Ripped off by Garage?

andalusiachien

Hi all,
I had a humming noise coming from my right front wheel between 60-80kph. All internet research suggested a wheel bearing issue so I brought it to a garage, explained what I was hearing and asked for a diagnosis. The mechanic assured me he'd call me before any work was done.
A few hours later he called to say job done, that he had replaced the hub. I'm not super mechanically savvy but I have never heard of the hub being replaced. He said it was corrosion from simple wear and tear. He charged me 100 for a new hub and 60 for labour. That wasn't too bad as I was expecting to pay more for a bearing. And the humming noise is gone.
I looked at the hub when I got home and its certainly not new, it looks just as worn as the other hubs.
He knew from my accent that I wasn't from around here and was pretty gruff to deal with.
Have people heard of the hub being replaced before? With a second hand hub?
I'm not sure what to think, if the good people of the motoring forum smell a rat I might go back and ask him for more information,
Thanks!
AC

martinr5232

What car is it ? Its possible it was just the bearing that was replaced.

If any work was done it should be obvious by marks on nuts and bolts.

andalusiachien

martinr5232 wrote: »

What car is it ? Its possible it was just the bearing that was replaced.

If any work was done it should be obvious by marks on nuts and bolts.

Its a focus. He definitely said the hub, as I asked him twice to be sure and he wrote it on the receipt

kirving

Yeah, with some cars you have to replace the entire hub and not just the bearing itself, as to do so would be even more work, if even possible. I was charged over 200 for the same job on an S40(which is basically a Focus)

I haven't looked, but will check if I can see if it's an obviously new hub.

Cee-Jay-Cee

In some cars the whole hub has to be replaced but it's generally rear wheels. Front wheels usually have press-in bearings.

Call him back and ask him what exactly he replaced/fixed. Maybe he got a second hand hub from a breaker as a new hub would generally be considerably more expensive than €100?

nophd08

andalusiachien wrote: »

Hi all,
I had a humming noise coming from my right front wheel between 60-80kph. All internet research suggested a wheel bearing issue so I brought it to a garage, explained what I was hearing and asked for a diagnosis. The mechanic assured me he'd call me before any work was done.
A few hours later he called to say job done, that he had replaced the hub. I'm not super mechanically savvy but I have never heard of the hub being replaced. He said it was corrosion from simple wear and tear. He charged me 100 for a new hub and 60 for labour. That wasn't too bad as I was expecting to pay more for a bearing. And the humming noise is gone.
I looked at the hub when I got home and its certainly not new, it looks just as worn as the other hubs.
He knew from my accent that I wasn't from around here and was pretty gruff to deal with.
Have people heard of the hub being replaced before? With a second hand hub?
I'm not sure what to think, if the good people of the motoring forum smell a rat I might go back and ask him for more information,
Thanks!
AC

Its possible the bearing is a complete bolt in unit and might be referred to by some as a hub. You'd need to remove wheel and have a look behind hub, you shoul see if its a new one or not.

endacl

Did he pop in a 'new' new hub, or a 'replacement' new hub? This could just be a lexical issue. I've never bought a 'new' car, for example. But I'd always describe my next car as my new car.

€160 isn't a bad price for getting the problem solved.

George Dalton

Is it a Mk2 Focus?

If so then this is the front wheel bearing assembly:



It should be easy enough to tell if it is new or not.

aujopimur

My guess is that you are looking at the brake disc which would not have been replaced.

macplaxton

Sounds fair for a "hub" and an hour of labour.

As others have said, some modern cars the hub/bearing is changed as an assembly. The assembly costs more, but less time is needed to fit it.

Where the "hub" job is actually changing just the bearings, then the garage has to remove, then refit the bearings which takes a little longer to fit.

Long as it is short.

andalusiachien

Thanks everyone for the solid info, my title is misguided, at 160, I definitely wasn't getting 'ripped off' I suppose. I was just confused as to what actually was replaced,
Thanks all