€1100 Repair Rip-Off ?

stevenmu

Just been told a repair I had done is going to cost me €1100 and I'm trying to figure out if it's a complete and utter rip-off, or just the standard main dealer rip-off you expect any time you go near them (I know they have huge overheads and stuff but you know what I mean).

I was driving along (Seat Leon) on tuesday, not a care in the world, when the clutch pedal went pop and fell flat against the floor. Got the AA out and straight away he knew he couldn't do anything, so I got him to tow it to it to a nearby Seat dealer that I'd dealt with before with a previous car and been very happy with (I better not name them). The mechanic had a quick look and spotted that a rod had ruptured something or other, he reckoned it would need the gearbox to be taken out which'd take a bit of time and it'd probably cost at least €400 euro. "ouch" I thought, but it had to be done, and it was due a service anyway so I got them to do that too. Got a call today from the manager and he said the bill so far was €1300 euro :eek: . When I tried asking him how it had suddenly gone from €400 (plus maybe €200 for the servicing on top). He said he'd have to call me back, when he did he mentioned fixing the clutch (not sure if they put a whole new one in or not), some little lever at the other end of the gearbox that had to be replaced (he said it only cost €10 but there was a lot of labour in it), the service, new timing belt and 4 new brake pads. He said the brake pads weren't on yet and not doing them would get it down to about €1100, he also checked with me about going ahead with the service which was about €200 of that, so I told him to go ahead with that. I'm collecting it tomorrow and he said he'd go through everything with me then.

What I'm wondering here is if there's something really dodgy happening or could what I've described reasonably cost in that region. Also if I'm being completely screwed over, what can I do about it ? I've agreed to the service/timing belt stuff, which I know is dearer than I'd get it done at a local mechanics for, but that's fair enough. I only agreed to the clutch repair when I thought it was around €400, but from what I can make out it's now the best part of €900.


Thanks,
Steve.

maidhc

Well if you agreed to pay about €400, and it has more or less trebled I don't see how you are obliged to pay the balance. They should have contacted you and got your consent before spending lots more time and incurring extra expense, and as such you should regard the extra work as a present.

BrianD3

The timing belt is an expensive job and could account for 300-500 of the total. Did they tell you they were changing the timing belt or did they just plough ahead and do it without informing you. If they did, they're ****.

$Leon$

BrianD3 wrote:

The timing belt is an expensive job and could account for 300-500 of the total. Did they tell you they were changing the timing belt or did they just plough ahead and do it without informing you. If they did, they're ****.

Main VW dealer will charge about 600 for t/belt, 300 for service and 200 doesn't sound bad to remove and refit gearbox.

stevenmu

I had actually mentioned the belt to them, it was squeaking a bit on cold damp mornings. I never realised it could be so expensive, especially with all the other bits being done anyway, I thought it'd only be a bit extra on top of a regular service . I guess that explains a lot, maybe it's not such a bad price after all.

It's a good thing I checked before storming in tomorrow and giving them a load of grief . Thanks all.

maidhc

stevenmu wrote:

I had actually mentioned the belt to them, it was squeaking a bit on cold damp mornings.

The belts are toothed, so they dont squeak. It was probably only an belt going to the a/c or power steering that was squeaking. They shouldnt do the belt unless is needs to be done, e.g. at 60k/80k miles as the manufacturer recommends.

jimmycrackcorm

maidhc wrote:

Well if you agreed to pay about €400, and it has more or less trebled I don't see how you are obliged to pay the balance. They should have contacted you and got your consent before spending lots more time and incurring extra expense, and as such you should regard the extra work as a present.

but there was no agreement. He just got an off the cuff estimate...

$Leon$

60000 miles or 5 yrs whichever comes first for the t/belt kit.

crosstownk

TBH it sounds like a typical price from a main dealer given all the work you got done. Main dealers are so dear its unbelievable.

maidhc

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

but there was no agreement. He just got an off the cuff estimate...

I agree, and if it came to 500, even 600 then that would be fine. But there is no basis for arriving at €1100. You can't give a quotation of "about" €400 and arrive at €1100 without even letting the customer know!

If that car has only say 30k done, and the main dealer went on to replace the belt, it is plain and simple fraud.

TempestSabre

You'd want to get a 3rd party check that they'd done the work. I've had experience of main dealers doing extra work unasked, brakes, disks etc. They've also claiming to have done work which obviously hadn't been done. In the past I've refused to pay it, saying I simply don't have it, and miraciously the work gets undone in 20-30 mins, even though it took them 3-4 hours labour to do it in the first place.

I agree its Fraud. Good case for the small claims court IMO.

unkel

maidhc wrote:

They should have contacted you and got your consent before spending lots more time and incurring extra expense

Yes they should have, but:

stevenmu wrote:

He said the brake pads weren't on yet and not doing them would get it down to about €1100, he also checked with me about going ahead with the service which was about €200 of that, so I told him to go ahead with that

That's where you implicitely agreed with the €1100. You have no chance whatsoever of a claim. Add that you asked for a timing belt replacement and as others said, it's a main $tealer you're dealing with and the sums seem reasonably in proportion

center15

I've some light dents in my car door and a few scratches around the place I want to get done which i presume would require spraying the whole panel, was quoted about €1000 for the repair can anyone recommmend someone cheap around Cork? I just wanna compare prices

Interceptor

I'd ring another Seat dealer and ask them to tell you how much they would charge to fit a timing belt and clutch and see if there is a big difference. If the pedal went to the floor, the clutch release mechanism could have worn out or something simple like the cable might have snapped (is it cable or hydraulic - anyone?) Doesn't matter, the hydraulic circuit could fail as easily. There is a yawning chasm in the difference in price for these two occurances but the symptoms are the same.

If a car goes in for repairs and you give any hint of 'if you find anything that needs doing, go ahead', prepare to be raped. It sounds typical of main dealers but without knowing exactly what they are doing I couldn't guess what they will charge. Never be afraid to ask lots of detailed questions and ring other garages to cross-reference what you are told.

We don't know the mileage but if the timing belt was replaced well before it needed to be, even if you did say it was noisy (they should have checked what was making the noise and fixed that instead) then it is lilely that they are taking the mickey on the other stuff too.

'cptr

Interceptor

center15 wrote:

I've some light dents in my car door and a few scratches around the place I want to get done which i presume would require spraying the whole panel, was quoted about €1000 for the repair can anyone recommmend someone cheap around Cork? I just wanna compare prices

A grand to spray a panel is nonsense - typical if your insurance is paying but not if its out of your pocket - a backstreet bodyshop should do it for €350. Start a separate thread, post pics and give more details - don't hijack a gearbox thread with a bodyshop request for some foreign country...

'cptr

The_Magoo

What sort of milage has the car? And how long have you owned it? And where is this garaged base as i have had a bad experience with a main Seat dealer recently, I also have a Leon!

Eoin

maidhc wrote:

I agree, and if it came to 500, even 600 then that would be fine. But there is no basis for arriving at €1100. You can't give a quotation of "about" €400 and arrive at €1100 without even letting the customer know!

If that car has only say 30k done, and the main dealer went on to replace the belt, it is plain and simple fraud.

Unless I read this wrong, the garage quoted €400 for the clutch problems. Upon further inspection, they saw that a lot more work had to be carried out that was not related to the original problem, so would not have been included in the original quote. They rang the OP and gave him the quote, who told them to go ahead. Doesn't sound like fraud to me?

Wolverine_1999

Interceptor wrote:

A grand to spray a panel is nonsense - typical if your insurance is paying but not if its out of your pocket - a backstreet bodyshop should do it for €350. Start a separate thread, post pics and give more details - don't hijack a gearbox thread with a bodyshop request for some foreign country...

'cptr

Or just befriend someone who knows what he's doing. I got 2 dents repaired, resprayed plus some other bits on the car resprayed for €100

maidhc

eoin_s wrote:

Unless I read this wrong, the garage quoted €400 for the clutch problems. Upon further inspection, they saw that a lot more work had to be carried out that was not related to the original problem, so would not have been included in the original quote. They rang the OP and gave him the quote, who told them to go ahead. Doesn't sound like fraud to me?

If that is what happened then definately not, but if they rang back to say the work had been done, and the bill was now €1300 instead of €400 then I think it is. I might be reading things wrong!

Eoin

maidhc wrote:

If that is what happened then definately not, but if they rang back to say the work had been done, and the bill was now €1300 instead of €400 then I think it is. I might be reading things wrong!

Sorry, I think I am reading it wrong - from the original post:

he said the bill so far was €1300 euro
and
he also checked with me about going ahead with the service which was about €200 of that, so I told him to go ahead with that.

Looks like he only asked to go ahead with the service part of it, and they had already done the expensive part?

Hal1

Well if you agree to pay for the work that was done, get a detailed invoice stating all work carried out on it. And if not satisfied get a third party to check as mentioned above. It sounds about right though considering it was a main dealer, would be interesting to know what percentage goes to the dealer. Let this be a lesson to all.

KELTICKNIGHTT

I learnt the hard way once and now after many moons ,never get service or repair done by dealer as this is where they make there money (easy money for them,done by) (apprentace) ,only get parts l cant get at motor factors from dealer and always perpare for shock of prices of parts