I have been quoted £290 for my Clio cam belt change by renault, what kind of price would i be looking at from an independent garage?
Any idea how much am i looking at for a clutch change?I have a feeling it will soon need replacing,
The cars currently done 63k on an X plate year 2000, 1.6 16v Rsi
Any other items that are prone to need replacing at this kind of mileage? (please dont say the whole car)!
Ed
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Been quoted 140 pounds by a local garage for a 2000 1.2
Think about getting the water pump done as well,
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Had wife's Clio 1.6 RXE done, belt and tensioner, only cost £200 at a Renault dealer (Renault Minute fastfit, cheaper that the service dept quoted), inc an oil and filter and stamp in book.
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Sounds like might be able to get it cheaper if i shop around then!
The quote was from the Nottingham dealership service department.
Cheers for replies
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You'd need a breakdown of the quote to work out how much you could save, i.e. how much is parts and how much is labour?
Belts themselves are typically no more than £20-30, though a dealer is likely to charge a lot more than if you source it yourself. There may be other parts to change at the same time, such as a tensioner - these can cost the same again and often more than the belt.
Be warned though that although sourcing your parts yourself is a lot cheaper, the dealer will not provide any warranty on the work. But then, I'd have thought that even if a dealer did supply the parts then getting them to pay out for the damage in the event of a snapped cambelt later on would be like pulling teeth.
The rest is labour, and from your quote this looks like roughly 3 hours or so (main dealers typically charge from £60 per hour upwards). A independent garage will be somewhere between £35 and £50 per hour, so you can save quite a bit on labour by avoiding the main dealers.
In summary, I reckon you should be able to get this done for £150 or so if you buy the parts yourself and get an independent to do it.
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Where was the Renault minute you used?
Prices seem to vary from £750 for a 36k service & cambelt at Chelmsford to about £500 in Nottingham both Renault dealers!
I get the feeling it might be the last time this car sees the dealer before it meets the back street garage.
An independant renault specialist at home in the midlands would be good, but as I'm currently in London I'm finding it hard to track 1 down up there.
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Where was the Renault minute you used?
SJ Cook in Bristol, Renault Minute is a fast fit alongside the Renault dealer, rather like RapidFit in Ford Dealers.
It is worth shopping around, the Weston-Super-Mare branch of SJ Cook also has a Renault Minute set up however it uses the same workshop facilities as the main service dept therefore was not able to be as competitive as the Bristol branch where the Renault Minute is seperate, over the road.
IIRC the dealer service dept quoted approx £290, got it done at Renault Minute for £199 inc oil and filter change, genuine Renault parts and back up if probs.
Your RSi is the 16v engine so will probably (though not necessarily) be a little more expensive to do than our 8v.
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Yeah shopped around alittle, seems quite a few places wont touch it as they need some "special" tools.
Got it booked into Renault Nottingham for £290 with a £50 discount off a 36k major service so about £440 for the lot so not so bad really i guess
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You are joking, aren't you? What on earth would make you think that's good value? £440 for a service on a small car?
Stand back from your knowledge of the situation and the details on what's being done. Look at it from a detatched and objective point of view, is £440 a fair price for a service on a small everyday car? No.
How old is it? Any more than a year or so and that £440 service is probably at least a tenth of the car's value!
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Graham, hang on a minute read the post again, he is having a cambelt job done wich will include tentioner etc AND a full service at a main dealer, reckon it is not a bad price. Based on the quoted £290 for the cambelt job the service is only costing £150. OK a back street garage would do the cambelt for less though would they change the tensioner?, also they would not provide the main dealer reassurance important re such vital job as this.
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Cheddar, I did read the post carefully and understood that it involved a cambelt change - I should maybe have made this clearer. Even then I do not think the price represents good value for money.
Although I'm sure it could be done for a lot less, the cut and thrust of my post was not that our friend might be paying over the odds, but that the cost represented poor value for money however one looks at it. Considering what a used (though we don't yet know how old) Clio might be worth, £440 represents a large outlay.
Coming back to the specific costs, £150 is a fairly expensive service on a small car. You have to look at what they are actually going to do during this service (not the cambelt change). Probably an oil change, maybe change the air filter, and the rest will be inspection. I think £150 is a ludicrously high price for that, but I will come to the merits of main dealer servicing later - after considering other garages.
A small 'back street' (to use your term) garage will usually do pretty much what you ask them to, which is why it's important to be clued-up about the job when using one. What it boils down to is the expertise of the guy doing the job. Walk in there with the parts in your hand and gauge their reaction: if they seem confident and know exactly what you're talking about (and changing a tensioner should be within the capabilities of most mechanics) then you're sorted. If they umm and ahh, asking questions about what you want done and they have to go and look things up, then by attempting it they'd probably be feeling their way rather than going down a well-trodden path.
I really don't understand what you mean by 'main dealer reassurance'. Do you believe that they can do something that other mechanics can't? While they might know the cars a bit better than the average mechanic, it's a car - not rocket science. And the main dealer mechanics certainly won't know as much as independent specialists, who have to learn the cars to keep their business going - they won't get the fleet cars coming back every day to keep them in business like the main dealers.
To summarise, the merits or otherwise of main dealer servicing is much debated on this forum, and it has to be said the majority of opinion seems to be negative. The points people raise about spotty youths who 'can't work anything out unless there's a socket to plug their diagnostic kit into' seem to have plenty of basis in fact. It's also true that the prices are much higher, often twice as much. Do you think their mechanics are twice as good as others?
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Considering what a used (though we don't yet know how old) Clio might be worth, £440 represents a large outlay.
"X plate year 2000" according to the original post!I really don't understand what you mean by 'main dealer reassurance'.
If the cambelt fails within a reasonable period of it being fitted by a main dealer representing the manufacturer in question you have the weight of the manufacturers customer services on your side, if it is done by an independant you are potenatially liable to "nothing to do with what I did mate" or similar.
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The way i see it is £290 for a cam belt would be assumed to spread over 5 years seeing as though thats the life of the part. £60 a year is no major outlay. £150 for a 36k interval service again I dont feel is ludicrous! Most independent garages have quoted me £100 for the same.
On another point,
So really regardless of mileage anyone buying a car of this age would have to budget getting this done surely?
And I'm assuming this is taken into account when the price guides are adjusted for used cars of this age?
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After deciding to get my belt changed at the renault dealer i thought it would be simple.
Oh no, they decided to not do the belt until 3pm the day i dropped the car off with them at 930am meaning it would apparently not be ready until the next day!
This as well as a list of problems identified in the service brought a grand total of £870
They were wanting to charge £65 for a coolant change £9 for coolant the rest labour. As well as a brake fluid change at £45 with only £5 of that being for fluid.
Due to the fact they messed up and couldnt have my car ready i managed to get
- Cam Belt
- 36k service
- Coolant change
- brake fluid change
- New brakes n Pads
- New front shockabsorber
All for £550! who says dealers arent cheap!!
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I agree with GrahamF1 you have been well and truly stitched up by your dealer. I use Peugeot Express Fit for my servicing. I always watch the service from the service bay. I have good chat with the mechanics and make sure they don't screw around.
I suggest that you confirm with another garage that the cambelt has been changed as £870 minus £290 equals £580 which sounds like they haven't charged you for the cambelt. Sounds a bit fishy especially when they wanted £65 for a coolant change. I have been charged £30 for the same from my Peugeot Express fit and £20 for a brake fluid change!
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306 2.0 SE Cabriolet
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£65 for a coolant change is the most hilarious thing I have ever heard. It will take them 10 minutes, tops.
Just think about it a bit. They have to take the top off the expansion tank, remove the radiator bottom hose, and let the coolant drain into a container. Then remove the 'stat to let the rest out, squeezing a few hoses along the way. A thorough mechanic might remove the radiator top hose and flush the radiator with some water. Then put the 'stat back in, refit the radiator hoses, mix up some coolant and put it in. Put the expansion cap back on, run engine and check for leaks (like any main dealer is going to do that!)
My grandmother could do it in an hour (I presume that amount of money is an hour's labour?)
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Mmmmm, replaced a shock absorber.... oldest trick in the book. Don't suppose you asked to see the one that they removed? Of course, they could just find any old grotty shock absorber to show you.
36k miles would be a pretty poor shock absorber.
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