Charging £48 to change a light bulb?

Or you could check the bulbs before you send it in for an MOT. It's not hard, although fitting the bulb might be, some are extremely fiddly and many people would rather just pay.

While £48 seems a lot, its probably the minimum charge.

OP, ask your garage to provide you with a breakdown of their Labour rates: if they are a main dealer, they have a set amount they charge per 1/10th of an hour (or they used to, anyway!)
I remember when this was £14.00 for Fiat, but that was a long time ago!

I think the problem is that it is 5 minutes to someone who knows what they are doing. It would take me a good hour to work out how the hell to replace a lightbulb in my car and assuming I even bought the right bulb in the first place. You are paying for experience and convenience.

Who was it? Was it a big company/well known name?

We used to use Halfords, and they used to charge around £30 to £38 to supply and fit a new light bulb for the headlights/sidelights etc. And they didn't even give it a guarantee. This was early 2010s... (We have a Vauxhall Astra.)

Then when we moved to the rural area we live now, we went to a little garage run by 3 brothers, and asked them to replace the same bulb (but on the other headlight,) and they charged £7.00. (Just 18 months after the last one that cost us £38.)

We nearly keeled over from the shock of how cheap it was. Took them 2 minutes to do, and yet Halfords used to make a meal of it, and take 20 minutes. Said we were paying for the 'labour' when we questioned the price once. Utter fucking rip off merchants.

I am still angry at how much Halfords charged and how we were clearly ripped off by them for some years.

My car failed an MOT once on a headlight out of adjustment, and the tester wanted to charge me £16 to adjust the headlight. Adjusting the headlight consists of turning a screw at the side of the headlight and literally took me 10 seconds.

That’s literally the only thing a tester is allowed to fix during a test as it requires the MOT equipment to set properly. We wouldn’t charge for it during a test but if someone came in just wanting a headlight alignment then we’d charge 15 mins labour (unless a regular customer, friend etc).

I’ve been to Halfords and couple of times and it’s usually £15 including the bulb. I know I could do it a bit cheaper myself but I can’t be bothered!

Of course you’ll be charged labour to fix anything that it’s failed on though.

£48 is a bit steep, I’m guessing it’s a main dealer. Probably a minimum 15 or 20 min charge. The bulb change may well be 5 mins but there’s extra time involved in potentially moving the car, fetching the bulb, doing the paperwork etc.

Assuming an easy change and a standard H4 bulb, I’d probably charge £20-£25 including the bulb.

KwikFit or Halfords?

I had 2 headlights fitted yesterday, which I supplied myself. The local garage charged me £20 for both and it took about 10 minutes. I have done it myself in the past, but at this current time I am up against it with other stuff and after initially trying I had trouble getting my hands into the small gap to do it.

My car failed an MOT once on a headlight out of adjustment, and the tester wanted to charge me £16 to adjust the headlight. Adjusting the headlight consists of turning a screw at the side of the headlight and literally took me 10 seconds.

I would never pay an MOT station do any work to pass a car. My current garage will just change a bulb or a windscreen wiper (or do similar little jobs) for free if that's all it needs to pass.

If you can't or won't do minor maintenance to your house or car, you pay the going rate or shop around.
It's not the going rate though. When a mechanic rings you and asks if you want them to change the bulb or does it and tells you after the fact, you reasonably expect maybe £10. You don't say "sorry, STOP MY MOT I MUST SHOP AROUND TO GET A FAIR PRICE". They don't exactly have a price list on the door. OP's been ripped off. But thank god a random man came on the thread to tell her to suck it up. 🙄

The going rate......£48 for 5 mins, which the op states how long it took to change the bulb.

Work out how much that is an hour.....

@businessflop25

Your car, almost any brand, comes with an owner's manual. Open it up, find the reference for changing bulbs, wipers, etc and follow that.

Take out the dodgy bulb at a budget/fair-priced spare parts shop. Let the counter-jumper look at the lettering/info on the side (or get it from the owner's manual).

Pay the price. Go out front to the car-park. Insert/install the new bulb. Test light(s).

Take away the stress of complaining about mechanics/plumbers/dentists paying themselves like millionaires with (what you consider to be) high hourly rates or large fee-for-service charges.

Lots of people come to me for my professional services and feign heart-attacks and apoplexy when I tell them that I start at $AUD77 per hour.

I also do not b1tch when my dentist wants $AUD425 for a moderately complex filling repair ... but I did not go to university for 6 or 7 years, and I do not have a $75000 treatment chair, a dental nurse, a hygienist, a receptionist, etc. It's all relative.

If you can't or won't do minor maintenance to your house or car, you pay the going rate or shop around.

An MoT charge is exactly that. No added labour costs.

You've been ripped off for £48 to fit a bulb.

I’ve never been charged for something like that. And £73 for a light bulb is ridiculous