Ouch!

[David Eccles]

Cali in for its MOT & service today and just been phoned to say one road spring corroded .. £250. Video of corrosion also sent in case I doubted it!!
OUCH!!!!!
That was a nice present from Santa - NOT
oh well ...

 

[Rob H]

Cali in for its MOT & service today and just been phoned to say one road spring corroded .. £250. Video of corrosion also sent in case I doubted it!!
OUCH!!!!!
That was a nice present from Santa - NOT
oh well ...

Replacement is gold plated and corrosion resistant .... ?

 

[MattBW]

Perhaps they replaced a pair?

 

[David Eccles]

t'other side was done last year....turns out to be £200 for the one side which is slightly more than last year
that's main dealer prices - penalty of having something that needs to be looked after properly; though maybe it's time now to consider the local 4/5 specialist locally for some of the jobs...

 

[bigmac77]

I had my first service couple of weeks ago, they told me I needed new pads and discs on the rear £400. Lol.

 

[Skewif]

At my last VW service I received a text / email of a video with a technician pointing and touching all the brake discs and recommending all new brakes for a mere £800+. I ignored it as I knew the thickness of disks fine and pads good for at least another 10K. An hour later get a phone call recommending I go ahead with said brake change until I pointed out that if they check my service history they will find all was new at the last service they did. Their reply was "Arrr... well in that case your California is ready to collect". I feel it a somewhat dishonest way to bump up a £200 service to over a grand, tut tut. I use an independent ex VW commercial guy now at half the cost and 10x the honesty. IMO

 

[owen_h]

Paid £300 ish for a complete set of H&R lowering springs (inc drop links & rear rubber mounts) and another £250 to get them fitted at local independant. I couldnt give the old springs away and they ended up going to metal bin at the local recycling.
Easy to be wise after the event though and you have less options when they are saying pay or it wont pass MOT.

 

[mccp]

Easy to be wise after the event though and you have less options when they are saying pay or it wont pass MOT.

I think that it's a really bad idea to use a main dealer for MOTs, they must have a conflict of interest. With my Land Rovers since 2002, I have always used a local independent test centre for tests and either the main dealer or a much more local independent for repairs. I always got the indy to use Land Rover parts, which were inevitably cheaper through him that direct from the LR dealer.

It's very telling how much the main dealer will drop the price to try and get the business. Eventually, the service guy I dealt with at Land Rover got the message that I wasn't prepared to be in a reverse auction and would always quote their best price first.

 

[jqp]

Springs corroded after 5/6 years! Do you park it in the sea?
All four springs on my T25 Westy are absolutely fine after 32 years and 175,000 miles.

 

[bigmac77]

Service - Main dealer (although I still think it is a rip off people like those dealer stamps when it comes to resale).
Any work - do it myself or use a local independent.
MOT - Local independant.
Tyres - Mytyres or other online supplier and get fitted locally.

Basically if I can avoid the dealership I do.

 

[Andy Foster]

Still got 4 springs that I advertised here a bit back, (from a T6) if its not to late?

 

[AlanC]

I use the local council MOT centre. They do all the local taxis and private hire cars and have no commercial axe to grind, so you get a knowledgeable and honest appraisal of the vehicle.

Alan

 

[frenchie]

To my mind MOT,s are a must have inspection for sure. But the system as been turned into a money maker by garages. years back I had a mini metro which failed its MOT on brake pipes, I took it to a 2nd MOT station who passed the pipes but failed it on bearings. I took it to the local taxi MOT station who passed it. As you will know the first two stations just wanted work, the taxi station did not undertake work. In France the MOT is for two years and is undertaken by MOT stations only. they don't do any repair work at all, in fact its very hard for them to fail a car on the day as they need to give you six months to repair any faults and if you have the same fault on the next MOT in two years you pay a 100 euro fine, unless its on immersions.
why any of you are using main dealers for anything bar warranty work beats me, find yourself a good garage and stick with them.F

 

[larrylamb]

To my mind MOT,s are a must have inspection for sure. But the system as been turned into a money maker by garages. years back I had a mini metro which failed its MOT on brake pipes, I took it to a 2nd MOT station who passed the pipes but failed it on bearings. I took it to the local taxi MOT station who passed it. As you will know the first two stations just wanted work, the taxi station did not undertake work. In France the MOT is for two years and is undertaken by MOT stations only. they don't do any repair work at all, in fact its very hard for them to fail a car on the day as they need to give you six months to repair any faults and if you have the same fault on the next MOT in two years you pay a 100 euro fine, unless its on immersions.
why any of you are using main dealers for anything bar warranty work beats me, find yourself a good garage and stick with them.F

Any inspection work is subjective and some may flout the guidelines but I find it equally worrying that you persisted in taking your Metro to different MOT garages to find a pass.

 

[frenchie]

In answer Larry. I am a highly trained and skilled engineer, I knew there was nothing wrong with the brake pipes or the bearings. It was then as it is today a known fact that MOT stations ( not all but some ) use the MOT as a money maker, undertaking work that does not need doing. given the cost of these needless repairs over going to a further MOT, what would you of done. Rolled over and paid up, or walked. F

 

[larrylamb]

In answer Larry. I am a highly trained and skilled engineer, I knew there was nothing wrong with the brake pipes or the bearings. It was then as it is today a known fact that MOT stations ( not all but some ) use the MOT as a money maker, undertaking work that does not need doing. given the cost of these needless repairs over going to a further MOT, what would you of done. Rolled over and paid up, or walked. F

If I was skilled engineer I would have questioned why it had failed on the brake lines and discussed rather than paying for 2 more MOT's.

 

[frenchie]

If you know anything about MOT.s, the rights and wrongs of if work needs doing is very open and up to the MOT examiner. So whats the point in getting into a back and fourth with them. I only fight fights I know I will win. Anyway this is boring now F

 

[bigmac77]

To my mind MOT,s are a must have inspection for sure. But the system as been turned into a money maker by garages. years back I had a mini metro which failed its MOT on brake pipes, I took it to a 2nd MOT station who passed the pipes but failed it on bearings. I took it to the local taxi MOT station who passed it. As you will know the first two stations just wanted work, the taxi station did not undertake work. In France the MOT is for two years and is undertaken by MOT stations only. they don't do any repair work at all, in fact its very hard for them to fail a car on the day as they need to give you six months to repair any faults and if you have the same fault on the next MOT in two years you pay a 100 euro fine, unless its on immersions.
why any of you are using main dealers for anything bar warranty work beats me, find yourself a good garage and stick with them.F

Not exactly reassuring as to the road worthiness of cars on French roads.

 

[frenchie]

Motorbikes in France don't need an MOT. And micro cars don't need insurance,driving license or MOT. Odd place frankly. F