How much should I pay?

150 pounds labour for all three

MrCheerful

Probably take around 2 to 3 hours to do the whole lot.

sPoNiX

2-3 hours? You're having a laugh mate. I would have thought around 2-3 hrs for the wishbones, 2 hrs cambelt and 3 hrs for full service - is this reasonable?

70 quid for Ford parts, plus an hour or so to fit. 80 quid for the Ford kit, plus 2 hours to fit

How "full" is full? If it's an oil, oil filter, cabin filter & air filter, it's going to be 40 quid for Ford parts, and an hour to fit.

HTH

Pete.

Took my place around 1.5 hours.

Ditto.

Depends how in depth it is. If they're taking the wheels off to check the brake shoes & pads, and doing every single thing on the list, probably. If it's the sort of service a garage gives you, it's closer to 1 hour IMO.

Pete.

Thanks Pete, that's been very useful - much appreciated.

My mechanic's full service is just that, all the usual full service you would expect from a garage plus checking the brakes, exhaust, tyres, bushes, etc, ensuring the engine is running correctly, copper greasing all the hinges, cleaning contacts on battery, checking all bulbs, etc are working.

I use to have a really bad time with mechanics - as I didn't know too much I always felt I was being conned. Now this bloke who does my servicing, is a real old boy who likes to do things properly as if it was his car. Reason why I ask for the costs is simply that he won't charge but that I can give him whatever I like. Having finally met a decent and honest mechanic I don't want to take advantage of his good nature.

Do the you guys have a 'regular' mechanic or do you just happen to take it along to the first one that you come across?

Bl00dy hell, have you ever done a cambelt or wishbones on a mondy?! Depending on his facilities, 1.5-2hrs for the cambelt and rollers, an hour a side for the wishbones, probably alittle longer for the N/S due to beggering around with the subframe to get the bolt out, possibly change the brake pads whilst he is there too. Full service inc lubing hinges, topping up washer bottle, changing pollen filter, tightening handbrake etc etc etc, another

1.5 to 2 hrs.

Tim..

1/2 hour 4 the arms 1 hour 4 the belt 1 hour 4 the service with drums off(if fitted) although labour hours are higher its always qucker when your doing the job 4 cash rather that 4 a company you work for(applies to most jobs really)

I'd say it's going to take the best part of a day, so bung him 100 quid - most would be happy with that for cash.

1 hour to do an oil and filter change? :-)

Peter

Even the place I went to (and trusted) I found hadn't been fulfilling the Ford schedule (and they were very good so I thought). Either that, or my battery managed to boil itself dry in a matter of a month or so, despite the alternator not overcharging.

TBH, most of the above is a very quick visual check to make sure nothing's hanging off ;-)

Pete.

"Closer to 1 hour" (than 3) :-)

Took me an hour, before I figured it would be _much_ easier to just take the wheel and inner wing off, showing the oil filter in its full glory.

Before that, I'd pissed around trying to get at it from under the car.

Should only take 15 minutes next time!

If they do a proper job, and change the air & cabin filters, check the tyres and a visual of the underneath, and they have a "minimum" labour time, I recon 1 hour labour isn't an unfair amount.

Pete.

Pete.

Indeed.

That's on a Mondeo, right? I did an oil and filter change on my Dad's Mondeo once (Mk1 1.8) and the oil filter was a complete bitch to get to. It's in a bloody stupid place on the Fiesta as well, and is situated right above the driveshafts (specifically the CV boot), and the lower suspension arm, so for the first few miles after changing the oil it's being flicked about by the CV boot and you'd think you had a leak if you didn't know better. Not too difficult to wipe everything clean though, but it does collect in the middle of the lowe arm.

Absolutely.

Peter

That was my feeling. My arms & hands are a bit on the chunky side, and I physically couldn't squeeze them between the roll bar, drive shaft & all the crap that's under there.

In the end, it was off with the splash guard on the inner wing (_not_ the inner wing as I said earlier), and it's just sitting there.

Now I know this, it's a 15 minute job now!

Pete.

Wishbones won't take an experienced mechanic long...1 hour.

Cambelt probably also an hour, 1.5 hours tops..

Oil/filter change (Kwik fit stylee service) 30 mins-1 hour.

sPoNiX

If the service is truly *full* and covers everything then allow 3 hours. Budget for 5-6 hours total in that case.

sPoNiX