I've always been suspicious that some garages don't do all the work they charge you for.
One tip I've heard is to put a small scratch on your oil filter. Then if they just wipe it clean rather than change it, you'll know.
I guess you could put a small blob of Tippex on a wheel nut where it touches the wheel, to see if a wheel has been removed, but perhaps brake pads can be checked without taking the wheels off.
Does anyone know of any other checks I can do ?
Many Thanks Steve.
hummm, i had a clutch changed in a rover 1993 416sli, i was told it would be £150.00 by the time they had finished it cost me £247.00. they said that i needed a new clutch cable as well,which they changed (??????) when i collected it they said that they only changed the inner cable... quite amazine realy as the ends of the cable are too big to feed through the outer caseing.. i have never been back to MR CLUTCH since
SteveC ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
You might like to see if your little fiat is pinking.
The message from "aussie bongo" contains these words:
They pinched the reverse light switch wiring in the bell housing doing a friend's Sierra clutch. Took ages to work out why the indicators kept blowing fuses.
But if they had not changed it would be dirty quite obvious really without needing any marks.
In news: snipped-for-privacy@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com, SteveC waffled on in a semi-interesting fashion, it went something like this;
Yup, if you're that suspicious, service your own car.
Mmm, lets see:
Remove air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required Remove air filter Make mark on air filter Replace air filter Replace air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required Take to garage Wait around Phone to see if car is ready yet Phone back to see if car is ready yet ;-) Pay lots of money Pick up car Remove air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required Remove air filter Check to see if mark on air filter Replace air filter Replace air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required
Seems like a lot more hassle than:
Remove air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required Remove air filter Replace with new air filter Replace air filter cover bolts/clips/pipes as required
What else do you recommend, draining the oil and holding it up to the light?
Z
holding it upto the light, !!! lol i never thought of that one :)
vauxhall made me feel insulted :(
just been to the local dealer for a new key,,,,, £80 i also told them that i had a error code p0141 on the car and can they give me a price to fix it, the bloke said that he do not know what that means, and they need to run a check test on the car to find out what the codes are at £42.50. i told him that it is a lamba sensor, he then said that p0141 could also be for the o2 sensor/meter on the inlet.(((either he knows or dont))) they wont change the lamba until i have the check test done just incase it is not the lamba and it is the o2 sensor/meter.
now i have lost my trust in them and will get wilco to change it. at the same time i will have the front tyres changed.
Vauxhall,,, you have just lost around £200,,,,,
>
of course we dont, we spend all day wiping the oil filters & blowing the air filters out with airlines
if your suspicious of a garage not doing work you paid for either take it to a garage you can trust or ask for the bits to be kept, we keep all the customers bits after any work or a service & bin them if they dont require them to be kept.
£80 for a key is about the going rate at vauxhall dealers (if you think that's expensive, you want to see the cost/hassle of getting keys for southern european cars)
As for the code, any respectable garage would want to check the fault out before fitting any parts.
They could quite easily change the lambda sensor, and not cure the problem. Then the customer may complain that the garage is useless because they never cured the problem, despite the fact they only done what the customer wanted (been there, and had the grief).
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your absolutely right, ive also been there done that, had the grief, customer gives us his diagnosis and is adamant that's the fault, so we go ahead as he doesn't want to pay for further diagnosis ( as you know the customer is always right ;o) ) and that's not been the problem & so begins the grief !!
Don't bet on it. I've seen a mechanic wiping an old filter with a petrol soaked rag to clean it! I understand that you may not feel up to doing this stuff yourself but personally If I was you I would try. Things like changing the oil and oil filter are pretty simple. Get a friend to show you how. Fitting a new air filter or pollen filter is even easier. Spark plugs are another easy one. Brakes pads and shoes are a bit more difficult but personally speaking I have never let a garage change these. We see a lot of horror stories on the TV and whilst I believe they do a great injustice to the majority of very good mechanics out there, I always feel better knowing that I have done the brakes myself and they can be relied on to stop me when needed. Modern cars can be a pain in the ass to work at but you should always try and do the general service work yourself. When I started driving I thought nothing of taking the engine out of the car and rebuilding it. Now you would need to be a bloody computer expert!
Alex
Don't blame you. This one always gets me. Why do they have to hook the car up to a computer for an hour at a cost of whatever. Surely if a fault has developed and has been logged by the car all they have to do is download the fault reading and fix the bloody thing! But then I suppose they couldn't charge you £40 or whatever for a diagnostic check!
my last diagnostic course was a 3 day course approx £300, fortunatly not paid by me but my boss, it was to learn & use some of the newest equipment & technical info on the market today, you have to invest in the future & if the customer wishes to use this service, they do have a choice, then it has to be paid for ! the cheapest bit of kit we have is about £3000 worth, you cant expect to be plugged into it for free.
What a petty theft. You can't trust anyone these days. Mike.
i dont think he meant that sort of pinched :)
The message from "aussie bongo" contains these words:
You're not cut out for newsgroups, are you.
You get more interesting responses when you leave the smileys off. Mike.
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