I hate being ripped off

[Suff]

I hate, even more, the fact that people are treating me as stupid.

What am I talking about? Well I bought a cheap runaround car so I could leave my car at home in France and fly over instead of driving 800 miles each way every other month. But the car I bought has some issues which I need to sort out. I'm an ex mechanic so this is not a big issue given I have space and time which I do here in the UK.

So what is the rip off if not for the car?

Well I bought the car knowing one of the reasons it was being sold was the age and mileage. It's almost 12 years old and has done 95,000 miles. To any mechanic this is a flashing red sign, it means nobody paid to change the timing belt on the engine. If that fails your engine is toast.

So how much does it cost to replace a timing belt? Well they won't change it without the water pump so the cheapest price I could find was £550. I expected this but thought I'd look.

OK so this is not the rip off either. I checked a few places and found that Amazon was a decent price with quick delivery for the kit to replace it. £109 plus my effort. So you are paying over £400 for labour and coolant. This also is not the rip off.

Being rather suspicious that everyone everywhere is selling a kit for roughly the same price for my car I went to the manufacturer of my £109 kit, searched for my car and found the part number of the kit. I then went back to Amazon and searched for the kit part number and did not mention the car.

Aaaand we find a price of £79.

I cross check the kit. Yep it's the right one. I then look at the compatibility list and it all says FORD.

Just to be sure I don't wind up with a £79 paperweight I go back to the manufacturers site and check the compatibility. Interesting there are 7 different manufacturers listed there and Ford is one of them. So I go into the Ford section and, sure enough, it lists all the same part numbers that the Amazon listing does.

So if you own a Ford you can buy the SAME kit for £30 less than if you own a Stellantis car. Unless you know what you are doing.

I really HATE it when people try to rip you off. I hate it more when they take you for a fool.

[Workingman]

Another mechanic here who used to do his own repairs. I was also a part number checker - manufacturer, main dealers, other national motor outlets. Give the official part number to each and get three different prices, just for the part. I would then go to a local "spurious" motor factors and get the part (correct number) for a fraction of the cost.

The fact is that the motor trade has the public over a barrel. It knows that most drivers cannot even change an indicator bulb so it's "Keching!" as soon as they drive in.

[Suff]

I don't mind the garages so much. That is a given and it is known that they will squeeze until you squeal and only then will they do work for you.

One of the reasons I don't mind is they are going the way of the Dodo mostly. No oil changes with EV, no spark plugs, no timing, no filters, fuel or otherwise. Just the main body of the vehicle plus mostly accident related work.

I do get irritated by the parts stuff though. Even the local motor factors were gouging.

[Workingman]

One of the reasons I don't mind is they are going the way of the Dodo mostly. No oil changes with EV, no spark plugs, no timing, no filters, fuel or otherwise.

Indicator bulbs still need changing, though, that's a job for a "technician".

[JoM]

John took his car for a service a few years ago, it was before he’d opted out of the company car scheme so he wasn’t the one paying for it but the Ford garage said that they battery needed changing in the key and said it’d cost £21 to do it.
He bought a pack of four batteries from Amazon for £2.

He and Joe recently replaced the brake discs and pads on Joe’s Seat Leon for a fraction of the price a local garage quoted him.
While they were doing it we were saying that you don’t see people fixing their cars now, years back you’d frequently see cars being fixed on driveways but it’s a rare sight now.

[Suff]

One of the reasons I don't mind is they are going the way of the Dodo mostly. No oil changes with EV, no spark plugs, no timing, no filters, fuel or otherwise.

Indicator bulbs still need changing, though, that's a job for a "technician".

Indeed. The Intern???

[Suff]

John took his car for a service a few years ago, it was before he’d opted out of the company car scheme so he wasn’t the one paying for it but the Ford garage said that they battery needed changing in the key and said it’d cost £21 to do it.
He bought a pack of four batteries from Amazon for £2.

He and Joe recently replaced the brake discs and pads on Joe’s Seat Leon for a fraction of the price a local garage quoted him.
While they were doing it we were saying that you don’t see people fixing their cars now, years back you’d frequently see cars being fixed on driveways but it’s a rare sight now.

Yes Jo, WM and I have regularly changed the discs and pads on cars. The only reason I didn't with my current car was time. Everything on the modern cars takes more time but I'd also have had to make a battery pack for unwinding the automatic hand brake on the rear calipers. Something my son has done a few times but I haven't so don't have the kit.

I checked out the brakes for the runaround I just bought. Mind you it is a Peugeot 508 so not a cheap car by any means to service. Most garages, Kwik fit Halfords etc are reaching £300 a wheel. I found a pack of front and rear discs with pads for £180. That's all 4 wheels. Basically £1,000 off for doing it myself. Then again I have all the tools so that is a consideration for someone who wants to do it themselves. It is not a trivial expense for the tools to work on your own vehicle. However do it once and you have them for life.

With this car I knew what I was getting into. I bought it for £2,000 to £2,500 below market price, no warranty implied or given. So far it has needed both front headlight bulbs, both reversing light bulbs, a rear light cluster (brake LED's failed and it's sealed), two rear door handles and locks, plus I need to change the timing belt. In total a bit over £250 avoiding being ripped off for the timing kit. I suspect it has some drive shaft issues but that's max another £100 for me to do.

If you have the skills it is possible. But the price of "services" today? I know what the mechanics get paid, but the other sticky fingers are a real issue.