Rathgar Motors

Timber1

Got a service in Rathgar Motors, 42a Rathgar Ave, Dublin 6. I drive a 9 year old Audi A6. So far car running fine. However, they tried to seriously overcharge me. I left the car in for a service knowing it needed new front brake pads. I rang around a few garages beforehand and got quotes from e200-e350. I went with Rathgar Motors who quoted e230 as they had done work for me once before. Got a call from the Mechanic at lunchtime to say it needed a few more things fixing which would cost about an extra e150. I agreed to most things but said no to replacing a tire. When I came to collect the car I was given a bill for just under e600. Spent a while haggling and got him down to e480 which he agreed to accept so long as I didnt pay by credit card as he would incur extra charges for this! Knowing what was fixed this was still overcharging me but in his words that was it or he would have to bring the car back into the garage and take the parts off. Rip off Ireland is still alive and kicking!

darc

Timber1 wrote: »

I went with Rathgar Motors who quoted e230 as they had done work for me once before. Got a call from the Mechanic at lunchtime to say it needed a few more things fixing which would cost about an extra e150. I agreed to most things but said no to replacing a tire. When I came to collect the car I was given a bill for just under e600. Spent a while haggling and got him down to e480 which he agreed to accept so long as I didnt pay by credit card as he would incur extra charges for this! Knowing what was fixed this was still overcharging me but in his words that was it or he would have to bring the car back into the garage and take the parts off. Rip off Ireland is still alive and kicking!

€230 (agreed) + €150 (agreed) = €480 (what you paid)

Where's the rip off?

If you gave a detailed breakdown of what was done, then you could claim rip-off if someone with knowledge shoed you how much it should have cost.

FYI - about 3 years ago in the UK a main VW dealer tried to charge me 1/2 hour labour for changing light bulbs & 1/2 hour labour for changing windscreen wipers. @ £75 an hour it amounted to £75 for 2 minutes work. Needless to say I refused to pay.

Timber1

Hi - 230+150= €380 but I ended up having to pay €480 so it was a rip off.

I had refused to pay the initial bill of nearly €600 and it was only after haggling and the garage owner saying he would take the new parts off that an amount of €480 was reached.

Oryx

Timber1 wrote: »

Hi - 230+150= €380 but I ended up having to pay €480 so it was a rip off.

I had refused to pay the initial bill of nearly €600 and it was only after haggling and the garage owner saying he would take the new parts off that an amount of €480 was reached.

What did they say brought the bill beyond the agreed 380 up to 600?

Timber1

Hi - the biggest part of the bill was for labour - 5 hours costing €340.
Work done included oil change, air filter, one bulb, brake pads (which I supplied!), brake hoses, cv boot(?), track rod, wipers.

bladespin

darc wrote: »

€230 (agreed) + €150 (agreed) = €480 (what you paid)

Where's the rip off?

It's right there, the disappearing €100 :eek:

Blue_Wolf

I havean audi and before i bought it i knew that parts are more expensive. You point out that it's 9 years old. In fact that would mean that it needs more replacing as parts are old and rusty.

Buy a Seat for your next car and wont be as expensive. Saying that you did agree to the price so I dont see what the problem is.

Timber1 wrote: »

Got a service in Rathgar Motors, 42a Rathgar Ave, Dublin 6. I drive a 9 year old Audi A6. So far car running fine. However, they tried to seriously overcharge me. I left the car in for a service knowing it needed new front brake pads. I rang around a few garages beforehand and got quotes from e200-e350. I went with Rathgar Motors who quoted e230 as they had done work for me once before. Got a call from the Mechanic at lunchtime to say it needed a few more things fixing which would cost about an extra e150. I agreed to most things but said no to replacing a tire. When I came to collect the car I was given a bill for just under e600. Spent a while haggling and got him down to e480 which he agreed to accept so long as I didnt pay by credit card as he would incur extra charges for this! Knowing what was fixed this was still overcharging me but in his words that was it or he would have to bring the car back into the garage and take the parts off. Rip off Ireland is still alive and kicking!

Cicero

9 year old Audi or 5 year old Audi- not sure it makes a difference OP.
Labour time is key to this at the end of the day, regardless of Dealer outlet- have had the same experience with another motor dealer also for a different make of car but similar price range- can't comment on the dealer/mechanic referred to in the title post, but all dealers will charge you what they can for very little work- learning a few basics yourself and indeed shopping around is the way to go, especially for cars out of guarantee - a good independent mechanic is indeed worth their weight in gold

darc

off to specsavers with me!:p

g-whizz

Cicero wrote: »

9 year old Audi or 5 year old Audi- not sure it makes a difference OP.
Labour time is key to this at the end of the day, regardless of Dealer outlet- have had the same experience with another motor dealer also for a different make of car but similar price range- can't comment on the dealer/mechanic referred to in the title post, but all dealers will charge you what they can for very little work- learning a few basics yourself and indeed shopping around is the way to go, especially for cars out of guarantee - a good independent mechanic is indeed worth their weight in gold

all independent mechanics are far cheaper per hour. we're talking ten to twenty euro here per hour!

benj

Timber1 wrote: »

Hi - 230+150= €380 but I ended up having to pay €480 so it was a rip off.

I had refused to pay the initial bill of nearly €600 and it was only after haggling and the garage owner saying he would take the new parts off that an amount of €480 was reached.

i just traded a 9 year old A6...was beginning to cost a lot also

Hildah

I used to work in the Parts Department of a Main Dealer and the tricks that went on when people left their cars into the Service Dept were unreal.

E.G. You need new brake pads, and a general service. Firstly, the brake pads supplied may not be OEM brake pads, our parts manager used to keep the emptied boxes from the workshop and put new spurious cheap brake pads in the box and sell them at full price. Things like bulbs and wiper blades/refills were never branded, they were bought from Motor Factors at trade price and sold on at approx 1000% markup. An indicator bulb cost 20c, billed to customer at €2.00 and upwards. Same with fuses, nuts, bolts, trim clips, etc. Every mechanic had a "job card" which had the labour timings clocked in on it, however they bill you for every 30 mins "or part thereof".

A nice final touch was that they used to fill your screen washer bottle up with additive (a squirt of detergent/washing up liquid in the water actually) and charge €4.00 for the pleasure. Most people won't argue for that amount.

For your own benefit, you should source whatever parts you need from your local motor factors, bog standard service parts are all the same, there is no benefit from buying from the Main dealer. So, oil filters, air filters, oil, bulbs, wipers, etc will cost SIGNIFICANTLY less. And as for buying things like tyres and batteries from the dealer, are you mad? Go to a specialist tyre & battery garage, miles cheaper.

Also, a little bit of know-how can save you a fortune. Why pay someone for half an hour labour to change a fuse/bulb/wiper when it can be done in under 2 minutes. It's not rocket science. Even I can manage to do basic maintenance/service stuff.

Let's knock this Rip off Republic into shape. People-power!

cuddlycavies

Atlas Tyre and Autoservice offer full service from €99. They are in stillorgan, tempelogue, kimmage, kylemore rd and drumcondra. They did mine. called collected and delivered as well. Did a great job. Totally honest. No oversell or bs. Spoke to the manager. They think long term and want customers to come back. Would highly recommend.

stevejazzx

Blue_Wolf wrote: »

I havean audi and before i bought it i knew that parts are more expensive. You point out that it's 9 years old. In fact that would mean that it needs more replacing as parts are old and rusty.

Buy a Seat for your next car and wont be as expensive. Saying that you did agree to the price so I dont see what the problem is.

Worst advice ever re: seat.
And he didn't agree price - read the thread.

observer2018

Timber1 wrote: »

Got a service in Rathgar Motors, 42a Rathgar Ave, Dublin 6. I drive a 9 year old Audi A6. So far car running fine. However, they tried to seriously overcharge me. I left the car in for a service knowing it needed new front brake pads. I rang around a few garages beforehand and got quotes from e200-e350. I went with Rathgar Motors who quoted e230 as they had done work for me once before. Got a call from the Mechanic at lunchtime to say it needed a few more things fixing which would cost about an extra e150. I agreed to most things but said no to replacing a tire. When I came to collect the car I was given a bill for just under e600. Spent a while haggling and got him down to e480 which he agreed to accept so long as I didnt pay by credit card as he would incur extra charges for this! Knowing what was fixed this was still overcharging me but in his words that was it or he would have to bring the car back into the garage and take the parts off. Rip off Ireland is still alive and kicking!

Wish I'd seen this post before. Had some work done with them and was seriously overcharged. Will never return there. Total rip off merchants!

CollyFlower

There's a place in Dublin 8, Bond St, that sells car parts, like wipers bulbs and he'll even fit them for you at no extra cost. Great little place and great service.

berocca2016

Been using these guys for a few years for what is now an 8 year old A4.

http://www.proautorepairs.ie/

230 for 4 new brake pads and an oil change. Never been charged more than 150 for a full service.

I don't really get what you're saying about Audi parts being expensive, the joys of Volkswahen group cats is that the parts are generically the same from Skoda to Bentley. (Obviously an old w12 engine turbo is not from a 2.0 TDI)

berocca2016

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117744178#Comment_117744178

Also just realised this thread is a million years old!