My Ignis, which I keep wanting to call Iggy, had one fault. A noisy wheelbearing.
I've done these newfangled "hubs" before, I like them. No need to press/drift parts. So I'm busy, and I ask the dealer for a fitted price.
£127. 2 hours labour.Further questioning of the useless idiots at Belmont, and that's for a £37 bearing kit. Surely they'd rather fit a hub (£77) and not have to mess with pressing parts etc.
"1 and a half hours, £85".
Now, that seems more expensive than the labour component of £127 and a £37 part, but nevermind. For that, I'll fix it myself.
They didn't tell me, offer or mention the staked nut I'd need to replace, which was charming and I'll have to order that (most parts guys I've dealt with are much, much better at that sort of thing), but what really annoys me?
With my grotty selection of tools, doing it outside, in the rain, on the ground, it took me 10 minutes of actual work. 4 bolts for the wheel, two for the caliper and disk, and one 30mm nut for the hub itself.
I'd happily have paid 1/2 hour labour or such on it to save getting my hands dirty, and I'd probably have had a few other jobs done (I need to find a replacement clip for the roof trim, and I want some wheel centre caps, etc.), but stuff that. I'm not going back there except to get a staked nut and to tell the manager what a useless bunch of idiots he's employing.
This is the same garage that three years ago failed entirely to call back to CONFIRM the purchase of a £10,000 Berlingo for my dad. Not to see if he'd like it; he'd chosen the colour, the engine and trim he wanted and was going to buy it right there.
Compared to Border Toyota (who have got awards, to be fair, for their customer service) Belmont Suzuki/Vauxhall in Selkirk are enough to put anyone off owning a car, it seems.
This is on top of the mess made of my car's tailgate (before I had it) by Blackshaws in Berwick, who screwed the plate through new holes in the bootlid rather than using the JDM mounts, and due to the raised JDM bits, the plate has rubbed more paint too - making a 4 year old car have a manky, rusty tailgate. Suzuki would get the reputation for making a bad car for this sort of idiocy, but it's the dealers :/
Liking the fixed Ignis, though. A bit slow by my standards, but handles well enough in the wet, and it idles almost silently. Just need to get rid of the smoke/wet dog smell now.
Richard