a service is done no matter how big or how small Chicane-UK said:
my initial investigations this evening (was setting about removing the air cleaner to replace the brushes o frn the dynamo) I found that the air cleaner doesn't appear to have been touched during the service - it looks fairly old and manky.
Chicane-UK said:
I wasn't confident working on the car so figured it was best getting worked on by a specialist!
Confident enough to work on the dynamo though? Just saying.GaryGlitter said:
Confident enough to work on the dynamo though? Just saying.
Yeah - the dynamo is easy to get at so am happy to have a look at that as a standalone issue. I've had a look at a spare unit so now know how to access and replace the brushes. I do some spannering on cars myself so am not a complete stranger to it, but my hand is somewhat forced by the situation with the dynamo now in that it really can't be driven anywhere until this issue is fixed!But i just don't know anything enough about the car to do a service on an "old tech" engine - points, carburettors, grease points in the suspension, and positive earth electrics are a totally different world to me!
If you're not happy with it, definitely go back and see them. Sounds like you have evidence that you've paid for the air filter to be changed, and it hasnt been. If there's anything else you can check, I'd do that before you go in.
It doesn't have to be a confrontation - you can open with the 'perhaps this was overlooked' gambit (perhaps print out the service kit info which shows the air filter as part of your case, and also circle the price...would highlight you're aware they've got such a large markup, without you needing to mention it!).
It doesn't have to be a confrontation - you can open with the 'perhaps this was overlooked' gambit (perhaps print out the service kit info which shows the air filter as part of your case, and also circle the price...would highlight you're aware they've got such a large markup, without you needing to mention it!).
morgrp said:
Any garage that doesn't change or clean (in some cases) the air filter on ANY service isn't worth a wk to be honest - For the cost they are (around a fiver or less on a trade account) Why the hell would you not change it? As far as i'm concerned they should always be changed every time a service is done no matter how big or how small
Surely it depends on the service schedule of a particular car? k to be honest - For the cost they are (around a fiver or less on a trade account) Why the hell would you not change it? As far as i'm concerned they should always be changed every time a service is done no matter how big or how small Lotus Elise is it changed every third service along with spark plugs (27,000 miles). Volkswagen Lupo 1.0 it is changed every fourth service along with spark plugs (40,000 miles).
johnnyBv8 said:
If you're not happy with it, definitely go back and see them. Sounds like you have evidence that you've paid for the air filter to be changed, and it hasnt been. If there's anything else you can check, I'd do that before you go in.
It doesn't have to be a confrontation - you can open with the 'perhaps this was overlooked' gambit (perhaps print out the service kit info which shows the air filter as part of your case, and also circle the price...would highlight you're aware they've got such a large markup, without you needing to mention it!).
Yeah - think I might pop up there on Saturday and have a chat. Cheers. It doesn't have to be a confrontation - you can open with the 'perhaps this was overlooked' gambit (perhaps print out the service kit info which shows the air filter as part of your case, and also circle the price...would highlight you're aware they've got such a large markup, without you needing to mention it!).
nitrodave said:
what did they do for £600? I'd be pretty peev'd if that did not even include an air filter. Is the oil nice and clean on the dipstick?
Being an old car, I believe they're quite labour intensive in terms of having to oil / grease numerous points on the chassis, etc etc. Hence this is where I think the majority of labour went. Or at least I hope. But again, the overlooked air filter makes me think just what else has been overlooked or simply not done
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