Warning! Rip-off garage alert

[ScollopChomper]

sorry to be so blunt , i'm trying to warn other people to be careful of rogue traders.

i took my ibiza cupra tdi to STEALTH RACING, SOUTHAM for a new turbo to be fitted and the intercooler to be cleaned out.

they called me today and gave me a 12 hour labour charge for this work, and i'm left with a £781+ bill.
this was for the work and for a new oil filter and oil pipe, which they said had seized.

is this right? is this how long this sort of a job will take/cost?

if it is then i apologise if not then people beware of these people.

i'm sick to death of rip-off britain.

 

[Cupra Kid]

seems a luttle on the high side labour wise. I'd of probably put it at a day so 8 hours

 

[vroomtshh]

So u didn't get a quote beforehand?

 

[ScollopChomper]

i had loads of telephone conversations with them.

they told me they would do a compression test on it for 1 hours labour.

they also said if the engine was lunched they would fit another one which i was gonna supply for £400.

so he said it would cost no more that the price of the turbo and at most £400 labour. that was for a whole engine change.

 

[ibiza20vt]

Perhaps you should find out how long the job would take before slating a company, then adding a footnote that you may be wrong . Personally that sounds like a lot of labour time for that particular job , but if you didn't get a quote beforehand the blame lies solely with yourself.

 

[ScollopChomper]

i had a quote of £400 for a whole engine change. now he denies ever saying that but he would wouldn't he.

how does a turbo change come to double that for loads less work?

i phoned a vw/audi specialist tonight who quoted me £175+vat for the turbo fit and intercooler cleanout.

i will call seat in the morning and find out how many hours they charge.

 

[ibiza20vt]

There is a book time for every job . However not being a seat dealership they can effectively charge whatever labour time they see fit ,ussually pre aggreed with customer, are you sure you never mis heard as 400 to change an engine sounds cheap unless it was a built up ready to go unit .

 

[ScollopChomper]

i never misheard. i can honestly promise that. the whole reason i took it to them was cus of what they told me.

tomorrows gonna be an entertaining day. i'm going down there in the morning.
i'll offer him £500 - if he says no then i'll just take the keys. i'd love to see someone stop me.
seriously, i have NO problem paying for work to be done. its what i've always done. my motorbike is made of chocolate and costs me huge money. i dont cry about that.

but when people tell you lies to get the car there, then sting you is properly wrong, and i dont like people like that.

 

[robbob]

Just to go on the defensive for them I had my gearbox rebuilt by Stealth racing last year, Vince was brilliant told me how much it was going to cost up front, and when things changed due to it being another component that had failed, he phoned me straight away telling me what the cost was. He even kept all the bits that had broken and showed me them to show that he wasn't trying to rip me off.

Personally I can't fault them. But everyone are entitled to their own opinion.

Did you ask for a full quote before hand?

Did they supply the turbo or did you supply it?

 

[VWscooby]

If they supplied the turbo and used a genuine Seat parts the price is about right. Anyway, you take the car without paying you are committing an offence and they are within their rights to call the police. Should have got a written quote. Ah well, live and learn

 

[slicecbr]

i never misheard. i can honestly promise that. the whole reason i took it to them was cus of what they told me.

tomorrows gonna be an entertaining day. i'm going down there in the morning.
i'll offer him £500 - if he says no then i'll just take the keys. i'd love to see someone stop me.
seriously, i have NO problem paying for work to be done. its what i've always done. my motorbike is made of chocolate and costs me huge money. i dont cry about that.

but when people tell you lies to get the car there, then sting you is properly wrong, and i dont like people like that.

out of interest, what happened in the end?

 

[RUM4MO]

Anyway, you take the car without paying you are committing an offence and they are within their rights to call the police. Should have got a written quote. Ah well, live and learn

Hum, that might explain the lack of an update - surely he could have used a PC at the police station, well I read in a rag today that some NOTW reporter bint did because she was under great pressure from work?!?

 

[ScollopChomper]

Hi,

Yesterday I visited 3 garages to obtain written quotes for the same job that stealth racing have done.

I was quoted £420+vat from Listers Seat in Coventry. They rate the job at 4.5-5 hours. Stealth have hit me for 11 hours + 1 hour diagnostic.
I was quoted £350 Inc. Vat from a vw/Audi specialist (not a backstreet place either). That included a wash and vac.
I was quoted £175+vat from a vw/Audi specialist (backstreet)

I called this vince guy and told him what the score is, I've offered him £500 - which i think is still a rip-off but I want my car away from these people.

I've contacted trading standards, and I've told stealth if they don't give me the car I'll push really hard to get them.

Just to reiterate.
I supplied a brand new OE garrett turbo, fit kit and oil.

Stealth racing quoted me (verbally) £400 for a complete engine swap, so I assumed the bill would be around the 3-400 mark.
The guy who I spoke to then hit me with a monster bill. When I questioned it hd denied ever saying it.

All I'm trying to do is warn people to be more careful than me.
Sorry if some people take the hump over it but I don't lie.

 

[neil_g]

so I assumed the bill would be around the 3-400 mark.

assumptions are the mother of all F ups.

 

[ScollopChomper]

Which is fair enough.
I personally keep away from characters I feel are ****.
Based on my own personal experience here, I'm in a good position to make a call on these people.
If you're actually bothered about the quality of the people who do precision work on your little 'baby' take heed it's a warning to the decent, honest people out there.
If you're not then enjoy the rest of your life paying rip-off prices surrounded by tossers.

 

[J44APX]

Which is fair enough.
I personally keep away from characters I feel are ****.
Based on my own personal experience here, I'm in a good position to make a call on these people.
If you're actually bothered about the quality of the people who do precision work on your little 'baby' take heed it's a warning to the decent, honest people out there.
If you're not then enjoy the rest of your life paying rip-off prices surrounded by tossers.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion
Fair Play

 

[samussamus1]

Lol...

 

[vroomtshh]

Didn't get quote, therefore garage can charge what they like.

If it was my garage, and u offered me £500, I'd tell u to poke it and I'd advise u about the £40 a night storage charge until its collected

 

[Mo Arif]

I've kept it hush since my remap, I didn't want to speak up or say anything negative to disturb the peace, but I'm afraid I can I'm left feeling the same as the OP. No names mentioned but all he seemed to be interested in was my money, he charged me over the odds for the work he done, the car ran crap, took it back, charged me more, i almost begged him to check what I thought it was, he / they kept saying its not....... The 2 young cronies his got working for him are just as clueless, bang bang it fits, lets make it work.

9 months down the like, a tuner on directly on the other side has restored my faith in the VAG tuners scene, the complete opposite, friendly, polite, professional and knows his way around our cars like the back of his hand and guess what? 9 months later it was the EXACT fault I kept asking Stealth to check for in the first place. Car now runs perfect thanks to this 'other' tuner.

My take on it is, he is now hungry for money, reason being, yes they are big in the game for messing around with VR6's but hardly any on the road these days. He doesn't have a clue about 1.8T's

Charged me £420 for custom stage 2 even though I had Revo Stage 1, and all I wanted was a Revo Stage 2 for £50
Car started to drive ****, boost spikes to 1.5-1.6bar
He said, my clutch is bad
£600 later
Took it back
Charged me another £150
Both times i begged him to check for a certain problem, he ignored me and said it's not that
In the end it was a minor simple problem, 10 minuet job / problem, the EXACT problem i asked them to check twice

 

[cupra_r_ick]

Niki ftw !