Is this all really needed? The labour hours are ridiculous IMO. Costed not as the wheels are coming off once, parts stripped, replaced, brake fluid changed, exhaust clamp done. Wheels on, road tested. Half a day morning or afternoon at the most, not needing almost a full days work for a trained mechanic. Maybe an apprentice yes. But not at that hourly rate.

Edited 31 July, 202531 Jul by Ootohere

Hi, Thats what i thought, considering that most of the work can be done at the same time, i was expecting a quote between £700 - 900!

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Total hours would appear to be outrageous!

Who is that quote from - main dealer or independent?

1 minute ago, Warrior193 said:

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Total hours would appear to be outrageous!

Who is that quote from - main dealer or independent?

Independent garage, with ex VW group mechanics.

Just now, ose said:

Independent garage, with ex VW group mechanics.

I should have guessed that given the hourly rate charged.

8 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Hello, welcome to the forum.

Total hours would appear to be outrageous!

Who is that quote from - main dealer or independent?

Hello, and thanks for the welcome.

48 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

Is this all really needed?

That needs answering.

Not one of those "health check"/upselling check sheets done oh-so-helpfully as part of a simple oil change service, by any chance?

13 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

That needs answering.

Not one of those "health check"/upselling check sheets done oh-so-helpfully as part of a simple oil change service, by any chance?

Hi,

Yes I got an oil change with inspection service, and they looked at my last MOT which had the following advisories:

• Nearside Front Shock absorbers has light misting of oil (5.3.2 (b))

• Front Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

• Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

• Nearside Front wheel slightly binding

• under trays fitted

and quoted me the above although my front discs and pads look ok.

Front wheel slightly binding is maybe worth addressing, the rest can probably be ignored.

It does seem high for the work required, Finding a workshop you can trust implicitly is so important I have used the same one for years I'm not sure what I would do if the owner decided to retire.

58 minutes ago, ose said:

Hi,

Yes I got an oil change with inspection service, and they looked at my last MOT which had the following advisories:

• Nearside Front Shock absorbers has light misting of oil (5.3.2 (b))

• Front Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

• Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii))

• Nearside Front wheel slightly binding

• under trays fitted

and quoted me the above although my front discs and pads look ok.

I'd seriously consider that everything they are quoting for is unnecessary - apart from the binding front brake.

Edited 31 July, 202531 Jul by Warrior193
typo

Sounds like a garage we should be avoiding. 😡

15 minutes ago, Sofo said:

Sounds like a garage we should be avoiding. 😡

The garage has a very good reputation amongst VW group car people, hence why i went there!

Edited 31 July, 202531 Jul by ose

Thanks for the responses and help guys, appreciated!

Edited 31 July, 202531 Jul by ose

Hi @ose

Just to add my 2p to things, from the quote -

1) The parts cost, actually, seems about right. Okay, the discs seem rather expensive for a Fabia, but if they're using genuine OE stuff, then it's about right.

2) The hourly labour cost is acceptable for a specialist VAG garage. The place I use is about the same per hour, with VAT.

3) The number of hours needed for the job is a bit high, but to be honest it's nothing crazy. I will say that it often costs less to replace the control arms, rather than press out and in the bushes. Three and half hours is how long it takes to do this, but I'm a bit disappointed they didn't make this clear.

All of that being said, there are some issues. The labour for doing the shocks and control arms should be combined, and reduced, as they're part of the same job (sort of). The misting of oil is extremely common on a VAG car and, really, is just an indicator of the shocks working!It doesn't mean they need to be replaced. The worn brakes do need to be replaced, but not necessarily now.

Without knowing what the bushes, brakes, shocks, etc look like, it's difficult to agree or disagree with the quote. If they really do all need doing, then that is probably a fair price to pay at an independent VAG specialist for a good job. I think the issue, might be, that they don't all need doing.

I see you're in the South East - whereabouts?

Hi @OccyVRS,

Near Slough, i have in the last few days noticed my front wheels getting hot and a burning metal smell recently and extra brakepad dust, but looking at the front disks they look ok the rear disks look like they need replacing. I did not really pay them any mind at first because i have had garages give me the similar advisories in the past that were just trying to get extra work out of me. Any garage recommendations?

Edited 31 July, 202531 Jul by ose

11 hours ago, ose said:

...i have in the last few days noticed my front wheels getting hot and a burning metal smell recently and extra brakepad dust ...

That'll be the binding brakes.

If you're feeling really brave/foolish touch the disks after a run to confirm they are binding.

I did it on mine and have the blister to prove it. 😉

Either way it's definitely a job that needs doing sooner rather than later.

Edited 1 August, 20251 Aug by Sofo
Added a splash of colour.

But I'd certainly query the rest of the advisories.

Getting the brakes serviced, or doing that yourself if you are able, is something that too many owners avoids getting done, and ending up with brake issues tends to be the norm, this s is made worse typically by servicing is centred round the engine only - and a quick safety check around the car - and maybe highlighting any potential for "more business".

If you feel brave enough to check how hot things have become, you could check the centreish wheel surface with the back of your hand or even a quick poke of the calliper, but the discs could be a bit hot to contact!

If you have the pads are binding on one of the front wheels, then both the pads and disc on that side will have worn more than the other side, how much depends how long they have been binding for of course. Both front discs and pads would have to be replaced. I don't quite understand why rear discs and pads require changing some frequently and at low mileages. My last VW did 108,000 and was still on the original rear discs and pads, our Fabia is 10 years old, admittedly only 20,000 miles but still on original discs and pads all round.

I think that it is lack of real regular work that kills the rear discs, don't get me wrong, I prefer discs on the rear as they are easy to service, but rot does tend to set in earlyish, my wife's 2015 Polo's rear discs started looking nasty at the 5 or 6 year point but they seemed to work and the pads were still okay thickness wise, then last February, the RHS rear calliper started seizing and needed replacing to keep the car off the road as short a time as possible, and by then one side had worn pads, so a new set of pads and discs to finish that job off!

Later in the year, while swopping winter tyres off to summer tyres on, I serviced the front brakes - the inner pads on one side were wearing with a wide lip = corrosion on the hidden inner face - so the front discs and pads got replaced! Mileage now is 54,000miles.

My older daughter's 2019 Leon Cupra, hd nasty looking rear discs from about the 2 years old point, at about the 3.5 year point, I felt the need to replace the worn rear pads, due to the rough surface of the discs, this April I felt the need to replace the pads again, so also replaced the discs, hopefully these Pagid discs will stay in better condition longer than the originals, its total mileage is now roughly 18,000miles, front brakes still okay thankfully.

Fix the brakes and wait till the next MOT. You can book it in early to give you time to repair anything that fails. Discs and pads all round is a fairly straight forward job and shouldn't cost that much. If the caliper is seizing then it will need replaced but it could be as simple as pads rusted/sticking in place or slider pins on caliper requiring cleaned and regreases with silicone. As said labour charge seems excessive but hourly rate is similar to most specialist garages and a lot cheaper than the dealer. Parts seem about right. You could mention the labour charges that should really be combined and see what they say. My old garage used to quote similar but that was to cover themselves in case it took a long time. If I got a quote they said that that would be the maximum but depending on how things came apart would probably be less and it usually was.

Alasdair

I am going to get the binding brake fixed and also probably get the front pads + discs replaced at the same time. After that i will do what alasdair suggests and wait and see what my next MOT throws up, I am going to go to a independent MOT tester with no skin in the game from now on, finding a decent garage is hard!!!

Edited 2 August, 20252 Aug by ose