>>could you not have gone to an indy and a scrapyard..

With the benefit of hindsight that is what I should have done. I have always taken this car to the main dealer for all servicing and it never occurred to me that it would be such a big bill. A bit naive of me.

>>(and don it yourself?)

I am not good mechanically. I used to do a lot on my cars in the past. Waterpumps, head gaskets, etc but modern cars are beyond me so I pay the experts. At 8 years old this car may be due to start going to my trusted independent.

Leaves a bad taste, does this sort of thing. You get the strongest impression that when you walk into that glitzy showroom you're seen not as a valued customer but as a cash cow.

I had a similar feeling when my dealer, who had been brilliant over the replacement of my clutch on warranty, suggested that the way to address the issue of a cooling fan which had been damaged because they left a connector loose so that it fouled the fan blades was to pay them hundreds to install a new fan.

For once, I took the sensible option and walked away. The blades may not look great but they work, so stuff it.

Edited by argybargy on 12/12/2017 at 10:52

>>an inner card/fibre panel with lots of wire running around pulleys/guides.

This arrangement of wires running round the inside of the door seems to be a common way to do things but it is a Heath Robinson arrangement. Really there was nothing wrong with the old wind up windows. The only benefit of motorised windows is to let you open them on the other side of the car without leaning over. Yet another fancy gadget to go wrong.

They are not called main s******s for nothing.

But onus is on customer to get a quote before giving go ahead for the work to be done.

A lesson learned.