How much for this lot?

[Smokin Joe]

Wiper blades are the new ‘headlight adjustment’ scam, from most MOT places.

Wiper blades - £2 each in Wilkos and thirty seconds to fit. I never understand why people let a garage do that job as they'll fit some "Manufacturer approved" blades at about £35 each which don't do any better a job or last any longer.

 

[cyberknight]

You have done well to get 75, 000 out of a meriva.
Our 08 plate got to umh 40 odd thousand and .
Timing chain was shot
sunroof leaked
electrics windows were dodgy
Power steering would randomly cut out
Got shot of it last year for £1300 trade in ( i think the dealer needed to look more closely ) against a dacia stepway which Mrs CK loves , boots a bit smaller but otherwise does the job nicely .

 

[Archie_tect]

We got our Polo [08 plate] serviced... a service + replacing front brake discs and pads came to £400... I felt ripped off but they said as the car does so little mileage now that it's corrosion from standing still outside in the wet that dopes the damage.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

We got our Polo [08 plate] serviced... a service + replacing front brake discs and pads came to £400... I felt ripped off but they said as the car does so little mileage now that it's corrosion from standing still outside in the wet that dopes the damage.

Blimey, that's steep!

I was quoted £265 for front and £240 for rear by Skoda dealer. My local independent used equivalent spec stuff and did the lot for £200.

 

[Pale Rider]

You have done well to get 75, 000 out of a meriva.
Our 08 plate got to umh 40 odd thousand and .
Timing chain was shot
sunroof leaked
electrics windows were dodgy
Power steering would randomly cut out
Got shot of it last year for £1300 trade in ( i think the dealer needed to look more closely ) against a dacia stepway which Mrs CK loves , boots a bit smaller but otherwise does the job nicely .

Everything still works on mine and it seems to be wearing quite well which is one of the reasons I'm having a go at running it to a high mileage.

Worth pointing out it passed the MoT with no work other than the service.

I could have paid the bill for that - £200 - and driven away, but the tyres were borderline and the pads worn so both those would have needed doing shortly.

Rather than be in and out of garages over the next few months I decided to get everything done in one go.

 

[Soltydog]

Rather than be in and out of garages over the next few months I decided to get everything done in one go.

There was a time when I would have shopped around & saved where I could, but now I tend to do the same as you've done, except I have an independent garage that I use & trust & just let him do any work required to save time & hassle. Although the current car which I've had for 2.5 years hasn't needed any work doing yet, just regular servicing & timing belt change. That's probably about to change as the n/s rear wheel bearing sounds like its starting to drone a bit

 

[rich p]

Now we've sorted that out, anybody give a shoot how much I paid for a can of deodorant in the pound shop last week?

 

[Archie_tect]

Blimey, that's steep!

I was quoted £265 for front and £240 for rear by Skoda dealer. My local independent used equivalent spec stuff and did the lot for £200.

That's what I thought but they managed to charge for all the 'consumables' in the service as well as the labour.... I wish I charged £80/hour!!

 

[Archie_tect]

Should have gone to the 99p shop, Rich.

50p on ebay...

 

[Pale Rider]

50p on ebay...

That's all well and good, but I bet you don't get a courtesy bar of soap while you are waiting for delivery.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Now we've sorted that out, anybody give a shoot how much I paid for a can of deodorant in the pound shop last week?

I'm not playing unless you come up with a better prize than @Pale Rider 's stingy offering.

 

[Sandra6]

I've just done the maths based on my own inside info for Vauxhall's fixed price servicing, and I pretty much got the same price. If anything they gave you some money off somewhere.

 

[Pale Rider]

I've just done the maths based on my own inside info for Vauxhall's fixed price servicing, and I pretty much got the same price. If anything they gave you some money off somewhere.

Kind of you to take the trouble.

I am a member of the 'service club' which supposedly does give me a discount.

Rather like the furniture shop 'sales', I'm cynical of retailer discount cards.

But I did book the annual service and MoT online one year and it came up a lot more than I usually pay.

A visit to the dealer brought the quote down to the usual £200ish, so maybe there is something in the discount card in this case.

 

[Sandra6]

As a service club customer you should get 25% off parts and labour - but "fixed price" usually gives the same sort of discount.
I'll be totally honest it all depends on the service advisor calculating the bill at the end of the day. Best thing to do is get a quote when you book and then make them stick to it.

 

[I like Skol]

Not wanting to start another thread as it pretty much applies to the topic covered in this one.

Main dealers really don't do themselves any favours!

My wife's car (an Audi, but that isn't particularly relevant) is currently at the dealers for a manufacturers recall job (something to do with the cabin heater and a fire risk ).

They have done their duty of care and inspected the vehicle for any other work that may be needed, then sent a little video clip of the inspection to highlight the things that are 'needed'.

The car is approaching 3yrs old and nearly 40k. Their suggested work would cost almost exactly £1k and includes Fr & Rr discs as they recommend they should be changed at this amount of wear.

Now I don't want to be unsafe but these discs have had regular visual inspections by me and they are barely even run in. Nice flat, clean braking surface with no grooves or lips at the inner or outer edges. They even go to the trouble of pointing out the 'wear' in the vid and the mechanics finger points to the little ring of dust and light corrosion on the outer surface of the discs circumference. This is not a lip, it is the outside of the disc....

I will concede that some of the work is needed, the pads are getting low, fronts are probably less than 25% remaining while rears have around 33% left. But the discs are as new, used but not worn (they have not measured disc thickness, they state it is a visual inspection). Why can't they just be open about it and admit these discs will easily outlast a second set of pads without wearing past safe levels? It is the blatant money making that gets my goat. Anyone that doesn't know about cars or is paying via a company contract would just sign on the dotted line.

It is wrong that you can't trust main dealers not to charge you for work that is not needed.