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Ok,so give us a clue.
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I will, need to get some more opinions first.
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The rear brakes are the time consumers, and it is French after all so designed from scratch to be difficult and frustrating to work on.
6 hours i'd agree with, a good mechanic might have got through it in 2 or 4, but its highly possible given seizing brake pipes etc that it took much longer.
I have a feeling the bill you got is going to be proof of why its worth learning to do such basically common sense work yourself, brakes arn't hard to do but they require care...not much change from £900 i'll wager, parts incl, wheel bearing might be an expensive one, complete hub?, so maybe a £1000 bill all in.
Edited by gordonbennet on 25/02/2016 at 18:44
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Thanks for putting my mind at rest. Was billed for 6.5 hours labour. Guys at work told me it shouldn't have taken more than 3hrs. Total charge including mot was £650.
Edited by romik on 25/02/2016 at 18:49
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Not the main dealer then, sounds like indy pricing.
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Yes indy, but got a lot of good reviews on trusted trader. Why I got bit p***ed off with them is because I told them that this is a runaround car that I use to get to work and back, it's only worth around £600, so if it fails I need only to mend the failed items, they changed disks and pads that were on advisory notes. Also, I am certain that both bulbs were working, if they didn't I would have changed them prior to MOT and saved myself £50 to get them changed.
Edited by romik on 25/02/2016 at 19:29
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The Mot is a minimum standard to which the car must acheive to be roadworthy.If the car does 10 miles a week or 1000 miles a week is immaterial.For the garage to issue an advisory on the brakes means in their opinion the brakes need attention sooner rather than later.I assume that you got an estimate for the work and authorised it to be carried out??
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I did OK the estimate based on repairs that had to be done to pass MOT, I wasn't told that the disks and pads were advisory, if they were, then isn't the decision to change or not is to be made by me and not the garage? I understand what you said, but according to legal Road worthiness standards my car would have passed with old disks and pads.
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If the garage have changed the front brakes on an advisory without your consent or agreement,then I think you need to go back to the garage and discuss the issue.
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If your car had passed the same MOT, but got an advisory on the tyres being on the legal wear limit, would you object to spending the money on putting new tyres on it too? Or just because they are an advisory they are okay to run around on for another year?
Brakes and tyres are probably the most safety critical items on any car.
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It's about being given the choice to make a decision, what if I wanted to change them myself and save on labour costs?
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isn't the decision to change or not is to be made by me and not the garage?
Yes. Age? Mileage? It is not clear from the above what exactly failed and what was merely an advisory. Bearing 'failure' from roughness or free play is somewhat subjective. Brakes should work almost as well at 1mm pad thickness as new. Most pads are changed far too early, never allowing the pistons to travel far, inviting corrosion and early caliper failure. Discs, with an occasional rust service, should last many tens of thousands of miles, depending how you drive. (Mine have usually lasted 100,000m)
Learn to do them yourself - it's pretty easy and saves a fortune out of taxed income over the years, especially if you change them as infrequently as possible. Unnecessarily early brake pad/disc changes are the bread and butter of the motor industry ...'ooh, won't last till the next service, squire...'
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The rear brakes are the time consumers, and it is French after all so designed from scratch to be difficult and frustrating to work on.
Not all French cars are difficult to work on and I've worked on a few clio's of this ilk and they are not hard to work on. Poorly designed engine wiring loom yes but, brakes are no different to any other normal disk drum set up.
Well, I think 6 hours is a fair time to do the work. Front wheel bearing would take longer than to change a rear on this.
Edited by Wackyracer on 25/02/2016 at 22:33
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I would definitely agree with GordonBennett,
I am by no means a mechanic,
but there are lots of helpful forums and youtube videos out there.
Before I got my peugeot 106 (2 years ago - cost £500 ),
I didn't know one end of a hammer from the other !.
I did the wheel cylinders, and the shoe brakes myself, for the MOT (cost £50)
s103.photobucket.com/user/liammcl_2006/library/MOT...1
the front had uneven braking (seized caliper)... diy, again with some white grease on the piston (cost £1).
I changed the front pads too (£12)
s103.photobucket.com/user/liammcl_2006/library/Fro...1
and driveshaft too..
All from youtube, and a few spanners... it is definitely do-able if you take your time.
Most are not tough, at all , to do ...just do your research, take picture before , and do one side at a time (using the other side for reference)
Remeber you are paying per hour, for simple or complex tasks...
All the best
Liam
ps I am finding it is a fascinating hobby, finding out how a car works.. there's loads of youtube videos Ericthecarguy is a good one... there's loads
Edited by liammcl on 25/02/2016 at 23:23
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ps
eg (this isn't me)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqAmkP0N3pA
If you look to the right of this video , there's loads ...
Liam
& this guy is good for beginners, imho
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-WXqIKjHQ
Edited by liammcl on 25/02/2016 at 23:44
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ps you can find the MOT history (over the years ) for any car from its reg
It also includes the advisories
www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
Liam
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