Just been stung! :(

[hoojkel]

I think the wheel alignment was a bit steep, had mine done 2 weeks ago for £50 and that was with the latest electronic machine and it took about an hour and a half!!

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Regardless of the mileage it's a 5 year old car, of course it's not going to be maintenance free - looks like you got a good deal to me..

Labour was very reasonable as was the price of the parts - £115.00 per tyre seems to be the going rate for run-flats at the moment (much better than the £160.00 of a couple years ago).

Wheel alignment at the dealership costs aprox £240.00, which I think is a little OTT - Protyre for instance charge £80.00 - same electronic equipment, don't believe the only BMW can do it story, just not true.

The £50.00 fee for a 90 minute wheel alignment definitely sounds way off - the garage would certainly have made a loss doing this job if you consider what the overheads are.

Maybe change the wiper blades yourself next time - seems odd that you are moaning about having to spend money on the car yet you let the garage do one of the most basic tasks that any owner should be able to deal with..

[dalboyne]

Did they put the new tyres on the front?

There is all sorts of advice that consistently says the new rubber should always go on the back......and I would hope a professional garage would do this automatically

Ian

[mella yella fella]

you'd be amazed at the size of some of the bills our customers get(i work in a small independant garage with a labour rate of £45 per hour).
looking at your bill, I'd say the only excessive charge was for fitting the tyres, as this is usually included in the over inflated (geddit?) price of the tyres.
nobody like expensive repair bills, but at the end of the day, we can't fix your cars for free!!!

[ivantate]

I think the worst part is fitting a new track rod end because it had seized. A little bit of heat and a big spanner would see it freed of. If the part was worn out and there was play in it then it should be replaced.

I cant see how people can leave dealerships and set up on their own, charge the same amount and call themselves experts. They obviously have no engineering knowledge other than replacing everything and just think it is easy money.

Also didnt realised VAT had to be charged on top of the MOT price.

When it comes to replacing the exhaust backbox will they replave the whole lot because the bolts are rusty?

[Keano]

I had my car aligned and all wheels balanced when I got new tyres earlier in the year - I too had to get a new track rod fitted as mine had seized so they couldnt adjust the alignment. I went out and they showed me their efforts which included heating the part up to try to get it to move but there is a balance to be made between heating it so it can be moved and damaging the part. My car was at about 40K too so this doesnt seem too strange, just one of those things... If your unsure of bills for things then get a quote first and see if you can find it cheaper elsewhere - if you can then use it to negotiate on price and at least then you will gauge how much things are going to cost...

It always surprises me how all the little things can soon add up and you end up with a quite large bill... These cars can cost alot to fix when they go wrong but its something that you have to accept and try to budget for, something that I have come to learn... At least it is now fixed so you can go out and enjoy it again - mine felt alot better once the tracking/alignment etc had been done - I get mine done every 12 months at least as it can save on gettting new tyres...

[Keano]

Quote: Originally Posted by ivantate (original)

I think the worst part is fitting a new track rod end because it had seized. A little bit of heat and a big spanner would see it freed of. If the part was worn out and there was play in it then it should be replaced.

I cant see how people can leave dealerships and set up on their own, charge the same amount and call themselves experts. They obviously have no engineering knowledge other than replacing everything and just think it is easy money.

The bolt you use to adjust the tracking is very inaccessible - they showed me when i got mine done - and a big spanner isnt something that would work in the space available... I too was pi**ed off when they told me it had to be changed but once they had showed me (including heating it till it glowed to try to move it) I accepted that fair enough it will need to be changed. £80 is all it cost me and it wont need to be changed for another 5 years - not that bad is it?

[KitKat]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keano (original)

The bolt you use to adjust the tracking is very inaccessible - they showed me when i got mine done - and a big spanner isnt something that would work in the space available... I too was pi**ed off when they told me it had to be changed but once they had showed me (including heating it till it glowed to try to move it) I accepted that fair enough it will need to be changed. £80 is all it cost me and it wont need to be changed for another 5 years - not that bad is it?

Exactly the same as me....I was quite pleased once they had done though the tyre wear before was shocking.

You should of got your tyres through blackcircles.com and got rid of those stupid run flats.....would of saved yourself about a 100.