Car repair rip offs

My son had a problem with work done during MOT by a well known company. Shortly after he had problems with car. Took it to a small local company who discovered problem with work that should have been done during MOT that hadn't been. My son sent strong complaint email to company and they didn't even argue, just reimbursed him for good part of bill.

My dad taught me enough about cars so that I can at least seem to know what needs doing. I always talk some jargon in case they think they can pull the wool over my eyes.

Having said that main dealer wanted to fit 4 new tyres but when I went to local tyre depot they told me I only needed two and other two were ok for many more miles. So they aren’t all bad.

I'm on my own and have been ripped off time and time again until I met an old chum of mine who has a friend that works on cars and owns an auto parts shop too. He sorts me my car out for its MOT, as in N.Ireland we have to take it to an MOT centre to get tested. It has saved me an absolute fortune the last couple of years. Its hateful that the big companies still think it's ok to rip people off.

I’ll be taking my 2 yrs and 11 month old car for its MOT next month although I will be taking it to a local Kia specialist that has always serviced it before as it was an nhs lease car I was using for work and the recommended dealers to go to by the lease company. It will be interesting to see what they say if anything is wrong with it. As far as I’m concerned it’s fine but then I haven’t got X-ray eyes.

When my friends car had something wrong with it several years ago ( I can’t remember what it was that was wrong ) she took it to a local garage and asked for quote it was she couldn’t believe the price, and told her husband, he took it to same garage the next day and was quoted over a hundred pounds less

Chewbacca a similar thing happened to me at one of these well known tyre and exhaust chains. I had a small issue with the car so when having a headlamp bulb replaced I asked them to check it over. The result was an estimate of £900+!
I took the car and estimate to a local independent garage who checked the estimate against what was required. They told me that I had been quoted for parts my car didn’t even have and that what actually needed doing would cost less than £200.
Needless to say, I will never, ever go back to that original company even for a light bulb.

This needs to be reported to their head office and trading standards. Deplorable behaviour.

I had a similar experience with a large well known company some years ago. As it's a large Organisation people think they can trust them. Thankfully l walked away too. As Spangler says it's having the proof. Advice to anyone get a quote in writing. Interesting to see if they want to do that. I'm glad you weren't taken in by them.

We bought a demonstrator car with 11000 miles on the clock from a Dealer. 6 months later having done about 5,000 miles I took it in for a service (which was free). I was told that whilst he mechanic was looking at it he noticed the tyres would need replacing and the brake pads. When I queried how long was left on each I was told 1000 miles so I said I would change when the 1000 miles was up. I took it to a local chap for his opinion and he said there was at least 4000 miles left in the tyres and if I "wasn't heavy on the brakes" 5000miles. Beware the free service from Dealer garages.

Georgesgran Sat 24-Oct-20 22:49:35
Never been overcharged by my local chap - nothing done without permission and always shown the ‘dud’ part (as if I know what it is!!). Not the ‘flashy’ premises, but the work’s second to none. Thank you Trevor!

We too have a Trevor, only his name is Richard. When there was an almighty bang whilst driving the VW Golf, I almost needed to change my underwear. But Richard came to the rescue. The front suspension has a coiled spring, inside the spring is a telescopic suspension arm.

The spring had snapped, pot hole damage most likely, but the suspension arm had held firm. It would have cost a king's ransom at a VW dealer, but Richard replaced the damaged spring, and the one on the other side for less then a hundred pounds.

The local garage is fine but with all the new technology in today’s cars the repairs can only be dealt with by the ‘dealer’ garage,

I went to my very helpful local garage because the windscreen wipers on my VW polo would not stop. He said I had to go to the ‘dealers’. as he didn’t have the necessary specialist equipment.

I looked up the problem on the web where I found there was a long list of complaints. Fearing the worse I went to the vw dealer, they of course, had never heard of the problem, laughed at the idea although I showed the web page.

I have to go back this week, I have no choice, to have the car repaired but I know I won’t like the charges.

When I got a red Lancia 40 years ago, I found a local garage, specializing in ‘foreign’ cars. They’ve looked after my family’s cars ever since. Saab, BMW, Volvo, Toyota and Porsche - nothing has been a problem. Once took a Porsche back to the main dealer - lovely filter coffee, B&O TV and fresh pastries and an hourly labour charge that could have got me a reliable barrister!!

Never been overcharged by my local chap - nothing done without permission and always shown the ‘dud’ part (as if I know what it is!!). Not the ‘flashy’ premises, but the work’s second to none. Thank you Trevor!

It is so disappointing isn't it. When my husband died in 2016 I had four new tyres on my car, I'm a nervous driver and wasn't sure how old they were. I found a fantastic mechanic in 2018, and last week rang him because one of them kept going down, I thought I had a puncture. He changed the tyre and said he wasn't surprised it was going down, it was 12 years old - apparently tyres are dated. I'm angry the tyre place took advantage of me and won't be going back.

Be careful of “Checkatrade” or any other similar outfit, companies pay a subscription to be listed, and are not likely to be blacklisted unless they are criminals. I’ve just checked builders in my town, 2 are listed which I’ve never heard of, both have extensive reviews, it’s no guarantee of good work.

Pored too early
They had wanted £1100 for the non urgent work!!!

The first time my car got a puncture I was fortunately very near a tyre and exhaust place so I went in to arrange a repair which they did very quickly but told me the shock absorbers were in a bad way and should be replaced. I thanked them and said that the car was going in for its MOT in 2 days time so I would get it seen to then. I took it in to my usual place and asked them to pay particular attention to the shock absorbers. When I went back to collect the car the mechanic asked me who had told me that the shock absorbers needed replacing because they were fine. I told him and he just shook his head and muttered “Cowboys”!

I have my son’s little car at the moment and last week the bonnet jammed so we took it into the well known garage ( or auto centre) that he uses and asked them to fix it and service the car as it was due a service. Of course we got the phone call about the huge list of work needed. My husband went down and asked to see the parts they had said should be seen to and in passing ‘casually’ mentioned that he was an engineer. Well the story suddenly changed to ‘ the work wasn’t really urgent after all’ and the car would be fine for a while!! Nothing in writing !!

Davidhs Sat 24-Oct-20 09:29:09
Spangler I think you are going over the top, it’s up to all of us to shop around and get the best deal, it’s not anti competitive to quote a higher price, although it may be sharp practice.

I agree, it's not illegal to quote any price at all, you only have to look at any one of the fuel companies to see that you can save twenty pounds or more by using their garage A instead of garage B.

What is illegal is if the company quotes a given price and makes it impossible to achieve that. Like the budget airlines that add on all their creative fees.

This being a national tyre and exhaust company you can be sure that they have a remit from head office.

Sorry to hear that you have been stung, but there is one thing that you could keep in mind for future reference and that's the trade quality companies, like "Checkatrade." They keep tabs on their members, it's a shame there's not something like it for insurance companies. If ever there was a bunch of charlatans..........................

Spangler I think you are going over the top, it’s up to all of us to shop around and get the best deal, it’s not anti competitive to quote a higher price, although it may be sharp practice. What is illegal is to do poor quality or unsafe work, even then if you pay a low price don't expect high quality work.

The motor trade is probably the worst, main dealers will often charge 3 times the price for any particular task, if it’s a routine non warranty service you can go to an independent repairer, which most of us do.

It’s not only the motor trade, maintenance contracts for domestic appliances and services are often an outrageous rip off. Advice given by tradesmen for work should be always checked out, always get a second opinion or quote. Car insurance, at the last renewal highest quote £1300 lowest £490 for the same cover. As I said it’s not just women, they try it on me all the time, occasionally I get stung too.

Many years ago my father's car failed the MOT because of the steering (I don't remember the technical details). As an engineer himself, he disagreed and arranged another MOT at another garage. He was working, so asked me, accompanied by my aunt, to take the car to the garage. I was probably about 20 at the time.

After we'd announced outselves at reception, the asked me to drive the car along a narrow entranceway, turn left into the workshop and drive onto the ramps. Of course, all the mechanics were watching closely, but they didn't know that I was accustomed to negotiating a narrow driveway between the houses.

Anyway, and thankfully, I performed the task without any problem. They concluded after that that the steering was fine!

Spangler, thanks so much for your post, you offer some good advice. The "red mist" has lifted a fair bit now!
The estimate from the first garage was verbal, so I've no proof of what he said, or that the offer to knock 20% "goodwil gesture" off the original quote was because he "could see I'm a pensioner". To be honest, that stung me more than being ripped off! I've already email their HO yesterday but, as you say, doubt that little, if anything, will be done about it. Onwards and upwards!

Chewbacca, you have a number of options. You can walk away knowing that you have dodged a bullet. You can post your experience on a wider social media site, as you have done here. But if you are up for some confrontation you can get out your cudgels.

First there's the question of proof. Was the £389 + VAT estimate in writing? If not, proof of that will become an issue. If it was in writing you can post a copy along with the copy of your subsequent invoice to the company's head office, asking for an explanation. Enclose a stamped address envelope, don't use e-mail, they get ignored.

If you get no satisfaction there, you could send all the details of your experience to a newspaper, either national or local. They will love championing your cause, if they think that you have a good case.

Finally, although you haven't been ripped off, thanks in part to your son's intervention, the company did engage in a non competitive practice, and that's illegal. The Office of Fair Trading will either advise you, or if they think it's serious enough, investigate it on your behalf.

It's so sad that you've had such an experience and I hope that by now the red mist has lifted somewhat. Perish the thought that I would make you start to see red again, but do be cautious about accusing them of discrimination. Chances are that you weren't seen as an older person, or even female, my guess is that you were judged to be a mug from whom a fast buck could be made. You have a very strong case when it come to anti-competitive issues.

Good luck, let us know what you do.

I’m with Monica we never use Main Dealers or Tyre and Exhaust suppliers, we use a small local Garage, also used by DHs mates, they never rip us off, if they did they know that they wouldn’t only lose our custom.

It’s not just women they try it on with men just as much, if you wanted a new tumble drier you would look around and choose the best deal for you. For the car you can do the same with Tyres, Exhausts, Brakes, Servicing as well.

When I have my car serviced I expect to get quotes double the lowest.

I refuse to use main dealers or large 'reputable' garages after 2 different main dealers in quick succession returned my car in a dangerous condition. The first one forgot to tighten the wheel nuts on a wheel that had been removed to effect a repair. The second forgot to tighten a joint on the steering wheel and I was buzzing down the motorway, ouside lane , doing 70, when I realised I had excessive movement in the whole steering column.

Now whenever we move we start searching the back streets and industrial units for those garages, often dispapragingly dismissed as 'cowboys', because I know I have more chance of getting good service, good repairs and fair prices than anywhere more flash.

I went into one of the chain tyre and exhaust places years ago as they had a sign on wall saying free brake check today. Yes, I fell for it as it seemed a while since I’d had the brakes done. Told me the car needed pads and discs urgently and quoted me an eye watering amount of money I didn’t have.
I came home and phoned a local garage and he quoted 40% less and I drove straight there thinking the car wasn’t roadworthy. He told me the brakes were fine for several more months and to call in any time and he’d check for free. He said it was common practice for the nationwide garages to exaggerate jobs and to overprice them.
Needless to say I always go to the trusted local small garage now.