€20 Euro for Diagnostics Check as part of service - Genuine or scam?

ElWalrus

Hi guys,

Just got my car serviced. Agreed price was €160, however when I arrived to pick it up, there was an extra €20 for 'diagnostics' as the car had an engine light showing.

Thing is, I already knew about the issue (EGR valve, but admittedly didn't mention to service guy that I knew about it).

In any case I paid the money, but while driving back I thought that 20 quid is a nice bit to tack on just for hooking the car up to a diagnostics kit. Is it not just popping a panel and plugging in a reader and pressing a button (I've done it with a cheap one that a mate had).

Just putting it out there, is this fair practice or is it a way of floggin an extra few bob of the unsuspecting public?

I will say though that I was happy with the overall service and the guy did seem knowledgeable, just that 20 quid charge left a little bit of a sour taste.

Waterson

Tis bad form on the part of the garage. I would imagine most reputable workshops would do an initial inspection of the vehicle prior to any work (to cover their ass in the case of the occasional chancer "that scratch wasnt there when I brought the car in..") and an EML would be included in that. A courtesy phone call to yourself would then be proper order...again before the work.

burke027

Yeah we normally use our diagnostics during service if there is a airbag or engine or whatever light on if it's a bmw we use the icom. If it's a mercedes we use the star.
Either way we don't charge for that we just inform the customer of what's wrong that and anything else we find that needs doing.

ElWalrus

Thanks guys. Your responses reflect how I feel about it. The garage came highly recommended, and like I said I was happy about everything else, but this would make me think twice about going back. All for the sake of €20! :pac:

rex-x

It depends, €20 is very cheap for a plug in as although it doesn't take very long the gear is incredibly expensive and so must pay for itself each time it is used. But they probably should have asked if you wanted a plug in before they did it.

ElWalrus

rex-x wrote: »

It depends, €20 is very cheap for a plug in as although it doesn't take very long the gear is incredibly expensive and so must pay for itself each time it is used. But they probably should have asked if you wanted a plug in before they did it.

Fair point, I guess it's more the fact they didn't ask that I had the problem with. Just hate arriving to a garage 'after the fact' and you had no say in the matter. I'd say these guys wouldn't have done anything else without calling, they just guessed €20 wasn't worth ringing for. :pac:

bazz26

While €20 for a diagnostic is cheap, by right if there is any additional cost or work involved on top of the pre agreed price then the garage should have really rang you first to inform you.

On the flip side if I knew the EML was on and what was causing it, when dropping the car into them I would have mentioned it to them to either ignore or check it out.

visual

For 20 euro you can buy a reader.

Too many garages have been using it as a way to bump up prices.

Its makes no more sense to say their reader is expensive than to say the tools or lift is expensive.

rex-x

For 20 you can buy an obd II scanner which will tell you a fraction of a real diagnostic computer. Also the lift etc would be far cheaper to buy and not require constant paid for updates costing thousands depending on your device and service plan.

Mech1

My Diagnostics for a single manufacturer cost approx €16,000

And many euro paid each year for updates and backup.

pa990

my local garage has run their diagnostic machines on my car a few times and never charged.

It does help if you give the guy a tip every other service.

he even came out to my house one day to fix a problem and wouldnt take a penny.

a fiver here and there, pays for itself in the long run.

Mech1

pa990 wrote: »

my local garage has run their diagnostic machines on my car a few times and never charged.

It does help if you give the guy a tip every other service.

he even came out to my house one day to fix a problem and wouldnt take a penny.

a fiver here and there, pays for itself in the long run.

Fiver wont cut it anymore, price of two pints works.:D

mickdw

Mech1 wrote: »

My Diagnostics for a single manufacturer cost approx €16,000

And many euro paid each year for updates and backup.

Thats crazy money for a single make unless you specialise in that make

visual

mickdw wrote: »

Thats crazy money for a single make unless you specialise in that make

Was bought in a shop with a very big window.

Mech1

visual wrote: »

Was bought in a shop with a very big window.

http://www.autologic.com/media/uploads/pricelists/uk_and_ireland_pricelist_sept_2012_v1.pdf

Add on your http://www.carmanscan.com.au/product-range/service-tools/electronic-battery-chargers/fronius-acctiva-professional-flash-detail

Convert to Euro and your there.

Cee-Jay-Cee

It's a rip off IMO. A cheap $20 ebay scanner would have given you the error code and cleared it

it's irrelevant how much the diagnostic equipment cost them, that's their business. They would have paid similar money for a 2 post lift but they don't addf a charge on because they had to out the car up in a lift to work on it. €20 is a rip off. They should have checked the code and told you when you came to pick the car up what the code was for. If you needed additional work done then that could have been arranged then. If it were me I'd have refused to pay as I never requested them to do it.

Toyotafanboi

This thread is silly.

comparing a €20 ebay code reader to main dealer level software is like comparing one of these:




with one of these:



yeah, you know what, the pliers multi tool is handy and you've done a few jobs with it that came out ok, but it was cheaper than the tool chest for a reason and will struggle with anything other than a basic task.

last main dealer i worked for iirc they were paying approx €1k per month for the maintenance of their software system. it done a lot more than read and erase P codes.

mickdw

Mech1 wrote: »

http://www.autologic.com/media/uploads/pricelists/uk_and_ireland_pricelist_sept_2012_v1.pdf

Add on your http://www.carmanscan.com.au/product-range/service-tools/electronic-battery-chargers/fronius-acctiva-professional-flash-detail


Convert to Euro and your there.

Just a query.
They have VAG kit listed at 9 to 10k.
What can this do that vcds pro version cannot do.
Even at 10k, that auto logic kit still cannot do the live factory coding. I don't get it.

rex-x

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

It's a rip off IMO. A cheap $20 ebay scanner would have given you the error code and cleared it

it's irrelevant how much the diagnostic equipment cost them, that's their business. They would have paid similar money for a 2 post lift but they don't addf a charge on because they had to out the car up in a lift to work on it. €20 is a rip off. They should have checked the code and told you when you came to pick the car up what the code was for. If you needed additional work done then that could have been arranged then. If it were me I'd have refused to pay as I never requested them to do it.

And you can buy about 8 two post lifts brand new for the price of one decent diagnostics tool, not including updates which the two post lift will not require

Row

rex-x wrote: »

And you can buy about 8 two post lifts brand new for the price of one decent diagnostics tool, not including updates which the two post lift will not require

Tools are only as good as the person thats using them.....;)
We are all trained in our in our own fields and with the HUGE help of "Google" today we are all learning which is good but When things DO go wrong (which they do) a qualified person can make his/her decision based on there previous experiences to deal with the problem in the appropriate manner.

lomb

Don't understand why so dear . Ive a clone Rosstech VCDS scanner for VAG and its pretty comprehensive and cost me less than 30 euros.

tossy

When you are running a professional business scanning 5/6 cars a day you can't rely on a cheap scan tool or a knock off VCDS lead from ebay, you need t invest in the real article. With the level of coding and VCDS interaction available on modern VAG cars i wouldn't be comfortable using a knock off lead when doing any coding and that's only as an enthusiast.

Having said that the garage in question should have certainly scanned the OP's car for free as part of the service, they had already got the business in the door and would have increased their chances of a bit of return business.

I can understand garages charging for an initial diagnostic scan and you wouldn't get many to do that for less than 50 euro so 20euro wasn't really a rip off but bad form.

corkgsxr

You won't get the same live data with a cheap scanner than the proper job. And often you get a code. That code still leaves multiple avenues that unless you can look at proper live data leaves just guesswork

rex-x

corkgsxr wrote: »

You won't get the same live data with a cheap scanner than the proper job. And often you get a code. That code still leaves multiple avenues that unless you can look at proper live data leaves just guesswork

Its not even limited to that, a cheap scanner will only get you an obd code, you may have 40 or 50 manufacturer specific codes that no cheap reader can see

Waterson

In terms of fault diagnosis and rectification, IMO nothing beats training and experience. And logic. It is a massive advantage to have dealer level diagnostic hardware, but again its how the technician interprets the data which will determine a successful fix/diagnosis.

dr.fuzzenstein

visual wrote: »

For 20 euro you can buy a reader.

Too many garages have been using it as a way to bump up prices.

Its makes no more sense to say their reader is expensive than to say the tools or lift is expensive.

THAT!
When the NCT started failing people on misaligned headlights, garages started charging €40 upwards for aligning them. With the same excuse, oh the equipment is fairly dear, we have to make the money back, etc...
That practice disappeared fairly sharpish when tire places started doing it for next to nothing.
€20 is not too bad it has to be said, considering main dealers want €80 upwards to plug in a laptop and press a button and say "nothing's coming up"
Now that we can buy cheap readers on Ebay, I'd say their business has declined and you'll soon see diagnostic equipment being used as a matter of course, instead of "ah Jaysus, 'tis really dear, 'tis fierce fancy equipment, cosht thouuusands, so it does!"
Yeah, buddy, so does your lift and by the way, you're charging me €60 an hour, I take it the mechanic doesn't see half of that, so there's your overheads right there.
If I had an error coming up on my car and I couldn't sort it, I'd be only too happy to pay €20 to have it read, that's reasonable, but sticking work on the bill I didn't ask for and didn't authorise is just plain wrong.

rex-x

Row wrote: »

Tools are only as good as the person thats using them.....;)
We are all trained in our in our own fields and with the HUGE help of "Google" today we are all learning which is good but When things DO go wrong (which they do) a qualified person can make his/her decision based on there previous experiences to deal with the problem in the appropriate manner.

I'm sorry, while I do agree I don't see how this relates to my post?

Row

rex-x wrote: »

I'm sorry, while I do agree I don't see how this relates to my post?

Sorry didnt mean to quote your post...:o

mikeecho

I was at a bmw main dealer today.
They quoted the guy next to me €70 for a diagnostic check.

I almost choked on my complimentary coffee and croissant

dr.fuzzenstein

mikeecho wrote: »

I was at a bmw main dealer today.
They quoted the guy next to me €70 for a diagnostic check.

I almost chocked on complimentary coffee and croissant

All that glass and marble ain't cheap, doncherknow.

Dia1988

rex-x wrote: »

It depends, €20 is very cheap for a plug in as although it doesn't take very long the gear is incredibly expensive and so must pay for itself each time it is used. But they probably should have asked if you wanted a plug in before they did it.

I bought an OBII / diagnostic scanner for 18 euro delivered to my door from amazon.co.uk
Although it is a basic one, but it reads the code and can also erase the engine management light.

To date it has correctly identified that my EGR valve was sticking.
So I took out the EGR valve and cleaned it with WD-40