Fair price for some work doing?
Discussion
Just had my Mk1.5 Focus MOT'd and had a free safety and brakes check. Anyway, passed the MOT but the service centre recommended the following work to be done:
Front discs and pads £167
New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
It all seems a little expensive, and until i can all round for some quotes tomorrow, i'd jut like your opiion in these prices (which i'm assuming include parts and fittin).
Front discs and pads £167
New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
It all seems a little expensive, and until i can all round for some quotes tomorrow, i'd jut like your opiion in these prices (which i'm assuming include parts and fittin).
AndyT77 said:
Just had my Mk1.5 Focus MOT'd and had a free safety and brakes check. Anyway, passed the MOT but the service centre recommended the following work to be done:
Front discs and pads £167
New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
It all seems a little expensive, and until i can all round for some quotes tomorrow, i'd jut like your opiion in these prices (which i'm assuming include parts and fittin).
If it's passed the MOT, it shouldn't need these things doing!Front discs and pads £167
New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
It all seems a little expensive, and until i can all round for some quotes tomorrow, i'd jut like your opiion in these prices (which i'm assuming include parts and fittin).
If the prices you've shown include labour, they don't seem too unreasonable to me - I've just done the front springs on my LR Discovery, and I paid £120 just for the parts.
I recently replaced discs for a mate on a volvo T70 and he paid £44 each for the discs and £18 for pads. That was a really easy job, but sometimes it can take a while.
If I could find anyone to replace fluid and bleed my brakes for £37, I'd never do it again myself!
ETA: I type slowly - agree with Davepoth!
E30M3SE said:
The brakes I can understand as they maybe thin but still effective, but why does it need new springs if it has just passed a MOT, surely if the rear springs were 'unsafe' as suggested by the safety check then it would have failed the MOT. Or am I missing something?
Advisory's and recommending the work to be carried out now due to the mileage covered and how often the car is serviced I'd of thought.Buzzkill said:
E30M3SE said:
The brakes I can understand as they maybe thin but still effective, but why does it need new springs if it has just passed a MOT, surely if the rear springs were 'unsafe' as suggested by the safety check then it would have failed the MOT. Or am I missing something?
Advisory's and recommending the work to be carried out now due to the mileage covered and how often the car is serviced I'd of thought.I was suprised also that it passed the test, but it clearly states on the advisory items list:
NSR coil spring corroded
OSR coil spring corroded
Front discs worn
On the invoice (for the free brakes and safety checks it states:
Discs below minimum limit 20mm
LF disc 19.4mm
RF disc 19.5mm
Its not sagging at the rear end, but occasionally i hear some wired noises that sound like they are coming from that general area.
I've had the car for about 2.5 years now, and whilst i''ve had the rear brakes replaced, the fronts have not been done, so i'll probably get a few quotes in the morning, and if these prices are reasonable i'll get them done at the original place.
NSR coil spring corroded
OSR coil spring corroded
Front discs worn
On the invoice (for the free brakes and safety checks it states:
Discs below minimum limit 20mm
LF disc 19.4mm
RF disc 19.5mm
Its not sagging at the rear end, but occasionally i hear some wired noises that sound like they are coming from that general area.
I've had the car for about 2.5 years now, and whilst i''ve had the rear brakes replaced, the fronts have not been done, so i'll probably get a few quotes in the morning, and if these prices are reasonable i'll get them done at the original place.
sunbeam alpine said:
If it's passed the MOT, it shouldn't need these things doing!
To fail a car based on friction material the tester needs to be confident that the pads are below 1.5mm without taking the wheel off. So they normally pass as advise. Or if the problem relates to the discs, they can only be failed for being significantly weakened, so again they normally pass and advise. Finally, as long as it isn't leaking, brake fluid forms no part of the test.So having a new MOT proves f
k all about the brakes recommendation, I can't comment about the springs though.AndyT77 said:
Front discs and pads £167
New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
Discs & pads price is fair...ish - the parts would probably come to almost £100 anyway from a motor factor. I suspect that's either 2 hours labout they're charging though, which is unnecessary, or they're hiking the price of the parts supplied.New brake fluid £37
Two rear coil springs £180
Brake fluid price is far again - it's only a few quid for the fluid, and an hour's labour charge on top. Although they should be able to do the fluid in the same 2 hours they're booking for the pads & discs.
However, rear springs for £180? Jesus!
They're £30 or £40 each over the counter, and it's less than an hour's job to swap them out, even on a driveway. 
That's how these 'free' safety checks work. They recommend that you replace a load of stuff and make a fair profit on the parts and labour, because 'worn' brakes and suspension sound scary and most people agree to have work done 'to be on the safe side'.
FWIW ,that's £400 worth of work in total, I'll wager that for a Focus you could DIY that job list for £150. Don't feel rushed into doing anything, you can always save and get bits done in the coming months if you don't fancy DIY'ing it.
FWIW ,that's £400 worth of work in total, I'll wager that for a Focus you could DIY that job list for £150. Don't feel rushed into doing anything, you can always save and get bits done in the coming months if you don't fancy DIY'ing it.
As someone who has owned fruity versions of 5's, 9's, 11's, 19's, 21's, 25's, meganes and lagunas I reckon I'd rate these average-to-good. They didn't rot as bad as the previous generation but they did rot- sills especially. Pace wise they lacked for me, the lack of torque compared to the force fed machines left me wanting more.
Not a bad motor overall though. Ive had 2 DT's as my smoker over the last 6 years and they have been fantastic. If I had time, room and money spare I'd add this one to my current fleet (9turbo, Fuego turbo, 21Quadra and 19TD). I would throw a 172 lump in there though
Not a bad motor overall though. Ive had 2 DT's as my smoker over the last 6 years and they have been fantastic. If I had time, room and money spare I'd add this one to my current fleet (9turbo, Fuego turbo, 21Quadra and 19TD). I would throw a 172 lump in there though
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