Main dealer (attempted) rip off story

[thebishman]

Well today i had some fun with my local main dealer.

My car was due its major service and also cambelt ( for age not mileage as i hardly use the car). Whilst it was there it was having its recall done due to a certain recent emmission scandle.

I was quoted 430 for the cambelt and 330 for the major service.

Dropped the car off yesterday so they could crack on with it this morning.

I got a text message from them asking me to look at their mechanics inspection report on the car as the service had been done.

URGENT WORK REQUIRED!!! in red writing...urgent! I thought hang on a minute i know my car is in mint condition, incredibly low mileage..so what could it possibly be i thought to myself.

Its needs the water pump to be changed as its driven by the cambelt. They wanted another 120 for that. (I have always known the pumps to be changed whilst cambelt is being done thats fine, but why wasnt this included in the original price)

Ok moving on...

Passenger side front tyre worn. Wooorn!?!?! I know full well its nearly new!

Oh look one more "urgent" item that requires attention. Rear brake pads worn... ahh worn...this is becoming deja vu. The rear pads are nearly new too!!

On the site...the accept charges button was huge and easy to find...to reject it took me some time to find out how to say no thanks. But i found it and rejected it.

Now what i purposely didnt mention to them when dropping the car off is that im a fully qualified master technician on the truck side of the motor vehicle industry!!

So i get on the phone to them...

I "naively" asked a mountain of questions regarding the legality and safety requiremnts of tyres and brakes etc with each question making it harder and harder for them to worm their way out of it. Its when the guy ran out of answers that i told him what my qualifications are and that they had proved what a bunch of money grabbing lying bastards they are.

Ooh it must have been an over sight!!! Ahwell thats ok then as this over sight would have cost me an EXTRA 500 quid on top of what i had booked it in for.

Told them to do the cambelt water pump and service as orginally agreed.
I also suggested that they have a little think for the rest of afternoon for when i come to collect my car as i am not a happy bunny.

Well i go in and was sat down in there posh service reception area. Huge apologies from the service guy who was quite obviously embarrased by this "oversight". So embarrassed that he felt the need to only charge me 462 quid instead of the 920 odd!!! So basically half price as a way of saying sorry.

So now although im pissed off with them trying to take me for a mug (and also giving the rest of the trade a bad name) i have come out with a right result. Full main dealer service history and stamps for peanuts.


Apologies for the long story but i thought it might help some of you realise that if you know feck all about cars/mechanics, maybe take someone with you thats got atleast half an idea as it can save you getting ripped off.

This was a big main dealer and not some grubby back street garage too!!!

[Deleted]

TBH i tend to find the main dealer are worse than the back street workshops as they tend to rely on word of mouth for their custom base.
Whereas the main dealer just hope you are naive enough to take it to them to keep up with the "main dealer history" rip off.
But good on you for telling them whats what mate.
Its easy to see how non mechanically minded people do get ripped off.

[ghostrider1971]

thebishman - Good for you, my friend. Hopefully those g1ts will think a few times before chancing their arms again.

When I read the title, I thought it was going to be a rant about a B&M charging fifty quid for 10ml of "premium juice"

[jtc]

Grrrrr
Absolutely atrocious service and it should be a criminal offence with a minimum sentence of 10 years.The amount of hard working people that keep getting robbed by companies in general is disgusting. This sort of thing should be clamped down on big time.
Good on your for putting them in their place mate

[thebishman]

I must admit i did enjoy the confrontation lol

[VapingBad]

I would have done your cambelt & water pump for only £429 , I've got the special tools of VW PD engines and the computer link & software to register it was done. IIRC you have a Golf and assuming it's a TDi it looks like an reasonably easy job, at least compared to a Passat where you have to unbolt the front panel and slide it forward 6".

[markus]

Dec 29, 2016 18:57:17 GMT VapingBad said:

computer link & software to register it was done.

I'm guessing thats for newer cars, as far as i know you dont register a cambelt change on mine, i just reset the service indicator when i link it up to my laptop


Ive worked in a few main dealers in bodyshops & parts departments, im sorry to say what youve been put through isnt an oversight, ive watched service departments rip people off left righ & centre
Ive got to have a cambelt done on my car too, cant do it myself as i dont have the right tools or a place to do it.....but I can tell you it wont be going to any audi main dealer !...lol

[VapingBad]

Dec 29, 2016 19:19:56 GMT markus said:

Dec 29, 2016 18:57:17 GMT VapingBad said:

computer link & software to register it was done.

I'm guessing thats for newer cars, as far as i know you dont register a cambelt change on mine, i just reset the service indicator when i link it up to my laptop


Ive worked in a few main dealers in bodyshops & parts departments, im sorry to say what youve been put through isnt an oversight, ive watched service departments rip people off left righ & centre
Ive got to have a cambelt done on my car too, cant do it myself as i dont have the right tools or a place to do it.....but I can tell you it wont be going to any audi main dealer !...lol

I can't remember if I needed to reg the belt, I was swapping the cyl head at the time and it was a few years ago, but my bemmer needed 3 settings changing to change the battery and the main stealer wanted north of 300 quid so I just assume these days.  Actually my eldest mate just tols me Halfords told him replacing a rear bulb was a  main stealer only job, luckily he was not that gullible.

[thebishman]

Dec 29, 2016 18:57:17 GMT VapingBad said:

I would have done your cambelt & water pump for only £429 , I've got the special tools of VW PD engines and the computer link & software to register it was done. IIRC you have a Golf and assuming it's a TDi it looks like an reasonably easy job, at least compared to a Passat where you have to unbolt the front panel and slide it forward 6".

I can do all that myself but i want to keep the car "main dealer serviced with full dealer service history" as when i sell the car i should get a better deal.

Besides i dont have much tooling at home (its all at work) never mind the locking pins id assume id need.

[striker42]

I jumped of the main dealer service bus years ago. I can see where you're coming from thebishman,  having a full service history. But does it really get you that much more on the resale value compared to what you've parted with to keep the book stamped ? IMO no it doesn't. My daughters boyfriend has a 2014 Citroen DS3. On Tuesday this week he phoned the main dealer for a service, new front brake pads only, not discs, two front tyres 205x45x17, an ad blu top up, reset the computer and service lights = £1,100. He phoned me just about in tears. I told him to leave his car at my house on Tuesday and take mine. A good friend of mine is a mechanic with a local distribution firm. I contacted him on Tuesday night, he picked the car up Wednesday morning and it was returned today (Thursday) all work completed, including new front and rear wiper blades. The bill £325. The only thing missing is the stamp in the service book. But is it really worth that much ?

[djs]

I ought to step away from this thread.

14 years ago, we almost got taken for mugs by a main dealer. They claimed a 4 year old car required over £2,500 worth of work.

So, I collected it (I told them to do nothing, not even change the oil) and a day later took it to an independent garage and got a second opinion.

The £1,000 job on the suspension was a job normally done under recall of that model
It didn't need an exhaust section, or back tyres or complete disk and pads.... it needed nothing. NOTHING.

So, the main dealer replaced the suspension components for free. They carried out the service without attending to anything listed in "BS" workshop sheet and then charged me £140. They wanted £148 until I busted them for screen wash which they couldn't have topped up, as the independent garage had filled it until it over-flowed the day before...

Those disks are still on it today, as is the original exhaust. Funny, that.

[chykensa]

As some of you know, I drive a VW T4 van, '03 plate, 888 Special X Pack (electric windows and mirrors, and cruise control). I have had this two years now, and have done almost 30,000 miles in that time, mostly around the narrow lanes of Cornwall, not cruising up the motorway.
I have used a local VW T4/5 specialist for all my repairs, MOTs and servicing, and they have been brilliant, on one occasion cancelling a brake pad warning light and telling me that I have a few more thousand miles left before they need doing. That was six months and 6,500 miles ago!
I enquired at the Cornish VW main dealers when on the phone to them about a paint code for my van, asking them how much for a major service. £750 + parts + labour + VAT was the answer.
I then called VW Connections (there, I've named them!) and for the same service, £375 all in. No prizes for guessing where it's being serviced next month!

[markus]

Dec 29, 2016 23:31:17 GMT djs said:

They wanted £148 until I busted them for screen wash which they couldn't have topped up, as the independent garage had filled it until it over-flowed the day before...

Sadly thats just common pratice to add things like that on the bill even if theyve been done or not, along with other bits like clips, connectors, cable ties, spray oil, brake fluid etc, its usually added as "fluids top up" or "sundries" & can be anywhere between £5-20 extra, one vauxhall main dealer I worked at added those charges to every car that came in regardless, if the customer questioned it or got upset about it theyd just take it off to avoid upsetting them more.....but most didnt complain, average charge of £10 extra per customer, say 15 customers per day, £750 per week....it soon adds up over the year !....alot of garages do this now, even independent ones.

In my experince as far as having main dealer stamps in your service book, if you own a Ferrari, then yes main dealer history is worth its weight in gold, if you drive an everyday car like us normal folk then its only worth it if your going to sell the car on whilst its still  relatively new, once its getting old (over 5yrs) ive found it doesnt really make that much of a difference & doesnt add much to the resale value, stamps from non main dealers are just as good...people just see "full service history"  Also the market is flooded with S/Hand vehicles these days & in reality its a buyers market. Credit is also much easier to get now on cars (esp if you go to one of the rip off merchants like Car Shop that deal in ex lease vehicles)
Also considering the fact that alot of main dealers are terrible for charging for things they havent done, Ive worked in 3 main dealer parts departments & they we're all the same, I used to go round the workshop once a month with a box collecting new service parts from mechanics benches that hadnt been fitted, but the customer was still charged for them.....added back to stock as "zero cost" which just meant better profit margins....Personaly I'd trust independent garages more than most main dealers, they have to work harder to keep customers comming back, main dealers will always have work comming into the workshop aslong as theyre selling new cars.

[enjay]

The computer side of things is to check the camshaft timing after doing the timing belt. You have to lock the camshaft and loosen three bolts that hold the pulley on so it can move as you tension the belt. Then after you hook up vagcom/vcds and check the cam timing. On a PD tdi the injector timing is run off the camshaft too.


Anyway speaking of dealers, my dad's waterpump just packed in a year and a good few miles short of the timing belt being due.

Turns out the dealer did the belt last time but obviously didn't do the pump and on top if that his cam timing was out!

I did it for him just before Christmas in my drive cause I'm am idiot lol.

Had to make the tools to lock the crank etc which is when I discovered the timing was out.


Own car is a mk4 golf tdi, got the tools and vagcom though.

[striker42]

Any dealer or independent garage that changes a timing belt without changing the water pump, if the pump is driven by the timing belt, should be shut down and put out of business. Why would any garage strip down that far and not change the water pump. Crazy, plain and utter stupidity, unless the customer stipulates they don't want to pay the few quid extra to have the job completed properly.