Garage rip off horror stories, please add yours

[Hendry]

My mate was just stung £240 for two tyres for a boggo Mazda 2 which seems a tad excessive to me, or are tyres that expensive now?

It's not the worst tbh, shit-fit stung me for £180 for a Michelin Energy for my Clio about a year ago, (I know I know, normally wouldn't go near them and usually tell others to avoid them) saying it was a weird uncommon size and speed rating (195/50/16 88V extra load) but I noticed leaving work at half 4 on a Saturday afternoon I had an almost flat tyre, noticed it was due to 2 panel pins in the outer edge of the tyre but on closer inspection the tyre was fucked, totally illegal and I'd have got done stupid, the camber on the NSF was clearly completely wrong, the outer edge and a part of te side wall were smoother and balder than a racing slick, hardly anywhere was open on the Sunday and those that were didn't have that size other than Kwik Shit.

 

That said I a few months later got a Continental Sport Contact tyre in the same size from a reputable place in the same size and it was £105 and that was them just charging me cost price plus 10% plus balancing, valve and VAT so I dare say £240 for two Mazda 2 tyres isn't too bad.

[Spiny Norman]

Last tyres I bought were two part worn Pirellis for my Saab 900. £22 each including balancing & fitting, they had 5.5mm on them too.

[stuboy]

My mate was just stung £240 for two tyres for a boggo Mazda 2 which seems a tad excessive to me, or are tyres that expensive now?

i paid £150 for 2x new 215/35 r18s for the mondeo

[fordperv]

i twisted mrs fordpervs mum to take her 2005 corsa 1.2 in for a recall, she hung around for it as it was only an hour or so work, the afternoon went by and a lovely service manager came out to say the car was ready with a lovely long checklist of faults with the car with a huge price tag for the work that "needed" doing, but being a wise lady she told them that her son in law does her mechanical work she only went there for the recall notice and they will probably never see her car again, she took the checklist from him and left, she showed me the list and what a complete load of poo it was

 

oh as with tyres i paid £112 fitted for a pair of falken 195 60 14 on the sapphire 2 days ago

[Grundig]

Shit fit tried to have Mrs Grundig off for a new zorst when we popped in for two tyres - car was only 17 months old, I told them " I'll decide when it needs a new exhaust" & as they hadn't even taken the wheels off yet "don't bother with the tyres we're going elsewhere" 

[Albert Ross]

£45 for 6 Goodyear G90 7.50x16 10 ply radials. 4 new, 3 slightly worn. (About £700 worth) Ã‚£40 for 5 Michelin 9.00x16 Radials. 4 with only 14mm tread remaining, 1 just legal. (About £1500 worth if new) 4 standard appearance LR rims to suit the latter. So far £90, with 1 to follow at £35. Normal price £250 per rim plus VAT. I feel raped.

[overrun]

This is a rip-off story, but it was me doing it to the garage.

 

My Primera's head gasket went one day, to which my non-driving mate remarked "Oh look, we've turned into a kettle".

It was not the time for jokes.

 

Knowing less than I do now, I limped the car to a back street garage, who said they could repair it for me.

 

Two weeks later and it still wasn't sorted. I was told all manner of bullshit in the previous check-up's I had done, either by phone or in person.

So I told them I was coming to collect it and take it elsewhere.

 

I arrived in an AA truck, was informed the head had been skimmed and a new head gasket fitted, but 'something is wrong with the timing chain'. Turns out they they broke the tensioner. :/

 

So matey pushes the car out into the alley where the AA is ready to load it up and tells me to "Just dodge up so and so's unit, mate. He's in there. You can square it with him there".

 

Did I fuck. We loaded my car and I had it away. Complete with a few decent tools that had been left inside.

 

I repaired the tensioner myself. They had snapped a stud.

 

Fuck useless garages.

[saucedoctor]

Not a rip-off a such, as there was no dishonesty involved, but rather a huge bill. My mate has an RS6 Avant which he got new, and the first oil change was nearly  £700. Just an oil and filter change, nowt else. Fair enough, it's a 5 litre V10, but what the fuck did they fill it with? Vintage champagne? The poor wee girl in Isaac Agnew Audi reception kept apologising!