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last week my car (Peugot 406) was towed away to a local dealer because it wouldnt start (turned over but wouldnt catch) On Tuesday I was told that the starter relay (double) would have to be replaced which would be two hours labour and the relay which would be sent the next day. I called yesterday and was told they were onto it. Today I was called and was told that they needed permission for an extra hours work and that would total six hours so far. (I suppose hours three, four and five were good and didn`t need permission) They called me back about an hour and a half later to tell me it wasn`t the relay but the ecu would have to be replaced and I would be charged for the relay, six hours labour, the new ecu (which will take two days to arrive) and two hours to fit the new ecu. All this for a grand total of around £900 . So am I being fleeced ??? do I need to open a refrigerator dealership in Iceland....or a vehicle dealership???
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from what your saying this sounds like a Royal Scam, even though i'll entertain the idea that perhaps the garage did'nt mean it!
Typical behaviour from more than one main dealer i can tell you. But seriously £900 smackers for an ecu, this is robbery, consider a call to your local office of fair trading, or calling a local paper, this should get the man hours reduced a little.
It'll be interesting to see what other B roomers have to say on this one!
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Don't know how old your 406 is, but you look like you've been placed in a position where you will have to spend something equating to a significant proportion of the car's value on what should have been a straightforward fix.
They mis-diagnosed the fault and should stomach that one themselves as a matter of goodwill. Two hours to fit an ECU sounds like playing chess between loosening the screws unless its mounted in a position where other assemblies have to be removed first. ECUs aren't cheap, though.
If the car's still in warranty the bill sounds a total nonsense, even if the car's out of it I'd halt proceedings right now and let the service manager/dealer principal know that you are seriously unhappy about the bill and the course of events which led up to it and tell them that you will be taking it up with customer services at Peugeot.
If they are a member of the Retail Motor Industry Federation there should be a complaints procedure you can follow.
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I'd be tempted to tell them to keep the ecu in a warm dark place.
They should not be able to make you pay for what is effectively abortive work, because of a mis-diagnosis on their behalf. If they had said that they were not sure that it was the relay and would check it then that's a different matter, but from your post it sounds like they were confident that it was the relay and asked permission to change it. As it hasn't fixed the car, I would not be prepared to pay for their a: incompetence in misdiagnosis, inability to fix the work in accordance to the labour times most specified in the works mnanual.
Tell them to put the old relay back on and give you the car back (and you only pay for the time it takes to remove and replace the relay as agreed). You then go to a decent garage, who don't work without permission, who will fix the problem without expensive overruns.
Jonathan
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I think you are bieng well and truly stitched up. How on earth they can charge you for 6 hours labour to replace a relay is beyond me and if that is now not the fault to still want to charge you is incredible.
As Jonathan has said I would tell them to put the old relay back, pay them for the time it took to actually remove the relay and put it back, not the time to change a gearbox, and go to a decent garage that employ mechanics and not monkeys.
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I am still trying to work out why, since you said it was turning over, they went for anything connected with the starter?
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Jimbo you would br better off posting this in technical. Lots of knowledgable people there could give you more technical detail.
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Jimbo, I too have had experience of garages 'fishing' and being present with extortinate bills, which I have told them to remove both the parts that do not fix the problem and any costs connected to the unecessary parts. If you are in the AA phone there legal helpline, if you are not in the AA, I think you can still phone them but it is a premium line number, but there advice has been invaluable to me. The number is 09060 101 300.
Also check the link below
www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/legal/index.html
Best of luck.
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Anytime I hand my car over for repair or service at ANY gargage I always write on the work docket the quoted price for the work and the name of the person who gave me the quote. You will get very odd looks when you do this..but this has saved me grief and money in the past: I simply got fed up with dealers who added £30 (and more) just because they could not be bothered to properly quote for the work in the first place.
It is very rare to find a dealer who will intentionally undercharge you for work they have done.
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I cannot see a) the basis for their diagnosis or b) how they can justify anything more than an hours labour for the replacement of the units. I Know that on some models there can be a lengthy setting up procedure to restore the idle settings but six hours to fit a readily accessible plug in relay seems ludicrous.
Andrew
Happiness is a T70 at full chat!
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