Had a problem with my Espace, which the garage said was due a spark plug blowing out.
Invoice as follows:
"Investigate noisy running fault. Replace spark plugs.
Labour: 1 hour @ £45
Set of plugs: £9.40
Fuel line cleaner: £9.60
Total: £64 + vat"
My question - is "fuel line cleaner" a legtimate cost???
I didn't ask for it, in fact garage did all work without quoting or getting the go ahead from me.
It's not a huge bill and I'm pleased the car's fixed, but I don't want to take my car to someone who adds unnecessary charges to my bill.
Any opinions?
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What exactly did you ask them to do? Were you specific?
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Not really. The car was very noisy (sounding like exhaust manifold had blown). Took it to garage on Friday and asked him to look at it for me and find out what was wrong. He said he would look at it on Monday and find out what was wrong and speak to me before doing any work. No phone call Monday. I rang Monday evening and he said a spark plug had blown out and he would find out whther it needed re-threading or not and to call back next afternoon. Phoned yesterday to be told "All done for you" asked for a price and he said "haven't worked that out yet, will have bill ready when you collect it" Collected it yesterday and was handed invoice as per previous post.
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Took it to garage on Friday and asked him to "look at it for me" ..........
I would expect most garages to interpret that as meaning " fix it for me."
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I accept that, and glad it's fixed, but "Fuel Line Cleaner" - What for?
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The obvious answer to this is to ask the garage why fuel line cleaner was required.
Now, I know how you feel about making such an enquiry, it makes you feel very uncomfortable, I would feel the same.
I'm sure a lot of people share this feeling and I'm not sure that I understand where it comes from.
After all, if you went into Sainsburys for some vegetables and came out with a till receipt that also mentioned a chicken you would go straight back in and query it at customer services without any feeling of discomfort at all.
I think part of the problem is that the motor trade still fails to do customer service and communication very well making garages intimidating to deal with at times. In addition, most of us can recognise a Sainsbury's chicken and know what to do with it. However, fuel line cleaner is an unknown quantity to a lot of motorists.
My own opinion about the fuel line cleaner is that an engine running fault is usually due to either a fuelling problem or a lack of spark. Therefore cleaning out the fuel lines as part of the diagnostic and curative process for such a fault would seem legitimate.
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However "the garage said was due a spark plug blowing out", which is odd, because you'd have thought that would be fairly obvious, and should have been found before putting the injector cleaner in the tank.
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This is what I'm wondering. Does this garage (and possibly others?) add things like fuel line cleaner to invoices as a matter of course? £10 on every bill adds up to a tidy sum over a year!
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By investigating the problem he also fixed it - so it wasn't practical to phone you up before hand. An hours work is about the minimum so the charges look reasonable.
The cost of spares and cleaner looks reasonable.
I'd ask why the fuel cleaner was required - you could ask on the pretence that you may have bought dodgy fuel - perhaps with water in it.
I think you were lucky that the head didn't need a helicoil insert after the spark plug had blown out.
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I think you were lucky that the head didn't need a helicoil insert after the spark plug had blown out.
I agree! I must seem really stingey!
Perhaps I should just accept that fuel line cleaner has some kind relevance and be grateful my car's back on the road for a few quid.
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My dealer welcomes queries/complaints. If you don't query the charge you'll never find out how genuine or honest they are.
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Who put the plug in the head in the first place?
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If it was only firing on three cylinders it'd be a pretty quick job to find out the problem, and the state of the plugs/HT leads would be your first check. Start engine, open bonnet, look at each plug lead and plug, find one is missing, turn off engine.
He may have had to order the plug, and then fit it.
Can't see it being more than 30 mins tops, but a min 1 hr charge is reasonable, esp. at £45/hr.
Still can't see why he had to put in cleaner, though.
Edited by oldnotbold on 14/01/2009 at 16:11
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You need neither fuel line cleaner or engine oil cleaner;you did not ask for it-ask the dealer to remove it from the invoice-it probably only cost him five pence at the most-if he put any in.Most manufacturers tell you not to add anything to the oil or fuel but a dealer will try to tell you it's"manufacturer-recommended"-it isn't!
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I had to decline a fuel additive when booking my Hyundai in for its first service.
I was amazed to be asked, considering the general consensus that it is "snake oil".
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As I said above,the dealer will charge £10 for 5p. of snake oil-that's why he add's it!
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