£370 inspection turns into a £1200 bill

holy :o

brings back memories of Berry Chiswick doing the same to mine last February - went in for an oil service (with me providing the oil) for a phone call later for £1500 worth of work.... which included a non-existent puncture :roll:

as others have already said so no to the basic essentials and do the rest at your leisure.
 
Brake fluid £120? I had mine done on an M although the only price difference would be the M tax but it still only cost just over £50! :?
 
Utterly shocking... Those prices are criminal. I'd have just told them to stuff it. I remember being quoted 10£ for wipers once. They came out at £46 due to them quoting without Vat, Labour and EACH! Just bought some from wiperblades.co.uk for £10 and fitted within 2 minutes.
 
This is the same dealers that told me they couldn't offer me 10% discount any longer for parts. Despite me spending piles with them over the course of a year. Their reasoning? They had to "tighten their belts". I explained that surely business (at 10% discounted) is better than no business at full retail pricing. Of course, this fell on deaf ears. These dealers get by simply on the virtue that they are "official BMW" so business just falls into their laps. The single worse aspect of owning a BMW is dealing with the dealer network without question.
 
My reason for going to them - they quoted same price on inspection 2 as my usual indy.

I guess I should have known better.
 
In this case it seems they coaxed you in with the service costs and smashed the granny out of your bank balance with the extras. I'm not going to say anything libellous but I'd be looking at a second opinion regardless before shelling out the costs for some of the reported things :thumbsup:
 
k3ab said:
My reason for going to them - they quoted same price on inspection 2 as my usual indy.

I guess I should have known better.
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Then just let them to do Inpsect 2 and nothing else.
 
You don't mention which engine you have but I replaced those belts on my 330 which has the same 3lt engine as the early Z with less working room, it was pretty straight forward, belts cost less than £40, will be doing the Z's before my summer road trip.
 
BMW really are buggers when they pull this kinda thing.

CRACKED prop shaft NOT critical? Hmmmm!

Brake fluid CRITICAL?


Pretty sure that is top price for brake fluid too. Most people seem to get it for about half that iirc.

Rear spring sounds steep to replace. It's a 30min job, more so when doing the brake fluid and general insp2 checks! The part iirc isn't that high either.


Sounds like they have just totted up the max they can charge for each job, and picked a load of jobs that are questionable. That cracked prop-shaft claim is worrying me, despite it not being critical. And their plain and clear like that brake fluid is critical. It'd be fine in there for another four years probably, just not AS good. It'll pass an MOT though.


Dodgy dealer.

Dave
 
k3ab said:
My reason for going to them - they quoted same price on inspection 2 as my usual indy.

I guess I should have known better.
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Out of interest mate, who's your usual indi? Always good to have an idea of whose available. But curious as to why you would ask for others in or around Reading? ie, are they not that local / good?
 
PawnSacrifice said:
Oh dear... is the car at Cooper Reading? :!:
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Do you know something there Pawn ?

I brought my Zed from Cooper last year and they did my INPS 2 without any issues. Mind you - it is still under warranty :roll:
 
I got my car booked in a grosvenor next month on recommendations from other members.When i phoned he said for a service 2 its £99 plus parts and vat and he also said if something dosnt need doing then there wont do it.So probably around £360 plus vat i think.

I just liked the way he spoke ,had time to talk and seemed very knowledgeable and even said when i bring the car in ask for him personaly.

Forgot to mention i get a lone car to.
 
They all want your money "beware". Things that do not necessarily need doing, will be pushed to be done.

Main reason I avoid main dealers if I can.
 
What the stealers dont realise if they didnt try and blag and bullshit every last job, adding many extra labour hours for quick jobs! they would actually get more business and happy/repeat customers! :x
 
Ouch

TBH I cant see how they get away with it.

I took mine in for a routine brake fluid 1 1/2 years ago. I was told the front discs needed changing as they were worn to almost illegal (£400 IIR). I decided against it and went to an indie.

1 set of pads and 2 MOT's later the car goes back to dealers. I ask (out of interest) about the front discs and told they are fine.

You heard it here first. BMW brake discs linings increase in thickness over time.

To quote Katherine Tait "the f@#king liberty"!
 
every time i have ever took a car for a service they always ring and say, "your brake fluid needs doing, shall we do it whilst we have the car".......i tell them to go and read the date on the service book of when its next due, which is normally in 6 months from when they 'think' its due. What you have to realise is, times are tough for many people these days, a garage is no different if they think they can fleece you for extra cash.

Never just bend over and take it up the tailpipe, always question what they are telling you that you NEED !
 
Dr Phibes said:
PawnSacrifice said:
Oh dear... is the car at Cooper Reading? :!:
Click to expand...

Do you know something there Pawn ?

I brought my Zed from Cooper last year and they did my INPS 2 without any issues. Mind you - it is still under warranty :roll:
Click to expand...

Just from experience... quite harrowing experience. But thinking about it, they weren't too bad with the warranty stuff. They have wronged a number of friends too. Couple of which were truly shocking! Advice is to keep an eye on everything they do - and if you take it for a service inspect things as far as possible to make sure it's been done.
 
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