Main dealer repair cost, have a guess

[S2000]

4 hours ago, Vimesy said:

If it's £210 +vat per hour in Manchester, how much are London main dealers charging per hour these days?

BMW in Tring, first service so oil and filter, 90 minutes I sat drinking water and presented with a bill of £492

[sierraman]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

Far be it from me to defend main dealers, but the ones to blame for all this are the manufacturers.

Margins on new cars are low. The manufacturers insist on the franchise having a huge glass showroom, they also change signage and point of sale graphics at their discretion, but the dealer has to pay for it.  Likewise with a complete set of special tools and diagnostic equipment, where the manufacturer sets the exorbitant price. If the car maker decides to can you, that's it, they can do it on a whim, with a very short notice period, leaving the dealership in hock to the eyeballs with no way to pay the loans off. They will remove the signage etc. that the dealer paid for very quickly. So you get £210+VAT labour rates, because it's only through parts and service that the company can make enough money to ensure that loss of the franchise won't result in immediate bankruptcy.

It seems to be a particularly UK/Ireland system of doing business. French, German, Spanish, and Italian dealers are much more modest in size. In France there's an unpretentious Citroen, Peugeot, or Renault dealer in every small town, sometimes more than one.

I’ve noticed in Spain they seem to have smaller outfits like you don’t see in the U.K., probably with 2 cars in showroom and a small workshop attached. 

[artdjones]

14 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’ve noticed in Spain they seem to have smaller outfits like you don’t see in the U.K., probably with 2 cars in showroom and a small workshop attached. 

It could be a UK thing, lots of American influence on business. American businesses dont look on their distribution network as partners, just as a resource to be sucked dry then cast aside.

[sierraman]

35 minutes ago, artdjones said:

It could be a UK thing, lots of American influence on business. American businesses dont look on their distribution network as partners, just as a resource to be sucked dry then cast aside.

American corporate culture…

[lisbon_road]

This has been covered elsewhere, but my parents have a Jaguar XF.  It had endless problems with a NOx warning that the main dealers just didn't manage to fix.  The bills were around £500 a time which added up.  This caused huge stress as they would go away and the 500 mile warning would come up.  Took it to an independent, replaced a few parts, quite expensive, but problem dealt with.

Then timing chain got noisy.  Main dealer, £3000 quote for two chains.  Independent, £1200 for one chain not two.  Said they'd only ever replaced both chains once.  Went with them, been fine since.  No posh showroom, no free coffee, but fixed at a reasonable price.

In other ways the main dealer were ok.  The car had a drastic oil leak when nearly new and the main dealer fixed it and gave them an extended guarantee on the car, as they were worried about engine damage.  That seemed decent and allowed them to get a new air con condensor free after the normal guarantee would have expired (though whether the garage had a condensor they just wanted to off load I don't know). 

I am sure that the main dealer has all kinds of problems with recruitment and overheads, but I would go back to them.  Perhaps they were just unlucky?  I have no idea, can just give our experience. 

[Cavcraft]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

£1798+VAT

More than that!

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

3.5k plus vat

Not a bad guess at all.

The answer is a mere* £4,856.48 all in.  Randomly though the spare is only £65, but I'd be surprised if that was for a space saver with tyre, perhaps just a steel wheel on it its own?

 

 

[scaryoldcortina]

Gained a customer recently, she booked a 21 plate Aygo in for a clutch (!?!) because my quote was less than half the main dealers price - they'd just done the first mot, charged her £400 for front pads and a handbrake adjustment and told her it needs a clutch.

Found myself looking at a 7000 mile car with a very high pedal. Drove it and found the bite right at the top so... Looks like I found the only 2021 car where some shit can wind the manual cable adjustment up to con someone into getting a clutch job.

Set the adjustment to spec, checked pedal, charged her £40 and sent the clutch back.

[sutty2006]

10 hours ago, Wack said:

My 2006 l322 range rover went into sytner at knutsford for a brake pipe recall 

I waited with the dolly birds front of house

( definitely there because rich people don't like bad news and they're less likely to kick off to a 23 year old page 3 girl) 

Couldn't fix it because the caliper bleed nipples were rusty and they didn't want to snap them off so I'd need to book it in again 

How much will that be then, £210 + vat per hour and they say 2 hours 

Right, bye then 

I can see that turning into 2 new calipers and £3000 

 

The chap that replaced my fuel pipe yesterday (a Sunday) charges £25 an hour…… on a fecking Sunday!!! He took 1.5 hrs, I gave him £50 and a pack of doom bar. I asked if he’d do the lower ball joint, he told me to fuck off. Okie dokie! 🤣

[Wack]

3 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

The chap that replaced my fuel pipe yesterday (a Sunday) charges £25 an hour…… on a fecking Sunday!!! He took 1.5 hrs, I gave him £50 and a pack of doom bar. I asked if he’d do the lower ball joint, he told me to fuck off. Okie dokie! 🤣

Probably done one before, did you tell him you were a mechanic but didn't want to do it 😂

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Wack said:

Probably done one before, did you tell him you were a mechanic but didn't want to do it 😂

Yes, and errr…. Yes. Lol

[mat777]

On 12/04/2024 at 21:51, Bren said:

VW wanted £750 to replace two xenon headlight bulbs on my mates 2014 passat.

No, that's not a mistake. Seven hundred and fifty quid.

To be fair, I've had to pay £530 for a single xenon bulb once on my L322 (reason number 379 why I'd never again disgrace my driveway with a "modern" LR product....) after it blew the control units with it, and the whole lot required diagnostics to replace.....

[kevins]

Got a recal on my 4 month old Fiesta, booked it in a dealer for repair and a free courtesy car to get me home (no other option they are on a out of town site) turned up and first thing they wanted was my credit card to pay £30  insurance on the courtesy car,  pretty dolly bird didn't put me off telling them where to place it, walked out and used another dealer who collected and returned it to work.

[Markeh]

I can add a ludicrous one to this.

Diagnostics fee (£120) + supply and fit one boot latch to a 2021 Qashqai.

Apparently about £500, I was told on the phone today.

Safe to say if the warranty won't cover it there's a bloody good chance the £25 one off Ebay is getting put in it...

[Talbot]

On 12/04/2024 at 23:33, Matty said:

 A lad I know a bit recently got quoted 500 quid approx to do some work on his rs6 by an audi dealership.

Aldi RS6.  Dealer.  £500.

What were they doing?  Tyre pressures and a screenwash top up?

I didn't think it was possible to have a car go into a dealer and it cost that little.

[Matty]

8 hours ago, Talbot said:

Aldi RS6.  Dealer.  £500.

What were they doing?  Tyre pressures and a screenwash top up?

I didn't think it was possible to have a car go into a dealer and it cost that little.

True