Result from 40K Service

You're being shafted. Try a small independant garage. Cleaning of rear pads? What's that supposed to mean. Mike.

Flipping eck - for that price I'd expect the word "bush" to be missing and it to be complete!

New rear pads cost how much? 20 quid? Front discs - 30 each?

I'd agree - that does seem somewhat criminal.

Cheers Dan.

WTF??

You went in there and bent over. This is what happens when you do that.

The message from "Matt North" contains these words:

That's startling! You can get a new set for a few quid. That suspension bit seems steep, too.

I'm so glad I do my own work.

Why buy a car that's been neglected - unless you know what you're doing? It's hardly a rare model.

Non of these are really service items - they just need sorting/replacing as required.

I'm not really sure it's something you can just learn at school, as it were. Most basic work on cars just requires a mechanical 'feel' for things. And if you haven't already discovered you've got this by now, it's probably not there.

My brother taught car maintenance evening classes, and he reckoned that very few ever did any work themselves afterwards. Of course, learning what the garage is talking about is no bad thing.

Plus, say, £30 for the pads (I think we can safely assume they changed the pads at the same time as teh discs) Gives £90 for parts. £60 Labour = 1.5 Hours, not unreasnoble. (autodata gives 1.3 hours for front pad/disc change)

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Indeed, many of the problems of the motor service industry probably stem from colleges turning out "trained" monkeys.

Yeah, me too. Parts for my Audi aren't desperately cheap, but I save a lot by doing the work myself, particularly if I'm comparing it to main dealer servicing prices!

My A6 failed its MOT on front discs and pads, front anti-roll bar bushes, and a split CV boot. Might have been a couple of little other bits as well - the parts total came to £225 incl VAT. Seems a lot, but I shudder to think what it would have cost me had I taken it to a garage!

The other day I spent £137 buying a track rod end, a few bottles of antifreeze and PAS fluid, an oil filter, fuel filter, set of rear brake pads and a caliper flexi-hose. My first reaction was "HOW MUCH???" but looking at the price list I can see how it all adds up, and I do like to stick to OEM parts (maybe I'm a mug for doing so, who knows).

But the other day was the second time I've been in an Audi dealership where I've overheard a service advisor talking to a customer on the phone explaining what makes their total bill (including advisories picked up on the service) £1500 or so, so it does put things in perspective!

Peter

i agree there, i started doing work on cars because i was charged 15 quid

For what it's worth, by '96 Escort is in the garage as I type getting:

All for something of the order of 250 quid.

Thought about doing most of it myself (the discs and the shocker) but ain't got time at the moment.

Iain

One of the things that impresses me about my local BM dealer is that, when I stroll into parts dept, I know I'll get exactly the right part based on the chassis num, no matter how obscure it is. Nuts, bolts, brackets, wierd things you wouldn't think they'd even list. No sucking of air through teeth and flicking through old random catalogues and still doling out the wrong part for something simple like brake pads for a Mondeo as per some factors.

Is Audi similar in that respect? It also occurs to me that this level of detail rubs off on EuroCarParts & G&S - they're good too.

The message from "AstraVanMan" contains these words:

My £250 Montego TD 7-seater would have cost me nearly £450 to have the head gasket done last week. Scary.

Yep, just need to tell them the reg no (I use the original as I've got a private plate on it) and it brings up all the details, including that on their system it's 60,000 miles overdue a service :-)

That's one reason I meant to mention that I like going to main dealers for parts on the whole. Quite often they're actually cheaper for some bits (spark plugs as one example) than factors.

Having said all this, despite having the specific details of *my* car on the screen, the system still listed two different fuel filters, and one of the workshop guys had to have a look under my bonnet to see which one it was!

Peter

AFAIC, shocks should always be fitted in pairs. I'd advise getting them both replaced. The old one is bound to be less efficient than the a new one, which will give an imbalance in the suspension. Mike.

Cleaning of rear pads probably means deglazing of rear shoes (assuming drim brakes)

AKA a means of screwing you for 60 quid to blow the dust out.

If it was pads on rear discs - cheaper to just replace the pads, yourself.

Tyres - I wold have simply said "Thanks for letting me know" - then shop around.

Auxiliary belt - maybe alternator belt? - not sure how it fits on these, but if it goes araounf the engine mountings like my Calavlier then 40 sounds reasonable. If not, under a tenner and 10 mins work for yourself.

Suspension bush - had advisory on an MOT for my Cavalier, suspension bushes looked tired at 90k. Had both bottom suspension links, and the antirollbar mountings, completely replaced, plus the MOT and a couple of minors, for 230 quid inc VAT. Are Ford bushes made of titanium? (I commute 25k PA on the motorway, this was the biggest ever bill for that car and total about 25% of the repair costs in 6yrs and 125k miles of ownership)

Front discs and pads - can depend on the car. Replaced all discs and pads on a 1.3 cavalier for about 30 quid, this can vary.

Again, on a service take this as advisory. I have had a VX gge @ 30k say the pads are 80% worn. I measured them (nowhere near 80%) and ultimatley did them myself at 65k.

BUT if you've only just bought the car, and got it at a good price - about £500 is your contingency for bits and dabs ?

OK, ignore the tyres and we're talking 499 quid. It's not been serviced for two years so why are you paying main dealer prices when the history is gone anyway?

Should have been nearer 200 quid without the tyres for that lot unless the bush is harder than I reckon it is to replace.

Just had my rear discs / pads replaced for £130, main dealer want 299.44!!

lol - not a safe assumption - my Volvo got new front discs under warranty but not new pads...

I must admit I go to Citroen for a lot of bits now. Oil filters etc are just as cheap as the H place and I can get a sump plug washer there which I bet the H place doesn't do.

-- Malc

The 'H place' ain't a motor factors, though.