owelly
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 08:36 AM |
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Garage bill.....
I reluctantly towed my SEAT GTi to the dealers to have the key chips reset as it immobiliser wasn't seing the keys.
It took them a couple of hours to get the relavant info from SEAT but soon got the job done but the car was not running right.
I have contacted the garage this morning and the car is still not running correctly when it's cold.
They have cleaned the throttle body assembly and powered the ECU down and back up.
The upshot is, they have fixed the faulty key code problem, which is what it went in for. It took 20mins to do.
They have then spent a further hour and a half trying to get it to run right which they have not managed. They think fitting a temp sensor would
rectify the problem but want £60+vat to fit one.
So in total, 2 hours @ £65+vat to do a 20minute job and the car still needs fixing.
Do I just pay up or do I have a whinge??
[Edited on 11/10/06 by owelly]
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 08:53 AM |
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Had a similar problem af ew years ago- Saab keys weren't being picked up , phoned in and the bloke said " just a wee half hour
job"
Dropped car off and the fun began - some part had packedup and Saab didn't list it as a spare so you had to pay £350 for a wiring harness then
get it fitted.
I went ballistic said it was a rum do blah blah blah spoke to Saab UK and told them how incompetent and unreasonable they were and they eventualy
took a harness out of a car that was not fitted with the key fob locks and fitted that.
I stopped using the main dealership after that and found an independent Saab specialsit which charges a lower hourly rate and seems twice as competent
as the boys in the big glossy showroom.
Toanswer your question I would winge!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016102@N00/ (cut and paste this dodgey link)
Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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ecosse
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 08:57 AM |
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I'm not sure that they should be charging you 2 hours for a 20 minute job, I would ask them to justify the time spent, which shouldn't
inlcude time they spent finding out how to do the job!
Its not your responsibility to train them.
I would also ask them to confirm that if after fitting the temp sensor, the problem has not gone, they will not charge for the temp sensor (as it was
obviously not required in the first place  )
Have fun
Alex
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Catpuss
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 09:46 AM |
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When my friend's FIAT had its fuel pump fail they wanted £180 to fit a new one, which was sometime like 100 quid for the pump and 80 in labour.
Took us 1/2 to do it and that included trying to find it in the first place.
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thunderace
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 10:32 AM |
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if you didnt ask them to do the work you dont need to pay them.
check with citizen advice.before phoneing them.tell them you have phoned citizen advice in most caces they back down right away.
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mcerd1
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 10:41 AM |
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my penny's worth:
Two things that everyone should learn:
1 - main dealers rip you off and don't always know how to fix the car - your far better of going to a small garage with a good rep
(e.g. the garage I use chages ~£30-35 per hour and I know he dosen't charge for the actual time if it takes longer than it should, compaired to
a main dealer who could easily charge £80 per hour and might charge you for the time they were talking about the job over a cup of tea)
and no, I don't work for a garage
2 - If you want a reliable car - avoid complex electronics, I'm far from a technophobe (I'm posting this from a PC I built) and I fully
apreciate the advantages of ECU's and so on - but I just don't trust any of it to work reliably for any length of time !
[Edited on 11/10/06 by mcerd1]
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Scotty
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 12:03 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
1 - main dealers rip you off and don't always know how to fix the car - your far better of going to a small garage with a good rep
not all main dealers are like that -
i had a mot done on my volvo recently -
they collected the car, changed two faulty bulbs, did the mot, washed the car and returned to me . ..... for a pricely charge of £25 incl the mot
!!
can't whinge at that !
(get to know the service manager)
PLEASE NOTE! All comments made by this person are to be considered "Tongue in Cheek" and are not meant to be taken seriously in any way - so there!
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owelly
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 05:35 PM |
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I've got the car back but it cost me £130+vat!!!
I asked why it was so much as they were asked to carry out a 20min job and phone me if there were any extra costs. The service manager said they spent
closer to three hours on the car taking the plenum and throttle assembly to pieces to clean it. I asked why they had done that when they had already
told me they thought it was a faulty temp sensor. He shrugged and said the bill still stands and he had done me a favour by only charging for 2
hours!!!
Thankfully, they didn't fit the temp sensor which would have cost me another £60+vat.
The car drove home fine so I'll pop to the scrappy in the morning or whenever I get a few moments!
I never usually use franchised dealers as, having worked at one, I know they are usually a rip off but I have spoken to several independant garages
who all told me that SEAT would only disclose the immobiliser codes to a SEAT garage which is the only reason why I took the car there.
I'll write a stern letter and then think of someone to send it to.....
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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stevebubs
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 05:43 PM |
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My local BMW dealer was a little like that.
Just before I sold the car, I committed to getting it serviced. Rang the dealership up and asked how much an inspection 2 was (E34 530). Was quoted
£280 quid.
Dropped the car off with the strict instructions "No work other than the basic service"
2 hours later, got a phone call with over 2 grands worth of work they wanted to do. All stuff I knew and none of it failing / critical (biggest one
was "you need new cats as they're on the way out" "Hmm...it had it's MOT yesterday and flew through emmissions"
"Oh..." ). Told them again "just the basic service - nothing more"
Went to pick the car up at 6 and was given a bill for £600 quid.
Suffice to say I went absolutely ballistic at the service manager in their main reception and after 10 minutes arguing only ended up paying what
they'd quoted me on the phone.
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Wadders
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| posted on 11/10/06 at 06:26 PM |
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My Merc sprinter has just been in to the main dealer for two new injectors and a fuel pressure regulator, total cost £802   only saving grace
was they fixed it on the night shift.
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