at least dick turpin wore a mask

lewi

lewi

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1 Jul 2007
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glasgow
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a retired friend phoned last night, he had just
got a quote for a service, impelor change,
and winterizing. £200 plus parts.
his "craft" a 16ft longliner with a 6hp
outboard, his pension small. the quote
is too high ,not all boat owners are loaded /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

so this weekend this sucker for a sad story
will do said work for the price of the parts
and a couple of single malts,

missing out on xmas shopping /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
oh dear /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Could depend on wether the boat is going to a workshop or if the enginner is going out to do the job.Either way there is a mans wages/pension/insurance etc to fund or a workshop to maintain most probably both.If a larger outfit there will be other staff to be paid out of that too.
Nothing wrong with a bit of DIY,just as long as you are prepared hold your hand up if something expensive goes later wrong,cos you touched it last. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Know full well the cost of service's!

On a completely different note, I took my wife's Audi A2 to a VW dealers for a headlight bulb, as with all VAG group garages this is normally done for the price of the bulb (£7.00), but on this occasion they decided the bill would be bulb + half an hour labour.

Bill presented was ......... £54.00......!!!!!!!
On questioning thier labour rates I found it was £80+VAT per hour!!

On complaining they phoned our nearest franchised Audi dealer who were £28+VAT cheaper like for like job.

There sure are some rip off merchants about, just had my 2 Kad32's done & it did make my eyes water.. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Its the carpet your paying for..............

Audi charges that because it is vital the Audi showroom has carpet 12" thick ,extremely posh furniture,fresh flowers 5 times a day and all the salespersons(O all right salesmen cos they will all be blokes anyway) have to wear suits and ties cos it makes them all very business like and V. honest.A couple of token young lady helpers will be around somewhere for show .
Buyers of posh cars want to feel they are doing top notch hard deals and need comfortable surroundings to be ripped off in.
Contast that with the parts section round the back with its lino and no chairs and phones which must ring for at least 20 mins before either being put on hold or just bring cut off completely.
The sooner Aldi or Tesco start flogging cars the better.
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

I spent 20 years in the motor trade, so I guess i know why they charge that amount.

To prevent anyone getting the franchise, they set the standards high. Thereofre the costs are high.

This stops Joe Bloggs from starting up a franchise and doing all the work cheap and not to a high standard.

You cant buy the dignostic machines unless you have all the other equipment etc to do all the jobs.

So, keeps Joe Bloggs out the way and high standards at the dealership. (What you would expect).

ANYONE can apply for ANY motor franchise and they cannot stop them getting it. HOWEVER, you have to invest millions to come up to the franchise standard.

So, the Bulb...

Since NCAP awards were introduced (Saftey crumple zones etc) Manufacturers are making the cars much safer and you have a serious chance of surviving an accident than you did say 6 years ago.
I doing so the front of the car is built to withstand the impact better. But the access to the bulbs are restrictive, with soem dismanting involved just to get at the bulb. (VAG are very good at this)

Hence, High prices to change a bulb.

In London MANY garages will change over £100+ per hour. As you move away from there it drops to say £50 per hour in outlying areas. Cost of running the business is less.

The sooner Aldi and Tesco start flogging cars the better!
No way, they will mess it up and the dealers will pick up the pieces with even HIGHER charges.
Dealers do NOT make hardly any money on Sales but they do look after cars bought from them.
Buy the car from Tesco, take to a dealer to fix and you think you will be at the front of the queue. More like the back. Guaranteed.

By the way, i have been out of the trade for the last 18 months.
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

I agree that a resonable charge should be made & dont mind paying for the time spent.

To change a headlight bulb in the A2 took 10 mins tops, bulb was £7.99, so rest was VAT & labour £46.00.

They did however look into my complaint & after giving our local Audi franchise a call promptly refunded £28.00

Audi must have a price for the job where as VW charged halfhour labour as minimum charge.

My A4 & my wife's A2 both get serviced at the franchised dealer, we always get very good service & are happy to pay reasonable costs but I think the high prices maybe driven by the company car sector.

In the end we recieved a £28.00 refund so it was found to be overcharged, pitty some people who would just walk away & not question it (company car owners).
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

I just had some warranty work done on my motorhome. I had ordered a replacement cooker top, which they took it upon themselves to replace at the same time.
The charge? £50 + VAT for .... fitting two screws.
I said "You must be joking".
They agreed to waive the charge.
Nothing but an attempted rip-off.
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

"No way, they will mess it up and the dealers will pick up the pieces with even HIGHER charges."

Just like Tesco ruined the retail food sector,retail clothing,furniture,electricals,electronics with loads of quality choice?

The motor car is just another retail item,if a tad complicated,Tesco Garages Plc could sell you a car and maintain it,just as well as any other outfit capable of reading diagnostic gear and changing a ICU while telling you it is not covered by the warranty.
How many other trades thought they were immune from progress in the past,only to find out too late that their day has come .......and gone.
Still at least the posh company vehicle will still be there and you can drop off some groceries on the route home.The Astra van is good on fuel by all accounts. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

[ QUOTE ]

Dealers do NOT make hardly any money on Sales but they do look after cars bought from them.

[/ QUOTE ]

All a bit off thread this, but we're currently battling on out local Mazda/Ford dealer re. a known tyre wear problem with SMWBO one yr old Mazda 5, and they are utterly totally useless. Not so much 'looking after' as 'persecuting'. We've owned Rover/Saab/MG/Peugeot/Ford/Alfa Romeo/Renault and Toyota over the last decade or so. Only with Toyota could I say they looked after us - they were truly exceptional - and I didn't even buy the car from them; I bought it in Denmark!
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

We've owned Rover/Saab/MG/Peugeot/Ford/Alfa Romeo/Renault

Thats not bad luck. Thats looking for trouble. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: Its the carpet your paying for..............

[ QUOTE ]
"No way, they will mess it up and the dealers will pick up the pieces with even HIGHER charges."

Just like Tesco ruined the retail food sector,retail clothing,furniture,electricals,electronics with loads of quality choice?


[/ QUOTE ]Absolutely agree.... any mass market industry that thinks it can continue to provide a basic service at such a premium rate using nothing more than protectionism is on very dangerous ground..... Tesco etc have a track record of doing a good job in new markets, at much lower prices, and with much better quality....

I'd take my car to Tesco for a service if they did them out of preference to a dealership.... I feel nothing but ripped off when I go to a dealership... Tesco would probably use non branded parts (from the same production line) using EU law to ensure that warranties weren't affected... bottom line.... I trust Tesco more than I do any dealership.... this after all is the same industry that needed EU legislation to be stopped from charging massive premiums compared to the rest of Europe for cars, needed EU legislation to stop cartels over warranty maintenance and needed EU legislation to stop illegal market manipulation over dealership exclusivity and coverage......
 
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