Was I Ripped Off?

cormie

Hi,
Just got new 3 new wipers, 2 front and 1 rear, not just the rubber blade but the whole thing that clips onto the bit that sticks up. I also got the guy to remove some very hard glue (think he had to get a grinder at it) that was on the back of my rear view mirror. €35 total:eek: I wasn't there for longer than 5 minutes. I feel ripped off!

L5

sounds ok to me

Vegeta

Sounds grand to be honest, thought it would have been more

RotalicaV

Sounds right, wiper rubbers alone are about 8 euro.

walshy123

decent wipers (bosch) are about 12 euro so that would be 36 so u did fine i reckon

Gurgle

cormie wrote:

not just the rubber blade but the whole thing that clips onto the bit that sticks up.

Nah, €35 sounds about right.
You can get them cheaper but thats for crappy ones.
I doubt he charged you for labour at all at that price.

unkel

He did you a sound deal. What makes you think it was a rip-off?

ballooba

I wouldn't get off my chair for €35.

Seth Brundle

Don't wipers cost about €10 upwards anyhow?
Sounds like the guy didn't make anything really from the deal.
What way was the invoice done?

cormie

They are bosch ones actually, so sounds like I did ok, I was just surprised they cost so much, as long as I wasn't ripped off I'm ok:) No invoice done, just gave him 40, he handed me back 5. He's my local guy and has done work for me before. Good to know!

bazz26

cormie wrote:

Hi,
Just got new 3 new wipers, 2 front and 1 rear, not just the rubber blade but the whole thing that clips onto the bit that sticks up. I also got the guy to remove some very hard glue (think he had to get a grinder at it) that was on the back of my rear view mirror. €35 total:eek: I wasn't there for longer than 5 minutes. I feel ripped off!

I paid €25 for 2 front wiper blades a couple of months ago so €35 for 3 is fine.

kluivert

Easily knowing you guys are from Dublin, you dont know the value of money.

I got the car serviced in an Opel Garage last week.

New wiper blades (the full set) €10, thats for the wiper itself that comes with the rubber blades. as per the receipt.

Wake up! This whole country is a rip off.

Full Service costs €125.

Oil & Filters
Sparks
Air Filter
Wipers
Fixed window washer
Fixed Heater in the car.
Car doesnt eleacute me anymore either.
Light bulbs.

1999 Opel Astra 83k on the clock.

skibum

kluivert wrote:

Full Service costs €125.

Oil & Filters
Sparks
Air Filter
Wipers
Fixed window washer
Fixed Heater in the car.
Car doesnt eleacute me anymore either.
Light bulbs.

1999 Opel Astra 83k on the clock.

where did you get that done?
Hopefully not too far from Bray
My old golf diesel wouldn't start before Christmas, mechanic quoted me over €600 , went else where, they replaced the glow plugs, tidied up some wireing, replaced front disks and pads for €250, car is flying.

Anan1

kluivert wrote:

Car doesnt eleacute me anymore either.

I'm fascinated, tell me more..

Seth Brundle

Anan1 wrote:

I'm fascinated, tell me more..

I was hoping he meant 'electrocuted' rather than something perverted!

drdre

sounds like an alright price, donot worry about it, if it had to be done than its worth it.

cormie

drdre wrote:

sounds like an alright price, donot worry about it, if it had to be done than its worth it.

Well it didn't really.. I like to compare parts to the total price of the car, €35 is nearly 6% of the total cost of the car:eek: My insurance is about 200% the cost of the car but that's a different story:o

Seth Brundle

But your insurance cost isn't directly related to the value of your car but to the risk you (and to a certain extent, the car) pose whilst driving, etc.

cormie

I know, just in terms of cost of being on the road:)

Gurgle

cormie wrote:

Well it didn't really.. I like to compare parts to the total price of the car, €35 is nearly 6% of the total cost of the car

lol
then why did you get new wipers at all?
Motor factors, garages, manufacturers and suppliers don't base the price of parts on the book value of the target vehicle.:D

(Your car was around €600, right?
Don't bother with servicing, just drive it till it stops and you'll get the best mileage for your money)

Alun

Gurgle wrote:

lol
then why did you get new wipers at all?
Motor factors, garages, manufacturers and suppliers don't base the price of parts on the book value of the target vehicle.:D

Maybe he just wanted to be able to see properly out of the windscreen when it's raining? Strange idea, I know, but it might just be true. Just because you've got a relatively cheap car doesn't mean you shouldn't maintain it properly.

The OP

kluivert wrote:

Easily knowing you guys are from Dublin, you dont know the value of money.

I got the car serviced in an Opel Garage last week.

New wiper blades (the full set) €10, thats for the wiper itself that comes with the rubber blades. as per the receipt.

Wake up! This whole country is a rip off.

Full Service costs €125.

Oil & Filters
Sparks
Air Filter
Wipers
Fixed window washer
Fixed Heater in the car.
Car doesnt eleacute me anymore either.
Light bulbs.

1999 Opel Astra 83k on the clock.

Yeah, but living down the country means you have to live down the country, so it all balances out.

I personally order EVERYTHING on eBay - from Linen, pillows, to shoes, to wiper blades, to coffee beans, to hair gel, to fish food, ink, photo paper, DVDs, jeans, all my X-mas presents, etc, etc - all much cheaper than getting ripped off in Ireland. It's not as if I "don't go out" - I just do much shopping in Ireland, except weekly groceries & petrol - even toiletries I get on eBay where possible, or else Musgrave. I don't like paying more than people in the UK or US - and eBay is still cheaper than most retail outlets in those countries.

So I guess my point is - yes, I live in Dublin (which I prefer than the bog), but I never pay rip-off Dublin prices where possible.

Anyway, back on topic....

kluivert

skibum wrote:

where did you get that done?
Hopefully not too far from Bray
My old golf diesel wouldn't start before Christmas, mechanic quoted me over €600 , went else where, they replaced the glow plugs, tidied up some wireing, replaced front disks and pads for €250, car is flying.

Opel Garage in Monaghan. Very reasonable. I asked for the gear box oil to be changed, never done, wheel bearing needs to be changed but they couldnt identify which one is going.

"Electrocuted" is what i meant. Everytime i went to close the door the bloody thing would shock me. Static build up in the car, but they fixed that as well, without putting that stupid little black strip on the back bumper.

el tel

I buy Bosch wiper blades from eurocarparts.com and they work out at appox. €5.80 each. The same items are sold around the corner in Halfrauds for over twice that.

The OP

el tel wrote:

The same items are sold around the corner in Halfrauds for over twice that.

It's "Halfords".

el tel

The OP wrote:

It's "Halfords".

Gurgle

Alun wrote:

Maybe he just wanted to be able to see properly out of the windscreen when it's raining? Strange idea, I know, but it might just be true. Just because you've got a relatively cheap car doesn't mean you shouldn't maintain it properly.

The [sarcasm] tags don't work on your PC ?
You need to enable them in your web browser.

walshy123

el tel wrote:

I buy Bosch wiper blades from eurocarparts.com and they work out at appox. €5.80 each. The same items are sold around the corner in Halfrauds for over twice that.

good price. that include postage? gonna have a look on there now

el tel

walshy123 wrote:

good price. that include postage? gonna have a look on there now

I don't know about P&P as I buy them in the branch in Belfast.

Alun

Gurgle wrote:

The [sarcasm] tags don't work on your PC ?
You need to enable them in your web browser.

Oh, I see, you mean those invisible [sarcasm] tags that you didn't actually put in? Or are we all supposed to be psychic or something?

Anyway, judging by the deplorable state of a lot of older cars here in Ireland, I had no reason to suspect you weren't being anything but 100% serious.

lol
then why did you get new wipers at all?
Motor factors, garages, manufacturers and suppliers don't base the price of parts on the book value of the target vehicle.:D

(Your car was around €600, right? Don't bother with servicing, just drive it till it stops and you'll get the best mileage for your money)

delly

The OP wrote:

Yeah, but living down the country means you have to live down the country, so it all balances out.

Zing

Gurgle

Alun wrote:

Oh, I see, you mean those invisible [sarcasm] tags that you didn't actually put in? Or are we all supposed to be psychic or something?

I told ya, you have to enable them in your web browser.

Alun wrote:

Anyway, judging by the deplorable state of a lot of older cars here in Ireland, I had no reason to suspect you weren't being anything but 100% serious.

What decade are you in then?
Have you heard of the good old NCT?
Now you have to clean the car every 2 years whether it needs it or not.

delly

Gurgle wrote:

Have you heard of the good old NCT?
Now you have to clean the car every 2 years whether it needs it or not.

So thats why i failed :eek:

Blitzkrieger

The last time I replaced my front wiper blades it was 5 euro for the pair and the guy fitted them for free (took less than a minute). Of course you were ripped off. Was it a main dealer? They love to bill for labour in chunks. So if it's x per hour they'll charge x/3 for 20 minutes or any part thereof.

Never, EVER go to a main dealer for anything. I feel like going on a rant but my break's almost over. BBL

Alfasudcrazy

Don't know why you did not chance that job yourself Cormie.
I just take off the old wiper blades and go to my local motor factor shop - get new ones that match and then fit them myself.

The glue on the window could have been taken off with a sharp scraper and a cloth doused with white spirits - would have save yourself a tenner if not more.;)

ballooba

Sounds like a lot of effort to save ten euro.

Keep worrying about the pennies and you won't have enough time to make the euros.

Gurgle

Blitzkrieger wrote:

The last time I replaced my front wiper blades it was 5 euro for the pair and the guy fitted them for free (took less than a minute). Of course you were ripped off. Was it a main dealer? They love to bill for labour in chunks. So if it's x per hour they'll charge x/3 for 20 minutes or any part thereof.

Never, EVER go to a main dealer for anything. I feel like going on a rant but my break's almost over. BBL

Wiper blades = Strips of rubber?
Wiper = Metal assembly including strips of rubber?
€Wiper > €wiper blade

Blitzkrieger

I meant wipers. The whole plastic assembly - he didn't have blades to fit my car.

Mercury_Tilt

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el tel

Mercury_Tilt wrote:

This post has been deleted.

^^This is very true^^

I recently bought a full exhaust system, brake disks and pads and a starter from the main Volkswagen dealer in Belfast, each item being at least 20% cheaper than any other source I could find.

It pays to shop around but not overlook the main dealers either.