Please help :)

liv3001

Hi, I was wondering before I head to a garage and get fleeced how much will it cost to replace two brake pipes at the front of my VW polo(1999) and a track rod end. I would be clueless as over the last 6 years, this car has honestly never given me any bother. Appreciate it!!

V1

Hi Liv3001,

Sounds like an NCT Failure?

Best way to avoid getting fleeced is to know exactly what you are paying for. As with most things on cars, in this case its parts and labour. You didn't specify if it is the rubber part of brake pipes that connects onto the brake at the wheel (most likely as they will eventually perish) or the steel pipe section inside this (also possible as they do sometimes corode).

Unless someone on here has actually done the jobs or had them done then its impossible to say exactly what it should cost.

Best thing to do is get a few quotes and try and develop an idea of whats involved.
Phone your local motor factors and price the parts - make sure you get prices including VAT. The motor factors will give you the retail price for the parts and but if you give the car into a garage, the garage will buy the parts from that or another motor factors at a discount under this and probably re-sell to you as part of the job for close to retail. (they do need to make money like this or they wont stay in business )
Phone your local (or any) VW dealer and get them to quote you over the phone for the full job (inc VAT) try and get them to tell you how much labour is in the quote, how much for the parts and what their hourly labour rate is. The main dealer parts will probably (but not always) be more expensive than the Motor factors parts (although the motor factors may not be able to get the brake pipes - these may have to come from the main dealer only)

Phone or visit a couple of local garages (and indeed the likes of the large tyre places will do brakes and steering work) and get them to quote you for the job including a breakdown of parts and labour. If any of them get offended when pressed for detail then walk away - you don't want to be dealing with a garage that wont be upfront with you. Most will be very happy supplying you this detail and ensuring that the potential customer is as well informed as possible.
You can do a lot of the leg-work on the phone but you cant beat visiting the potential garage or mechanic as you can tell a lot by the look of where they are operating usually. In general, if the floor of the garage is covered in black crud to the point where you wouldn't actually want to walk on it or there are scrap parts and tools strewn everywhere, then walk away - most places will have staining on the floor and there will be work in progress around the place but if they don't pick up the brush once in a while and mop up spills then you don't want them working on your car.

As you are replacing a track rod end, you should probably just go a place that does wheel alignment and get the whole job done there. Smaller garages that do general repair will not have the gear to do proper 4 wheel alignment but average to large tyre places will.
Neither job is huge - track rod end on most cars (they can be difficult to shift, particularly if they have never been touched in 13 years) should be doable in half an hour or so - brake pipes will be a little bit more involved as they will probably need to drain the brake system, fit new pipes, refill and bleed the system - all time consuming but nothing major. could be up to 2 hours on that one. while you are at it make sure that they completely replace the brake fluid all round (and not just top up and bleed), all manufacturers recommend replacing the brake fluid every 1-3 years but very few people actually do it or give it a second thought.
If you go with a garage that cant do 4 wheel alignment, then this is also ok (they will track it good enough "the old way") but you should probably get your wheel alignment done at a good tyre place soon after that - expect to pay €40-50 for this depending on where you are in the country.

Good luck

PS - who does your servicing? Always worth checking with them as your first call as they should know you and the car. You must have had it serviced at least a few times in the last 6 years:D