Ive booked in at a local garage - it seems quite a big name place, they have a few branches in the region and a website, etc. - to combat the problems preventing my car from starting in the damp.
I was told by the RAC chap I needed the distributor cap, rotor arm and leads replacing as they were old and coroded, he said parts should come to Ã,£25-Ã,£30.
The place I am booked in at rang me back earlier to say the parts were in (also have some spark plugs down to go in too) and it was going to be Ã,£65. I was a bit shocked but not knowing the value of any of the bits I simply hung up and didnt discuss the cost. I also am not sure if this is supposed to include the labour charge for fitting said parts, which if it doesnt Im sure must be a total scam :?
The parts are for a 94 1.2 Clio. Anyone have any advice or recommendations? Oh and am I obliged to purchase the parts and have them fitted now they have been ordered in? I wouldnt have thought so.
lol was over Ã,£100 just for the HT leads on my car, then there was the cap and arm and the rest
as long as it includes labour that sounds ok to me for a garage doing it.
imo tho
haynes-Ã,£10
dizzy and arm-Ã,£10
leads-Ã,£15
you could have done it yourself no probs :)
A rough guesstimation of what average such parts would cost in the US:
cap: $25
rotor: $15
leads: $50
-----------------
$90
+
1 hour shop time: $60
=
$150
The parts are probably cheaper than that and take a couple minutes to install, if youve not signed your life away, reclaim the car and razz the forker.
btw, you can often remedy this sort of thing, by replacing the leads one by one--as they do wear out, and popping off the cap and cleaning the rotor and cap contacts with some emery cloth or fine wet/dry sandpaper. Add a schpritz of WD40 to displace moisture, and voila! Vroom! Replacing the cap and rotor, if needed, is childs play. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Quote from: maximusotterA rough guesstimation of what average such parts would cost in the US:
cap: $25
rotor: $15
leads: $50
-----------------
$90
+
1 hour shop time: $60
=
$150
For those of you that CBA to convert this its Ã,£85.72
Quote from: maximusotterbtw, you can often remedy this sort of thing, by replacing the leads one by one--as they do wear out, and popping off the cap and cleaning the rotor and cap contacts with some emery cloth or fine wet/dry sandpaper. Add a schpritz of WD40 to displace moisture, and voila! Vroom! Replacing the cap and rotor, if needed, is childs play. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
Ive had the RAC man out twice already to do exactly that max, I spent 1:30 hours trying to get the thing started on Friday night, Im much more inclined to simply take it in, get
spangly new(tm) bits fitted and have done.
I hate dealing with car problems.
Youve all been very reassuring though, I dont feel so much like Im being ripped off now.
when you think that 4 plugs @ Ã,£7 is would be Ã,£28, add that to the Ã,£25 estimated for the parts your already up to Ã,£53.... Ã,£65 might be slightly over the odd, but ive never bout for a renault...not sure of prices
including labour (@ Ã,£20/hour) that sounds about right.
To be perfectly honest though, I would seriously recommend the purchase of a haynes manual - that way you know whats involved when letting the garage do work to your car.
And moreover, it can encourage you to do stuff to ya motor by yourself.
Although you say you hate doing work on your car, I would recommend you familiarise yourself with simple maintainance yourself, as it is very rewarding, and cost effective (once youve purchased some tools, that is).
Theres nothing more disheartening than feeling that youve been fleeced by the garage and not being entirely sure if theyve done what they said theyve done, or if it needed doing.
My car has only been to a garage once, and that was to get a new exhaust fitted as i didnt have the tools, time, or MOT left to do it myself. And to this day i wish Id owned a trolley jack, set of axel stands, a hacksaw and a mallet to do it myself!
Yeah, plugs, wires, cap, air filter, fuel filter--all things that are so easy that I always do them myself.
Brakes? Nah. Id rather pay the local quickie shop an extra $40 per axel and have somebody to sue when they fail at 90mph. :lol:
Got Rusty to do my brakes for me... at the time, I was very green on car maintainence and didnt have the correct tools... These days though, Id definately have a go. Would probably need to invest in a breaker bar first, however.
do all my own work, not had a single failure yet (grabs the 4x2)
breakers bar.. best Ã,£20 i ever spent
I own & drive a 92 K plate 1.8 Clio RT.
That stuff you listed is easily buyable from Halfords and fittable in the halfords car park with a screwdriver in 10-15 minutes max. ( maybe a little longer if youre knew at it...)
That garage price had better inlcude labour or its a loud, roaring velcro rip-off. :shock:
Quote from: Christopher Monkeywhen you think that 4 plugs @ Ã,£7 is would be Ã,£28, add that to the Ã,£25 estimated for the parts your already up to Ã,£53.... Ã,£65 might be slightly over the odd, but ive never bout for a renault...not sure of prices
Youre getting well ripped off if youre paying seven quid for spark plugs for normal cars!
I think I will chat to them about it when I go down there then. If that is the price excluding labour I will politely tell them where to go. If it includes labour Ill be happy to pay just to have it sorted and out of the way.
are they pattern parts or official items, if its the official manufacture items i wouldnt be surprised if thats the actual price
My sparkies are Ã,£1 a pop from Vaux :D
Ã,£2.50 each here, but then the leads are Ã,£130 and the cap and arm are like Ã,£45 lol
Quote from: Binary Shadoware they pattern parts or official items, if its the official manufacture items i wouldnt be surprised if thats the actual price
Very true, and be careful theyre giving you the quote as real money, not Ã,£65 Ex-VAT !
Cheers guys. Ill make sure they are official parts and inc VAT too.
Nope... i was on 56k dial up last night and the first site that came up with sparkplugs for sale were high-end sport and racing plugs.... after looking now im back on a proper connection Clockds sparkkies should be about Ã,£2.05 + VAT each for champion.
Its Ã,£65 inc VAT, inc labour, so Im happy to get it over and done with. They do seem like a professional outfit, so Ive no doubt the work will be done well and for the time and hassle it will save me, thatll do. Thanks for the advice everyone, Im picking the car up after 5pm.
good stuff mate hopefullly it cures your probs. if you had a weak spark before you should feel a good difference when you get it back.
Well Ive only driven it down the road really but Ive already noticed how smooth it is in low revs/gears. The real test will come when its been raining and left for a week. Apparently the disti cap was cracked as well as coroded to hell :shock:
At least it doesnt sound like Barry White with a sore throat now :lol:
(I even opened up the bonnet to see if they had swapped the bits)
Im going to consider them when the MOT is due in January.
Glad youre happy with the service you received! always the way with cars left standing in the winter is that moisture builds up quickly and isnt dried off, so starting is a bitch!
You certainly got a fair price. For such an amount, dont expect much from the leads. They should be just fine for 2-3 years, thats when cheaper leads start to deteriorate. Doesnt mean that I go for the expensive ones myself, just replace them a bit more often when the need arises. :P
Its nice when you discover a good garage that you trust :)
The garage my stepdad trusts with everything took my car in, did a very expensive service, and suggested I have a further Ã,£300 of work done to it.
Now, *my* garage had a look and went "Nah, you can keep the brakes for 6 months, we fixed the radiator leak by pouring sealant through, youve passed the MOT with flying colours, see you again some time, Ã,£45 please!"
Brilliant. Going to have to take it in for new brakes now (its MOT time again, never did get the brakes sorted after 6 months, whoops), an oil change and the MOT. I think Ill be looking at a good Ã,£250 - but I know they wont rip me off.
Quote from: maximusotterYou certainly got a fair price. For such an amount, dont expect much from the leads. They should be just fine for 2-3 years, thats when cheaper leads start to deteriorate. Doesnt mean that I go for the expensive ones myself, just replace them a bit more often when the need arises. :P
and you probably save money doing it that way. In the end if someone writes off the car you dont loose as much cash value either and if you sell it on they wont look to see what kind of leads it has.
Good points there max. I certainly dont feel ripped off in the slightest now, as I reiterated before they seem very professional and the guy doing the work was also very jovial and good natured when I was talking to him. They even have an open garage with MOT viewing window so if you are waiting you can watch them work. :thumbup: Its good to think I can trust them now :D
Quote from: Sarawe fixed the radiator leak by pouring sealant through,
:shock: :shock: i can hear the spurs from here!!!
Quote from: Binary ShadowQuote from: Sarawe fixed the radiator leak by pouring sealant through,
:shock: :shock: i can hear the spurs from here!!!
Thats what is was thinking.... although if it was a
tiny hole/leak id try that before a Ã,£70 radiator.... it is only a punto after all.... not a calli 4x4 turbo
Quote from: Christopher MonkeyQuote from: Binary ShadowQuote from: Sarawe fixed the radiator leak by pouring sealant through,
:shock: :shock: i can hear the spurs from here!!!
Thats what is was thinking.... although if it was a tiny hole/leak id try that before a Ã,£70 radiator.... it is only a punto after all.... not a calli 4x4 turbo
The first garage had basically quoted about Ã,£120 for a new rad - my garage found a tiny leak, did their stuff, found a leak no more - job done.
They never put much labour on, charge by the half-hour (which is about Ã,£15 I think), and are always happy to explain anything. It never sounds like theyre BSing - and theyve nearly always charged less than I expected.
Quote from: Binary ShadowQuote from: Sarawe fixed the radiator leak by pouring sealant through,
:shock: :shock: i can hear the spurs from here!!!
nah,no biggie To be honest. Ive got some very nice garage stuff, comes in a little silver packet. You get the engine nice and hot, pour it in and it seals perfectly. Last time i did it was on the Deawoo, 2 years down the line it still wasnt leaking. The Rad was Ã,£250 at the time and i wasnt paying that for a car that wasnt much more than that to buy. other optio if you are good is resin on alu rads, and if you are good enough you can actually reseal steel ones with a spot of weld, or with some plumbing solder and gauze.
rad weld is the axis of evil, its been known to clog water galleries in the engine and kill them.. avoid tbfh, id rather have a new rad any day of the year
Quote from: Binary Shadowrad weld is the axis of evil, its been known to clog water galleries in the engine and kill them.. avoid tbfh, id rather have a new rad any day of the year
i wont use radweld either, ive seen it clog up a waterpump. THe stuff ive got is in a silver packet with orage writing. The dud who gave it me said to keep it away from high performance engines though.
I dont think anyone on here has a "High Performance" engine.
Quote from: soopahflyI dont think anyone on here has a "High Performance" engine.
*cough* assume all u like
cmon thats not high performance, its lazy as f*ck for a turbo engine
who knows whats under my bonnet these days, not like iv mentioned it recently.. i do also have a spare engine so anything could be going on ;)
No matter what you do to it, its not going to be classed as a high performance lump,
its not an NA flat 6 with 415bhp now is it
i dunno 400+bhp from a 2.0 Turbo is fairly high in my book.
Still i wouldnt use rad weld or other sealents in a 1.4 astra
You have trouble controlling one at stock bhp, If I were you, Id be sensible and keep it at stock ;)
enuff with the BS please
:lol:
Well mine passed the MOT with flying colours and now has new brake discs...