to feel I've been a bit ripped off? (car related)

[hormonallyyours]

And if so what would you do about it?

I'll start by saying I'm fairly new to the world of car ownership. But my dad (sadly no longer with us) worked with cars for many years, and I picked up some stuff from him so whilst i couldnt repair a car myself I'm not totally clueless either.

So just before Xmas my exhaust took a bit of a knock, and split. Me and DP had a look under, and were both fairly sure the back box, and possibly the center section needed replacing.

I called a few places but as it was literally the day before Xmas no one could fit me in immediately. Of the places I spoke to, only one was clear on price (80 plus Vat for the back, 110 plus vat for the whole thing. Others were a bit vague (one said £50-300!), or said I'd need to bring it in first...the local national exhaust franchise said £130. But I decided to stick with first place which was local and clearest over price. They also had excellent which reviews etc.

So it went in today. Dropped it off this morning, told they'd call when it was done.

No call. So at 4pm I called them. Yes it was fixed but they couldn't tell me the cost. And they shut at 5 so could I fetch it asap?

Eventually called me back half an hour later. The cost was £150, they've replaced the front section (which looked fine to DP and I) and salvaged (their words) the rest.

AIBU to be fed up with the lack of contact, or update and feel if you've specified a price for the whole thing, and then only replace part, the cost should be less not more?

I've checked the cost of the replaced part and it's £50-60. So that's £100 or thereabouts just on labour!

Cars cost.... Exhausts do smell for a good while.

But I would go back and query it... And follow up.

Just stick to the facts... Don't try to justify... Men will often see this as weakness.

Don't give them anything else to argue about/ I wouldn't get involved with who phoned who when . ...

something like ' on Monday I was quoted x for a full exhaust by Tom.... When I I came to collect it, 2/3 of the exhaust was salvaged.. I then received a bill that was even more than what was quoted for a full exhaust. Please adjust/credit me'.

And then keep quiet, let them justify this sudden price rise...

Also, as a side issue, why did you pay it if you were unhappy? It's much easier to argue someone down, than try and get your money back!

Any time my car goes to the garage and the bill doesn't begin with a 2 (or bigger) is a result as far as I am concerned.

But I would try and find recommendations for a good local garage and use it every time.

Have you looked under to see what they have actually replaced?

The worst experiences I've had with vehicles, and I've owned many, is from a local garage in our village which is why I go elsewhere.

Kwikfit fitted my last exhaust perfectly and kept me in the loop. All good.

You sound like a total nightmare!!! We are talking about £15 more right??

It's not, but even if it was, so what? If I get an advance price of £130, I expect to pay £130.

I had a situation before where I took the car in for [can't even remember...something engine-y...but they'd already looked at the fault and told me what was wrong] and had had a final price of £200. When I went to collect, they cheerfully told me it was £280.00 as they'd noticed X,Y and Z needed doing also so they'd 'done it for me to save me coming back'.

I said I hadn't wanted that work done so would only be paying £200 but was happy to wait whilst they removed the new bits they'd replaced that I hadn't wanted and put my existing ones back on (which obviously they wouldn't). They refused to release my car to me so I got out my phone to call the police and they backed down and accepted the £200.

You'll only be taken the piss out of if you allow it IME. If you've already paid op, I would leave it now, it's too much hassle to try and get a refund when you've already accepted and paid the price they asked. The time to argue is before you pay.

If you were that sure of yourself, you would have attempted the repair yourself

What a load of bollocks. I know when I drive over glass and burst a tyre so need a new one. Just because i'm 100% sure of the problem doesn't mean I have the skill needed to fix it!

Dh has just replaced his exhaust himself on his corsa. Decent front section cost £65 off ebay. Back box was £35. Rest was ok. It took him two hours. I think you've had a good deal parts and labourwise.

Have to agree, they should have ok'd the different work required before doing it. The garages dh uses would always check with him first.

My garage would have understood that I wanted the car drivable and back with me asap - whilst it was within the same ballpark figure, they know most customers would appreciate them getting on and getting all the cars booked in that day, ready and fixed for pick up at the end of the day, rather than spending 4 hours on the phone checking each individual small adjustment that might be a detail away from the original estimate, with several customers who will then often not be available when you call them, when 99% of those customers are going to say "Yes, of course, whatever needs doing".

Just putting this from the mechanic's pov.

Thatvis nit temrue that garages can only give you an estimate till they finish they job! I used 5 different garages locally and they all assessed the car and called back with the price before starting the work. Never had any differences between the quoe and the final price. 3 of those garages were small independent ones. They wouldn't do any work before I agreed to it and its price. There's no need for receptionist there tends to be angarage owner st the desk.

Dealing with garages and mechanics, if you're female, is an absolute nightmare. Any garage, whether a small business or a large company, should stick with the quote they give you. Or a least warn you it could cost more. Stupid that some people on here are suggesting OP should just suck it up and pay more without querying it or being told why it was more. No wonder people get ripped off so much when there's people out there who just hand over money no questions asked.

I didnt think it was allowed for garages to do any work on a car without having agreed with the owner first.

If this is not true then they could do all sorts of stuff to it and then charge you.

The OP imo should have been told before hand that they were only replacing part of it and how much that would cost. Rather than tell her they are replacing it all, replace a section and then charge more than quoted.

I think companies have shot themselves in the feet over the years re quotes, and tend to come in around the exact amount and the public have become used to and now expect that to be what it will cost, but quotes are just estimates, always have been. Basically saying, well the parts should cost x, we think it'll take approx. x amount of time to finish the job so we'll quote z amount as that's what we expect it to be, but there might be some overlap either way.

Usually they should keep in touch or discuss any increases/decrease(yes they do happen)

OP I hope all this crap you've had to deal with doesn't put you off dealing with mechanics /garages again, there really are a lot of decent ones out there.

If they quoted you a price, YANBU but if it was an estimated price, YABU because it's just that - an estimate.