Hi all. The brake pedal on my skoda octavia was slowly going down while sat in traffic. I took it to my local garage who tried bleeding the system but said they were unable to as they said the master cylinder was at fault. They have now replaced the brake master cylinder and charged £276 with labour costs which seamed a bit steep to me. I have looked on different sites & the master cylinders range from anywhere between £35 to £85. Unless he has ordered in a genuine skoda part this seams a bit expensive to me your thoughts,  experience would be appreciated cheers colin.

2 hours ago, SDIclassic said:

Hi all. The brake pedal on my skoda octavia was slowly going down while sat in traffic. I took it to my local garage who tried bleeding the system but said they were unable to as they said the master cylinder was at fault. They have now replaced the brake master cylinder and charged £276 with labour costs which seamed a bit steep to me. I have looked on different sites & the master cylinders range from anywhere between £35 to £85. Unless he has ordered in a genuine skoda part this seams a bit expensive to me your thoughts,  experience would be appreciated cheers colin.

Hi Colin, has it fixed the problem?

My thoughts are that its too late for you to start querying the bill and what parts they are going to fit after the job has been completed.

 

What was the parts, labour, fluid and consumables breakdown?

Did not get a breakdown just said replace brake master cylinder and bleed system £276

5 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

Hi Colin, has it fixed the problem?

Yes much better than it was but pedal  still feels a little soft for my liking. Might try bleeding the system again

33 minutes ago, SDIclassic said:

Did not get a breakdown just said replace brake master cylinder and bleed system £276

You could go back to them and ask for a price breakdown. 

Garages are expensive but at the end of the day, they are a business with employees trying to make a living by using their, premises, tools, skills and experience. Ultimately there are two options when it comes to repairing cars, either save money by doing the work yourself or pay the money to someone else to do it for you. 

19 hours ago, niceyellow vrs said:

Ultimately there are two options when it comes to repairing cars, either save money by doing the work yourself or pay the money to someone else to do it for you. 

 

The second option that you have mentioned can be broken down into Option 2a and Option 2b.

 

Option 2a - avoid at all costs

Go to a garage who overcharges. This type of garage will create work for themselves by nobbling your vehicle, such as loosening your wheel bearings and pulling off the windscreen washer tube so that your windscreen washer no longer works. This type of garage is very common in the UK.

 

Option 2b - highly recommended

Go to a garage who doesn't overcharge. This type of garage will have a fantastic reputation with the locals and many happy repeat customers. So do search them out.