Service/MOT Rip Off?

[Supermac]

I took my 96 Mark 3 8v in for a service and MOT yesterday, to a dealership as I wanted the aircon doing.

It failed the MOT, unsurprisingly and I just spoke to another garage about the work they say needs doing (figures in sterling)

1) NSF tyre - 118.67
2) Loose brake pipe 14.10
3) ABS sensor wiring snapped on NSF 125.17
4) Headlamp & OSR lamp out 6.38
5) Front wipers smearing
6) Rear axle bushes starting to split 211.50
7) Slight play in both rear wheel bearings/rear discs and pads below min thickness 304.37
Exhaust incorrectly fitted & rubbers split 13.93
9) Rear bump stops split/rear shockers starting to leak 230.91
10) Front wish bone bushes starting to split 130.61

Now, I realise some work has to be done and VW will charge a bit extra, but over 1100 quid?!! The garage I spoke to just now said that a lot of this work is "unnecessary", and that they may not have even looked at some things properly. Am I being paranoid here? I don't mind paying for work to be done, as this car is used to carry my kids about, but I resent having to pay a fortune and get ripped off.

[Bazzer]

Moral: don't get MOTs done at a stealership...... Get them done at a local specialist, then save the VAG only stuff for the beggars... 

[Overseer]

^ seconded..

stealerships are notorious for "finding extra work..."

[gibby]

That is absolutely fooking scandalous ! Unless required for the warranty on a new car etc, I would never ever in a million squillion years let the stealers do anything on my car. Take it to an independent garage that you trust or can be recomended and let them do the MOT and work, taking it to the stealers does not make your care safer for carrying your kids around. I really cannot believe what they have quoted you there.

For number 1, what's the tyre made out of, gold lining !  As for number 9, you could get a brand new set of shocks, and a good make like Bilstein for around that price.

 

[HARDCOR3]

they must be to match the 24k gold wheel bearings and discs & diamond impregnated pads...

[Neaty]

fcuk that!! 1100 quid!i would of pissed my self laughing if they said that to me!!

you can bodge most stuff/cover it, up for example my mot on my first valver - brake lines corroded, this would imply that they needed replacing, but instead i got a can of under sealant and sprayed them black, they never knew the difference, of course the car still failed is MOT (3 times in fact) but it wasnt for this!

[jte]

Good god!

Obviously the price of the tyre is a complete joke.

They are clearly trying to charge you triple labour here on the rear discs, shock absorbers and axle bushes.  If you change the bushes you have to pretty much remove the shock absorbers anyway so you might as well replace them with new ones without adding much labour time to the job.

I would recommend getting the rear axle bushes and shock absorbers done as it made a huge improvement to my golf recently, and obvioulsy get the brakes sorted.  But like everyone else says, go to a vw specialist rather than a dealer and if you have it all done together it will save a lot of labour time.

Although I would consider using genuine parts for piece of mind and quality.

Even using vw parts i would be suprised if the whole lot cost too much more than 600 pounds.

[mysticblue_mk3]

Exhaust incorrectly fitted

Wasn't previously fitted by them by any chance was it?

It took me 2 return visits to my local VAG dealership for them to correctly fit my genuine VAG (cat back) exhaust and discover that my rear gearbox mount was the cause of it's excess movement . I had that job done at a reputable local garage for under £50 (part & labour), God knows what the stealership would have wanted for that job!

Even though the previous quick fit exhaust was worn out, it had at least been fitted properly. So it's also worth bearing in mind that some stealership spanner monkeys aren't as competent as most people assume.

£1100 for all that work is extortionate to say the least. Just out of interest Supermac, how much were they looking to rip you off for, for a full service?

[AudiA8Quattro]

I would expect that if genuine parts are used then parts should come to about 400 quid.
There is a lot of labour involved in doing all that work, but i wouldn't expect the final bill to be more than about 800 quid.

[Supermac]

The tyre was never going to get done there, I usually get them for about 45 quid. I forgot to mention the 40 quid they wanted for oil (Castrol), 4 litres.

I only went to the dealersh!te to get the aircon done, as they're round the corner from work, and the bloke who dealt with me said (whispered!) shop around; my mate's dad has a garage, and I quoted him the work that "needs" to be done and what they reckoned it would cost. He laughed, and was quite put out as some of the parts on the car (such as the brake pads) were fitted by him a little while back. A lot of what was on the list is more at the warning stage - the ABS wire needs doing, it had a blow out a while back and must've damaged it.

The exhaust was fitted by Kwik Fit, needless to say - had to be done in a hurry as it sounded like a squadron of Vulcan bombers. They are rubbish, but it was a case of needs must.

It's costing me about £100 per month in repairs to keep the thing going at the moment, and I am going to get shot of it after Christmas I reckon. It's a P plate, with only 63K on the clock, but it doesn't get the thrashing that it should do as it's used for the school run mostly.

The total cost of this particular jaunt to VW cost me the princely sum of 194.13, 44.15 of which was MOT.