Last week I asked my local Ford dealer what the cost of another remote key would be. They said £180 - £200. So I bought a genuine remote with key brand new for £42 inc delivery off the net. My local locksmith cut the key for £9.99 I followed the instructions that came with the remote and it works perfectly. I expect Ford would say ah but we would have recoded all keys or you were given false information.
My nephew noticed both rear light bulbs on his Citroen van had stopped working, he told the main dealer he thought he must have an electrical fault. When he went to collect the van he was told it just needed two new bulbs so that will be £300!( he said he thought it had a fault only because both bulbs blew at the same time. No history of bulbs blowing but his comment justified checking electrics for said cost).
My niece took her mini in to have a fault fixed under warranty. The fault was fixed (cooling fan) no problem but she was given a bill for £140 (may have been £180 not sure). This was because the dealer changed the brake fluid! He said it would normally be changed about now so we thought we,d change it.
My brotherinlaw had an immaculate Vauxhall Omega 2.2 (think mileage was about 44,000) The main dealer spent 4-5 hours working on the car then said a new fuel pump will cost you £2000 + another 4-5 hours labour at £110 an hour or we will give you £300 for the car (book just over£2000) so he let them have the car. They said it was the 3rd such case (other 2 were Vectras) this week.
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Whilst dropping my other half off to collect the (now deceased) Signum, I mentioned to the service receptionist that my headlamp aim was all over the place. They summoned a technician, took my car and realigned my headlamps for me, free of charge. Not bad from a Vauxhall dealer, even though the car is a VW. The Signum service wasnt too expensive either iirc.
Not all main dealers are out to empty people's bank accounts you know.
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Not all main dealers are out to empty people's bank accounts you know.
I was just thinking about when SWMBO had a very sick Scenic in limp mode with the dash lit up like a christmas tree. She crawled into our local Renault dealer with two small kids in tow, looking quite distressed and worried. Despite being extremely busy, they got the CLIP system on the car straight away in case it was "something daft" and found a turbo fault code. This being something needing further investigation, they made sure she and the kids were comfy (including drinks, kids entertainment etc) and got the car in as soon as a bay became free about 30 mins later. The technician found a split wastegate pipe, which they replaced and had her back on the road within the hour for a very reasonable bill of £90 all in.
They did the major 36k service on the car not long after we bought it, and came in bang on their menu price. No hidden extras, no urgent work needed. Just a good, professional service, as charged for, and with everything done to a good standard.
They were a fairly recent victim of the recession I'm sorry to say. RIP Thomas Day Motors in Fleet, Hants. One of the best garages I've ever come across.
My experience with other main dealers (Ford and Peugeot mostly) however is far less positive. Endless tales of work charged for and not done, car returned with faults it didn't go in with, and being charged for fixes which didn't work.
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My experience with other main dealers (Ford and Peugeot mostly) however is far less positive.
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Are they still open though?
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The Peugeot site has changed hands two or three times since I used them, but yes.
They got away with a lot because the service receptionist was drop dead gorgeous and incredibly charismatic. Whatever they paid her, she was worth at least double to that business.
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They were a fairly recent victim of the recession I'm sorry to say. RIP Thomas Day Motors in Fleet Hants. One of the best garages I've ever come across. My experience with other main dealers (Ford and Peugeot mostly) however is far less positive. Endless tales of work charged for and not done car returned with faults it didn't go in with and being charged for fixes which didn't work.
Maybe you have inadvertently highlighted an issue here, ie that it may not be possible to run a main-dealer business honestly without going bust any more ???
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Not all main dealers are out to empty people's bank accounts you know.
I can confirm that.
I've had a wheel checked and balanced free of charge after I had had a new tyre fitted by a national tyre company who said that the wheel was buckled (which it wasn't) and that therefore they couldn't balance it.
I've had the wiper arms adjusted free of charge.
And I've bought genuine wiper blades cheaper than anything sold by Halfords.
And when my car is serviced it's collected and delivered back again free of charge.
All by/from franchised dealers.
Edited by L'escargot on 05/05/2009 at 08:07
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>>And when my car is serviced it's collected and delivered back again free of charge<<
Umm, no such thing, its costed into the hourly rate. People who dont take advantage of it just happen to pay for those who do.
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>>And when my car is serviced it's collected and delivered back again free of charge<< Umm no such thing its costed into the hourly rate. People who dont take advantage of it just happen to pay for those who do.
I can only assume you say/know that because that's how you operate.
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It's vital (as Carl clearly knows but his relatives don't) to check what you're signing when leaving a car for repair. If the nephew or niece hadn't signed anything the garage couldn't force them to pay for work that they hadn't contracted for.
I'm afraid the brother-in-law was had. This is a scam which should be reported to Vauxhall if it's a main Vauxhall dealer: no doubt the dealer is flogging the cars off for book value and laughing all the way to the bank (or maybe the employee is doing so without their boss's knowledge).
Edited by Avant on 04/05/2009 at 22:12
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Best one I had was some years ago with a main (Citroen) dealer. Car was is for front brakes. Not only did they not do the job, but the only thing they had done was to slacken the front wheel nuts right off .....
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Excellent service from a main SEAT dealer near Westerham last year. One summer's day was driving home from a pub lunch in my Golf MK 5 when the ability to accelerate was lost and the gas pedal went hard with practically no movement (floor hinged organ pedal type).
Managed, just about, to limp to the above garage and told them of my problem and they said that they would have a look at it. I started enquiring about taxis and bus routes in order to get home (this was late on a Friday afernoon). However about a half an hour, the receptions told me that my car was ready and the fault (a mechanical one was diagnosed and cured). It had apparently been a very small stone or foreign body lodged into the mechanism behind the pedal and that had required the removal of said accelerator pedal etc.
I was very pleased with the attention I had got on that very warm late July afternoon.
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How about this as a try-on?
On a Citroën C5, the automatic folding operation of both door mirrors became more and more erratic and finally stopped working altogether. It happened to both mirrors simultaneously on every occasion and I told the dealer this. Nevertheless, they tried it on: "We'll have to change both mirrors".
I declined and left after telling them that I did not wish to leave my car with anyone so dishonest and/or incompetent.
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I declined and left after telling them that I did not wish to leave my car with anyone so dishonest and/or incompetent.
>>>>>> would you like to tell me what you expected the dealer to say?
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Something like:
"If both mirrors have the problem simultaneously on every occasion, the command system must be at fault"
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Carl - my local Ford dealer also wants £150+ for a spare key - do you have a link for where you got your key from?
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So I bought a genuine remote with key brand new for £42 inc delivery off the net.
Was it really a genuine part, or was it just a visually convincing copy?
My employer's overseas sales representatives regularly came across pirate copies, usually complete with the company logo and part number cast into the exterior. Outside they were visually convincing, but inside they were cheap and nasty.
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inside they were cheap and nasty.
If you've opened up many OEM keys then you'll know they're all cheap and nasty inside.
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I just put in ford keys on e-bay. It was advertised as genuine. I have a friend who works at the main dealer (as a technician) who said it is genuine (I only showed him the fob not the blade). I just picked a firm at random "ddkeyprogrammers" There are loads to choose from.
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cool - I had a feeling ebay would be the place to go. The S-Max only came with one remote key and I couldn't bring myself to fork out £150+ for another.
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>>cool - I had a feeling ebay would be the place to go. The S-Maxonly came with one remote key and I couldn't bring myself to fork out £150+ for another.
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IMO Not so cool going to Ebay.
Yes you can get the fob etc making sure it is the correct one as there are several varients and of course getting the key cut. (I understand some will cut them if you tell them the requirement)
The problem is IIRC that unless you have TWO working keys that start the engine then it is off to Ford with your £150
I understand that a few specialist car locksmiths may be able to now help out instead of Ford but I suspect they will not be cheap.
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Edited by henry k on 07/05/2009 at 00:01
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It was advertised as genuine.
I've no doubt the companies that made and sold pirate copies of my employer's products would say they were genuine. Of course the key seller would say they were genuine. You can hardly expect them to say they were pirate copies! D'uh!
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The key seller lists a selection of fobs but only stated that the 4 Ford fobs were genuine. So you make up your own mind (sounds like you already have). In the past I have seen main dealers selling new fobs for not much more (could be pretending to be M dealers ) on e-bay. My car came with 1 fob and 1plain key with a chip in it so as was correctly stated if I did not have these 2 I would have had to go to the main dealer for programming.
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Going back to the thread title
Whilst running the used car side of a franchised *** dealership some years ago we sold a car and put it the workshop for its 40 point check, as usual (99%of the time) we were advised'DISCS AND PADS NEED REPLACING'. You couldn't argue the case because they are safety related issues.They were duely fitted and the 40 point check was completed
For some reason the deal fell 'out of bed'.
A couple of months later the car was sold again and apart from a five mile demonstration,it moved the 30yrds to the workshop.
The second invoice also charged for DISCS AND PADS..
Now I'm a work colleague whose income depends on how much they charge me etc.
How fair do you think they will be with you?
Paul
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