Car garages and pricing

AvonEnniskerry

Hi,
I was just wondering what my rights are in relation to getting work done on a car.
Surely a garage has to inform you of the repairs needed (or that will be done) on the vehicle and cost before you submit it to them?
And if so how detailed do they have to be? Like could they actually show you what's wrong ie worn joints etc before doing the work if requested. (Ie proof that what they are changing is the problem)
How do you prevent a garage from doing more work when the vehicle is submitted just because they "found" something that wasn't causing issue in the first place?
Thanks in advance.

Oryx

You agree a certain amount of work and get them to phone you for the go ahead on anything else.

AvonEnniskerry

Ok so I send my car into them to be reviewed. They then in turn must tell me what needs to be done and cost prices? Then I am free to decide whether to use that garage or not? Does this apply to big branded garages like Audi for example?

P. Breathnach

AvonEnniskerry wrote: »

Ok so I send my car into them to be reviewed. They then in turn must tell me what needs to be done and cost prices? Then I am free to decide whether to use that garage or not? Does this apply to big branded garages like Audi for example?

That's fair except for one thing: the garage puts time, effort, and know-how into checking the car; they will probably also use some technical equipment. They are entitled to be paid for that.

AvonEnniskerry

I don't mind paying for it if I'm going to be told exactly what's wrong with the car. However I need to know if I'll be told in advance... The technical equipment, the car has already been plugged in, so I know what's wrong as such it's just not entirely clear what to do about it. This thread wasn't meant for mechanical issues though. I was just trying to find out if ill be told about works and cost and then allowed make my own decision. If I choose not to use them I don't mind paying for the consultation as such...

Thoie

I decide to put my car in for a service (minor or major), and the garage tells me up front how much it will be for the service. This usually includes an oil and filter change at a minimum. We also agree that while they're doing the service, they'll let me know if they find anything not covered by the service, with prices.

Drop car in, get various calls during the day if/when they find things. Last time they found a bulb gone, a missing widget, a thingummy doodah and noticed that I needed 2 new tyres. They gave me the breakdown price for each of these (including labour) over the phone, and I agreed they could do everything but the tyres.

Picked up the car, paid the service amount, plus the cost of the bulb, widget and doodah plus labour. Rang around a few places for the tyres and got them elsewhere.

Nowhere will give your car a thorough, full, detailed inspection and give you a quote in advance for free. If you specifically know already that you need a new thingummy doodah, then ring a few garages, give them the make and model of your car and ask them for a price.

AvonEnniskerry

Ok it's easier to be honest here. I don't generally submit the car into the garage but there's an issue with the car. Car has been plugged in. Code is read. However no one seems to know what exactly the code means. I would like to submit the car to see what Audi themselves reckon the code means. Depending on the price and work needed , they may or may not get the work. I need to know in advance what work they'll be doing and what price they will charge as it may be more worth my while to just sell on the car instead of paying out a small fortune on repairs? Ideally though I would like to keep the car

Thoie

AvonEnniskerry wrote: »

Ok it's easier to be honest here. I don't generally submit the car into the garage but there's an issue with the car. Car has been plugged in. Code is read. However no one seems to know what exactly the code means. I would like to submit the car to see what Audi themselves reckon the code means. Depending on the price and work needed , they may or may not get the work. I need to know in advance what work they'll be doing and what price they will charge as it may be more worth my while to just sell on the car instead of paying out a small fortune on repairs? Ideally though I would like to keep the car

You might be better off over in the motors section. The problem is if mechanics have already seen the error, and don't know what it means, and google doesn't give you an answer, it probably means it's something nebulous, and they probably won't be able to give a quote up front. What you could do is decide up front how much you're willing to spend. Then talk to the garage and ask how much an hour of labour is worth, and then ask them to spend an hour (or 2 or whatever, depending on your budget) trying to figure it out. If they can't figure out what the problem is, let alone fix it, in an hour or two, it's probably not going to be something cheap and easy.

If you put the code up in Motors, there's a chance someone may have had a similar problem. You'll need to let them know the make/model/year/engine and what the code is.

blade1

What's the code?

AvonEnniskerry

I have this up in consumer issues as I was asking about what information a garage should provide. If its a cheap and easy fix (which I don't think it is), I do not want to pay the extortionate prices Audi will charge to fix it. It's a 3litre Quattro model high spec and anything above a 1.9l 2 wheel drive there prices aren't so reasonable.

Blade 1 I will PM you as answering this on this post will move it over to motors

dudara

AvonEnniskerry - I am inclined to move this post to the Motors forum anyway, as the posters over there can offer a lot of very good advice, in relation to both the fault code and how to deal with a garage.

Please let me know if you have any objections. Otherwise I will move shortly.

dudara

AvonEnniskerry

No problem, in that case codes that appear are:
00473 control module for electric handbrake (j540)
This is a new

01796 telematic SIM card, upper limit exceeded
This is the code I am most concerned with

01349 alarm via theft warning system, front
This I'm not overly concerned about, however it is reoccurring

The problem with the car is a flashing glow plug sign on the dash, the car is struggling to start but never fails completely. It appears heat is not getting to the glow plugs. All 6 have just been replaced and there's no relay in the car which would make me think its an electrical problem.

Also off that topic there is also a heavy drone in the car when turning left. All problems are recent and happened around the same time though I am not saying they are related...

slimjimmc

AvonEnniskerry wrote: »

I have this up in consumer issues as I was asking about what information a garage should provide. If its a cheap and easy fix (which I don't think it is), I do not want to pay the extortionate prices Audi will charge to fix it. It's a 3litre Quattro model high spec and anything above a 1.9l 2 wheel drive there prices aren't so reasonable.

Blade 1 I will PM you as answering this on this post will move it over to motors

A garage should provide whatever you agree with them in advance, i.e. the scope of the contract. In other words, if you ask a garage to investigate a problem, tell you what's required, provide any evidence and quote for the repair then that's what you should expect they should do.

However, if you just tell them to investigate and come back with a price (without stipulating they should detail the fault) then that's what you should expect them to do too. Don't assume they'll automatically give you a full report or provide evidence of the root cause if you didn't specify it.

martinr5232

Very hard to agree a price on fixing a car which is not straight forward repairs.

If the dealers are not familiar with the fault agree to pay for an hours labour and get an update after the agreed hour of diagnostics.

The tech will usually have a good idea weather it will take much longer or not.

dudara

Moved to Motors

dudara

R0bb01987

Well I needed to get some work done on my car, cosmetic really as the car was vandalised.

I asked the main dealer to quote me on it and to throw in a full service price also.

Very reluctant to give me prices but eventually sent me the prices for the parts and service.

They will not however give me rough prices for labour. Surely a main dealer will know exactly how long it takes to do each item on my list example being the badge at the front of the car was ripped off. All he kept saying was ah it should be cheap enough. For the service and the parts they want 500 euro so I want to know if cheap enough means I will be hit with a bill for 700 euro when they carry out the work.

martinr5232

R0bb01987 wrote: »

Well I needed to get some work done on my car, cosmetic really as the car was vandalised.

I asked the main dealer to quote me on it and to throw in a full service price also.

Very reluctant to give me prices but eventually sent me the prices for the parts and service.

They will not however give me rough prices for labour. Surely a main dealer will know exactly how long it takes to do each item on my list example being the badge at the front of the car was ripped off. All he kept saying was ah it should be cheap enough. For the service and the parts they want 500 euro so I want to know if cheap enough means I will be hit with a bill for 700 euro when they carry out the work.

Go somewhere else that will quote you there is more than one dealer or go to an independant garage you will get the same service a lot cheaper than a main dealer.

R0bb01987

martinr5232 wrote: »

Go somewhere else that will quote you there is more than one dealer or go to an independant garage you will get the same service a lot cheaper than a main dealer.

Yeah Im doing that we speak but I was suprised at the fact they wouldnt give me a rough idea up front. id know then if I wanted it all done in one go or maybe service first and the little details at a later stage.

Thanks for the reply:)

AvonEnniskerry

I do find main dealers hold a lot back. I know when I was changing the gearbox oil in my old car, they refused point blank to tell me what oil I needed but rather sold me there own brand one which didn't state the type on the bottle....