Rip off garages alive and well.

[catman]

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

[catman]

He said that there were around 12 cars being worked on or waiting, so they're not short of work. They're Bosch approved apparently. Must make all the difference when they're replacing a drive shaft.

Tim

[catman]

Andyjc86 said:

I love a good garage bashing thread, it’s makes us feel like such valued members of society.

Most mechanics I know are as honest as the day is long. The problem we find is expectations have changed, everyone expects something for nothing.

I started this thread. I certainly don't expect anyone to work for nothing, but when a Garage wants to charge more for a 'diagnosis' of a broken drive shaft, than my Mechanic charged to replace it, then there's something wrong.

I fully accept that bigger Garages also have higher overheads, but to quote almost £900 for a job that was completed for a little over 10% of that is taking the piss.

Tim

[catman]

Nanook said:

You say "completed". The garage would have been providing you with a new part, with a warranty.

You've sourced a second hand part, and had someone else fit it.

You're comparing apples with oranges. Your mechanic hasn't completed the same job, or provided you with the same service as the first garage would have.

That's not to say the first place wasn't a bit overpriced, without seeing a breakdown of the invoice, who knows.

Where did I say that I bought a second hand part? It was brand new with a two year guarantee. If I can buy a perfectly acceptable part for less than £50, then the garage are quoting what, £750 for the same thing?

[catman]

out of interest, I had a look at the most expensive part on the same website and it was £350.
It was also the same brand that I got for £50. So you don't always get better quality by aying more.

My Mechanic also said that he has often fitted the supposedly inferior brands without any problems after. And also, on an old car, a saving of almost £800 is considerable.

Tim

[catman]

Not a shop, it was Ebay. I await the usual nonsense now, but I've bought literally hundreds of things from Ebay without any problems, including car parts. They also have a normal on line website, carspares-direct.

As I've already said, my Mechanic has also purchased similar items before, without any problems from his many repeat customers.

Tim

Edited by catman on Wednesday 15th November 18:16

Edited by catman on Wednesday 15th November 18:44

[catman]

Just to complete my starting this thread, my friend went to the original garage to discuss the £80 'inspection'charge, and the owner was insistent that it was impossible to do the job for the price quoted, saying that the drive shaft must be an awful Chinese copy.

He had it with him and he showed it to the owner, who looked very surprised and admitted that it was far better than he was expecting. He was also questioned about the time quoted to do the job. (3 hours, I think)

Again, he said that it wasn't possible to do the job in an hour and then asked for the name, address and phone number of the garage doing the work! I'm not sure why, but I'm fairly sure that he didn't want to do anything nice for the other garage.

The part was fitted while my friend waited, in an hour as promised and he is now very happy with the outcome. Only time will tell how good the cheap replacement part is, but for now, all seems good.

I'm happy as well, as I got the drive shaft for him and recommended my Mechanic's services too. There's always that doubt that something may go wrong, but on this occasion, it all went as planned.

Tim

[catman]

Rat_Fink_67 said:

One thing that always interests me on threads like these, is how much do people think mechanics/technicians earn, and how much do think they should be earning?

With most people's desire to pay next to nothing as an hourly rate, and begrudge every penny spent on repairs and maintenance, I often wonder whether the same people also begrudge those in the trade trying to earn a living too?

What with Pistonheads being a near 50:50 split of powerfully built company directors, and IT contractors, I wonder if you have any idea how st the trade is for wages.

I didn't start the thread to deny the right of garages/mechanics to make a decent living from their business. It was about some places trying to charge a ridiculous sum of money for a simple job, and then trying to bullst their way out when they're found out.

Tim

[catman]

Josho said:

Going back to the OP I do recall being booked in to replace a driveshaft on some sort of Toyota and I recall the shaft being absolute stupid money. Something around 600 quid if I recall correctly.

It wasn't the shaft it was the gearbox but I phoned around everyone to get a cheaper shaft but no go.

Assuming eBay will have something but we can't really rely on eBay as a garage.

Even if we assume that the shaft for my Friend's car was £600, the garage were still charging the best part of £300 to fit it. There were many places selling the shaft for less than £200, Euro Car Parts were less than £100.

I bought the part from Ebay, but that was only an additional outlet for an on line parts supplier.

Tim

[catman]

Yes, you missed it. It was car spares direct, but I bought it through their E bay outlet. I was very happy with the part and it was fitted without any drama.

Tim