Vehicle repairs at rip off garage

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My gripe is with the big garages and in particular vehicle repairs and the quotes you are given where they don't fix the problem, but charge you a ridiculous amount anyway.

Is it just me that gets annoyed when I take my car in to get a problem fixed and I get a bill for all the solutions they tried that didn't fix the problem?  They give me an estimate of £50 which miraculously turns into a bill of £200 plus.  Why should I pay for a mechanic that doesn't know what the problem is?

My favourite is when you get "we didn't find the problem, but we replaced your battery, starter motor, oil filter and horn, so thats ten grand please, and you still have that knocking noise.  Come back next Saturday when we have more time" and "oh we threw those old parts out, so you can't take your car back until you pay."

Shouldn't we be paying the money to fix the problem, hence using an expert in the first place?  Not financing a complete trial and error process that always seems to be in the region of a few hundred pounds?

"It will cost £100 to fix your oil leak sir" after a cursory view, but then a bill for £400 comes in to cover all the other items we tried that didn't in fact fix the leak.  Grrr...

I can state however that I have never had this problem with smaller local garages and that I understand that sometimes things do need to be looked at in stages to fix them.  But so many times I seem to have been overly stung for the lack of knowledge on the mechanics part, and I can't help but think that perhaps there is something dodgy going on at these larger garages.

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popandbangientuben

Now lets stop being so nasty to all the BMW,Audi,Merc and 4x4 drivers. Just think where the German economy would be right now if it were not for all those superior British owners with their private reg plates and smoked out windows.

22/06/13 popandbangientuben

1

jethro

Every time I see these pose machines I have this image in my mind of the driver stroking the steering wheel muttering, My precious, My precious. It brightens my day.

22/06/13 jethro

2

Cornish Roy

You should see what they charge for my 'stang. If you drive a pretty whip, you gotta suck it up buddy.

22/06/13 Cornish Roy

6

downtoearth

Norman G, Took my Audi for a service on 35k, saw the price marked up on the servicing board and realized I would have to work for a week to pay for it. Loved the car to bits, so did the wife but when you ain't got the dosh it had to go. Lost a packet to some scumbag dealer when trading it in, but thats life, I'll know better next time.

22/06/13 downtoearth

6

boblet

NG.The vast majority of high-end cars are owned from new by a company or leased. After a haircut at three they are forwarded to the auction block as one-owner cars. Some are purchased by a member of the "look what I've got brigade" who will affix a personalised plate, thus hiding the cars age. This type of person has no money they are all front. His high mileage X company car or if it's a she a 4X4 is about to start developing problems & he/she has no money.

22/06/13 boblet

3

Normans G

I run a small garage and the number of times customers bring in a high end car for repairs that I'm not able to do cause I dont have the staff and equipment. I advise the owners to consult a main dealer and their answer is always the same, I cannot afford it. So why do they buy these cars in the first place? Some of the faults are life threatening to say the least and I cannot risk botching the repairs as some do.

22/06/13 Normans G

8

David

As a BMW main dealer repair tech, I was asked by one of my neighbours why is it that drivers of these cars act so unfriendly and seem so bossy. When I told her just how much it costs to repair and service them, she understood right away. What's really frightening is there's loads out there that have not seen a service at all and who knows what serious faults they have which have not been picked up on MOT. If you have a high mileage motor remember, Things do break, and it usually happens when under load and stress.

22/06/13 David

5

Durham Ranger

Hi, Iv'e driven mostly fords all my life but now I've just retired I was going to treat myself to a new BMW seven series. Until I looked into the cost of running one. It's not a matter of whether I could afford it or not, cause I can, it's knowing that I would be paying through the nose for a percieved status symbol which they are no longer seen as, this goes for Audi's too. There are just too many of them on the roads. The reason I'm making this statement is because I'm now recieving a very large public sector pension and I do not want to waste tax payers money, any suggestions what I should buy?

28/01/13 Durham Ranger

7

Bryster

I would give my right arm to find a garage with trustworthy mechanics that do a good job for a fair price...an establishment like this certainly does not exist in North Manchester.

13/07/12 Bryster

2

disgruntled

Ford Spares, Wakefield - same team as Horbury Dismantlers, sent wrong part and would not give me refund. Went to small claims court but still no joy. Tell all the world to steer clear of them.

14/03/12 disgruntled

0

Fred E

How do you expect a big posh shiny garage to pay for it's showroom and all the staff to sit in it? With the brokers and whatcar target price there can't be much profit in new cars. Buying secondhand ones cheap and selling them expensive must be tricky. So all there left with is to charge silly prices for servicing. Unfortunately some people still believe that you have to take new cars back to the dealer to have them serviced to maintain the warranty. Some people also think they do complicated things at services like putting it on the amazingly sophisticated COMPUTER.

23/02/12 Fred E

8

Intensely Angry Customer

Garage Car Servicing = Virtually no service at all. Costs £300 just to look at your car, and then to give you a quote for everything that they consider needs fixing. Those quotes are usually over-the-top of market rates.

Actual servicing
How much do you think for
An oil change
Change Spark Plugs
Top up water in battery
?

Remainder was inspection.

23/02/12 Intensely Angry Customer

7

Ali Gill

I got my garage to fit a reconditioned engine in April costing me £1750. Since then I have had numerous starting problems and had to call out recovery on 3 occassions. I have returned the vehicle on 4 occassions to the garage to have it fixed. The last time a starter motor switch and fitting cost me £100 and still it doesn't start properly. I,m so angry for paying for something that didn't resolve the problem. I'm now at the stage where the garage have told me I need to spend money on my vehicle!!! And I though there was 6 months warranty on parts and labour. Now the garage say my glo plugs need replaced and I will have to pay for them as the ones in the new engine are the ones they took out of my old engine--Aaargh. Is this right? I really feel I'm being ripped off rotten

28/08/11 Ali Gill

-1

Boblet

You should stop digging now MikeP (I have to add a bit more text please ignore text in brackets)

27/01/11 Boblet

6

Unhappy Chappy

Everyone has got so far off the point here. I was just adding to someone earlier's comments that [removed by admin] are not to be trusted and I wish I had never ordered an alloy from them. They are not proper business people, they are totally unprofessional.

27/01/11 Unhappy Chappy

3

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