Am I being robbed - 03 Ford Fiesta Water Pump

Jumbo156

My wife has a 03 ford fiesta.
The overheating light came on yesterday. There was no drop in coolant.
She booked it in for a service yesterday in a ford main dealer.
They just rang and said that the water pump is gone.
They will need to replace this and the timing belt.
Together with a full service , the cost will be €1200.

is this mad money in this day and age, or is it the norm?

voxpop

thats very high

Paddysnapper

Sounds very naughty!!!!! Probably charging 100E an hour labour.

mondeo

Go to an independant garage and get the work done. It's a 7 year old car I would not be paying main dealer prices for repair work on it..

itarumaa

awful price, actually more than my whole car, I would ask another opinion,

questionmark?

:eek: That is highway robbery. Take Mondeo's advice and go to an independent garage.

dak

I got the timing belt, tensioner, water pump done 6 months ago on on a 2Lt Opel Omega and it cost around €500 euro.

My Wife booked her car into a main dealer for a service with one of these fixed price service offers.. I told her to make sure they didn't do any extra work without ringing her. She gave my phone number and I said to her just wait and see how much extra they will want to do. Sure enough I got a call with a few hundred euros worth of non-essential repairs which I refused.

I bet if you bring her car to a different dealer you will get a cheaper price... some ( but not all ) garages just charge women more !

gent9662

Thats a crazy price, I have another going at the moment regarding my toyota yaris and water pump problems. To get the water pump and fit it is costing €150 which I thought alone was pretty high, I would ring another Ford garage close to you and see how much the part is to buy. Then get it and give to a good mechanic to fit for you. I bet it will be a lot less than that amount.

Jumbo156

Update:

The timing belt, water pump, the track rods, thermostat housing, thermostat, brake pads and full service.
€1200 is a ball park, they reckon it won't be as much as that and certainly not over it...

gbee

I'd not consider it excessive for a main dealer.

The 03 Fiesta could be expected to need all the usual, timing belt, water pump, radiator, alternator, clutch etc. so it is entering a very expensive ownership period.

The 03 Fiesta is not a sophisticated car that warrants main dealer attention, you might be stuck now, but keep the list of contact you get from this thread as you will need them soon enough.

mondeo

Jumbo156 wrote: »

Update:

The timing belt, water pump, the track rods, thermostat housing, thermostat, brake pads and full service.
€1200 is a ball park, they reckon it won't be as much as that and certainly not over it...

I would still look for a few other quotes before going with them....You went into get an overheating problem done, were you aware it needed track rod ends and brake pads aswell? Is the thermostat and housing really in need of
replacing?

Yakult

A blatent rip off. Go to a independent garage and guaranteed it will be half that price easily. And thats from experience.

DaveJac

a complete rip off, id say half that price would be ok for a main dealer (used to work in a main ford dealer) thats giving the car a full service timing belt kit and water pump, is there anything else gone besides the waterpump? some of those zetec engines have a cylinder head temp sensor, they stop the engine before it does damage they are not even that dear

Tropheus

I got a timing belt and water pump done on a 01 Passat at an independent last month for €350. That price is crazy.

robtri

thats mad...

get the car out of there and get a second opinion...

crazy money

x in the city

Jumbo156 wrote: »

My wife has a 03 ford fiesta.
The overheating light came on yesterday. There was no drop in coolant.
She booked it in for a service yesterday in a ford main dealer.
They just rang and said that the water pump is gone.
They will need to replace this and the timing belt.
Together with a full service , the cost will be €1200.

is this mad money in this day and age, or is it the norm?

dont go to a main dealer and get it done for half that

Run_to_da_hills

I know a reputable garage in Dunlaoghaire that would probably do it for a third of that.

johndaman66

Jumbo156 wrote: »

The overheating light came on yesterday. There was no drop in coolant.

With all due respect it might be a good idea to check the levels under the bonnet on a periodic basis. Its a bit beyond me why people spend tens of thousands on cars or other machinery and practically ignore the maintenace of them. Your wife was very lucky more serious damage was not done from driving with no coolant if such is the case.

I didn't come on with the absolute intention of insulting you if thats the way it seems though. As others have being saying I would tend to get a number of other quotes for the immediately necessary work as she would probably be paying about double for the privelage of having it fixed at a main dealers. I would be careful of driving it any distance if at all with a failed water pump to avoid further damage so perhaps might be best to get it towed or trailered away to another garage.

kasper

there is no drop in coolant ? is there no drop in coolant level or is there no coolant in the car ?

cormie

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I know a reputable garage in Dunlaoghaire that would probably do it for a third of that.

Care to share the name of them and where in Dun-L they are?

I've had some crazy quotes from Ford Main dealers on work on Transits. Has worked out less than half price on most things going to my mechanic (who is also a boards user actually).

Run_to_da_hills

cormie wrote: »

Care to share the name of them and where in Dun-L they are?

I've had some crazy quotes from Ford Main dealers on work on Transits. Has worked out less than half price on most things going to my mechanic (who is also a boards user actually).

Theres a few places I know worth getting quotes one back street other from guys that left Esmonde and started up on their own.

Esel

Another definite +1 for going to a recommended independent mechanic. You'd be mad not to.

Jumbo156

johndaman66 wrote: »

With all due respect it might be a good idea to check the levels under the bonnet on a periodic basis. Its a bit beyond me why people spend tens of thousands on cars or other machinery and practically ignore the maintenace of them. Your wife was very lucky more serious damage was not done from driving with no coolant if such is the case.

I didn't come on with the absolute intention of insulting you if thats the way it seems though. As others have being saying I would tend to get a number of other quotes for the immediately necessary work as she would probably be paying about double for the privelage of having it fixed at a main dealers. I would be careful of driving it any distance if at all with a failed water pump to avoid further damage so perhaps might be best to get it towed or trailered away to another garage.

yep thats what it sounds like to me, your first paragraph is insulting.
When I said no drop in coolant, that's what I meant...There was no drop in coolant i.e. the coolant was up to it's recommended level.

Jumbo156

Anyway, job had to be done today, car urgently needed for the weekend, so kinda tied to the main dealer where she left it yesterday.
Final bill was €800....

Run_to_da_hills

Jumbo156 wrote: »

Anyway, job had to be done today, car urgently needed for the weekend, so kinda tied to the main dealer where she left it yesterday.
Final bill was €800....

You were lucky to have it booked in so quick, I have often waited up to a week to get stuff done by main Ford dealers.

Which engine is in the Fiesta. I used to drive a 1.3 2003 Fiesta and it had a timing chain not a belt. I wouldn't have gone near a Ford dealer with it. My mother was told (when she was driving it) she needed a new cat on the car by the Ford dealer and it would be 1000 euro. That was 4 years ago and we never did the cat and its been flying through the nct since.

Incidentaly my sister is driving it now and also had to get the water pump done as it was over heating, the seals were gone in the pump in her case and it was losing coolant. She had it done by an independent mechanic but I cant remember what it cost.

rabinc-74

i just asked my husband this question...he is an independent garage.(fully insured too) <modsnip>based in Dublin 15. PM me if you'd like his details.</modsnip>

it all depends on whether or not they are putting original ford parts,or spurious parts(not ford parts,but made by someone else)

if he quoted for it,it would be around €450-€500. labour,tax included.

that would be for spurious parts.

good luck!!!:)

johndaman66

Jumbo156 wrote: »

yep thats what it sounds like to me, your first paragraph is insulting.
When I said no drop in coolant, that's what I meant...There was no drop in coolant i.e. the coolant was up to it's recommended level.

Sorry for coming across insulting or condescending as that was not my intention. We were at cross purposes as my understanding was there wasn't a drop of coolant in the resovoir as opposed to no drop in level, apologies in this regard.

Good to hear you got it fixed and are motoring again. Out of interest did they change the timing belt and full service for the 800?

Idbatterim

there is no point whatsoever in getting a main dealer to work on an 03 fiesta!

Jumbo156

johndaman66 wrote: »

Sorry for coming across insulting or condescending as that was not my intention. We were at cross purposes as my understanding was there wasn't a drop of coolant in the resovoir as opposed to no drop in level, apologies in this regard.

Good to hear you got it fixed and are motoring again. Out of interest did they change the timing belt and full service for the 800?

Noproblem I was having a bad day

yes, she got the timing belt done, the thermostat and housing done, the steering struts, brake pads and full service done.

mondeo

800 is still way too much....