ripped off

aggie,i agree that he shouldn't be driving but he just wont give up, he as 7 months before he has to have his Doctor confirm that he is fit enough to continue driving, if the Doctors says he can my DH will damage the cars engine fatally so it will have to go to the scrap yard(it's 14 years old). But one way or the other his driving days will soon be over.

My 9 year old Toyota got a hole in the (original) exhaust. Dealer wanted £600 + because the exhaust was an entire unit for the full length. I said I'd think about it.

Took it to the guy near my work who said he could weld it, it might last a month, or a year. Next day I took the car to him on my way to work. He dropped me off at my work and then brought the car to me at work when the job was done.
Me - How much do I owe you?
Mechanic - £50
Me - £50 that's great.
Mechanic - No... £15.
I was so pleased I gave him £30.
What a great service.
And 5 years later when I traded in my very old Toyota for a new car, the same weld in the exhaust was still holding well.

We recently had two tyres replaced by a well known tyre company. In order to do this they had to remove and replace the wheels. We also asked them to check the tracking because the tyres had worn in a very strange way. They said the tracking was OK. A couple of weeks later we took the van to another garage for a service and were told that the end of the tracking rod was broken and the wheel was loose. The tyre company mechanic couldn't have missed the movement of the wheel but didn't tell us. We'd have never known if it hadn't been for the service. If it had broken whilst driving the steering would have failed. Imagine what would have happened then.

We bought our current car new, after two years the garage we bought it from, a main dealer, assured us all the brakes needed changing. Mr C had a quick look, disagreed and had a different dealership check it out. We eventually had brakes changed after 7 years. We still regret not reporting them.

My daughter was ripped off by a well know tyre company. They said she not only needed tyres but showed her that the shock absorbers were leaking. They also told her that she needed a new head gasket as her car was leaking oil. She had the tyres done, but left the other items. I took the car to my mechanic, he found that the sump plug had been loosened to cause the leak they said was a head gasket and the oil on the shock absorbers had been sprayed on (wd40), they were not leaking at all.
She has now found a reliable local garage that looks after her and is happy to check out any odd noises etc for free.

I absolutely agree that garages and car dealerships charge ridiculous amounts, but......please don't think that the mechanics who actually do the work are getting paid an exorbitant salary, their wages are stupidly low!

oh dear ! I don't think an 84 yr old who does that to his car should be driving . But you are right about being ripped off

That's disgraceful !
Definitely taking advantage. Are you on FB or Streetlife for your area ? I think they deserve to be named and shamed.