Rip off garages alive and well.
Discussion
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
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
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.
w
kers.
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.
w
kers.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!!t again.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..
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.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.
w
kers.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.
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.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..
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.
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.The only way I could make the booking was to accept the quote that included parts.
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.
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.
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!
t 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!
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
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.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..
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.
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.
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.
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 a
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