Expensive day

H

henry1

Member
Put the Zed in this morning for a service 2 and rear brake pads and MOT, just had a call that the rear discs also need changing and the brake pipes are corroded, sent me the inspection video. Already had used the value service option but the brake pipes are almost £500 to change, the total is £1386 for the lot and the job may now take until Thursday?
Probably should have gone to an indie but just moved house and BMW is only 10 min away so went for it, the shocker is the brake pipes.
 
The brake pipe corrosion is probably just surface rust, and are using the old 'discs are worn' line. Ask them for the actual & minimum disc thicknesses to check for yourself.

This is the reason I never have an MOT at a place that offers servicing/repairs - as there's just too much temptation to 'find work'.
 
I once took my Peugeot to a Peugeot main dealer, they drew up a list of nearly three grand of work that was either "urgent" or "highly recommended".

Next trip they didn't seem to flag any of the issues, despite assuring me they were essential.
 
i had 4 new EBC discs and pads, goodridge brake lines and castrol srf brake fluid and sensors fitted all in for 850, just to give you an idea
 
I sincerely hope you haven't taken them up on their kind offer? Sod the convenience, save yourself £500 and get it somewhere else (and get a second opinion at the same time).
 
Honestly i should become a mechanic, the things they get away with charging for some of the simplest of jobs is crazy!

£1500 for a days work, minus say £300 parts and i reckon £200 would cover a premises and the relevant bills. So £1000 a day, will take some of that. Would only need to work 50 days a year and i could be happy :D
 
But my woes may seem insignificant.

Mondeo 2.0 TDCI driving along and BANG dead, cam belt bust. Should have lasted another 65k.

£2k+ valves hyd tappets and belt with tensioner !!!!!!!

:cry: :thumbsdown: :cry: :thumbsdown: :cry:
 
Yeh that's seems very high and I don't trust BMW servicing. After they said that my air-conditioning was broken in fact it just needed to be taken out of transport mode and re-charged.
 
simonlpearce said:
Honestly i should become a mechanic, the things they get away with charging for some of the simplest of jobs is crazy!

£1500 for a days work, minus say £300 parts and i reckon £200 would cover a premises and the relevant bills. So £1000 a day, will take some of that. Would only need to work 50 days a year and i could be happy :D
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I don't begrudge the dealer making money as it is a business after all - but for normal work they'll be twice the price of a good indy yet have a labour rate 3 times that of the indy.

The indy won't be paying BMW for up-to-date training for all their staff, won't be buying the BMW franchise or need to stock/buy/order a minimum amount of cars before they're allowed a parts/servicing franchise.

It might look like the dealer is making an easy £1000 on the deal, but they've got to pay the mechanic (£15/hour?) and pay BMW for the franchise rights (£10m?/site).

What I do despise - whether dealer or indy - is making up work by relying on the naivety of customers.
 
20% vat too always makes the bill look higher...

Without knowing the in and outs its hard to say,but as an Indy i would have though £500 could be saved on that bill...
 
Get your car out of there & take it to a recommended Indy :x
The dealers like to charge like wounded rhinoceros :roll:
Regards
 
mmm-five said:
The brake pipe corrosion is probably just surface rust, and are using the old 'discs are worn' line. Ask them for the actual & minimum disc thicknesses to check for yourself.

This is the reason I never have an MOT at a place that offers servicing/repairs - as there's just too much temptation to 'find work'.
Click to expand...

I checked this with BMW as when my E87 went in for front and rear pads I knew it needed front discs. The rears had around 1/2 a set of pad wear before they would be under the minimum thickness. As a result I questioned why they had not changed the rear discs. They advised that the minimum thickness applied to when pads were being changed. So unless the pads are at the minimum thickness already they will be fine for another set of pads. Unless they are not cleaning up all round and all of the pad area of course.
 
Not going back to the main stealer for my ins2. Got ripped off on Ins 1. Have been using and local indi since then, but they can't do some of the ins 2 checks, so will be up to Exeter.
 
Yes, main dealers will always try to screw you over in my experience.

I've been the victim od the same thing myself on two occasions recently, The first was when I took the MX5 into a Mazda main agent for a service, purely to keep the service records up to date and let them do the first MOT before selling it. (and to have the roof looked at but that was another story). I do all my own work on my cars & bikes, very rarely letting anyone else fiddle with them unless absolutely necessary, so I'm always pretty well clued up on what level of wear most things are at. I went to pick it up and was told it needed new discs and pads - it had passed the MOT but was borderline....apparently! And, did I want to book it in to have it done? The car had just 11k miles on it and I'd had the wheels off just a few days before for cleaning (yes I'm that sad, I take my wheels off to clean them - ok? :oops: )'. I checked the pads at the time and found they were less than 50% worn, and the discs were pretty much perfect, very slight lip but negligible - certainly nowhere near needing replacement.

Second time was in Nov when I took the bike into BMW to have a recall done on the fuel pump. It had just been recently serviced - by me so the service light was still on as I don't have the gizmo to reset it, it doesn't bother me so I leave it, it's been on for about 2 years at least now. It had also just passed an MOT a month or so before. I went back to pick it up only to be told, "It's way overdue a service sir, the service light is on and the oil is filthy, there's also some play in the rear axle bearings and your brake pads need replacement" I pointed out that I service the bike myself and do all my own repairs because I wouldn't let their team of ham fisted monkeys anywhere near it. I mentioned that it was interesting all those things were wrong with it because it had recently been serviced, and the MOT hadn't picked up any problems with either pads or the rear axle, not even an advisory! I invited him to come outside to where the bike was parked to show me the "filthy" oil, and the other things ....... He declined my offer.

Main Dealers, I wouldn't take anything to any of them ever again. Find a good indy that you can trust every time.
 
my mate has a 03 plate 330i convertible was quoted 3 hrs work for oil change and spark plug change .done it at home in my garage took less than a hour and that wasn't rushing so indys can rip you off as well .find a indy or a bm dealer that's been good to you over the years and stick with them :thumbsup:
 
Never have and never will use a main stealer. People who do must be rich that's all I say! I have used the same indy for the past 15 years and my Dad used him long before I was born. I also have a good mate who owns a garage so I'm lucky but surley everyone knows a good Indy or a friend of a friend etc?

People I guess just do it to have that main stealer stamp but it won't add much value when you come to sell the car anyway.. I bought my z4 with no service book as the seller lost it along with the handbook when moving house but I did call bmw £1 a min phone number who verified it had been to main Stealer for quite a few years along with what jobs it had done. Whether this had been an Indy or main stealer it would not of put me off the car anyway as I could see it had been looked after and nice clean oil etc.

I think you have had your pants pulled down paying over £1300 :(
 
I just had, new clutch, flywheel, new front struts, ARM bushes (poly), Drop Links (2), Wishbone Bushes, Battery, Alignment for not much more than that money :headbang: The worst bit is that the clutch and flywheel in parts is £750+
 
NAME THE DEALERS so we know who they are and can avoid them. Useless just blaming BMW....... :poke:
 
Roll of kunifer tube and flaring kit for brake and clutch lines plus male and female ends £30. Cheers Baz :thumbsup:
 
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