Mechanic ripped off my 80 year old gran

sellasheep

To say we're pi$$Ed off is an understatement. My gran has a 2008 seat ibiza for the last 6 year. She doesn't do much milage. She needed two new front tyres so brought the car to a mechanic, as you do. She ended up handing over €420! He pointed out other issues and she required:

2 front break pads
Fitted 2 'Aoelas' front tyres
2 hubs
Topped up the coolant

He told her the parts were €350 and looked for €70 labour. She handed it over without asking any questions.

Surely this is a rip off. Does anybody know how much these parts would be?

bucketybuck

sellasheep wrote: »

Does anybody know how much these parts would be?

If you don't know, then how do you know it was a rip off?

punisher5112

Is it an Indy or proper retail garage?

Supergurrier

Why would you bring a car to a mechanic if it only needed tyres ?

sellasheep

bucketybuck wrote: »

If you don't know, then how do you know it was a rip off?

We estimated the tyres to be €50 each and the pads at €30 - €50. How could the hubs be €100 each then? I should have been clearer.

sellasheep

punisher5112 wrote: »

Is it an Indy or proper retail garage?

Indy

PANDDDKP

sellasheep wrote: »

To say we're pi$$Ed off is an understatement. My gran has a 2008 seat ibiza for the last 6 year. She doesn't do much milage. She needed two new front tyres so brought the car to a mechanic, as you do. She ended up handing over €420! He pointed out other issues and she required:

2 front break pads
Fitted 2 'Aoelas' front tyres
2 hubs
Topped up the coolant

He told her the parts were €350 and looked for €70 labour. She handed it over without asking any questions.

Surely this is a rip off. Does anybody know how much these parts would be?

Sounds a bit excessive..

sellasheep

Supergurrier wrote: »

Why would you bring a car to a mechanic if it only needed tyres ?

Because she knows the mechanic and was nervous going to get tyres alone. Look, she's old stock, it's just how age does things.

SCOOP 64

€70 labour wasnt bad.

brembo26

bucketybuck wrote: »

If you don't know, then how do you know it was a rip off?

Agreed.

OP tell us more about these hubs that were fitted. Do you mean wheel bearings? Hubs dont just need replacing.

sellasheep

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

€70 labour wasnt bad.

Not bad when he more than likely lied about it and charged much more citing parts as the excessive cost.

xabi

Hubs? Was it brake discs by any chance, doesn't sound to bad to me

Mehaffey1

2 hubs really?

sellasheep

brembo26 wrote: »

Agreed.

OP tell us more about these hubs that were fitted. Do you mean wheel bearings? Hubs dont just need replacing.

I'm not well up on cars but his words to her were 'hubs'.

xabi

sellasheep wrote: »

Not bad when he more than likely lied about it and charged much more citing parts as the excessive cost.

Why, do you know him/her?

brembo26

sellasheep wrote: »

I'm not well up on cars but his words to her were 'hubs'.

Find out what was meant by the hubs and come back to us. We dont even know what was or possibly was fitted so cant give you an accurate answer.

At the moment it doesnt sound overpriced if there was discs fitted as well.

Toyotafanboi

So front pads and discs and 2x tyres?

What size were the tyres?

Price is a bit spicey alright.

20/20

I'm not well up on cars but his words to her were 'hubs'. ??
How did you estimate what they cost then?

robtri

So just to clear up,
you have no idea if ripped off or not..

you don't know what the Hub the mechanic was talking about is..

and yet you are p*&sed off and telling people this mechanic ripped your 80 year old granny off

you need to find out what the Hub is.. and if the parts then where OEM or Spurious parts.
have u a copy of the invoice?

greasepalm

go look at car ,and hopefully he fitted a set of 4 brake pads not 2,is the surface nice and shiny and rust free=new discs fitted. i would also look at centre of front wheel is that nice and shiny and rust free as new hubs are expensive.

plenty of cars need disc replacement because they wear including german cars which are hard on braking.

use micks garage and enter car details and price parts as a guideline.

Atlantic Dawn

Those tyres while they may be €50 at a tyre fitters they will be charged more by a mechanic who likely will not have them in stock there and then and will either have to order them and fit or else bring the car to a tyre fitters so €60-€70 for the €50 tyre could be reasonable with the additional costs and time involved.

brembo26

What size are the tyres? Different sizes different prices...

Sono

Generally a mechanic charges €50 an hour labour so he did less than 1.5hours work on the car and €350 for parts. What kind of rubbish tyres did you buy for €50? Sounds to me like you have completely jumped the gun here and haven't a clue of what things cost so automatically think your gran has been ripped off

FortySeven

195/65/r15 on that car I think. Depending on brand €50-€120 each.

Pads aftermarket €40ish.
Pads dealer. Could be €60-€100
Hubs, ???

It could be disks at €60-€80 aftermarket.
It could be bearings at €60-€100 each aftermarket.
Double these for dealer prices.

If he has thrown on a set of triangles and a set of aftermarket pads and given the 'hubs' a polish then you've been ripped off.

If he's our on some decent tyres and replaced discs and pads with dealer parts then he's bang on the money and his Labour rate is great for that job.

You can't just call him our as a cheat until you have the full story/knowledge.

kirving

If he's genuine, then he'll have no trouble explaining the price if you ask nicely. Don't go in in a temper, do your best to find out what exactly was fitted and post up the details here.

Special Circumstances

Sono wrote: »

What kind of rubbish tyres did you buy for €50?

that's the best bit of it all "oh I'm so concerned for my gran" actually means "if it's black and it's round till do like, any ol sh1te at all as long as it's cheap cheap cheap"

Stoolbend

On this car the front wheel bearings are complete hubs.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Just go and ask him for a receipt for the parts fitted. Tell him you want it as part of the service record. Then you can compare what he fitted with online prices and see if he charged excessive prices.

My inclination is that he charged a fair price but you who appears to have less knowledge on cars than your granny got yourself into a flap over something you haven't the first clue about.

dr.fuzzenstein

What none of the more acerbic posters here address is the issue that the car was handed over with instructions for new front tires. If I did that and the mechanic decided to replace half the car and present me with a fat bill, I would he pissed off too.

edit:
OK, I did go too far. Partially withdrawn

screamer

For what you've written there, it sounds waay over priced. Hubs, like what 2 new hubcaps? Then that's absolutely a rip off. Go and ask him what he put on the car. My indy mechanic shows me the bits and pieces he changed on my car and gives me a quote before the work and calls me during if he finds other bits, cause he knows, I won't pay him for work he does on the fly unless I've agreed it with him over the phone. I think it's only the right way to be as otherwise, yes, you can feel very overcharged when you arrive to pay for what you think is a 2 tyre fitting and end up with an over 300 euro bill!
Ask him OP, because that's the only way to know for sure (and that's presuming that he tells you the truth about the work he did).

Cuddlesworth

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

What none of the more acerbic posters here address is the issue that the car was handed over with instructions for new front tires. If I did that and the mechanic decided to replace half the car and present me with a fat bill, I would he pissed off too.

edit:
OK, I did go too far. Partially withdrawn

I'd say its likely he did ring her and she agreed to it. If the bearing are part of the hubs and she is like most old drivers I've seen, then its understandable that they would need replacing.

galwaytt

screamer wrote: »

For what you've written there, it sounds waay over priced. Hubs, like what 2 new hubcaps? Then that's absolutely a rip off. Go and ask him what he put on the car. My indy mechanic shows me the bits and pieces he changed on my car and gives me a quote before the work and calls me during if he finds other bits, cause he knows, I won't pay him for work he does on the fly unless I've agreed it with him over the phone. I think it's only the right way to be as otherwise, yes, you can feel very overcharged when you arrive to pay for what you think is a 2 tyre fitting and end up with an over 300 euro bill!
Ask him OP, because that's the only way to know for sure (and that's presuming that he tells you the truth about the work he did).

Hubcaps? When was this - 1976 ??

Skatedude

If the 2 front hubs were done which is the bearing kit on ibiza's then the price is spot on, but surprised at the 70euro labor as that's quite low.

MarkR

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

What none of the more acerbic posters here address is the issue that the car was handed over with instructions for new front tires. If I did that and the mechanic decided to replace half the car and present me with a fat bill, I would he pissed off too.

edit:
OK, I did go too far. Partially withdrawn

Do you know that the lady didn't tell the garage to proceed with the work, or are you guessing?

hooch-85

My brother had to replace both hubs on a fabia of around the same age, nearly sure they were around 80 each spurious. Price doesn't seem too bad

Cee-Jay-Cee

screamer wrote: »

For what you've written there, it sounds waay over priced. Hubs, like what 2 new hubcaps? Then that's absolutely a rip off. Go and ask him what he put on the car. My indy mechanic shows me the bits and pieces he changed on my car and gives me a quote before the work and calls me during if he finds other bits, cause he knows, I won't pay him for work he does on the fly unless I've agreed it with him over the phone. I think it's only the right way to be as otherwise, yes, you can feel very overcharged when you arrive to pay for what you think is a 2 tyre fitting and end up with an over 300 euro bill!
Ask him OP, because that's the only way to know for sure (and that's presuming that he tells you the truth about the work he did).

Hubcaps? Where did anyone mention hubcaps??? Hubs and hubcaps are NOT the same thing. I find it strange that people who have literally zero mechanical knowledge continue to frequent this forum and offer their opinion.

washman3

Supergurrier wrote: »

Why would you bring a car to a mechanic if it only needed tyres ?

Because she is 80 years of age and doesn't know the difference.!!

brembo26

I reckon the OP should do the repairs from now on since they are obviously so in the know.

I am so fed up of people who go on the internet bashing mechanics who spent years training to become qualified and build a name for themselves just so some clueless eejit can start making out they or someone they know were robbed! And then to top it off they dont even know what work was done :mad:

edburg

sellasheep wrote: »

We estimated the tyres to be €50 each and the pads at €30 - €50. How could the hubs be €100 each then? I should have been clearer.

Hubs online for front of my astra are over 200 so 100 each and only 70 labour is damn good taking in amount of work needed to change them.
http://www.micksgarage.com/search/wheel bearing kits/opel/opel astra/astra h sport hatch 2005 to 2009/2.0 turbo/240

rat_race

edburg wrote: »

Hubs online for front of my astra are over 200 so 100 each and only 70 labour is damn good taking in amount of work needed to change them.
http://www.micksgarage.com/search/wheel%20bearing%20kits/opel/opel%20astra/astra%20h%20sport%20hatch%202005%20to%202009/2.0%20turbo/240

The real question is why did someone let their mother/granny, of that age, go to a mechanics, alone, etc?

bucketybuck

rat_race wrote: »

The real question is why did someone let their mother/granny, of that age, go to a mechanics, alone, etc?

Because as his posts clearly show, he hasn't the first clue about anything to do with cars.

Seth Brundle

rat_race wrote: »

The real question is why did someone let their mother/granny, of that age, go to a mechanics, alone, etc?

What is the age threshold where you're no longer able bring a car to a mechanic on your own?
If the person is competent enough to drive alone then they are more than competent to talk to a mechanic (they may not understand what they're told by the mechanic hence why questions were invented many years ago)!