Saving money on car work...

Recently I've had done or am having done quite a bit of work on my car:

New rear discs + pads
New front pads (manufacturing defect caused old ones to crack)
New Auto Fluid
New front bumper
Tracking/alignment
Balancing

Had I gone to mitsubishi dealer...

£250 +VAT for bumper, unpainted
£120 painting
£150 rear discs
£35 rear pads
£40 front pads
£100 for wrong spec mineral-base ATF (and botched change)
~£300 labour (6 hours)

Total: £1038.75

What I actually did:
£45 for mint s/h bumper (ebay)
£50 respray
£120 cross-drilled rear discs (the old discs were warped)
£30 rear pads
Front pads replaced under warranty
£85.50 for mitsubishi-compatible fully-synthetic ATF
£100 labour (independant garage, which always seems full of surprisingly new mercs)

Total: £430.50

Hmmm...

 

Main dealers prices are an absolute joke for some things! My mothers friend has a 5 year old VW Polo, anyway a few weeks ago the passenger side electric window jammed shut. Quoted cost to repair at the official VW garage: £340 . She insisted on having it done there though as a full service history is seen as important.

I recommended taking it to an independent garage as I doubt they'd be so expensive...apart from which the value of a full main dealer service history to a cars resale value diminishes with age. I can't believe that taking a car of this age to a good independent garage for a repair would significantly impact the resale value when compared to a car with full VW FSH.

 

That labour charge seems really really cheap well done. Its quite a lot of work for just £100.

My dad paid £250 just for a new exhaust (full assembly) and a two new rear shock absorbers.

Oh and the MOT certificate.

 

the only reason i'd take a car to a main dealer is to keep up with warranty small print. once the warranty's gone i take it to an indepandant guy who's done all my cars for the past 15+ years. i'm going to be buggered once he retires.
cheers


julian