Hours spent on your car
Discussion
Am I the only one who receives unexpected breathe taking garage bills?
Without revealing names!
I have just picked up my Griff after it sprang a fuel leak due to the tank expanding and contracting after a blockage in the canister filter. I took out the tank myself and took it to a local repairer. I told them it was out of a kit car and they fixed and pressure tested in front of me, the cost, just £35 instead of £100 had I have told them it was out of a TVR. I then had the car booked in at a TVR specialist. While the car was in for the tank to be put back in, I asked them to change the oil, replace the door window rubber tracks and refit the heater vents in the dash as they were crooked. One week later I went to pick up the car, the bill, £534, I took £250 cash with me thinking it wouldn't be more than that, but they claim, £337 is for labour as eight hours were spent on the car, how do you tell? I have to take their word for it. Anyway I paid the bill gracefully and added that at least I know the job has been done right, in other words to a TVR specialist standard.
On my journey home the speakers in the doors were falling out, the tick over was running at 200 rpm and kept cutting out on me, as they reset the plenum, the radio would come half way out of the dash when I pulled away, but more alarmingly than that, there was a very strong smell of fuel vapour. When I got out of the car at home, the speakers by now were in the footwell and I wondered what I had just paid £534 for.
I took the car back the next day for them to fix it and had it back the same day. Unfortunately it still smells of fuel and I now have to wait a week for them to fit me in again.
My question is, how do you tell what genuine hours have been spent on your car?
Up date! I have now fixed the fuel vapour smell myself. It appears the that the large rubber inlet hose (under the filler cap) didn't have it's pipe clip (on crooked) put back on properly, it was letting out vapour from a gap behind the pipe. Should have done the whole job myself!!
Without revealing names!
I have just picked up my Griff after it sprang a fuel leak due to the tank expanding and contracting after a blockage in the canister filter. I took out the tank myself and took it to a local repairer. I told them it was out of a kit car and they fixed and pressure tested in front of me, the cost, just £35 instead of £100 had I have told them it was out of a TVR. I then had the car booked in at a TVR specialist. While the car was in for the tank to be put back in, I asked them to change the oil, replace the door window rubber tracks and refit the heater vents in the dash as they were crooked. One week later I went to pick up the car, the bill, £534, I took £250 cash with me thinking it wouldn't be more than that, but they claim, £337 is for labour as eight hours were spent on the car, how do you tell? I have to take their word for it. Anyway I paid the bill gracefully and added that at least I know the job has been done right, in other words to a TVR specialist standard.
On my journey home the speakers in the doors were falling out, the tick over was running at 200 rpm and kept cutting out on me, as they reset the plenum, the radio would come half way out of the dash when I pulled away, but more alarmingly than that, there was a very strong smell of fuel vapour. When I got out of the car at home, the speakers by now were in the footwell and I wondered what I had just paid £534 for.
I took the car back the next day for them to fix it and had it back the same day. Unfortunately it still smells of fuel and I now have to wait a week for them to fit me in again.
My question is, how do you tell what genuine hours have been spent on your car?
Up date! I have now fixed the fuel vapour smell myself. It appears the that the large rubber inlet hose (under the filler cap) didn't have it's pipe clip (on crooked) put back on properly, it was letting out vapour from a gap behind the pipe. Should have done the whole job myself!!
Edited by bebee on Tuesday 12th September 16:33
You can't tell how many hours were spent but if they have changed the door window rubbers then that's four to five hours for one job. As for their poor finishing, I've suffered this and at £75/hr I was less than pleased. I now use a non-franchised repairer and get the attention to detail that the car deserves for as little as £45/hr.
On a similar note, though not TVR-related, I recently had my Passat serviced at a main VW dealer. All they did was a standard service (which doesn't consist of very much these days), replaced the brake fluid & pads all round, and replaced the timing belt. The total labour charge for this (which I reckon should not have taken more than 4 hours) was a stunning £573.87. I think this is partly a result of the menu pricing that so many dealers now adopt. Luckily it's a company car, so I wasn't having to part with the cash myself, but it does show that it's worth getting an estimate before letting them start the job. I tend to do all the servicing and maintenance on my own vehicles as, for various reasons, a full service history from a garage is not important. However, I'm looking to buy a Chimaera within the next few months and am aware that they're very hard to sell without a FSH, so I'll end up having to pay a garage to do jobs that I can probably do myself (and usually to a higher standard) just to get the stamps in the book. When I get to that point, I'll be after advice from fellow PH'ers on where in the south I can take it that will be both trustworthy and reasonable value.
bebee said:
While the car was in for the fuel tank to be put back in, I asked them to change the oil, replace the door window rubber tracks and refit the heater vents in the dash as they were crooked.
8 Hours for that lot, at what, £36 per hour plus vat ?
It doesn't sound that bad to me.
RUSSELLM said:
bebee said:
While the car was in for the fuel tank to be put back in, I asked them to change the oil, replace the door window rubber tracks and refit the heater vents in the dash as they were crooked.
8 Hours for that lot, at what, £36 per hour plus vat ?
It doesn't sound that bad to me.
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