Have I paid too much?

veetwin

I dropped mrs veetwin's 08 1.4 tsi Golf into a local indie this morning for its annual service. It does tiny annual mileage so it just needed an oil and filter change.

He rang me during the morning and advised that the coolant should be changed also. I trust or at least trusted him and is a friend of a friend so we didn't discuss costs.

I collect the car this evening and was charged €218.

This was for oil, filter and coolant change as well as inspection of the usuals. Cost for the coolant change was €40 labour and €13 for the coolant plus vat.

So was I charged too much or was this about right. Had I known this morning what I know now I would probably have tackled it myself. It's just the peace of mind of having a qualified mechanic check the car over probably just about makes it worth it.

galwaytt

veetwin wrote: »

I dropped mrs veetwin's 08 1.4 tsi Golf into a local indie this morning for its annual service. It does tiny annual mileage so it just needed an oil and filter change.

He rang me during the morning and advised that the coolant should be changed also. I trust or at least trusted him and is a friend of a friend so we didn't discuss costs.

I collect the car this evening and was charged €218.

This was for oil, filter and coolant change as well as inspection of the usuals. Cost for the coolant change was €40 labour and €13 for the coolant plus vat.

So was I charged too much or was this about right. Had I known this morning what I know now I would probably have tackled it myself. It's just the peace of mind of having a qualified mechanic check the car over probably just about makes it worth it.

If you subtract all the materials and vat from the 218, ask yourself if your time off work etc is more than the balance. .....

braddun

coolant change probably cost 70 euros,i always refuse it

its a 2 minute job you can diy

you probably won't need to change the coolant in most late-model vehicles until 100,000 miles

veetwin

galwaytt wrote: »

If you subtract all the materials and vat from the 218, ask yourself if your time off work etc is more than the balance. .....

If I had to take time off work then it's a no brainer. However I happened to be off for the day however between time taken to go to motor factors and disposing of the oil afterwards it probably just about makes sense to get a pro to do it all.

@braddun the coolant change was €53 plus vat - it would definitely take me more than 2 minutes by the time I've gone to get the coolant and properly disposing of the old. Car is almost 7 years old so probably no harm to change it before the winter properly sets in.

The thing that got me thinking I had a look at the local vw dealer site. They have a special offer of €149 for a service which includes free 1 year roadside assistance. Would probably have been better value in hindsight.

MuppetCheck

Oil and filter in a main Seat/Skoda dealer is 99 quid. I think it was a little rich at about 150 for an oil and filter service. I paid very little more for an oil, filter, air and pollen filter last week.

dieselbug

veetwin wrote: »

I dropped mrs veetwin's 08 1.4 tsi Golf into a local indie this morning for its annual service. It does tiny annual mileage so it just needed an oil and filter change.


This was for oil, filter and coolant change as well as inspection of the usuals. Cost for the coolant change was €40 labour and €13 for the coolant plus vat.

What were your instructions, "just an oil and filter change" or did you request the "annual service" there is a difference.

"inspection of the usuals" what, in your opinion does this involve.

Sam Kade

He must be charging the same as a main dealer €12+VAT for a rag and a pair of latex gloves and the shoe leather he burned while servicing your car.

Toyotafanboi

Sam Kade wrote: »

He must be charging the same as a main dealer €12+VAT for a rag and a pair of latex gloves and the shoe leather he burned while servicing your car.

there's much more to a sundries charge in most cases than a set of latex gloves.

MuppetCheck

Sam Kade wrote: »

He must be charging the same as a main dealer €12+VAT for a rag and a pair of latex gloves and the shoe leather he burned while servicing your car.

This bull gets spouted around here a lot.

If people pick up the phone and price around you'd be surprised by some main dealer pricing.

I've often found the local (and thoroughly decent) indy to be more expensive for servicing quotes. And as of yet haven't been stung for made up work. All you need to say is that they need to call you if there's anything extra.

Sam Kade

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

there's much more to a sundries charge in most cases than a set of latex gloves.

You mean like the few cent on electricity to raise the car on the lift, either way you'll be paying way more than what they cost. It doesn't bother me as I do my own servicing.

_Brian

€218 for an annual service is ok, I presume it's someone who you know checks everything properly so you know it's got a good going over.

Sam Kade

MuppetCheck wrote: »

This bull gets spouted around here a lot.

Of course they don't overcharge on the actual parts to cover their costs sundries covers that :rolleyes:

Toyotafanboi

Sam Kade wrote: »

Of course they don't overcharge on the actual parts to cover their costs sundries covers that :rolleyes:

sure, there's rubber gloves and rags...

lads would go through cans of brake and carb cleaner, wd40 and spray grease at an awful rate.

where do you think the waste oil/ coolant/ brake fluid go? that doesn't get poured down the drain, there are big feels to get rid of waste fluids.

same with waste filters, these can't go to landfill and have to be properly recycled at a cost too.

around a tenner per service for sundries wouldn't be too out of the ordinary.

do you know how much it is to recycle 1 tyre?

MuppetCheck

Sam Kade wrote: »

Of course they don't overcharge on the actual parts to cover their costs sundries covers that :rolleyes:

Elaborate on sundries...or did you just see that once on an invoice? I haven't seen that mentioned in years. Everything is always itemised.

You obviously haven't priced around lately anyway. If you're getting bits like that on invoices you're not doing it right;)

Sam Kade

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

sure, there's rubber gloves and rags...

lads would go through cans of brake and carb cleaner, wd40 and spray grease at an awful rate.

where do you think the waste oil/ coolant/ brake fluid go? that doesn't get poured down the drain, there are big feels to get rid of waste fluids.

same with waste filters, these can't go to landfill and have to be properly recycled at a cost too.

around a tenner per service for sundries wouldn't be too out of the ordinary.

do you know how much it is to recycle 1 tyre?

So you own a garage. It's a basic service I'm referring to (oil and filter and air filter) no need for wd40 or carb cleaner or tyre disposal even though the cost of tyre disposal is added to the price of the tyre. Why do garages charge the same for engine oil as what you would pay for it in 500 ml bottles? All garages have oil in bulk so the extra cost will cover disposal as well.

Toyotafanboi

that's still a gallon of oil and 2 filters to dispose of.

if you drop your car to a main dealer or any reputable garage for an oil and filter service, it's much more than just drop the oil and re-fill. i can assure you (in my experience), throttle bodies are cleaned, door hinges are lubricated and aswell as various other tasks around the car which do consume sundries.

i guess they charge retail prices for oil because it's a business and that's how they make money? you pay money, you get your service. garages aren't charities.

obviously, as with everything, there's a line. but for a business to succeed it has to generate a reasonable amount of money or it wont last long.

Cheensbo

Surely garages (any business in fact) are entitled to; not only cover costs, but make a profit on the services they provide, otherwise, what the hell is the point of being in business in the first place. Some chose to try and make more profit than others.

That's where the consumers right/responsibility comes in to play - to chose which providor to use in order to save money/receive the best quality product

Toyotafanboi

Cheensbo wrote: »

Surely garages (any business in fact) are entitled to; not only cover costs, but make a profit on the services they provide, otherwise, what the hell is the point of being in business in the first place.

exactly, business 101: must sell my **** for more than i paid for it, enough to cover costs and put a bit in my pocket.

it's about finding the line. if you're on the wrong side of it, you're not a great business person or you are too greedy.

Sam Kade

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

that's still a gallon of oil and 2 filters to dispose of.

if you drop your car to a main dealer or any reputable garage for an oil and filter service, it's much more than just drop the oil and re-fill. i can assure you (in my experience), throttle bodies are cleaned, door hinges are lubricated and aswell as various other tasks around the car which do consume sundries.

i guess they charge retail prices for oil because it's a business and that's how they make money? you pay money, you get your service. garages aren't charities.

obviously, as with everything, there's a line. but for a business to succeed it has to generate a reasonable amount of money or it wont last long.

Fair enough those are all valid points. I do my own servicing and recycle the waste oil by using it on the chains of the round baler

Toyotafanboi

Sam Kade wrote: »

Fair enough those are all valid points. I do my own servicing and recycle the waste oil by using it on the chains of the round baler

one particular garage i worked for, you'd be under instruction to drench the engine bay (maybe 250ml's, non branded) in wd40 and scrub it with a rag until it was spotless.

theory was so when a customer would open the bonnet the next time and look in at a lovely sparkling engine bay with all the plastics looking shiny they would think "oh what a thorough job, it's spotless in there" kind of thing.

more marketing than servicing maybe, but that was covered under sundries. you'd sometimes use a full bottle on just one car :pac:

whether that's right or wrong now

Carson10

far cheaper and less hassle these days to just leave your car into the main dealer and get genuine parts/oil. not some indie using cheap motor factor parts and cheap oil and making up a final price in his head.

wolfyboy555

I have a similar question didn't want to start a new tread. Had to get a coil pack and spark plugs changed on 04 Astra. Was charged 222 and then they said I can pay 199 in cash so I took that. What's that about?

Toyotafanboi

Carson10 wrote: »

far cheaper and less hassle these days to just leave your car into the main dealer and get genuine parts/oil. not some indie using cheap motor factor parts and cheap oil and making up a final price in his head.

in a lot of cases the motor factors parts are the exact same as the main dealers just boxed differently.

wolfyboy555 wrote: »

I have a similar question didn't want to start a new tread. Had to get a coil pack and spark plugs changed on 04 Astra. Was charged 222 and then they said I can pay 199 in cash so I took that. What's that about?

i think we all know what the two different prices are about. i fitted a coil and a set of plugs to the sister in laws 08 astra 1.6 (same engine as yours?) the other month, i think the coil was €150 and the plugs were €15...

JohnBoy26

Carson10 wrote: »

far cheaper and less hassle these days to just leave your car into the main dealer and get genuine parts/oil. not some indie using cheap motor factor parts and cheap oil and making up a final price in his head.

There's a big brush and tar you got there.

Sam Kade

Carson10 wrote: »

far cheaper and less hassle these days to just leave your car into the main dealer and get genuine parts/oil. not some indie using cheap motor factor parts and cheap oil and making up a final price in his head.

I suppose you'd be shocked if I told you that my local main dealer goes to the local motor factors at times for parts, like many more of them do

joe912

yes you were overcharged as for main dealers one I know of whose idea of an oil filter change was to wipe it clean with a rag.