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turbo actuator fault on my car, just out of warranty
main dealer, parts quote alone 1800 plus fitting (says you have to replace the actuator and turbo)
inde quotes 1100 same part plus fitting
look online, exchange / rebuild your old actuator for 90 quid, had it in returned in 48 hours, take part and car to local garage for fitting saved bundles
couple of months back self levelling suspension failed, this time under warranty and turned out to be a recall i'd never been advised on, car hauled to dealer on a truck, advised bill would have been 1500 quid out of warranty, did some research as it's a common fault, the part concerned has a plastic component which fails and the replacement cost of that arm is less than 20 quid,
main dealers are an utter rip off and all under the pretence of invalidating a warranty
different car, but newest trick is the electronic handbook which sounds great, no paper to lose, but no hard copy means you cannot get your service history updated by an inde as the main dealers won't allow them access to the system, so you have to purchase your own hard copy at a ridic price, dealer even have the fecking nerve to charge you to go electonic in the first place .... w@nkers
rant over
main dealer, parts quote alone 1800 plus fitting (says you have to replace the actuator and turbo)
inde quotes 1100 same part plus fitting
look online, exchange / rebuild your old actuator for 90 quid, had it in returned in 48 hours, take part and car to local garage for fitting saved bundles
couple of months back self levelling suspension failed, this time under warranty and turned out to be a recall i'd never been advised on, car hauled to dealer on a truck, advised bill would have been 1500 quid out of warranty, did some research as it's a common fault, the part concerned has a plastic component which fails and the replacement cost of that arm is less than 20 quid,
main dealers are an utter rip off and all under the pretence of invalidating a warranty
different car, but newest trick is the electronic handbook which sounds great, no paper to lose, but no hard copy means you cannot get your service history updated by an inde as the main dealers won't allow them access to the system, so you have to purchase your own hard copy at a ridic price, dealer even have the fecking nerve to charge you to go electonic in the first place .... w@nkers
rant over
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have you tried to buy a car lately from a main dealer - about a three hour exercise after they try to sell you all the add ons under the pretence of FCA rules
extra warranty - scotch guard inside and out - or whatever they call it - depreciation insurance - key lost fobble and on and on - want to add about another 2/3k to the list price  |
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I bought a new car with twin carbs and had it serviced by the main dealer for 3 years so as not to invalidate the warranty. I then took it my local bloke who showed me that they had never balanced the carbs at all as the original seals were still on.
A main dealer mechanic told me that the service is often done by an apprentice who is supposed to be supervised by a qualified mechanic. What often happens is that the apprentice does the service while the main mechanic services another car as a foreigner. |
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Main dealers are a rip off of the highest order.
Quote for fixing the auto box on my Audi GT..... £1,800.00. Spoke to my local specialised Audi/VW service guy, and he had a word with the auto specialists in Barnsley, to be quoted just over £800.00. They said that it would have come to them anyway! What an incredible set up they have. It was more like an operating theatre than a transmission repairer, and they also recovered it in the price. The big, every day servicing rip off is charging circa £70.00 for fully synthetic oil! Ok I know it isn't cheap but it's half the price at Halfords, but I can get it for £2.00 per litre from my Nissan contact and, no, it's not a bent transaction. That is what they pay for it. |
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Audi wanted something like 170 just to open my bonnet when the catch broke
almost fell off the chair. |
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delta, yes
went to look at something a few weeks ago, had done my homework but saleswoman put me a spec together using the online build your car config just like i could have done at home, took her about half an hour by which time i was then fecked off, quotes me full list no discount saying it's a new model even though i know they are selling one to my mate for over 6k off list off she goes to her boss, comes back and says they will throw in 3 yrs service and scotchguard for free, top price about 800 quid at retail, just fecking bandits, to cap it offered me 8k under bottom book for the trade in since then i've been inundated with emails with the price / deal getting better by the day, reckon if i hold out a month they will be offering me cash to take the car away |
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i had experience of this many years ago . had a golf gti mark2 , told by first vw 'main ' dealership , head gasket gone , £300 plus ...took it to another , same story ....got chatting to a local garageman by accident who said he'd look at it , check it out fully . got a £70 bill , said rad. cap split that's all and main dealers would have known that .
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I drive cars that cost less than some of the prices you peeps quoted.
The back Cat Converter has gone in my current car. My wee mechanic that doesn't rip the arse out of people just took it apart and hammered it out. Doesn't affect MOT apparently and he charged me £40 for what took him 30 minutes. He's an honest guy and I don't begrudge him as other places would have quoted me £200+ for a new fitting. |
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If you are buying a car wait until the last few days of the month, salespeople have targets to hit and are more likely to discount.
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I had a second car (BMW Z4 used very little except for very local trips - I know, thinly veiled I've got a BMW etc etc).
Anyway still under warranty and big (and I mean big) yellow warning light comes on ... "world will end in 1 hour unless you go to BMW Garage stuff". Under warranty so did the right thing and saved everybody. Dealer kept it a day to investigate. Went next day to pick up car and get verdict. Girl in short skirt said "we've investigated the fault and it seems like you've been only doing short journeys (I knew that) - the electronics are very sensitive so you need to do a few longer journeys every now and then. OK, I said. Girl wriggled on chair which pulled up skirt a bit more and said "it's not covered by warranty as there was no fault. We'll have to charge you for the investigation time and it's £95." I used to be a management consultant, but I was never that good at telling client what they already knew and charging them for it. |
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mememe, although in the Ovalman camp when it comes to cars, I would have contested the payment of the £95 on the basis of it being unfair to me and others. Even if protestations were unsuccessful, the skirt movement would have made interesting viewing.
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Looks to me like she was "skirting" around the problem!
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I was chatting to a bloke from South Africa and made the mistake of criticising Nissan Main Dealer
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used very little except for very local trips
I am assuming that you paid this, but it is wrong in so many ways! Firstly, I can't believe that you were the first person to have the same warning light for the same reason. That being the case, this should have been obvious to them from the start (how the hell did they spend something like two hours on investigation)! It isn't your fault for not knowing the truth and, if it is a known issue to BMW, it should be covered in the owners manual! |
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Thanks for advice everybody.
I put down to the statutory rip off that comes with every BMW (although they're not the only mfr). I was most aggrieved by getting caught out - sort of "well you're only doing short journeys" - yes I know) but what do you do when a big yellow light comes on? What would Jesus do? He'd have saved the world, which I did. Anyway girl in short skirt some compensation. I think I might pop in tomorrow for a tyre pressure check - should only be £20 or so. |
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bigger the rip off shorter the skirt so i told
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Was it maybe a slip up on her part?
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I have never had any problems with Honda. Although it does annoy me that there is always a divvy bird on reception who has no idea about motors.
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That's the difference between BMWs and Hondas.
The receptionists. The cars are much the same. |
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receptionists should be time served maniacs ,oily skirts and a handbag full of spanners .
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I was in a state of the art Audi showroom just nosying, got talking to
a guy who was waiting to see a Customer Service Manager, his car was 8 months old and cost circa £45k,there was a problem with the leather on the passenger seat. He had just found out that warranty on seats was only 6 months!! This was the 3rd car he had bought from them and probably the last. Citroen main dealer cut my trade offer in by £200 because of a minor fault,local guy fixed it one minute flat, no charge. |
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The problem with the guys on Service Reception, is that it's a very poorly paid position, so they are not going to attract
the quality of personnel that perhaps they need. They always look for sneaky "add ons" such as wiper blades. I had my Type R GT in for it's "low mileage" annual service and they called to say it was ready, but it needed new wiper blades. Asked how much and was told £35.20 plus Vat. The car had only done about 6,500 miles so I told them to forget it till I had seen them. They were fine and must have had at least another 6,000 miles left in them. I wouldn't put it past them actually keeping a set of knackered ones, for each of their model types, and fitting them before one had seen them! Checked on line when I got home and the most expensive were "Bosch-Aeroflow" (or something like that) for £22.00 Vat Incl. |
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Next service at 9,500 miles.....
Almost home and there was a noise from under the front of the car. I stopped and looked in the engine bay and underneath and there was nothing to see. Set off again and no noise!!! I called them when I got back, just to have it on record, and the guy must have been brain dead. Him..."What sort of noise is it"? Me..."Well it is a rhythmic sound, coming from the front of the car, like something was wrapped around a drive shaft". Him...."What does it sound like"!!!! Me....."Well I thought I just told you, but it's like a Thrum, Thrum, Thrum kind of sound. Him...."So it's like a banging noise then"? I truly despair! |
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about 8-9 years ago went to a toyota dealers to buy a used car, sat down in the office got the usual speil and dealer said we have the car you want but its at another branch and its approx. £11,000 I can get it delivered here in 2 or 3 hours , a few minuets later the dealer went out of the room and made the mistake of leaving the branch details and phone number of the other branch ,quickly wrote them down ,made excuses left the showroom ,phoned up the other branch ,drove about 20 miles and bought the said car for just over £8,000.
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 nice one foyles.Years ago when i was flushed i went to a main Nissan dealer to buy a car with cash and because i did not require finance the salesman treated with me with utter indifference.I left without making a purchase and instead popped along to the nearby Chrysler dealer and made the worst purchase of my life..a neon.What a pile of poo...even milk floats overtook me.I sold it 6 months later taking a 5k loss. |
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Other than having a look at the car/test drive why bother going into a dealer to buy a car? Spend some time on the phone ringing around and someone will get you a lot better deal.
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I had much the same sort of experience at the local Audi dealership, a few years ago they claimed my car needed a new exhaust so when I got there I made them put it up on the ramp and show me exactly what was wrong, totally caught them out lying through their teeth. The car still has the same exhaust with no problems !
I’ve had it serviced by a local specialist since then who is far cheaper and much more honest. |
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Sister bought her first car from a main dealer without taking advice.
It was the most basic of Ford Fiestas and the last of the old model. It was so basic that it didn't even have a rear parcel shelf, and how generous of them to chuck in the metallic paint for free. Third and final one I set up the deal for her at Ringways in Leeds. A top spec Fiesta Ghia with alloys, rear headrests, a sunroof and something else I can't remember. Off she goes to the Bradford dealer without telling me. "The salesman was really nice. He said can I call you Maureen"? She did it again!!! She paid £800.00 more and got none of the extras I mentioned! Bonkers especially considering that she worked for years as a buyer for Schofield's in Leeds. Can only begin to imagine the deals that she struck...."can I call you Maureen"! |
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about 15 years ago a car repair shop type place were offering in my local paper a cheap car service and as my car was nearing its mot I took them up on their kind offer ,when I picked the car up they had a list of things that needed doing including new spark plugs which was a bit strange as new ones had been put in 6 months previous ,anyway when I got home I looked around the car and discovered they had nicked my new battery and replaced it with an old ancient one ,phoned em up and complained and they were adamant that they had not replaced the battery anyway after a few choice words realised I was not going to get any joy so put the phone down , bought a new battery and kindly returned the old battery back to them a few days later around midnight through their showroom window !
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Did you leave any clues at all?
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thought that was a generous gesture by me tbh ,they could weigh that old battery in down the scrapyard for a £5 Shirley !
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A good tip for anyone who needs an MOT is to get it done at their local council MOT centre - They don't carry out repairs themselves so have no interest in making up problems that aren't there.
The only downside is that you have to get repairs carried out elsewhere within a few days and then take it back. It costs about £55 at my local place which is a bit more than most MOT places but it has saved me a fortune the last few years. Since taking my car there, I have needed repairs once in seven or eight years. Before that when I used to go to my local garage they always seemed to find something that cost £100-200 to get fixed before passing it. There is alist of centres here: . http://www.ukmot.com/mot%20test/Council%20MOT%20Test%20Centers.asp |