Recently I've had an intermittent fault with the ABS and ESP lights illuminating on my Passat, which clears with the ignition. Some Google research suggested the brake light switch, but since it happened not long after I hit a deep puddle at some speed and the brake lights still worked, I wanted to know the exact cause.
Went down to the local VAG "specialist" (according to their website) who quoted £60 + VAT just to pull the ABS fault code from the ECU - more than a VW dealer! When I asked if it might just be the switch, I was asked if the coil light came on at the same time. It didn't, so this bloke assures me that it's not the brake switch.
Take a gamble and nip into the Seat dealer down the road. Fault codes read for £20, gave me a free ticket for the park and ride, and when I got back the car was valeted as well.
Turned out it was the brake switch ("Implausible signal") - so I'm kicking myself now. On the bright side, I reckon I'd have paid more than £20 for the valeting job they did on the car!
The moral of the story? Despite the insistence of many posters on this forum, the dealer can quite often be the best place to go. VW dealer was cheaper than all my local garages for the timing belt, too.
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As always it depends on indie and the dealer. I've found my local Vauxhall dealer to be very honest and good at diagnoses but the labour charges are stupid. They wanted over £200 to fit two rear shock absorbers, I got change out of £70 at my indie.
I think on a newer car I would use the indie to do routine stuff and find a good dealer to do more complex stuff inc timing belts.
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And to cap it off nicely the new brake switch doesn't work. After dismantling half the dash to get it in.
On the bright side, the original switch seems to be working properly now.
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Are you sure its the brake switch? I'd have been thinking it was an ABS wheel sensor on the road out
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Craig, that was my first guess as well, but then I noticed that the problem only occurred under braking and then the computer print-out sealed it:
"Brake Light Switch - Implausible Signal. Sporadic"
The switch is quite clever - its normal output is a binary 0 and 1. When it's pushed, these reverse to 1 and 0. If effectively gives double redundancy so the computer is certain of the brake pedal position.
If one of these switches fail, the computer detects it by seeing either a 00 or 11, depending on brake pedal position and the nature of the failure. In the case of cruise control, for example, redundancy of this nature is essential so it can be disengaged instinctively.
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Take a gamble and nip into the Seat dealer down the road. Fault codes read for £20, gave me a free ticket for the park and ride, and when I got back the car was valeted as well.
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>>>>>>>>>> wow that dealer is either mad or the boss is on holiday or they are bored motionless
a code read for £20 from a dealer?
madness
even i would want more than that if i did them for the public
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But why, though? It's a 5 minute job, the equipment isn't that expensive (particular for VAG cars), and you'll probably get the repair as well.
If, however, you plugged your computer in and it showed no fault codes recorded, or a generic one, then I don't think anyone objects to paying your normal hourly rate for diagnosis. I wanted a confirmation and the computer report was conclusive.
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dealer can quite often be the best place to go
I second that. I observed that many times in past.
Unless indie offers a substantially lower rate than main dealer, I'd stick with dealer.
Nowadays many dealers will do price match (unless you're trying to compare with one man band indie).
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Thirded. On my Passat 5.5 the VAG dealer's quote for a cambelt change was cheaper than two independents
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proper code reading equipment doesnt come cheap and needs usually yearly updates of large wedges of wonga
if the dealer wants to do eobd reads at less than cost then it will only bite next time a customer comes back and expects it for £20 again
you either set your stall out and keep to your high standards or you does it cheaps and goes bust
main agent or man with a wheel barrow
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Ok, you had a good outcome & the indie charged too much (in comparison) for poor service . But just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, neither does one good outcome from a franchised dealer make all indies expensive & incompetent.
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I've tried to save money on several occasions over the years by moving from main dealer to independent. It hasn't worked for me.
Clk Sec
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Two minds.
We have a local VAG specialist with a good reputations which makes the idea of an old TT less daunting than it might otherwise be.
On the otherhand the Ford dealer charges £99 for a minor service with a stamp in the book ... ... ... no brainer.
Edited by cheddar on 07/02/2010 at 07:42
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>>Ford dealer charges £99 for a minor service with a stamp in the book ...... ... no brainer.
That shows just how important it is to check the Paperwork, as well as the stamps in the book, when buying a second hand car.
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I had an interesting chat with the chap I bought our diesel Golf from who is an Audi tech. He said that VAG-COM is probably the only third party diagnostic tool which can do everything the main dealer rigs can do, although it does obviously need the relevant skill and experience to correctly interpret the results and to diagnose the actual fault.
For other makes, I have heard many similar stories of tricky faults defeating independents and main dealers fixing them first time (albeit often at terrifying cost). I think it depends on the car, the skill of the indie, and the skill of the main dealer techs (which is just as variable and patchy as those of indies).
There are two Volvo indies in my area. One has an excellent reputation, one doesn't. It depends on the individual business and the skill of the people it employs.
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Using a main dealer is a bit like eating in MacDonalds or sleeping in a Premier Inn. You have the security of knowing that you will get exactly what you expect. Using an independent is like eating at a local cafe or staying in a B&B. Some of them are terrible and others are outstanding.
Fortunately, our local indy is in the latter category. None of our private cars have been anywhere else for eight years and I can not fault them on service, price or quality of work.
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I reckon the customer has a big role to play.
Sensible people are more likely to get good service from either type of garage.
By sensible, I mean running a car that is suitable for their needs and, importantly, running a car they can afford to buy and run.
Treating said car sensibly is also important, basic maintenance, driving with a bit of mechanical empathy.
Then there's sensible and realistic expectations of the car/garage.
Accepting there might be the occasional big bill, and not expecting someone else to pay for it.
Many, but not all, complaints about garages I hear about on here and elsewhere, are the result of unrealistic expectations.
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>>Ford dealer charges £99 for a minor service with a stamp in the book ...... ... no brainer. That shows just how important it is to check the Paperwork as well as the stamps in the book when buying a second hand car.
Eh? I am not with you. Yes it is good to see receipts though a main dealer's stamp and the fact that the service is recorder on the manufacturer's system against the VIN is enough for most people.
Or are you trying to suggest that they dont service the car for £99 and only stamp the book ?
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>>Or are you trying to suggest that they dont service the car for £99 and only stamp the book ?
Where on earth do you get that from? I am suggesting nothing of the sort.
However, I would only buy a second hand car from a main dealer if the book was fully stamped, and I would expect those stamps to represent full scheduled servicings - nothing less.
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However I would only buy a second hand car from a main dealer if the book was fully stamped and I would expect those stamps to represent full scheduled servicings - nothing less. its coming next week gov
i will post it on
honest
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>>>> its coming next week gov
i will post it on
honest
:-)
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Where on earth do you get that from? >>
Well you did say "important it is to check the Paperwork as well as the stamps in the book".
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