Garage Labour Rates - Named & shamed?

[Jay2 0]

Not sure if this has been done before, but thought it would be interesting to see what the highest hourly labour rate someones had from a garage?

 

To start the ball rolling, C&R Enterprises at Nottingham charged me £50 +vat an hour. Also billed me £1.20 for the grit paper they used?!

 

Any higher?

[Taggart 0]

VW charging me £110 for 10 mins programming a key + £50 for the blank.

[G60Jet 1]

VW charging me £110 for 10 mins programming a key + £50 for the blank.

you actually paid that!

[Taggart 0]

What choice did I have? We have 1 VW dealer on the Isle of Man, and I had lost my missus key to her polo.

[TIMMYVR 0]

My girlfreind payed vw 286 quid to do the tracking caster and camber! It drove like a dream after but still way too much.

[dr_mat 0]

Those are examples of large bills, I'm sure we can all find those .. (Like the previous owner of my car who paid £1300 for a service - ok including a new catalyst, plugs, leads, coil pack .. ?)

 

OTTOMH:

 

Local Reading VW dealer: £80/hr + VAT (as of 2005)

Local Reading VW specialist: £40/hr + VAT

AMD Auto Technik: £65/hr + VAT

Stealth Racing: £45/hr + VAT

Tiny little garage near my parent's place: £20/hr (never took the Corrado there)

[Walesy 0]

I hope the guys at RKE don't read this thread tbh :lol:

[dr_mat 0]

RKE?

[Furkz 0]

isnt there thread abt good and bad salesmen,,, where this info should go in...

[Taggart 0]

isnt there thread abt good and bad salesmen' date=',, where this info should go in...[/quote']

 

Not really, that's about private sales via the classifieds.

[mattosmond 0]

Winchester motor company charged my girlfriends mum £490 for an inspection service and rear discs on her mk golf........ after that she let me start sorting out where to get work done..... Even some of 'speciaists' think that they can charge dealer prices.... i think we should do a survey and everyone gets their missus to go to a garage to get a quote and then we go.... i bet they try to rip the women off..... seems to be a regular occurance, shameful!!

[timg60 0]

Now I really really hope rke dont see this thead.

Quick someone delete it....................

Or bring all your beloved vw down to cornwall...

[mattosmond 0]

who are rke?

 

 

 

:iamwithstupid:

[dr_mat 0]

Don't think any posters have stated anything other than an observed fact so far, so I don't think anyone has any reason to complain about their treatment. Whoever RKE actually are ...

[mattosmond 0]

timg60: who will we have offended?

 

 

 

sorry if i have offended any one, actually no i'm not these peeps shouldn't charge so much.... :) :)

[NickVR6 0]

Main dealers.....

 

I got quoted £3000 to do my clutch and timing chains (WITHOUT parts).

 

I also have a receipt in my service history for a head gasket, nothing else, JUST a head gasket. £964+vat. If you follow the history on, that was'nt the problem either.

 

I have no feelings about any of the above, purely stating fact. ;-)

[vr6storm 0]

i think they are worried about RK engineering putting there prices up after seeing what everyone else pays for VW specialist servicing...............as Walesy/TimG60 all use them

[NickVR6 0]

They should charge more to deal with Walesy :lol:

[Walesy 0]

They should charge more to deal with Walesy

 

 

Cheeky git ! :) I'm their favourite Welsh customer i'll have you know!

 

And yeah RKE = RK Engineering in St Agnes, they charge less than any of the other prices mentioned and do a fecking good job while they're at it!

[Phil K 0]

As do The Phirm @ £45 p/h - which is a bloody good price when you consider their experience and service IMO 8)

 

Makes me laugh what people pay for work... in the past I've always asked for a price prior to work commencing and if it's been too high I've gone else where...

[mattosmond 0]

it's when places lie about what needs doing that gets me my gf's mums golf is a 1.9tdi on an 02 plate with 45k on it...... when it went to winchester motor company (now skoda but was a vw franchise), they said her rear shocks were weeping and she needed new bushes all round........ the car is only just 4 years old and has done a pretty low mileage for a diesel...... so took it elsewhere and it turned out they were not telling the truth???? And this is vw lying to it's own customers, it makes me sick.... But tbh vw has lost the plot with the cr@p cars it makes nowadays,,,,, all too french.....

[dr_mat 0]

It's all about perception.

On the one hand, people don't like to pay for "unnecessary work". But on the other hand, if you have an accident and a part is a little worn which may have contributed to it (but not failed completely), then you might think that the garage should have spotted it.

Some people's perception of what needs doing is different from other's perceptions.

 

Of course, I'm not defending the crowd of idiots that genuinely do just make up repairs to increase their bottom line .. that's just crap. Just saying that in some cases it's just a difference of opinion, and there's not really a right and a wrong answer.

[mehtasvr6 0]

Custom Werk £45 all in, top VW Guyz

[davidwort 0]

Franchised dealerships have to maintain a certain standard of premises and equipment, a lot purchased direct from VW, then their staff have to attend VAG training for systems.

They will always charge a much higher rate than independant garages to make a profit.

Then there's location related costs including recruiting and keeping qualified staff.

I'm not defending the rates of any particular company, but the motor trade doesn't pay that well and there's not exactly a limitless supply of capable trainees either.

What is wrong is the way incentives encourage short cuts in many of the franchised dealerships, particularly the chains of dealerships. If a clutch is listed at 3hrs 'book time' if the mechanic can get it done in less and on to the next job then they often get paid more for doing so.

Also, many independants will charge for the time it takes, so you might only get charged a nominal amount for say replacing a battery where a dealer may charge a minumum of 1/2 hr which could end up being more than the cost of the battery.

[scarlet_vr6 0]

Basingstoke Autocentre quoted me 5 hrs work @ £47ph + VAT to replace my "copper brake pipes which have rusted"

 

however they did pass on the discount given to them when their parts supplier delivered a rad for a 4 cylinder C not a 6 cylinder one