Fitting tyres - it's a joke.

CiniO

I live in pretty rural area.
Anyway, I got set of 4 tyres for my Fiat Bravo through the internet. I got them posted to my house, packed them to the car, and set off for a journey to fit them in.
In most local garages the price quoted was between 60 - 100 euros, which I found too expensive, and I was not willing to pay that much for half an hour work.
Actually in many garages, I almost got abused. They said that they are selling tyres too... In some garages I was told that they won't do it at all, because they only fit tyres that they sell. I completely can't understand it, as garages were not busy at all. Guy prefered to tell me to feck off, and sit in an empty garage without customers, instead to fit tyres f.e. for 40 quid in half an hour. I just can't understand it.
In one garage (which was listed as approved fitters on the list from the website i got the tyres from) guy told me, that guys from that website are f...ing bast@rds and he's not willing to do any work for me.

The most funny thing is, that if I'd go to any of these garages with flat tyre, they would fix it in most cases for less 10 euros or less.
And fixing includes taking wheel off the car, taking tyre off, patching the hole, fitting tyre again, balancing and fitting back to the car.
So it's actually more work then just fitting new tyres, and costs much less - unbelievable.

I understand that guys don't like the ones like me who buy tyres on the internet instead of buying at their place, but by not willing to fit tyres, they only loose business, and not gain anything, because I'm gonna fit them somehow anyway, and i'm definitely not gonna come back to such a garage.

Finally I found a man who done it for 45 quid, but I think it's still dear.

I'm already thinking what I'm going to do in December when I'll need to take tyres off my Primera and fit winter tyres.
That service which should cost something like 30 - 40 quid, will be a lot of hassle for me again to find a place to do it.

Bandara

What do you expect them to do?

Your not willing to pay their prices then its your problem, your make it sound like your doing them some kind of favour offering them 40 quid (or is that still too dear?) to fit FOUR tyres. Have you any comprehension whatsoever how much it costs to have a business in Ireland? You are aware that business are there to make a profit of some description?

The mind boggles sometimes on this forum, it really does.

NewApproach

Hammertime wrote: »

What do you expect them to do?

Your not willing to pay their prices then its your problem, your make it sound like your doing them some kind of favour offering them 40 quid (or is that still too dear?) to fit FOUR tyres. Have you any comprehension whatsoever how much it costs to have a business in Ireland? You are aware that business are there to make a profit of some description?

The mind boggles sometimes on this forum, it really does.

Look at it this way. The OP has already sourced his tyres, so he isn't going to be buying tyres from the garage he goes to. The garage owner knows this, so cursing them or whatever else is a bit silly. He has the machinery and the staff to do the job, so the marginal cost of doing the job is basically zero.

So he has two options. He can either fit the tyres for the OP, and charge a reasonable price.
Or he can tell the OP to f-off, and in so doing lose the income he would have received from fitting the tyres, along with losing any income from future sales/fittings/repairs from that customer.

The mind does indeed boggle.

dotz

that takes the biscuit now alright. most places i know of would change them for me. if they are used to doing tires then they would have four changed in 15 minutes MAX. thats 160 euro an hour. if they arent happy with that then they should quit.

corktina

they didnt say they wouldnt change them, just wanted 15 to 25 a corner to do it. Assuming that includes balancing, seems quite reasonable to me.

Hellrazer

corktina wrote: »

they didnt say they wouldnt change them, just wanted 15 to 25 a corner to do it. Assuming that includes balancing, seems quite reasonable to me.

If a customer comes in to us with their own tyres its 15-20 per tyre depending on the size.However if they buy the tyres from us we give free fitting and balancing and only charge the price of the tyre including VAT.

alexlyons

As already stated by you and the second poster, you have four tyres to fit. the claim of €10 to fix a puncture being much less than fitting tyres isn't really that valid as the only difference is plugging a small hole which takes 20 seconds tops.

Multiply that by 4 and you have €40, which I would call fair, €50 would be acceptable and €60 dear, any more and it's pushing it to rip off.

You're not going to find anywhere cheaper than €40, I'd nearly feel guilty getting charged less than that!!

cabrwab

I think those prices are fine to be honest.

Your bringing in tyres you purchased elsewhere into them.

Id say the profit on fitting these tyres bought off the net doesn't bring in much profit, id say most profit is brought in by the selling of tyres.

Where you going in and trying to haggle with the places OP or did you except the prices?

I must say if i owned a tyre place id look after the people who where purchasing tyres off me first.

super_sweeney

in my opinion 60 euro would be a fair price as these guys have had to train to change these tyres however hard or easy that maybe they still no how to do it and you dont. they also have spent the money on speciallised machinery which you have not. therefor he has to justify the spending on this traing/labour/machinery. i reckon 60 would be a fair deal. i know there are some rewal bargins online and you could easily make this back by getting them online. but once again just my own personal thoughts.

Hellrazer

cabrwab wrote: »

I must say if i owned a tyre place id look after the people who where purchasing tyres off me first.

+1

Its the same with people wanting to bring in their own service kits/parts with them.We dont entertain that at all.

My job is to sell parts and labour and if someone brings their own parts/tyres I make sure they pay a premium on the labour.
If they give me the whole job ie parts and labour I`ll look after them for example with free tyre fitting/balancing and if they buy 4 we also give free 4 wheel alignment.

neilthefunkeone

15 a corner sounds pretty ok to me for fitting and balance.. no?

I know some places wont fit tyre's brought in to them.. Advance for 1..

If someone doesnt want your business then move on to the next place.. their loss.. no point crying over it!;)

inforfun

Fully understand you buy tyres on line as it can be much cheaper.
But i can also understand garages not being too happy about only having to fit the tyres you bought elsewhere.
It is a bit like bringing your own veggies and meat to a restaurant and only and ask them to cook it for you for a few euro's.

muckwarrior

Perhaps it's their method of combating the cheap online tyre services. Charge a fortune or refuse to fit them at all in the hope that people will get pissed off with the hassle, and just buy straight from a garage next time?

That said, I think anything around the €15 mark is reasonable. Much less and I can see how it wouldn't be worth their time.

mullingar

inforfun wrote: »

It is a bit like bringing your own veggies and meat to a restaurant and only and ask them to cook it for you for a few euro's.

I hate when people use that argument.

Vegtables dont cost €100/corner.

You cant eat tyres.

You cant cook tyres.

Hell, some tyre fitters cant cook vegetables.

A lot of restaurants are now allowing you to bring your own wine. This is more on the lines for the argument as they charge a nominal corkage to cover staff costs.

This corkage charge is the same as getting a tyre outlet to fit your own tyres

/rant over;)

And yes, €15 is the going rate per corner.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

The most funny thing is, that if I'd go to any of these garages with flat tyre, they would fix it in most cases for less 10 euros or less.
And fixing includes taking wheel off the car, taking tyre off, patching the hole, fitting tyre again, balancing and fitting back to the car.
So it's actually more work then just fitting new tyres, and costs much less - unbelievable.

removing a tyre and mounting it again and balancing it to repair a puncture ?? You are dreaming to be honest. The price they quoted you of €60 to €100 seems quite reasonable to me unless you were supplying the new valves and balance weights, which you no dount were not. No dount it inlcuded them disposing of your old tyres too.

seriouslywhat

OP part of me would like to think your jokin but then the other part of me knows your not which is quite sad really.

Business is business. These placese need to make money. You go to them with tyres you bought elsewhere and expect them to not charge or charge small amounts of money???? Why the hell would they?!

Thats like saying to DID or Powercity or wherever I bought a stereo online would ya mind fitting it. You can imagine the answer and rightly so.

Owen

Exactly what James said. 15 Euro a wheel seems to be a standard price everywhere, and usually includes disposing the tyres too. Didn't Eiretyres even quote 15 Euro a wheel to have it done at the various tyre shops around the country they'd tied up with?

discombobulate

Probably cost the extra 10-20 anyway for ya in petrol going to all these garages!!!

bladespin

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Exactly what James said. 15 Euro a wheel seems to be a standard price everywhere, and usually includes disposing the tyres too. Didn't Eiretyres even quote 15 Euro a wheel to have it done at the various tyre shops around the country they'd tied up with?

Yup, best crowd locally would do it for €10 per wheel but you have to dispose of the tyre yourself or €15 and they'll look after it, I think that's a bargain TBH.

Matt Simis

Hammertime wrote: »

What do you expect them to do?

Your not willing to pay their prices then its your problem, your make it sound like your doing them some kind of favour offering them 40 quid (or is that still too dear?) to fit FOUR tyres. Have you any comprehension whatsoever how much it costs to have a business in Ireland? You are aware that business are there to make a profit of some description?

The mind boggles sometimes on this forum, it really does.

Quoted in full, you are exactly whats wrong with the Irish businessman. Stuck in the mud. Rather have no business than any business, what a great plan and an excellent way of building consumer preference. For the record, fitting 4 tyres for EUR40 is not some sort of bargain rate. The fact you quote "the cost of business" as a defense for turning away business and alienating a customer (likely permanently) makes me think you are suffering from some sort of rage against Internet savvy customers more than thinking about what you are saying calmly and coolly, like a professional should be.

Any garage that abuses someone over fitting tyres should be named and shamed. For the record, Ive never had this problem and pay 10 to 15 euro per tyre fitted. I swap tyres around all the time, the idea that I would have to buy a tyre from a specific garage does not compute and reeks of protectionism.

Viper_JB

€15 per corner is a decient price, but as far as I'm concerned any tyre place that flat out refuses to fit tyres for someone deserves to go out of business. As is the majority of them have 200-300% mark up on the tyres they do sell, it's not wonder people buy them on the net instead, only excuse not to is because you don't know how.

Cyrus

Hellrazer wrote: »

+1

Its the same with people wanting to bring in their own service kits/parts with them.We dont entertain that at all.

My job is to sell parts and labour and if someone brings their own parts/tyres I make sure they pay a premium on the labour.
If they give me the whole job ie parts and labour I`ll look after them for example with free tyre fitting/balancing and if they buy 4 we also give free 4 wheel alignment.

15 a corner is fine in my opinion, the thing is, once you factor the 60 charge to get tyres fitted a lot tyre places can get pretty close to the online price and it saves you the hassle of getting them posted to you and loading them into the car etc!

as for your post hellrazer, i would never use a garage like yours if thats your opinion, whats your issue if someone wants to provide parts to have fitted? a mechanic offers his skill and expertise in repairing cars, if i want to get the parts myself that should be my perogative. Your issue seems to be that you cant add a margin to the parts, so you seem to be saying that you will fatten up the labour rate (after first saying you dont entertain these people?)

To be honest the garages that are fair and flexible with people are the ones that will prosper, this nonsense of abusing someone who asks you to fit tyres they have got elsewhere or fit parts isnt on.

Either you decide on a fair fee to do it and they say yes or no or you politely state it isnt our policy to fit third party parts in which case they can go to the next garage who most likely will do it

Cookie_Monster

10-15 with tyre disposal is right IMO.

I paid 10 last time, rang around a load of places locally and only Atlas in Stillorgan were willing to do it. Now I know where I'll always be going in future too

Matt Simis

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

10-15 with tyre disposal is right IMO.

I paid 10 last time, rang around a load of places locally and only Atlas in Stillorgan were willing to do it. Now I know where I'll always be going in future too

Exactly, consumer votes with wallet! I paid EUR15 a used tyre for fitting a few times in the place I go to, but later came back and bought 2 new tyres, got 2 punctures fixed, got a balancing etc. If they gave me the "we only do our own tyres" crap I would have never, ever gone back.

mullingar

Hellrazer wrote: »

+1

Its the same with people wanting to bring in their own service kits/parts with them.We dont entertain that at all.

My job is to sell parts and labour and if someone brings their own parts/tyres I make sure they pay a premium on the labour.
If they give me the whole job ie parts and labour I`ll look after them for example with free tyre fitting/balancing and if they buy 4 we also give free 4 wheel alignment.

To follow Cyrus's post.

Are you that short sighted turning away customers paying cash for labour???

You state you are selling "parts and labour", not "parts WITH labour"

Open your eyes and realise that the two are NOT connected. You are also selling labour on its own to these people that bring in their own parts.

By bumping up the price of the labour to cover loss of profit on parts is disgraceful and profiteering and as Matt Simms said "reeks of protectionism"

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

TherapyBoy

Cyrus wrote: »

Your issue seems to be that you cant add a margin to the parts, so you seem to be saying that you will fatten up the labour rate

I don't see a problem with the above. If he loses the margin he would have gotten on selling the product, why shouldn't he try to make it up on the labour? I can always choose to go elsewhere.

If he goes out of business due to the loss of selling the product, who's going to fit my tyres?
We should be supporting local Irish businesses, we'll miss them when they're gone.

Matt Simis

Bizarre-Ink wrote: »

We should be supporting local Irish businesses, we'll miss them when they're gone.

Look up how capatilism works. Supporting ineffective business and poor service is poison. Let poor business die to make room for a better managed business. Being "Irish" and rubbish is not a reason to support them, there are good Irish business out there too.

Mr Benevolent

Bizarre-Ink wrote: »

We should be supporting local Irish businesses, we'll miss them when they're gone.

What's the point in supporting businesses that don't provide value for money or good customer service? They should be left to die.

Looks like I'll be starting a business fitting tyres, I see a gap in the market!

mullingar

Bizarre-Ink wrote: »

I don't see a problem with the above. If he loses the margin he would have gotten on selling the product, why shouldn't he try to make it up on the labour? I can always choose to go elsewhere.

If he goes out of business due to the loss of selling the product, who's going to fit my tyres?
We should be supporting local Irish businesses, we'll miss them when they're gone.

Yes the tyre centre lost out on the direct sale of the tyres, capitalism at is best. The fitter is being offered the €60 odd labour charge that he would have not have got if the customer went elsewhere.

€60 is €60 for 30 mins work. That is premium dealership prices @ €120/hr!

Its garages that refuse to fit tyres supplied by customers that annoys me. I have no problem paying a reasonable price to Irish company to physically fit the tyres.

Any crowd fitting tyres bought elsewhere for €40/set won't be about for long.

Cyrus

Bizarre-Ink wrote: »

I don't see a problem with the above. If he loses the margin he would have gotten on selling the product, why shouldn't he try to make it up on the labour? I can always choose to go elsewhere.

If he goes out of business due to the loss of selling the product, who's going to fit my tyres?
We should be supporting local Irish businesses, we'll miss them when they're gone.

you dont see a problem with artifically inflating a labour rate to cover 'lost' margin on something ive sourced myself elsewhere?

your right i can go elsewhere and i will, which means he wont get the margin on either the labour or the parts.

like i said before, flexible reasonable businesses will do well, others will fail and as a capitalist im more than comfortable with that happening as normally what will happen someone else better will take their place

Cyrus

RoverJames wrote: »

Any crowd fitting tyres bought elsewhere for €40/set won't be about for long.

why?

its 40 they would not have gotten otherwise and if they arent doing anything else they may aswell have the money as not

anyway if they are competitive with their own tyre prices people will be buying from them and not online

Cookie_Monster

RoverJames wrote: »

Any crowd fitting tyres bought elsewhere for €40/set won't be about for long.

well they can spend 15 mins fitting tyres at no additional cost to the business or spend the 15 mins most likely drinking tea. Either way the cost is the same ( a minute additional electricity cost for lift and gun).

If the place was really busy and they refused I could understand but why pass up the chance to earn easy money for what will likely be otherwise un-used time. You will potentially gain a customer also.

TherapyBoy

Cyrus wrote: »

you dont see a problem with artifically inflating a labour rate to cover 'lost' margin on something ive sourced myself elsewhere?

your right i can go elsewhere and i will, which means he wont get the margin on either the labour or the parts.

like i said before, flexible reasonable businesses will do well, others will fail and as a capitalist im more than comfortable with that happening as normally what will happen someone else better will take their place

I don't see a problem, because the little extra I pay might keep a business going. Getting something cheaper on the internet is fine, I do it myself all the time, but I don't expect my local tyre place to charge me internet prices for labour. I understand that the difference I'm paying goes towards his overheads & will pay extra to deal with a person face-to-face.

If his labour charge is less for someone who buys the product from him, maybe it'll encourage people to buy his products. I don't see that as him artificially inflating labour prices, but as subsidising labour prices when you buy his products.

Cookie_Monster

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

well they can spend 15 mins fitting tyres at no additional cost to the business or spend the 15 mins most likely drinking tea.

I do wish people would get real, fitting and balancing 4 tyres in 15 minute, wake the F up will you. That's less than 4 mins a wheel :rolleyes:

Hellrazer

Cyrus wrote: »

as for your post hellrazer, i would never use a garage like yours if thats your opinion, whats your issue if someone wants to provide parts to have fitted?

The issue is that we`re a main dealer and my job is to sell genuine parts and labour.Im not going to fit substandard/non-genuine parts just because you bought them off the net or whatever.If someone comes to me with a genuine part and has an invoice for it from another dealer I`ll gladly fit it even if it was bought in another dealer in another country.

Ive had more hassle with peeps buying second hand parts and expecting us to fit them.Aswell as that almost every Volvo electronic control unit needs programming.You CANNOT reprogramme a second hand unit.

a mechanic offers his skill and expertise in repairing cars, if i want to get the parts myself that should be my perogative.

And its your perogative to find a mechanic that will fit them.

Your issue seems to be that you cant add a margin to the parts, so you seem to be saying that you will fatten up the labour rate (after first saying you dont entertain these people?)

No what I said is that if someone gives us the whole job I`ll look after them.Ive already said that I wont fit parts not sold by us but I have said that I will fit tyres not sold by us at a cost of 15-20 which seems reasonable.

Either you decide on a fair fee to do it and they say yes or no or you politely state it isnt our policy to fit third party parts in which case they can go to the next garage who most likely will do it

We do clearly state that we wont fit 3rd party parts when someone books a service with us and thats our perogative.

Cyrus

Cyrus wrote: »

why?

its 40

Put €40 through the books, factor in the disposal costs of the old tyres, the balance weights and the 4 new valves, the actual labour cost and you are very close to making sweet f all on the job.

muckwarrior

Cyrus wrote: »

anyway if they are competitive with their own tyre prices people will be buying from them and not online

And that's the bottom line!

I had a slow puncture and got a tyre fitted on my car in my local Atlas. €250 was their price. A few months later when replacing the rest the same tyre was €180 on eiretyres. After a bit more investigation I found them at €170 fitted in Phoenix tyres. I know where I'll be going for all my future tyre needs!

Cookie_Monster

RoverJames wrote: »

I do wish people would get real, fitting and balancing 4 tyres in 15 minute, wake the F up will you. That's less than 4 mins a wheel :rolleyes:

well whatever, I know it took less than half and hour for all 4 last time I had it done. 15, 20, 30 mins. if they're not busy it's still wasted time anyway

cabrwab

But the OP said he's a problem paying €40 for the tires to be fit.

Some places wont have a huge problem fitting tyres but you need to pay for them to be done.

They'll be fitting, disposing of, balancing the wheels.

I think 40 to 60 is acceptable.

Its not just the cost of electricty, there is wages, insurance, tax all to be paid.

So out of that 40-60 euros you can imagine they don't get much back if i was the boss i wouldn't turn him away as such but i would imagine most profit is made in getting the tyres in.

Most mechanics don't mind you buying/bringing your own parts to be fit, the problem arises when you think it should be done for next to nothing.

Was the trusting line you should bend over backwards we're in a recession!!

ClutchIt

OP, you seem incredibly cheap so I'm amazed that you change tyres between Summer and Winter. I don't even know anyone who does that.

Cyrus

Hellrazer wrote: »

The issue is that we`re a main dealer and my job is to sell genuine parts and labour.Im not going to fit substandard/non-genuine parts just because you bought them off the net or whatever.If someone comes to me with a genuine part and has an invoice for it from another dealer I`ll gladly fit it even if it was bought in another dealer in another country.

Ive had more hassle with peeps buying second hand parts and expecting us to fit them.Aswell as that almost every Volvo electronic control unit needs programming.You CANNOT reprogramme a second hand unit.

a mechanic offers his skill and expertise in repairing cars, if i want to get the parts myself that should be my perogative.

And its your perogative to find a mechanic that will fit them.


No what I said is that if someone gives us the whole job I`ll look after them.Ive already said that I wont fit parts not sold by us but I have said that I will fit tyres at a cost of 15-20 which seems reasonable.



We do clearly state that we wont fit 3rd party parts when someone books a service with us.

youve changed your story a couple of different times, you had originally said that you dont entertain people who have bought parts elsewhere, now if they have bought them from another dealer (but they need the invoice to prove this) you will fit them?

personally i always buy oem or better than oem parts, sometimes for things like bushings etc its preferable to buy the likes of powerflex instead of oem, they cost more but will last longer.

it seems theres two issues at play here, youve had a lot of people rock up with substandard parts and expected you to try make them work or fit, i can understand why you would refuse to fit stuff like that, often the extra labour required makes buying parts like that a false economy.

however if someone buys new oem parts i dont see why anyone should have an issue fitting or why they should charge more labour than normal?

Cyrus

Cyrus wrote: »

however if someone buys new oem parts i dont see why anyone should have an issue fitting or why they should charge more labour than normal?

Ok, garage buys parts at trade discount and charges customer retail for them. Also they charge labour. If someone brings their own parts many garages charge a bit more labour to make the job the same value as one which the garage sources the parts for. Also a garage buys oil by the barrel and charges by the gallon, few quid made there too.

Cyrus

RoverJames wrote: »

Put €40 through the books, factor in the disposal costs of the old tyres, the balance weights and the 4 new valves, the actual labour cost and you are very close to making sweet f all on the job.

Most tyre places and non main dealer garages ive dealt with over the past 12-18 months have been looking for cash;)

and the only relevant costs are disposal, weights and valves, the labour you will pay for anyway whether the lads are working or not.

ill agree 40 is cheap to fit and balance 4 tyres, but again ill reiterate, if the place is idle you might as well get the 40 as not

ClutchIt

ClutchIt wrote: »

OP, you seem incredibly cheap

as tight as a frog's arse, air tight and water tight :pac:

Cyrus

RoverJames wrote: »

Ok, garage buys parts at trade discount and charges customer retail for them. Also they charge labour. If someone brings their own parts many garages charge a bit more labour to make the job the same value as one which the garage sources the parts for. Also a garage buys oil by the barrel and charges by the gallon, few quid made there too.

and why is that ok? the parts havent cost them anything, why should i pay them a mark up on parts i can get without the mark up elsewhere?

Cyrus

muckwarrior wrote: »

And that's the bottom line!

I had a slow puncture and got a tyre fitted on my car in my local Atlas. €250 was their price. A few months later when replacing the rest the same tyre was €180 on eiretyres. After a bit more investigation I found them at €170 fitted in Phoenix tyres. I know where I'll be going for all my future tyre needs!

exactly, ive only ever once bought tyres online because normally i can get close enough by rining around so that its not worth the hassle,

some places are living in dream land tho

Hellrazer

Cyrus wrote: »

youve changed your story a couple of different times, you had originally said that you dont entertain people who have bought parts elsewhere,

Ok I should have stated 3rd party parts in the beginning.

now if they have bought them from another dealer (but they need the invoice to prove this) you will fit them?

Exactly as long as they are genuine.

personally i always buy oem or better than oem parts, sometimes for things like bushings etc its preferable to buy the likes of powerflex instead of oem, they cost more but will last longer.

For my own car I do the same but thats me saving money.

it seems theres two issues at play here, youve had a lot of people rock up with substandard parts and expected you to try make them work or fit, i can understand why you would refuse to fit stuff like that, often the extra labour required makes buying parts like that a false economy.

You wouldnt believe the amount that try it on with dodgy stuff ie second hand control units etc that cannot be reused.

however if someone buys new oem parts i dont see why anyone should have an issue fitting or why they should charge more labour than normal?

Its company policy that we dont fit non-genuine parts as part of our business is to sell parts.

I give very generous discounts to customers in order to retain their business.As a matter of fact Ive sold a lot of stuff to boards users at close to cost price and even posted it to their homes.Theyve always seemed happy with the service theyve got.

If you are paying RRP on the parts yourself you are saving f all by supplying the garage with the parts, the garage charges RRP for them.

Cyrus

Hellrazer wrote: »

I give very generous discounts to customers in order to retain their business.As a matter of fact Ive sold a lot of stuff to boards users at close to cost price and even posted it to their homes.Theyve always seemed happy with the service theyve got.

ok, i think i may have misunderstood you a little at the beginning, also you are being proactive in helping customers of your marque which is commendable and also good for business at whatever garage you work in,

there is a guy similar to you who does the same thing on another forum for a different marque and as such most people buy their parts from that dealership because of the service and price

Owen

Cyrus wrote: »

and why is that ok? the parts havent cost them anything, why should i pay them a mark up on parts i can get without the mark up elsewhere?

Not having read the whole thread, they're charging you a markup from the trade price they buy parts at bringing them to RRP prices. Surely if you're buying parts, you just buy them at RRP prices, so it's the same? Trade price usually equates to 10% off for those of us lucky enough to be able to buy parts in the trade, so we're not talking 5 quid on an oil filter or anything like that.