This is a debating question and I’m asking because of a like-for-like e’ent
Not long ago I took my ‘ectra to a local ‘auxhall main dealer, Hartwell of Oxford to have a bulb replaced.
That I needed to go to a ‘auxhall main dealer to have a bulb replaced in the first place is a shining example of stunningly bad design, but that’s not the point of this post
While my car was up on the ramps (really!) the mechanic performed what the receptionist later called ‘a ‘visual check’.
Which I didn’t ask for, but we’ll let that slide too
The result of performing this visual check was twofold:
1. It took 45 minutes to have the bulb changed, and
2. The receptionist presented me with a printed list of vehicle defects
And the cost of putting right these defects?
£700.78
This magic number is made up of:
£296.20, labour
£313.17, parts
£ 91.41, vat
£700.78, total
Gulp!
So I took the shopping list of jobs and went to Autocare Express of Witney and had the work done there.
And how much did it cost?
£130.24, labour
£177.93, parts
£ 46.24, vat
£354.41, total
So that’s half-price or, to put it another way, a cash sa’ing of £346.37.
As we started this piece with a question, let’s end it with another.
What is it that a Vauxhall main dealer does that’s worth an extra £346.37 over and above the cost of doing the job?
Thoughts?
Gosh! Huge discrepancy there! Wonder what the difference is. Are they trying to pay their month’s rent by bilking customers?
The answer to your question is…work for Vauxhall. They do it everywhere, i have had to talk friends out of having work done by them in the past just so they can have a vauxhall stamp on their log-book as it makes no difference.
Rip Off!
I know a good and reasonably priced mechanic if you need one. He is also a nice chap who deserves the business…
x
BTW, main dealerships typically charge £60 per hour for labour.
Main dealers aka stealers have ridiculous pricing policies. As you found out it often pays dividends to shop around and go elsewhere. A couple of years ago I was quoted £1,500 for brake disks and pads from a Nissan dealer, I got then done at my local independent for half that and have never been back to a main dealer since.
On another note – what the hell did you do to your car to justify £300 worth of damage/repair?
They go for a team lunch in Paris. Weekly.
It’s Obama’s fault. The Vauxhall Victor is made by a division of Government . . . I mean General Motors. He had to raise the prices to cover the bailout – or his car czar did. ;o}
I tell you why it’s so expensive to go to a main dealer, it’s because
a) Your local grease monkey isn’t paying out for ridiculously arty adverts including CGI and hugely costly branding and
b) Main dealers are robbing bastards.
I avoid them now after Ford charged me £150 to fix the damned wiper jets then my local mechanic informed me he could have sorted it for £40.