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Repair costs.......what's reasonable?

3K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  matthewwwood 
#1 ·
Good afternoon all,

I took my car in for a full service a couple of weeks ago (changed all filters, oil etc) at my local indy Alfa garage, which came to £379.09.

While in, they advised that the following needed sorting:

* N/S/R spring broken and needs replacement (both rear would need doing).

* Excessive wear in the steering rack arms and track rod ends, so would require a steering rack rebuild.

* Front discs and pads worn and need replacement.

* two rear tyres need replacement (currently got Bridgestone, but not bothered about downgrading).


With the service, they quoted me £1800 odd!

As you can imagine, this came as a shock, as I wasnt expecting an additional £1400 on top of the service!!

I'm not technically minded, so i'm not sure if this is good or not? (it seemed expensive).

Would anyone be able to give me an idea at what sort of cost I should be looking at? (or if the above was reasonable).

Thanks in advance.

Matt.
 
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#2 ·
I would think a lot in the extra cost is labour.

I had my front pads and disc changed on my previous 159 Ti at around £450/£500 all in, you could estimate tyres at around £110 each which would give you £720 so far, and I wouldn't have thought more than £150 for the springs which gives you around £870, so close to £530 in labour could be excessive, check their hourly rate and how long it would take them to do the job, but I'm no expert!
 
#5 ·
Use a tyre supplier to supply/fit the tyres (eTyres, Blackcircles, etc.).
Get a second quote from a different Alfa specialist for the other items. If you are specific as to what is required then you might be able to get a firm quote over the phone or by e-mail without them having to see the car.

I'm not sure who's good in your area but you could look further afield at the likes of Autolusso and Alfaworkshop and I'm sure you'll get much more sensible quotes.

You could go to a non-specialist garage and you'll usually save a little money but there can be other complications. Alfa guys will know about Alfa-specific issues (like problems with stuck caliper pins, the need to replace the power steering fluid with the green stuff, etc.). Depends on who you've got nearby as to whether they know enough to get it right first time and whether they could give reliable recommendations on non-OEM parts (such as for the springs and pads).
 
#6 ·
Probably very few of those items will need doing straight away.
It sounds like how Kwik Fit used to treat their customers...

When did it last pass its MOT? If within last 6 months and not a mega mileage since I wouldn't be too concerned. Any serious wear issues would have been flagged-up as advisories.

The tyres and brake pads/discs you can buy yourself and just get them fitted at a local trusted garage.
Try Camskill for tyres, Euro Car Parts for pads & discs.

How does the steering feel? Any groaning (from the rack, not you :lol:)?

Regular & routine maintenance is the key, it needn't break the bank :).
 
#9 ·
Hi Lussoman,

Plently of groaning from me........probably because i'll be turning 40 this year lol :)

The steering has some play, but nothing that I would say is excessive. I havent heard any groaning (yet).

The MOT was done 16 July 2014, and I hardly do any mileage, so as you say, I would have thought things like discs/pads/tyres would have been picked up on an advisory (unless the MOT wasnt done properly).
 
#11 ·
If the brakes seem fine as well and your instincts tell you all is okay then leave it.
Obviously see how much tread you've got on the tyres and replace if necessary.

With you doing a very low mileage and only 4 months away from the MOT, I'd be inclined to wait and see how it gets on in July.

Also ask friends & family where they take their cars - a trusted garage is everything.
As Ryan the Spider says, it doesn't have to be an Alfa garage - indie or main dealer.
 
#12 ·
:eek: That sounds outrageous to me for a routine service, unless I've missed something?
Time to name and shame?
 
#13 ·
The tread looks ok to me (I cant see any excessive wear), but they state they are down to the wear bar. I will have a proper look.

I agree though - a good, trusted garage is worth its weight in gold!! I have a friend who owns a bodyshop about 1 1/2 hours away from me. He is going to speak to a couple of local garages and get some price quotes. May be worth the drive to save some money.
 
#14 ·
I agree. I only paid about £170 (local garage) for a full service on my previous car, which was a Mercedes C240! I thought I'd have it done at the garage I used, as it an Alfa specialist, and I thought it would be best.

I have seen some posts on here about the garage, and they have always had good feedback (Oooooh....do I name them? lol)
 
#15 ·
So I reckon they've charged you nearly 200 quid + VAT for the filters and oil.
Mine's a petrol so no fuel filter for me, but I got the 3 filters and 6 litres of top grade fully synthetic oil for just over £50 IIRC.
Unless a fuel filter costs silly money, they're having a laugh.
I don't think even an Alfa main dealer would charge that much.
 
#18 ·
£68.53+VAT is retail price for an original Alfa fuel filter. It is exactly what you'd pay if you walked into a dealer and bought one over the counter. Obviously garages get trade discount, some choose to pass savings onto customers, others don't. Specialists do need to make a living so its never going to be as cheap as shopping around for the bits and paying a local mechanic to do the work. I do think you've overpaid a bit though, we only charge £260 inc VAT for what we call a premium service on the 2.4 JTD which includes everything you've had done and also an A/C service (vacuum, new PAG oil, re-gas). We use all original Alfa filters and Fuchs Titan engine oil which is some of the best on the market.
 
#19 ·
They charged £68.53 + VAT for the fuel filter.
That is pretty rude. Alfaworkshop are charging £38.40 inc vat for genuine Alfa, or £34.40 for UFI.

Sort the tyres using mytyres or similar.

Rear spring - any garage can do this, they went on ours and it took me about 20 minutes a side on the driveway.

If you don't have 330s at the front, brakes are cheap. ~ 100 for the disks, ~40 for the pads. 330s are more expensive and have all the "stuck pin issues", but if I can do ours, any competent garage can do it.

Steering rack - if you are worried take it for an MOT sharpish.

Thread here on Kent options for garages:

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-and-gt/114042-servicing-alfas-in-kent.html
 
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