"fixed fee" for basic fault diagnosis-latest dealer wheeze?
Discussion
Not talking complex electrical problems here or intermittent faults, but taking your car in for a routine repair and being charged a £60-90 fee for half an hour's labour for the mechanic to diagnose before any work is actually done?
Appreciate you have always paid for diagnosis time as part of the labour but for most basic fixes this element would be fairly nominal and absorbed into the labour actually fixing your car. Guessing somebody thought of this as a post pandemic wheeze, a way to stick an extra £70-90 on each bill and the main dealers all followed suit.
I first noticed it when about to book my Boxster in to the local OPC to have the aircon re-gassed, they said if their test detects a leak they will not re-gas (which is fair enough) but will then charge £75 +vat labour to diagnose the fault before extra labour and costs to replace bits. Decided not to bother.
My mum has just had same thing at the local Mini main dealer, car in for a couple of things, big bill plus extra £75 on top of bill for fault diagnosis.
Anybody else noticed this, feels like a bit of a con.....
Appreciate you have always paid for diagnosis time as part of the labour but for most basic fixes this element would be fairly nominal and absorbed into the labour actually fixing your car. Guessing somebody thought of this as a post pandemic wheeze, a way to stick an extra £70-90 on each bill and the main dealers all followed suit.
I first noticed it when about to book my Boxster in to the local OPC to have the aircon re-gassed, they said if their test detects a leak they will not re-gas (which is fair enough) but will then charge £75 +vat labour to diagnose the fault before extra labour and costs to replace bits. Decided not to bother.
My mum has just had same thing at the local Mini main dealer, car in for a couple of things, big bill plus extra £75 on top of bill for fault diagnosis.
Anybody else noticed this, feels like a bit of a con.....
Youngest daughter just had same with Audi dealer. 120 quid an hour with no guarantee of finding fault on a 4 or 5 year old A3 s-line (i know,i know but they never listen), it certainly helped to convince her to trade it in against a newer A1 and surprise surprise they gave her full book value for the A3 they weren't sure they could fix, even though the salesman reckoned it would go straight to auction.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
VW driver here.
They've always said similar to me if I've reported a fault. To date, however, I've never actually been charged.
Same here, the VW website quotes £100 for a standard investigation fee when booking.They've always said similar to me if I've reported a fault. To date, however, I've never actually been charged.
But the excellent dealer I use hasn't charged me, so I'm likely to buy my next car from them.
Outside of in-warranty work I find and support good Indie's.
On holiday my wife crunched the side sill on our Volvo popping it off the plastic joints.
Found a family garage in the local market town, he found the parts in 24 hours, fitted them, buffed out enough scratch that my wife had added without being asked (nor did they charge). I was dreading the “tourist tax / emergency job tax”… total was £53 inc VAT. Only charged 15 mins labour as he said it took 20mins but 15 is closer to 20...
On holiday my wife crunched the side sill on our Volvo popping it off the plastic joints.
Found a family garage in the local market town, he found the parts in 24 hours, fitted them, buffed out enough scratch that my wife had added without being asked (nor did they charge). I was dreading the “tourist tax / emergency job tax”… total was £53 inc VAT. Only charged 15 mins labour as he said it took 20mins but 15 is closer to 20...
Shock horror, garage charging for them to use expensive diagnostic equipment.
Would you work for free?
It costs as much to diagnose for an hour as it does for an hour fixing something, sometimes more.
Say you take your car in for aircon not working like above, and its a leaking condenser, how would they know if they dont diagnose the fault. So charging to fault find is fair on top of replacing the condenser.
I would agree that a blanket charge is wrong, like charging for diagnosing a smashed light unit for instance.
Would you work for free?
It costs as much to diagnose for an hour as it does for an hour fixing something, sometimes more.
Say you take your car in for aircon not working like above, and its a leaking condenser, how would they know if they dont diagnose the fault. So charging to fault find is fair on top of replacing the condenser.
I would agree that a blanket charge is wrong, like charging for diagnosing a smashed light unit for instance.
philcray said:
Not talking complex electrical problems here or intermittent faults, but taking your car in for a routine repair and being charged a £60-90 fee for half an hour's labour for the mechanic to diagnose before any work is actually done?
Appreciate you have always paid for diagnosis time as part of the labour but for most basic fixes this element would be fairly nominal and absorbed into the labour actually fixing your car. Guessing somebody thought of this as a post pandemic wheeze, a way to stick an extra £70-90 on each bill and the main dealers all followed suit.
I first noticed it when about to book my Boxster in to the local OPC to have the aircon re-gassed, they said if their test detects a leak they will not re-gas (which is fair enough) but will then charge £75 +vat labour to diagnose the fault before extra labour and costs to replace bits. Decided not to bother.
My mum has just had same thing at the local Mini main dealer, car in for a couple of things, big bill plus extra £75 on top of bill for fault diagnosis.
Anybody else noticed this, feels like a bit of a con.....
This has been the case for years, nothing new. Ultimately the garage has to pay it's bills and make an profit. If the mechanic is working, he has to be paid. Why should they do it for free? Appreciate you have always paid for diagnosis time as part of the labour but for most basic fixes this element would be fairly nominal and absorbed into the labour actually fixing your car. Guessing somebody thought of this as a post pandemic wheeze, a way to stick an extra £70-90 on each bill and the main dealers all followed suit.
I first noticed it when about to book my Boxster in to the local OPC to have the aircon re-gassed, they said if their test detects a leak they will not re-gas (which is fair enough) but will then charge £75 +vat labour to diagnose the fault before extra labour and costs to replace bits. Decided not to bother.
My mum has just had same thing at the local Mini main dealer, car in for a couple of things, big bill plus extra £75 on top of bill for fault diagnosis.
Anybody else noticed this, feels like a bit of a con.....
Local independent for 'prestige' cars wanted to charge me for investigating a roof fault on my SL. I decided I would do the first triage, found a YT tutorial and did the whole job myself. I can see that a complex fault takes some diagnosing and that the concept of offering a service may be dead in a world where the bottom line is all. But I suppose I could have got them to diagnose the fault, declined the repair and done it myself: which would have left them out of pocket...
Would you expect a electrician or a plumber to come and look at a fault without a call out fee
Would you expect the AA to do it for free without a call out fee or a memebership in place?
Would you expect free advice from a mortgage broker? (If you’re not paying the bank are)
You’re taking up staffs time, why should they do it for free?
Maybe it used to be more like apple, take it in and no charge for a appointment, but dealers now are so busy and equipment is expensive they’ve got to charge for someting
Would you expect the AA to do it for free without a call out fee or a memebership in place?
Would you expect free advice from a mortgage broker? (If you’re not paying the bank are)
You’re taking up staffs time, why should they do it for free?
Maybe it used to be more like apple, take it in and no charge for a appointment, but dealers now are so busy and equipment is expensive they’ve got to charge for someting
As the original post implies, it depends on the extent of the diagnostic investigation required. I had a sticking front brake. Took it in and the mechanic replaced the rusty calliper. Didn't charge me separately for a diagnosis.
Currently have a knock coming from the rear. I've agreed to pay the mechanic to spend some time investigating (I don't think it's anything obvious).
But then I don't use main dealers anymore. When I had a Polo on a lease it developed a common problem with the odometer. I booked it in told them what the problem was and what the fix was. Left it with them for a day, turned up and was told 'we've diagnosed the problem as a faulty odometer. Let's get you booked in for the repair'.
w
kers.
Currently have a knock coming from the rear. I've agreed to pay the mechanic to spend some time investigating (I don't think it's anything obvious).
But then I don't use main dealers anymore. When I had a Polo on a lease it developed a common problem with the odometer. I booked it in told them what the problem was and what the fix was. Left it with them for a day, turned up and was told 'we've diagnosed the problem as a faulty odometer. Let's get you booked in for the repair'.
w
kers.vaud said:
Outside of in-warranty work I find and support good Indie's.
…..
The only place that’s ever charged me for diagnosis is the indie I used to use for my Merc. …..
They justified it by saying about the subscription for the StarDiagnose system but to me that’s just a business overhead - we don’t itemise out IT costs for our customers. And we do massive amounts of work on quotes and tenders for no return.
Try an indie. If we're talking just reading a code then aftermarket diagnostics these days are cheap and dealer level (dealer specific codes that can't be read by normal OBD2 readers). The Chinese duplicated factory software. I pay an annual subscription of £60 to cover all brands.
If we're talking actual physical diagnosis then it's perfectly fair to be charged for that.
My indie doesn't charge to read codes providing he is given the job. The only charge is labour and parts.
If we're talking actual physical diagnosis then it's perfectly fair to be charged for that.
My indie doesn't charge to read codes providing he is given the job. The only charge is labour and parts.
Nickbrapp said:
Would you expect a electrician or a plumber to come and look at a fault without a call out fee
Would you expect the AA to do it for free without a call out fee or a memebership in place?
Would you expect free advice from a mortgage broker? (If you’re not paying the bank are)
You’re taking up staffs time, why should they do it for free?
Maybe it used to be more like apple, take it in and no charge for a appointment, but dealers now are so busy and equipment is expensive they’ve got to charge for someting
No, but I wouldn't expect the plumber to charge to quote for a job.Would you expect the AA to do it for free without a call out fee or a memebership in place?
Would you expect free advice from a mortgage broker? (If you’re not paying the bank are)
You’re taking up staffs time, why should they do it for free?
Maybe it used to be more like apple, take it in and no charge for a appointment, but dealers now are so busy and equipment is expensive they’ve got to charge for someting
Or the AA to charge to let us know the cost of a breakdown policy when walking past their umbrella stand in a shopping centre.
The mortgage broker would earn their fee if they're cheaper than me doing my research. Otherwise, no charge expected..
mcflurry said:
No, but I wouldn't expect the plumber to charge to quote for a job.
Or the AA to charge to let us know the cost of a breakdown policy when walking past their umbrella stand in a shopping centre.
The mortgage broker would earn their fee if they're cheaper than me doing my research. Otherwise, no charge expected..
I think "it depends". A quick 10 min estimate/quote, sure, no charge.Or the AA to charge to let us know the cost of a breakdown policy when walking past their umbrella stand in a shopping centre.
The mortgage broker would earn their fee if they're cheaper than me doing my research. Otherwise, no charge expected..
A half day for a detail consultation for a garden landscaping project leading to a fixed quotation, yes I think is chargeable.
There are shades of grey.
Part of the problem is that it seems to impossible to get anyone at a main dealer or large independent garage to just have a quick look and come to a "best guess" diagnosis these days. Car has to be booked in and left for the day. Nobody available to pop into the carpark and have a look.
I had an approved used BMW, under warranty, with an obvious battery fault. Low voltage without engine running, dropping much lower overnight. Dealer warned that there would be a diagnostic charge if no fault found. Car booked in and left with them.
They actually blamed my satnav, which was plugged into the 12v socket, and tried to charge the diagnostics fee.
I explained that it was plugged into the factory 12v socket (under the dash), which goes off after 15mins when the car goes into sleep mode. They wouldn't accept that that was the case. I kicked off, and they agreed to not charge me, but said that the battery wasn't covered under the warranty. I asked them to prove it (clearly stated online that battery is covered for 12 months under the approved used warranty). Obviously they couldn't prove it, and agreed to take the car in again. Kept it for 2 days, saw the voltage drop with no obvious parasitic drain, and fitted a new battery.
Citroen C3 Aircross that came new with a climate control that always defaulted to 21 degrees and fan on high speed each time the car was started. It didn't remember the previous settings.
Common fault, loads of complaints on forums. After a year, posts started appearing saying that the fix was a replacement infotainment screen under warranty.
Took it in for the first service, asked for it to be fixed. Service desk said "nothing we can do. What do you expect, it's a Citroen".
A few weeks later, a post on a forum confirmed that Citroen had released a TSB with the fix - a replacement screen. I went to a different dealer, armed with the TSB number. Was told I had to book the car in for diagnostics. They couldn't just come outside and check the VIN against the TSB, I had to book it in the day.
Worked out in the end, new screen being fitted next week, but a lot of hassle and wasted workshop time.
I had an approved used BMW, under warranty, with an obvious battery fault. Low voltage without engine running, dropping much lower overnight. Dealer warned that there would be a diagnostic charge if no fault found. Car booked in and left with them.
They actually blamed my satnav, which was plugged into the 12v socket, and tried to charge the diagnostics fee.
I explained that it was plugged into the factory 12v socket (under the dash), which goes off after 15mins when the car goes into sleep mode. They wouldn't accept that that was the case. I kicked off, and they agreed to not charge me, but said that the battery wasn't covered under the warranty. I asked them to prove it (clearly stated online that battery is covered for 12 months under the approved used warranty). Obviously they couldn't prove it, and agreed to take the car in again. Kept it for 2 days, saw the voltage drop with no obvious parasitic drain, and fitted a new battery.
Citroen C3 Aircross that came new with a climate control that always defaulted to 21 degrees and fan on high speed each time the car was started. It didn't remember the previous settings.
Common fault, loads of complaints on forums. After a year, posts started appearing saying that the fix was a replacement infotainment screen under warranty.
Took it in for the first service, asked for it to be fixed. Service desk said "nothing we can do. What do you expect, it's a Citroen".
A few weeks later, a post on a forum confirmed that Citroen had released a TSB with the fix - a replacement screen. I went to a different dealer, armed with the TSB number. Was told I had to book the car in for diagnostics. They couldn't just come outside and check the VIN against the TSB, I had to book it in the day.
Worked out in the end, new screen being fitted next week, but a lot of hassle and wasted workshop time.
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