I have just had my car serviced. My partner dropped my car off and drove into the kerb and damaged the tyre. The mechanic watched and laughed.
He asked about my cars history but obviously it is not his car so he referred them to use my phone number. I spoke to a rude mechanic who advised me to get my Air conditioning unit reconditioned. I tried to tell him that I was sure my car didn't have air conditioning but he tried to tell me it did. It doesn't. I checked the price of the mot and he said it would be 135 pounds.
They did the work and advised immediate attention for several things including-
-Cam belt. I said it didn't know if it has been done and they said there was no way of telling. Later, they said they could tell that it had not been changed because it was not in the log book. They said that it needed changing every 3 years ( previously they had said 60,000 miles). I've looked in my log book- it was changed 20,000 miles ago, 3 years ago.
They quoted me £230 for the work.
-chip in windscreen. Obviously this needed urgent attention until I pointed out that they had filled in the chips just 4 months ago.
- the rear brake light. When I had my MOT they found out that there was an electrical fault to that brake light that they had sorted. The mechanic told me that bulbs on these cars don't last very long an was argumentative when I asked him if it was the electrical fault. The new bulb doesn't work though!!
In December my car failed it's mot on brake pads. It's now the beginning of June and having replaced the pads in December mysteriously the discs now need replacing... Surely this should have been on my MOT notes? Quoted £185
-exhaust mounting. Corroded and needs middle and rear. Not sure what this means but they quoted £250 to sort it. I called another garage and they laughed at the quote and said they would look at it. He says he has welded something back in and charged £50.
I went to pay for the service and was told it was 165! I said I was told 135 when I checked on the phone. He told me that everyone there knows the Prices and no one would have told me that. It would only be 135 if I was having an mot too. He told me I must have misheard and that he had told my partner the prices when my car was dropped off. My partner had said there was no conversation about prices, only that air con would be included for £25. This is irrelevant as I wa definitely told £135 on the phone.
-tyre that my partner damaged on the way in. £200. Surprisingly they only had the top of the range one available.
I asked which work was the most important and was told all of it.
I have the report in front of me and there is a list divided into two- immediate action required, and for your attention.
They pressured me to change the cam belt and I'm relieved that I couldn't afford it- as I've found out it did not need doing!! read more
