OOPS hit send by mistake. I have a garage in Newcastle like that. Good work at a fair price and I get a cup of tea. I take the biscuits in though Johnny M
The service and MoT plan is 2 years and paid in advance covers basics like oil, filters etc. The point being made was that there was no work required at all and the garage was obviously hoping a single stupid woman would just authorise the work and accept the cost. In actual fact the fault that was there was that the handbrake lever came right up to 90deg and barely held the car on a hill. Not mentioned on service or MoT and rear brake inspection not part of plan. The Ecosport does not have any handbrake cable adjustment at all and depends on auto shoe adjusters. I had a devil of a job getting the drums off and found the backplates all rusted and adjusters totally seized. All cleaned and lubricated and working fine - she does handbrake turns now!!
Without knowing the type of car it is impossible to say if £750 is fair,I replaced all my discs and pads on Skoda Yeti for the cost of parts by Delphi,of £110 from Autosessive.If I had wanted a garage to do it for me,it would be about 2 hours Labour at £60 an hour,so £230 total. Other cars,like Mercedes or BMW would obviously cost a lot more.
I asked a question and I'm happy with the discussion it opened up. The responses were helpful, put the dealer advice into perspective, and led me to make a decision. In that respect I'd say it's been far from pointless. Judging by the number of comments (which I didn't expect), it's provided entertainment for many. Thanks everyone who contributed!
So why are you not just saying what car it is? We've tried to be helpful, you could at least answer a simple question that we've got!
Passat parts are fairly reasonable from places like Autosessive on EBay,about £150 should cover all brakes,and if you find a reasonable price garage,(2 hours @ £60) you should get the job done in total under £300. Main dealers do like to rip off customers and charge double but if they are loaded and happy to pay that’s fine.
My neighbour recently bought a BMW, a Volkswagen, a Ford, and a Toyota… I think he's got the car-owner virus. I told him he should go and get Vauxhauls new addition! (The Astra Zeneca). I’ll get me coat: Auf wiedersehen, Passat
Pointless for three reasons: 1) this is not a motoring forum. 2) you didnt want to provide all the facts required for people to give you a reasonable answer to your question. 3) Everyone is an instant expert when it comes to car repairs. Everyone sees brakes as a simple, cheap, easy diy job. Get a brake replace/repair job wrong-and you havnt got much else to stop you!. Your passat will have electic park brake. So, whoever does your job will require some sort of fairly expensive diagnostic equipment. Unfortunately, the nature of progress and technology means service and or repair of vehicles is getting much less of a diy job. As a previous poster states, find a good, local independant garage, maybe a vag specialist-the country is littered with these now. Anyone who uses a main stealer for service and repair outside of a warranty period is either rich or kept in the dark as to other options available. I started out, done my time moved around several garages, been self employed, set up and ran my own place for a while. Unfortunately i couldnt make it work, and a more lucrative offer cam along doing other things. Mechanics get **** money for the job thats expected of them. Hence the reason the motor trade is in such a mess with a decent skill set as many have left and gone elsewhere. I miss the trade-but not the headache and lack of respect and money. Anyway rant over...off to a darkened room, shot of whiskey and an hour or two with the doors on gentle volume!!
This is the "Car and Van Talk" forum... People are no more "instant experts" on car repair than they are than on plumbing, electrics or any other subject we discuss. Car repairs are no different to any other "potentially dangerous" job. By the way, electronic parking brakes can be released using a £15 bluetooth OBD tool, did exactly that on my Passat a few months ago.
I agree without knowing the car it was pretty pointless giving advice on the price, a huge difference obviously between a Ford and a Bentley. I didn't see anyone suggesting it was a cheap easy DIY job. However to a garage or responsible DIYer it's pretty basic stuff.
I didnt see it was in that section....how does one tell?? I mean in general, everyone is an instsnt expert when it comes to repairing cars, put up with it for years...the net killed any parts profit to be had in the job, with the likes of ebay, eurocar parts etc. Customers always saying they want to supply their own parts etc... Propably much the same in any other trade... I am aware of cheap tools available to overcome 'technical issues' again, doest help when you have 4-5k worth of diag. Equipment sat collecting dust!
That's not ideal, but it's the way things move on... The bluetooth device is just the next iteration of the brake wind-back tools that became necessary when manufacturers switched from drums to discs.