Main dealers - diagnostic fee even if having work done?
Discussion
Is this the norm for garages now? Car was knocking over bumps, booked in with main dealer (extended warranty) to diagnose and repair.
They've looked and diagnosed top mounts. Rejected by warranty co - wear and tear.
Annoying, but as it was already there I asked them to quote and do the work, expecting the diagnostic fee to be waived. No, I still have to pay £150, plus £500 for the top mounts parts and labour.
Then they finished with "oh yes we have the parts in stock but we can't do the work until the end of Feb" WTF
What is going on with main dealers? Are they so stacked with work that they can pick and choose? I'll cut my losses and go elsewhere
They've looked and diagnosed top mounts. Rejected by warranty co - wear and tear.
Annoying, but as it was already there I asked them to quote and do the work, expecting the diagnostic fee to be waived. No, I still have to pay £150, plus £500 for the top mounts parts and labour.
Then they finished with "oh yes we have the parts in stock but we can't do the work until the end of Feb" WTF
What is going on with main dealers? Are they so stacked with work that they can pick and choose? I'll cut my losses and go elsewhere
Bit catch 22...
If you don't charge the diagnostic time and can't do the work today, customer may disappear off into the sunset and you've lost an hours labour and if you roll the labour together, then it's harder to back track and say "Actually, you need to pay an hours diagnostic today please" so breaking it down is sometimes more transparent.
However, seems strange that they'd take a car in to diagnose a suspension knock and not be able to actually fix it until February... ae they that busy? Or that under staffed? If the car is there and the customer wants it done, parts are in stock then I suspect most garages would be keen to secure the work and just get it done and reshuffle the diary or at least say "We can do it tomorrow / next day"
Try elsewhere... though that's likely why you've been charged the diagnostic time, which at £150 in itself seems a bit eye watering!
If you don't charge the diagnostic time and can't do the work today, customer may disappear off into the sunset and you've lost an hours labour and if you roll the labour together, then it's harder to back track and say "Actually, you need to pay an hours diagnostic today please" so breaking it down is sometimes more transparent.
However, seems strange that they'd take a car in to diagnose a suspension knock and not be able to actually fix it until February... ae they that busy? Or that under staffed? If the car is there and the customer wants it done, parts are in stock then I suspect most garages would be keen to secure the work and just get it done and reshuffle the diary or at least say "We can do it tomorrow / next day"
Try elsewhere... though that's likely why you've been charged the diagnostic time, which at £150 in itself seems a bit eye watering!
Sounds like an hours labour at a main dealer with swanky showroom to pay for.
Did they strip the suspension or was it just up on ramps and a check over? Only reason I can see for diag to be knocked off the bill is if it involved strip down time that would be billed during normal replacement anyway.
What car make is it?
Did they strip the suspension or was it just up on ramps and a check over? Only reason I can see for diag to be knocked off the bill is if it involved strip down time that would be billed during normal replacement anyway.
What car make is it?
If you didn't pay them the £150 for diagnosis (I think charging in principle isn't untoward, but their cost seems high), it would be £500 parts and labour alone, yes?
Can you pay them their £150 and find anyone else to do it for £350?
I think the only outcome here is a reminder to ask these questions before they do anything, something I've been caught out by myself on occasion.
Can you pay them their £150 and find anyone else to do it for £350?
I think the only outcome here is a reminder to ask these questions before they do anything, something I've been caught out by myself on occasion.
LivLL said:
What car make is it?
Renault. They just looked on the ramp, I think.InitialDave said:
Can you pay them their £150 and find anyone else to do it for £350?
Yeah, quite sure I will. I don't think both sides need doing either, just one side that's actually knocking. (If they'd said one side, likely it would have been approved under warranty)https://www.renault.co.uk/contact/customer-complai...
Go for Step 2.
Wear and tear isn't an answer, it needs to be gradual and consistent with the age and mileage of the vehicle. Find out from customer services how many miles and time top mounts should last. Ask for it in writing.
Go for Step 2.
Wear and tear isn't an answer, it needs to be gradual and consistent with the age and mileage of the vehicle. Find out from customer services how many miles and time top mounts should last. Ask for it in writing.
essayer said:
Then they finished with "oh yes we have the parts in stock but we can't do the work until the end of Feb" WTF
What is going on with main dealers? Are they so stacked with work that they can pick and choose? I'll cut my losses and go elsewhere.
Getting and keeping mechanics has long been a problem, so it may be that they're short-staffed rather than busy. Local decent sized Skoda place told me they were geared up for 12 mechanics and actually had 5.What is going on with main dealers? Are they so stacked with work that they can pick and choose? I'll cut my losses and go elsewhere.
Also I get the impression they don't like doing anything other than straighforward servicing, which is fantasically profitable as it takes minutes to do a service, but can be charged as an hour or two depending on whether it's minor or major.
Did you buy the car off the dealer? I've leaned on that a couple of times to get the diagnostic fee waived. The only place that insisted on it was the indie I used to use for my Merc - he charged £30 on two occasions, each time leading to £500 of work which he did. He said it was more about covering the monthly fee for StarDiagnose than anything else.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Friday 24th January 16:33
I don't get repairs done at dealers but this seems normal at a garage. The diagnosis time is time spent on the vehicle. Why would you expect that for free? If it's a code read and a best guess then maybe but you're a good half an hour's labour in minimum to get the vehicle in, on a ramp, inspected, noted down and for someone to call you and the warranty company. If I ran a garage, that wouldn't be free.
It does seem odd that they cant do the work until Febuary when the car is already there.
Febuary is a week tomorrow.
It would only take about an hour of labour to do a new spring
Are they offering a courtesy car for the time?
If the car is VOR,
Renault UK are likely to provide a hired car for you rather than a coutesy car from the deakership.
I would raise it with Renault UK.
Febuary is a week tomorrow.
It would only take about an hour of labour to do a new spring
Are they offering a courtesy car for the time?
If the car is VOR,
Renault UK are likely to provide a hired car for you rather than a coutesy car from the deakership.
I would raise it with Renault UK.
LivLL said:
https://www.renault.co.uk/contact/customer-complai...
Go for Step 2.
Wear and tear isn't an answer, it needs to be gradual and consistent with the age and mileage of the vehicle. Find out from customer services how many miles and time top mounts should last. Ask for it in writing.
It's the extended warranty provided 'on behalf of' Renault. The car is 8 years old but has only done 50k. I don't think wear and tear is reasonable but it appears my only recourse is via the warranty co's complaints policy.Go for Step 2.
Wear and tear isn't an answer, it needs to be gradual and consistent with the age and mileage of the vehicle. Find out from customer services how many miles and time top mounts should last. Ask for it in writing.
It's also not helped by the garage who have said both sides need doing which makes it harder to assert it's not a one-off fault
Not mentioned on MOT 2 months and 2000 miles ago.
I had similar with my Honda last year, DPF pressure sensor issue that I wanted to have diagnosed only to give me the option of doing the work myself. Honda charged me a diagnostic fee but were clear that if I had the work done by them it was refunded.
In the end they did the work and on the final bill it showed the diagnostic fee deducted.
In the end they did the work and on the final bill it showed the diagnostic fee deducted.
a diagnostic fee should be waived if the fault found is covered under warranty. I.e. warranty absorbs the costs of the fault finding and the repair, otherwise the customer pays, although I'd expect some sort of massaging of the overall fee to cover the diag.
As for the dealer taking 20 plus days to fit you in - this can be normal, it's mostly down to how well the dealer manages it's workshop diary in terms of allocating the correct hours for the job, and how efficient the techs are at doing the work. If too much time is taken out of the diary, or you have slow techs, or there's loads of upsell you quickly end up with a long lead time.
SPR auto's are a case in point on youtube. 50 days lead time and no new customers. His (lack of) planning is costing him a lot of money, but he's flat out so...
As for the dealer taking 20 plus days to fit you in - this can be normal, it's mostly down to how well the dealer manages it's workshop diary in terms of allocating the correct hours for the job, and how efficient the techs are at doing the work. If too much time is taken out of the diary, or you have slow techs, or there's loads of upsell you quickly end up with a long lead time.
SPR auto's are a case in point on youtube. 50 days lead time and no new customers. His (lack of) planning is costing him a lot of money, but he's flat out so...
It all sounds pretty normal to me (not saying that I agree with it).
Many garages (main dealers) around me are quoting 6-weeks before they can even look at something, including 'diagnostics', and just plugging it in to say 'no faults showing' can cost £200, which can mean 'we can't do anything because nothing is showing, but that's £200 please'.
You always pay one way or another, either separately or one larger bill: the problem is the cost of the corporate image, fine porcelain tiles, 'free' coffee, 'free' wifi, faux leather sofas in the waiting area, 727 front-of-house staff, 23 service team managers, 6 workshop supervisors, 3 meet-and-greet staff, 1 paperclip manager, 5 parts staff, 3 'free' car wash staff, 5 quality of service follow-up staff, 3 website managers, 2 workshop loaders, 5 sales executives, 2 brand knowalls, sales manager, after sales manager, 1 cleaner, and the 2 technicians.
Many garages (main dealers) around me are quoting 6-weeks before they can even look at something, including 'diagnostics', and just plugging it in to say 'no faults showing' can cost £200, which can mean 'we can't do anything because nothing is showing, but that's £200 please'.
You always pay one way or another, either separately or one larger bill: the problem is the cost of the corporate image, fine porcelain tiles, 'free' coffee, 'free' wifi, faux leather sofas in the waiting area, 727 front-of-house staff, 23 service team managers, 6 workshop supervisors, 3 meet-and-greet staff, 1 paperclip manager, 5 parts staff, 3 'free' car wash staff, 5 quality of service follow-up staff, 3 website managers, 2 workshop loaders, 5 sales executives, 2 brand knowalls, sales manager, after sales manager, 1 cleaner, and the 2 technicians.
£150 sounds steep, how long did it take?
If I ask a trade to quote to do a job, I don’t expect to pay a fee so unless it requires significant work eg dismantling bits of the car it seems a bit rich to charge. Ultimately it’s all rolled into the rate one way or another, cost of acquiring business.
If I ask a trade to quote to do a job, I don’t expect to pay a fee so unless it requires significant work eg dismantling bits of the car it seems a bit rich to charge. Ultimately it’s all rolled into the rate one way or another, cost of acquiring business.
TarquinMX5 said:
It all sounds pretty normal to me (not saying that I agree with it).
Many garages (main dealers) around me are quoting 6-weeks before they can even look at something, including 'diagnostics', and just plugging it in to say 'no faults showing' can cost £200, which can mean 'we can't do anything because nothing is showing, but that's £200 please'.
You always pay one way or another, either separately or one larger bill: the problem is the cost of the corporate image, fine porcelain tiles, 'free' coffee, 'free' wifi, faux leather sofas in the waiting area, 727 front-of-house staff, 23 service team managers, 6 workshop supervisors, 3 meet-and-greet staff, 1 paperclip manager, 5 parts staff, 3 'free' car wash staff, 5 quality of service follow-up staff, 3 website managers, 2 workshop loaders, 5 sales executives, 2 brand knowalls, sales manager, after sales manager, 1 cleaner, and the 2 technicians.
you forgot the Head of Business, Brand Director, Group Parts Manager, Divisional Brand Director, Used car manager, used car controller, estimator , progress chaser.Many garages (main dealers) around me are quoting 6-weeks before they can even look at something, including 'diagnostics', and just plugging it in to say 'no faults showing' can cost £200, which can mean 'we can't do anything because nothing is showing, but that's £200 please'.
You always pay one way or another, either separately or one larger bill: the problem is the cost of the corporate image, fine porcelain tiles, 'free' coffee, 'free' wifi, faux leather sofas in the waiting area, 727 front-of-house staff, 23 service team managers, 6 workshop supervisors, 3 meet-and-greet staff, 1 paperclip manager, 5 parts staff, 3 'free' car wash staff, 5 quality of service follow-up staff, 3 website managers, 2 workshop loaders, 5 sales executives, 2 brand knowalls, sales manager, after sales manager, 1 cleaner, and the 2 technicians.
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