Vauxhall Pentagon Rip Off

[HONESTKNOB]

Just want to get this rant off my chest.
My father bought a brand new Astra about 4 years ago and always had it serviced by Pentagon. A while ago he fell ill and couldn't drive but still continued to have the car serviced and MOT'd every year even though the car never moved off the drive.
Last month he passed away and my mother wanted me to have the car. To make sure it was ok to drive she asked them to service it and MOT it today for me. The car has done 9 miles since the last service.
They rang her to say it would need new discs and pads, new cam belt and they changed all the filters etc etc. The bill is over £700!!!!!!!!!
They've charged £400 for labour and only had the car a day. The rest is VAT etc etc.
I'm tempted to write to Watchdog. How can a car that's only done 9 miles need so much work????

[patdavies]

Where to start.

If the car is simply parked on the drive for a year and not properly 'laid up' then the brake discs will rust severely, damaging the pads in the process.

The cam belt is either being changed on a time basis or because it has perished and cracked from lack of use. Be thankful that is hadn't become so hardened that is snapped on the way to the garage.

Filters etc, is a normal annual service. Most servicing is done on time or mileage.

MoT test takes 45 minutes and the cost includes labour. Outside that the garage had had the vehicle about 6.5 hours. At £400 that is £60/hr roughly, which is not at all expensive these days.

The total of 9 miles is an irrelevance; the work is necessary due to time depredation

[HONESTKNOB]

I can appreciate the cam belt and maybe the brakes. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one. I was aware the rubber could perish etc etc.
I've been this morning to a private garage for a 2nd opinion who said they would have done the same job for £400.
I'm off to trading standards this afternoon for their opinion and I've also e-mailed watchdog.
You're obviously a mechanic.

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by HONESTKNOB

You're obviously a mechanic.

Not at all

[LancerQRL]

but a private mechanic will not have the overheads of a main dealer as well as all the wages of maybe 50+ staff.as well as the special tools and info etc. that is what makes the difference between a main dealer price and a private mechanic price.

[Conniff]

What Pat and Lancer says is true (and I am in no way defending the garage). If you look in the owners manual it will say thngs like "at 6 months or 6,000 miles".

A dealer will send their mechanics away for training at regular intervals whereas an independent will learn as they go along and with the aid of workshop manuals.

[HONESTKNOB]

Guess I'm outnumbered here but I still have a bitter taste in my mouth that they've taken advantage of an old lady who knows nothing about cars. It's paid for now so I'll just bite the bullet and make sure I never set foot in a vauxhall dealers ever again.

[Conniff]

A lot of dealers will not time the job but just charge what the manufacturers 'guide to times' says.

When I was an apprentice I was told to change the top radiator hose for a customer while he waited. I undid the the clips pulled off the hose, not worrying about any spillage as we kept a bucket of ready mixed antifreeze always to hand, fitted the new hose, tightened the clips and topped up the coolant. It took me all of about 4 minutes.
When the gent was handed the bill he went loopy. The receptionist explained that it was parts and labour, but he disagreed with the amount of labour charged. They did reduce his bill, but I was given a right bollocking by the boss, "if the book says 16 minutes then you take 16 minutes if the customer is watching".
How Ford could have timed the job at 16 minutes is beyond me, even if I had to place a bucket beneith the radiator and catch any coolant I still couldn't have taken 16 minutes.

[HONESTKNOB]

Interesting stuff mate. I'm not a mechanic but even I know it doesn't take £400 in labour to change front discs and pads and a cam belt. That's the bit that's really left the bad taste.

[Conniff]

I agree. Vauxhall have one of the easiest cambelts to change of all cars.

[Rob S]

Changing the front discs and pads is not a big job either. I did it on my car a week ago and it took me 1 hour. This included having to chisel out 2 of the screws that held the disc on one side in place and sourcing replacements from my stash of spare nuts and bolts. It would have been a 40 minute job otherwise.