Fordmad!

Had my Fiesta rs1800 in for some work last week as id of never finished it off. Took it to where i always go.

It had

Front shocks (i supplied)
4 tyres (i supplied)
4 brake hoses (i supplied the fronts)
Tracking

Rear shoes, pistons and handbrake cables. (They supplied)
Fan belt and pulley (They supplied)

He also fitted a different back box on as mine was rotten as it was the original.

They've charged me £630. It was bit more then i was expecting as i supplied most of the bits. They had it a week as i was in no rush for it back so they did it as and when. From what I've worked out its about £500 in labour. They lad who has done it is sort of a mate and i was expecting bit of a discount as i take 5 cars there all year round for bits i can't do.

It may well be a fair price just seeing what people thought

gcfcos

What do they charge an hour matey?

mk1turboestate

iTrader: (2)

I wouldn't imagine it's more than a days work? If it was for cash from a mate I'd say it's fairly steep but from a vat registered garage probably avarage

fuzzy

I'm not a mechanic but id have thought that would be more than a day? 3-4 hours to change the shockys, a couple of hours to change the 4 brake hoses and bleed the system, an hour for the tracking, 3-4 hours plus to do the rear brakes with the cables, an hour to do the tyres, an hour to do the back box, an hour to do the fan belt and pulley.
I don't know how mechanics price things but as a joiner theres no part hours, everythings rounded up so your about a day and a half which is around £40 an hour for the £500.
I wouldn't be to happy with that. I go to a small local random garage where I don't know anyone and hes only £25 an hour.

Fordmad!

Not sure what its is an hour but i can't see more then a days work really all in. Its gone through a proper garage i just know the mechanic. I know he can't really do a lot about knocking anything off etc i just can't see how they have got £500 odd in labour. Ill be asking Friday when i go in I'm not too happy tbh

gcfcos

The garage where I'm just leaving charges £70 plus vat an hour and it's a rural garage. Front shocks we would charge an hour a side, all new rear shoes and cylinders and hoses 2 hours for the lot and then front hoses an hour for the pair handbrake cables would add at least an hour possibly less depending If it come apart ok etc. Tyres supplied by customer we charge £17.50 plus vat for each tyre fitted and the 4 wheel alignment is £50 plus vat from memory. The rear exhaust box wed charge half hour labour and the fan belt and pulley half hour again.

andy888

its an old car so just depends how things come apart! the front shocker pinch bolts in 2008 fiestas are usually seized solid!

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Have you seen the cost breakdown on the invoice? Sounds about right to me, independent garages round here all charge £60+vat an hour or more.

Fordmad!

No not yet going in Friday. Thing that annoys me is i use them all the time all my cars go there i spend 1000s in a year there i just expected bit off as i get with builders merchants etc. I give good returning customers good rates when working for them

STeve

iTrader: (11)

he defo did you no favors thats for sure

cossynut2

Unfortunately for you not everyone seems to take your past loyal custom into account and takes it for granted that you will just pay up. I think if I was in your position I would have expected a better deal seeing that you supplied a lot of the parts.

furry

using autodata I make it around 6.5hrs work plus parts and tyre fitment

630 minus the vat is 525 (assuming they're vat reg and it's inc vat)

£40 for tyres
pulley £20?
belt £10?


leaves £455 divide that by the 6.5hrs makes £70 an hour.

as above it also depends on anything being seized etc

Bailes1992

The garage I use are £60+VAT per hour. My Missus thinks it's daylight robbery but everything is done to perfection and I never have any issues with their work.
Whenever I go anywhere else I constantly stress about weather or not work I've paid for has been done or at least done correctly.

I'd say the labour quote is about right in my opinion!

Fordmad!

Well turns out the price he gave me was excluding vat. What a joke. The cheeky bastards even have tried to charge me £7 for a brake light bulb!!!!!!

Ive been in and paid the £630 still owe them the vat. Unless they amend the bill slightly the won't be getting it.

Charged 7.5 hours labour plus parts which I'm happy with but things like the bulb charge take the piss seeing as i have 5 vehicles that i take there all year round!!!

gcfcos

Wow plus vat that's mental! £7 for a brake light bulb that's insane

stevieturbo

If you're getting good reliable service...that alone is a rarity these days. There are many many garages with people like Fastlife91 as mechanics. And that is no joke !!

The £630 here does sound a bit high, but there is no mention of seized parts etc. Often when replacing flexis the metal pipe/fittings can break necessitating making up new metal brake pipes too etc

But if the work is done to a good standard...sometimes that is the lesser of two evils.

I see shit on a daily basis where people end up having to spend a fortune after being to 1, 2, 3 other garages who've almost literally destroyed their cars. But they thought they were getting a good deal because they got cheap quotes.

And that's just routine work ! Delve into the tuning world and things can get even more shocking.

cossynut2

When you give someone a quote for work it should be a total cost Including vat with no hidden extras.
I have been in sales for a long time and my customers know exactly what they will get and how much it will cost.
£7 for a light bulb! £1 tops !!

studabear

So a garage should supply and a brake light bulb for £1 including the vat.

Bailes1992

£7 seems reasonable to supply AND fit a lamp?

cossynut2

If you are a loyal customer who has spent loads of money with the garage and recommended other people to use them as well it just seems charging £7 for a light bulb ( how long does it take to change it? ) was a bit mean.
I just changed a blown rear light bulb in my wifes Clio, cost me £1 from our local auto factors.

gcfcos

Some cars a bulb change can be an absolute ass. If it's quick and easy then a couple of quid for the tea/coffee fund normally suffices

stevieturbo

If you can supply a car with no hidden extras then I guess that might be a plausible argument.

And if you dont want to pay over the odds for a bulb change at a garage that needs paid as a business....because that's what it is. Then change the damn bulb yourself ! lol

Although if the bulb was a simple quick swap as most older cars are, and given the amount of other work done....I'd have thought most smaller garages would have done that without charge.


Main dealer would probably charge triple and fit a broken bulb !

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

The garage I use don't like taking on work where the customer has supplied the parts, as they say they are usually the wrong bits, then it causes aggro to get the customer to get the right parts. If they get them from their suppliers then it's pretty easy to exchange for the right bits.

cossynut2

I can see a fair reason for that if the person supplying the parts has not done his/her homework to make certain the parts are the right ones. However if the parts are correct and the customer has supplied them it should make no difference to the garage, they can still charge to change them to make their money.
I have supplied loads of parts for my 2wd Saff and never had any issues from Richard at Tremona Garage who has looked after my Saff for the last 20+ years.If I am not 100% sure about which is the correct part I check with him first, simple really.

fuzzy

i would expect parts supplied by the garage would have a mark up so theyed prefer to supply parts that theyre fitting themselves.

gcfcos

Yeah quite a mark up on parts. I used to charge trade price plus 20% but some people I've worked for charge full retail price

fuzzy

that's fair enough, some folk aren't happy with that but the discount you get from your supplier has been built up after years of trading so that discounts yours.
20% is the mark up I add to all materials .(building trade).
also if someone supplied their own parts and theyre cheap ebay parts and they fail soon after fitting the garage ends up with agro from the car owner through no fault of their own.

studabear

We won't fit customers own supplied parts.

Ask them if they take their own potatoes to the chip shop.

stevieturbo

Might improve the chips at a lot of them..

cossynut2

Your Garage, your choice. I can see if its a garage that is not a specialist one but do work on any make and model it could be a pain in the ass with people bringing in either the wrong parts or cheap poor quality copies of the OE.
I would not take my 2wd Saff to have work done on it by any garage that does not have expert knowledge of Cosworths and most of Tremona Garages customers have had a long relationship with them. They have never had a problem of either supplying the parts or fitting customers own supplied parts as most Ford enthusiasts that use them would not use any parts which are not correct for their particular model.

stevieturbo

In some ways it's surprising, as in this day and age, with everyone wanting a claim etc etc....it almost seems insane for garages to agree to fit parts not supplied by them

studabear

Normally with general day to day cars it's usually cheap skates or skint members that want their own supplied parts fitted.

I can understand it when the car is a bit specialist or when the parts are upgrades.

gcfcos

Yeah the garage I've just left a lot of our work was classic cars and obscure makes of vehicles and the customer had to spend the time and effort getting the parts for them but run of the mill everyday cars we didn't want to fit customer supplied parts as if it was wrong then the car could be stuck on our ramp for days. eBay parts are a great example as a lot of people see a price on there and then say "well on eBay it's really cheap" but they don't factor in that their car is broken now and they want it back today so they can take their car back home and wait 3-5 days for the part and then for that "cheap part" to fail quickly and then they'll be back blaming us. Just not worth the effort and problems

Turbosystems

iTrader: (5)

You bought it yourself go fit it yourself lol

Fordmad!

For people moaning that i took in my own parts, they actually told me to get hold of what i can as they were struggling to get hold of parts. Had to order the shocks from ireland. Hoses i ordered but weren't sure on the rears as there were 4 types so they said they'd sort that.

Hope that satisfies the people moaning about supplying parts

As for the tyres i got 4 for the price of 2 hence why i bought them myself

studabear

Fordmad, don't take it personally, it's a old car I would personally understand a customer fetching their own parts. My employer wouldn't accept it, that's their policy.

gcfcos

Yeah for classic or obscure stuff there's no other way than for the customer to search for and supply parts most of the time unless the garage is a specialist of course

Thrush

iTrader: (1)

Took my Lexus in for a suspension overhaul to a garage in Chesham last summer. I supplied my own parts (4x shocks, 4x springs, 2x front ball joints) and they did the fitting and alignment (I take it to them as they do the proper geo set up, using custom specs rather than Lexus specs, which makes it handle better and less inner tyre wear, so I figured the best place to have all the suspension changed out was there where they could do the alignment at the same time). Total cost to me was £350 IIRC, of which an alignment is usually best part of £100. So I thought that was pretty reasonable.

mk3ste

If your a loyal customer at our garage we don't charge for bulbs or run of the mill wiper blades tbh
The quote does sound on the high side but labour charges vary in the country so much

Always best to get a quote but as ppl previously said cheapest is not always best

fuzzy

i wonder if people do their weekly food shop with the same attitude. I'm in here a couple of times a year so I should get some stuff for free. good luck with that at tescos !