Re: service and MOT

Apologies if I took you the wrong way.

To be clear - yes, that is what we pay for that refrigerant.
I was talking about the refrigerant cost only - not the related works.

£200 all in (including the fresh refrigerant charge) is a bit steep imo, but depends what their hourly rate is?
The whole job would take no more than maybe an hour or so. Bear in mind, that if yours is not working / empty of refrigerant, there will be nothing to decant.

Re: service and MOT

Fender

Just had look up on our records check and Nissan are trying it on. The air con was done last year and what they advised for a wheel alignment was b0**ocks as well, had independant check for no cost and the wheels are ok

Looks as if Nissan are trying to extract my money for no reason apart from greed
Total saved around £250 for work not required

Re: service and MOT

Main dealers are known for it. They are thieves basically. I once took my old Peugeot to a main dealer for it's MOT along with a small recall job. They gave me a list of things wrong as long as my arm and quoted me around £1,000. I refused and on the way home called into Quickfit who did the necessary jobs for £180.

Re: service and MOT

That's why they're sometimes called Main Stealers

Re: service and MOT

Re: service and MOT

Imo, the whole system is just a giant money making con. If something goes wrong with your car then sure, get it fixed but most modern cars will go for years without needing work done to them. It's not like the old days of plugs, points and condensers.

What does a service involve these days? Apart from the occasional oil and filter change most of it is checking levels, coolant, oil, washers tyre pressures etc. I can do that myself but I don't get the all important piece of paper that say I have had it serviced. Of course that is crucial if you intend to sell the vehicle after a few years but not if you keep the car for a long time.

When I traded in one of my cars, I was told that I would lose £2,000 because I had never had it serviced. I worked out that I had saved more than that over the years.

Re: service and MOT

Most cars today are leased so it’s vital that the servicing schedule is adhered to, of course you don’t have to have your car serviced at a dealers to validate the warranty so long as you use manufacturer approved parts, most people only keep their cars for three years, usually as the pcp has come to an end, but , once the warranty has expired and you plan on keeping the car long term then a full book of service stamps isn’t so essential.

Re: service and MOT

Yes that's right. I tend to keep mine for ten years or so.

Re: service and MOT

Independants are just as bad sometimes.
When we bought the wife's Civic, the steering was out. In other words, when driving in a straight line, the steering wheel was slightly to the left rather than straight.

I told her to take it to the local garage on her day off and ask them to do the wheel alignment and centralise the steering.

She came back with a load of blurb from them that the steering rack was at fault and required further investigation. I know this is cobblers. You just align the wheels and dial out the steering discrepancy with the track rod ends.
We took it to another place and they did just that for £20 all in.

They don't seem to be proper mechanics anymore, just fitters who can read off a fault code from the diagnostics.

Re: service and MOT

Same happened to me at a main dealer - Fiat.

They quoted a possible bill for over £350-odd quid, but another garage did the work for £85, thanks to fender helping me.

It's a disgrace how they can rip unsuspecting people off this this.