Evening all...

Was wondering if you lot thought id been ripped off...

Skoda Fabia vRS 2004 Model

70k Service

MOT

CamBelt £430

Needed New A/C Pipe (Inc Regasing) £300

All in for................................................. £732!!

Are clock garage in Derby extracting the Michael!

A fair bit of work there, ripped off, not really for main dealer.

Should have went private, stuff the stealers i'd say

About the same price they did my Cambelt/MOT/Service for (without the pipe). Seemed about normal for most places to be honest. No idea about the A/C pipe though.

I've found you feel a lot better with Clock when talking to the guys out back rather than the desk staff though.

I did get some discount as the company i work for use them for parts... botu £40 aint really a big deal off when £730 quid is expected lol...Still..i guess its a huge chunk i havent really got to worry about!

ROLL ON THE 80K next year lol

I had a view issues with Clock and don't intend ever going back there. Their aftersales seems particularly poor and I foud their sales people really quite annoying. Also the Skoda dealers in Nottingham have previously offered significantly better deals than Clock have on new octavias (my dad was looking at a replacement Octavia but ended up with an A3).

I live <10 mins from Clock in Breaston but use a garage I know in Long Eaton.

I use a good Indie in Nottingham, had major problems with Clock in the past. All in the dealer reviews.

Should have went private, stuff the stealers i'd say

Yep stuff us all we are useless....lol

(see other topic on dual mass flywheel)

£630 sounds better, thats what you were charged, the other £100 you have given to the tax man.

A lot of money - yes, value for money? - you have had the job done by trained professional people who will back up their work if anything went wrong and I expect that your inconvenience was minimsed by having the use of one of their cars for the day. It looks like you have paid the going rate for the job and the dealer has to make a profit to stay in business.

£630 sounds better, thats what you were charged, the other £100 you have given to the tax man.

A lot of money - yes, value for money? - you have had the job done by trained professional people who will back up their work if anything went wrong and I expect that your inconvenience was minimsed by having the use of one of their cars for the day. It looks like you have paid the going rate for the job and the dealer has to make a profit to stay in business.

Well said.

Why were you getting a cam belt service done at 70k? It is due at 60k, unless you are working on km or something.

My car is about to have the 60k service - at a private local garage it is costing me £80 in parts (that I got from a Skoda dealer) and £135 plus VAT for the labour. Why take a car back to the dealers when out of warranty?

£630 sounds better, thats what you were charged, the other £100 you have given to the tax man.

A lot of money - yes, value for money? - you have had the job done by trained professional people who will back up their work if anything went wrong and I expect that your inconvenience was minimsed by having the use of one of their cars for the day. It looks like you have paid the going rate for the job and the dealer has to make a profit to stay in business.

I agree, the price looks about right to me.

I dont know what all this anti dealer sentiment is at the moment, my local dealer is cheaper than the indepentant garage and gives much better service.

My local indie's are the rip off merchants round here. I would rather hand the car to a main dealer, have their car for the day and collect it when it's done knowing my warranty is still intact and they will rectify any errors.

Why are you asking after the fact if you've been ripped? Surely this would have been a better question *before* you had the work done ....

How much were you quoted for the job?

To me, ripped off implies being told one amount, and then being asked to pay another.

Or being asked to pay for something that you subsequently found hadn't been done.

How much were you quoted for the job?

To me, ripped off implies being told one amount, and then being asked to pay another.

Or being asked to pay for something that you subsequently found hadn't been done.

Or, perhaps, paying what you thought was [maybe high, but] reasonable, and then lots of people in similar situations telling you that it was very excessive? Hence asking on a forum full of people who would have been in that situation?

I think it all comes down to using someone you trust, be that an indie or a main dealer.

At various times I've used both. Perhaps some of the larger dealers are more impersonal, just looking to get you in and out ASAP. And as one dealer said to me "we don't fix things we just replace them", obviously there is likely to be a higher cost from using OEM parts from Skoda. An independant may be able to come up with a cheaper fix with cheaper parts or a repair. I once drove around for a month or so with a stop cable from a diesel engine in place of a choke cable - worked fine, it was just a bit daft pulling the thing marked stop to start...

What doesn't help is the huge variability especially between dealers and then there's the back street garage with the guy who is standing there shaking his head at your car before you even say anything...

[insert more stereotypes here]

My service, MOT and cambelt came to over £600 - hideous I thought, but local independents I got quotes from were barely cheaper, and some even more expensive for the cambelt change! I think it is quite an expensive car to service!

I think it all comes down to using someone you trust, be that an indie or a main dealer.

At various times I've used both. Perhaps some of the larger dealers are more impersonal, just looking to get you in and out ASAP. And as one dealer said to me "we don't fix things we just replace them", obviously there is likely to be a higher cost from using OEM parts from Skoda. An independant may be able to come up with a cheaper fix with cheaper parts or a repair. I once drove around for a month or so with a stop cable from a diesel engine in place of a choke cable - worked fine, it was just a bit daft pulling the thing marked stop to start...

What doesn't help is the huge variability especially between dealers and then there's the back street garage with the guy who is standing there shaking his head at your car before you even say anything...

[insert more stereotypes here]

Precisely, I have used the dealer in question and had my fingers burnt so I don't.

I have used most of the indie's and franchised dealers in this area in my 6 odd years owning various Skodas and have found 1 of each I trust.

My independant uses genuine parts unless otherwise requested and has the luxury of time when working on my car. The Franchised dealership is one the indie used to work for, and he has plenty of praise for them and keeps in close contact.

Whilst in warranty my Octavia will go to a franchised dealer, when it finishes it will go to my independant because his prices are very competitive, and I trust he knows what he is doing.

That does sound rather expensive.

Although it is not a skoda (my other car) is an Audi A4 but with the same 1.9tdi engine etc.

I had a cam belt and 120k service for considerably less at a vw specialist (albeit not a main dealer)

As far as my local skoda dealer, I do not know as yet what costs are going to be but I will get a price prior to the work and then make a decision if I will use them or my local vw specialist) for servicing.

I have got to say though, at this point in time I have been impressed with the attitude of the service manager at my local skoda dealer (he has been very helpful)

Yep stuff us all we are useless....lol

(see other topic on dual mass flywheel)

DMF?? :confused:

Never said useless its the prices that are a joke!!

Why take a car back to the dealers when out of warranty?

Because even when out of warranty dealers still know what goes wrong with your car and how to sort it.

http://briskoda.net/forums/general-car-chat/get-better-deal-non-dealer-not-always/112822/

Plus things like recalls, updates and service actions are only available to your dealer so you could be missing out upgrades and updates.

Because even when out of warranty dealers still know what goes wrong with your car and how to sort it.

http://briskoda.net/forums/general-car-chat/get-better-deal-non-dealer-not-always/112822/

Plus things like recalls, updates and service actions are only available to your dealer so you could be missing out upgrades and updates.

I take it to a competent mechanic he's actually 70 and the lad that helps him is 80

I usually self diagnose or i get him to look at it for me. If were stuck i'd take it to a dealer to get it plugged in but that hasn't happened yet

Manufacturers know what there doing nowadays with all this ECU fault code reading shenanigans when all it really is is about making money as owners have to use the main dealers... Swines...

Last time i checked Skoda were £70 an hour :eek: :thumbdwn:

Runs and hides

Reading a fault code is all well and good, VAG COM is very good for that, but a fault code wont always tell you whats wrong, and what happens when there isn't one?

Of course I'm just playing devils advocate, I cant really offer an unbiased opinion, not only do I defend the dealer network (there are very few of us on here who can/will) but by nature i'm perfectly capable of fixing and servicing my own cars anyway.

i went to the main dealers for my cambelt, only charged me £300, and top up all my fluids, checked tyres etc (including me Coffee! lol), and included Courtesy car...

Because even when out of warranty dealers still know what goes wrong with your car and how to sort it.

http://briskoda.net/forums/general-car-chat/get-better-deal-non-dealer-not-always/112822/

Plus things like recalls, updates and service actions are only available to your dealer so you could be missing out upgrades and updates.

Maybe, but for the sake of saving £200 on routine servicing, I don't care that much. For basic oil services it doesn't even go to an independant dealer, we do it in the driveway.