Have I been ripped off? VW Polo

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Mon 11 Sep 2006 11:54
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - anthonyf
My 1998 VW Polo (1.6 GL) failed its MOT last week because just one of the indicator tell tale lights on the dashboard wasn?t working. It hasn?t worked for years despite which it has passed at least 2 previous MOTs. When I suggested the dealer (deleted, as 1. not really relevant; and 2, you're asking if they have ripped you off, which counts as an allegation against them - hence naming / shaming - DD) simply fit a new bulb I was told this was not possible and I would have to have a new dashboard unit for the princely sum of £218. I do not have the technical knowledge to dispute this, only to vent my exasperation with the service receptionist but they assured me this is the only solution so I have had to pay up in order to maintain the car?s legality. I have a sneaking feeling I have been ripped off. Please reassure me I haven?t been. Additionally I asked them to fit a new bulb into the heater panel as this had failed. I was told that would require a new heater control panel to remedy this; I declined their offer. I am sure I can find a new bulb from Halfords for a few pence and fit it myself. Can I?

Their list of offers for additional work included new wiper blades all round (£49.89), middle exhaust section blowing slightly (£153.34), rear washer jet (£39.27) none of which are obviously faulty. I declined them all. Are workshop mechanics on an incentive scheme to sell parts and labour to unwitting customers? Or is this just another way in which they aim to get a return on their investment in over elaborate premises?

Anthonyf
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 11:59
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Craig_1969
Haynes manual?
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:09
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - nick62
Their list of offers for additional work included new wiper blades
all round (£49.89).


Wow.............expensive wiper blades. I would suggest £15 at your nearest motor factor would suffice for these. You don't even need any tools to replace them.
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:19
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Xileno {P}
Don't use any main dealer for a car of this age. Find a good independent, the Polo is a simple enough car.
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:25
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - local yokel
Bet they wanted to top up the washer fluid resevoir for at least £5.99 as well.

Find yourself a decent independant who will respect you, do the work, and charge a realistic amount. The MoT failure on the bulb repeater could be real, probably, but the easy (though not free) way to check would be to put it in for an MoT an another testing centre.
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:33
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Bill Payer
Putting a car of that age through an MOT at a main dealer is asking for a big bill. They're going to be that bit more fussy than your freindly garage.
A Renault main dealer (where I had to take the car to keep it's 5 yr warranty) noted that my indicator bulds where not orange enough (it had passed MOT the day before).
I had a company Peugeot fail at a dealer due to odd wear on a rear tyre. Neither I, nor the tyre depot couldn't for the life of us see what was wrong with it.

If the car is resubmitted elsewhere, will the fail (and reason) be visible to the new tester?
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Tue 12 Sep 2006 10:57
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - anthonyf
You are quite right but as the previous service had been carried out by a non-franchised outlet who made a hash of it I decided to give the main dealer another attempt but will not be using them again. Can't wait for them to send me a satisfaction questionnaire!
Thanks for your input
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:30
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Dalglish
failed its MOT last week because just one of the indicator tell tale lights on the dashboard wasn?t working

>>

what does it say on your failure notice?

i am interested to find out where in the mot regulations is this specified as a mot failure item.

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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:33
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Altea Ego
Vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986

3. The drivers 'tell-tale' missing or inoperative


www.motuk.co.uk/manual_150.htm
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:51
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Dalglish
The drivers 'tell-tale' missing or inoperative www.motuk.co.uk/manual_150.htm

>>

tvm - thanks for that - i had looked there but missed it.

note that it also says: { Note: A 'tell-tale' may be audible or visual, it is not required if one or more direction indicators on each side can be seen by the driver from the driver's seat.}

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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:37
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Collos25
Although the dash cluster is so called sealed it is quite possible to get into and replace bulbs/light diodes,failed units are normally sent back and refurbed its even worse with mercs ,clocks on the e class cost under 75p for the display at RS and they want around £400 to replace the whole cluster.
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Mon 11 Sep 2006 12:44
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - local yokel
What is there to stop an auto-electrician installing a new tell-tale in the car in a spare location in front of the driver? Correctly labeled it would be fine IMHO.
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Tue 12 Sep 2006 14:16
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - rover 75
What is it with VW garages ? Against my advice eldest daughter bought (my money) a new polo 5yrs ago, the car has been exellent but the dealer is arrogant,rude and incompetent and the price of parts is 2/3 times that of Ford parts,yes I now use a Well known factor and buy parts much cheaper.
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Tue 12 Sep 2006 14:23
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - borasport20
Anthonyf

I'd be interested in knowing where the dealer was - to avoid the sites 'naming and shaming', you could email me at the address in my profile

(I know someone who took an M reg golf to the main dealer for exactly the same reasons for you did, and found themselves looking at an estimate of £2300 - more than twice the value of the car)


--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Tue 12 Sep 2006 14:56
Have I been ripped off? VW Polo - Aprilia
What you have to remember is that in almost all dealers (not just VW) the staff will be on some kind of sales bonus scheme - everyone from the parts guy to the service technicians. So the techs earn more the quicker they do the job and the more work they find to do on your car. And they won't want to do it the cheapest way (why fix it for £20 when you can find a way of fixing it for £100). Basically the system works to increase profit by spending as little time as possible on a job, at the highest cost - not really in the customer's interests. Customer loyalty is not really much of an issue - a fair number of the guys will have left by the time you come in for your next service and they tend to be isolated from the customer anyway (by receptionists or 'service advisors').

For your information VW run a CSI (customer satisfaction index) scheme which uses points scores from customers to award (or not) a bonus to each dealer. The scores are added up on a quarterly basis. The snag is that many dealers see providing good service as a manufacturer imposition and something they have to do to keep the manufacturer happy rather then something they should be doing as part of their business. At the end of the day I think the business environment is too soft for most dealers and they are getting away with far too much.
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