Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage

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Thu 3 May 2012 22:22
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - doog

I give up. After 30 years of motoring I had settled on a local garage, the owner of whom had received recognition for being a trusted garage.

For the last 5 years or so of waiting for MOT's I had observed the owner behind the counter, totally up front and total honesty, wouldnt charge if he couldnt fix it type thing, clearly proud of his reputation.

Today I had a crisis. My daughters car wouldnt select 1st or 2nd gear, a bit of research and I am satisfied its the gear linkage - common fault on this vehicle. Quick research and its one hour labour and part ranges between £30 - £60.

Pop into trusted local garage and trusted owner isnt there. Explain situation and they agree, gear linkage one hour at the most. Guy behind the counter rings the parts distrubutor and stays quiet. Then explains the part is £150 plus VAT..they can only get it from Vauxhall. I am gob smacked - perhaps I got it wrong - so panic sets in and I say OK.

Sanity then sets in on my way home pop into well known vehicle parts shop. Part is on the shelf for £28 plus VAT.

Buy it and go back, plonk it on the counter ...dropped jaw syndrome. Its fitted fort £50 labour and now drives like new.

My issue is this...the owner would be horrified at this, I need to tell him that one his his 'lads' clearly tried to do me over...or is he in on it?

Guess I am looking for another trusted local garage.

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Thu 3 May 2012 22:54
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - Graham567

Prehaps they only rang Vauxhall for a price and thats how much they are at the dealers.Maybe the Vauxhall dealer told them over the phone that its only available through them so they didn't think to phone anywhere else?

Or they could just be trying it on?

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Thu 3 May 2012 23:04
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - doog

Perhaps I have mug written on my forehead...I had better check

http://www.vauxhall-car-parts.co.uk/acatalog/VAUXHALL_GEAR_LINKAGE_-_93183155N.html

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Thu 3 May 2012 23:55
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - balleballe

A similar thing happened with my mazda 6 and my local trusted garage. I needed the 'auto tensioner pulley' replaced. They said they couldnt source one from their usual suppliers and that they've been told it's a dealer only part.

Asked another garage and they said that it sounds like a dealer only part too

Dealer was quoting £170ish

Managed to find it from a motor factor for around £60

My mechanic was suprised I managed to find one and fitted it in an hour, charging £50

Sometimes it happens - doesn't mean they're trying to rip you off

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Fri 4 May 2012 11:19
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - craig-pd130

+1 to the above. The garage's job is to fix the problem, not to ring around multiple outlets to get the best price on parts.

Looks like they assumed the linkage component was only available from Vx.

Had a similar experience when pricing a Bosch motorised throttle body for my dad's Octavia. Skoda dealer and trusted independent prices were horrifying (£350+ for part alone). 10 minutes of googling and a phone call sourced genuine new Bosch part for £170.

Edited by craig-pd130 on 04/05/2012 at 11:23

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Fri 4 May 2012 11:36
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - Hamsafar

While I understand how you feel, I too was surprised such a specialised part is not dealer-only. Well done. You got the outcome you wanted and that's the main thing. Ask yourself...

Would speaking to the owner really be useful to you?

What would you gain?

If it's just satisfaction of righting a what you perceive to be a wrong, then I wouldn't bother if I was you. We all have choices in everything we do and you made the right one by researching first and then buying the cheaper part. Maybe just leave it at that?

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Fri 4 May 2012 12:55
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - focussed

Bear in mind that your trusted local garage has to make a profit to survive-if it doesn't it probably won't be there one day when you need them. The usual attitude to this truth from most customers is "I don't mind my garage making a profit as long as they are not making a profit from me"

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Fri 4 May 2012 13:46
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - keithd
I think there may be two types of gear linkages. One is mainly plastic and wears quicker than the metal one which has metal cup and ball.
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Fri 4 May 2012 16:42
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - ChannelZ

Good chance your "pattern part" will last about 3 months before falling apart. Certain things should be bought from the manufacturer, buy cheap, buy often.

Replaced ARB links on my Mondeo with generic pattern parts. 2 months later they were worse than the original, 60k miles ones I took off. Replaced again with slightly more expensive patern parts. They lasted 7 months. Gave up, paid the extra £10 for the proper Ford ones, 18 months later they're good as new. If I'd have bought Ford ones to start off, I wouldn't have wated £60 on useless ARB links.

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Fri 4 May 2012 17:17
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - galileo

The OP's link shows that the genuine Vauxhall part is £28.95 - his complaint is that he was told Vauxhall part price was £150, which is clearly not the case

Edited by galileo on 04/05/2012 at 17:23

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Sat 5 May 2012 00:04
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - balleballe

The OP's link shows that the genuine Vauxhall part is £28.95 - his complaint is that he was told Vauxhall part price was £150, which is clearly not the case

From the website:

"We are a specialist in and have massive stocks of NEW GENUINE VAUXHALL CAR SPARE PARTS for most Vauxhall models of car and van - over 25,000 different items. Currently we have 4000 in our on-line shop and are adding 250 per month -- so do please remember to re-visit us in the near future. Any parts that are not genuine Vauxhall are indicated with an N at the end of the part no"

So - it is not a genuine part

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Sat 5 May 2012 00:29
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - Leif

Was the cheaper part the same, or a lower quality one? Your garage probably does not always get stuff as cheap as you could from ebay etc, so I don't think you have been fleeced. Presumably they have a standard source for parts, which is convenient for them, and sometimes the price is high. How much do you think a main dealer would have charged for the labour?

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Sat 5 May 2012 06:29
Vauxhall Corsa C - A bad experience at my trusted local garage - 1litregolfeater

Everything changes, then you start shopping for somewhere else.

Sounds like you were quoted a ladies only price. I hope you weren't dressed up extra nice, in advance of a special night out.

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