The bill for the Skoda

[Tenesmus]

Window failed to go up yesterday so took it to the Skoda franchise. Due a service soon so thought may as well... here the stuff they came up with. MOT due in October.

Replacement offside window regulator £194.86
Servo pipe split £44.01
Airbag control unit £445.90 (you could buy a car for that)
Requires Brake Fluid Service £50.00
Breather hose collapsing £ 36.28
Both nearside tyre sidewalls scuffed £142.86
Steering rack leaking £511.17 (you could buy yet another car for that)
Nearside outer C.V boot split £96.54
Gearbox oil leak requires wash off to trace leak
Nail in offside rear tyre £20 (Temporarily changed with spare)
Offside rear tyre 3mm £71.13
Console bushes split £257.11
Front number plate cracked £ 23.00
Offside tail light cracked £65.34
Re seal door membranes £161.00
Fan seal leaking £40.81

Ok, there are some "nice to haves" and I wouldn't get tyres from them, but...

[Lord Sterling]

And they say newer cars are better?

Lord Sterling

[Richard Moss]

What the hell are console bushes at £250+?

Much of that stuff can be done at an independent garage at a fraction of the price.

[47p2]

What the hell are console bushes at £250+?

Not a difficult job

[Richard Moss]

They are definitely taking the p.....................................

[Richard C]

I wouldn't have even given them the effort of an answer I would have turned on my heal and walked out!

[CHR15E]

I wouldn't have even given them the effort of an answer I would have turned on my heal and walked out!

I wouldn't have bought a Skoda.

[schuwolf]

Main Dealer

[Tenesmus]

Indeed - main dealer labour rates and no pattern parts.

Anyway, discussed with Mrs Tenesmus (it's hers really) and looks like we'll do the minimum to get it through the MOT and sell it. We don't need two cars, she cycles to work usually. We've got a full service history as we've had it from new, could be interesting to add up how much it's cost over the years (cambelt was a killer, can't remember but it cost a lot).

[neo]

And they say newer cars are better?

Lord Sterling

as you see they are not, some guys i work with have newish volvo vauxhall audi and toyota all have spent over the past 3 years spending about 3 grand each i have my coupe 6 years and spent half that.
the problems they have had injector failure suspension probs, abs, ecu,
etc etc and these are the so called reliable cars

[CHR15E]

I would say it probably counts for a lot as a lot of us on here do our own work where possible.

How much of what they've spent is actually on parts?

[BennyVitesse]

This is why I'll probably never have a VAG car. Supposedly reliable yet cost a bomb to fix, colleague of mine has a 2.0 non turbo Passatt on a 51 plate, its had 3 Head Gaskets since new!!

And people say Rovers are crap!!

[Tim]

Replacement offside window regulator £194.86 - Similar price to when ours went on a Rover 600
Servo pipe split £44.01 - Essential, have to swallow it really.
Airbag control unit £445.90 (you could buy a car for that) - airbag's irrelevant come the MOT.
Requires Brake Fluid Service £50.00 - main dealer labour charge, smaller place should do it for £25 or less
Breather hose collapsing £ 36.28 - probably an over enthusiastic "technician" inspecting it here
Both nearside tyre sidewalls scuffed £142.86 - as lon as there's no buldges or chunks missing, this is nothing to worry about.
Steering rack leaking £511.17 (you could buy yet another car for that) - Depends how big the leak is. Could be an MOT advise, could be a fail.
Nearside outer C.V boot split £96.54 - all cars suffer this sort of problem it seems, get it done ASAP before the grease comes out and the CV joint dries out. Should be about half that (inc labour) at a decent independant place.
Gearbox oil leak requires wash off to trace leak - sounds unconvincing.
Nail in offside rear tyre £20 (Temporarily changed with spare) - Go to a tyres and batteries place, a repair and rebalence is normally about £12.
Offside rear tyre 3mm £71.13 - the legal limit is 1.6mm but its advisable to change the tyre around 2.5mm.
Console bushes split £257.11 - ???
Front number plate cracked £ 23.00 - Even pricey halfords plates cost half that.
Offside tail light cracked £65.34 - if its a bad crack get one off ebay instead
Re seal door membranes £161.00 - don't bother would be my advice
Fan seal leaking £40.81 - the pollen filter seal? sounds like they botched it when they changed it...

[Richard Moss]

Console bushes split £257.11 - ???

If it's a common problem (and I wouldn't mind betting that it is) then motors factors will do replacement parts for a fraction of the cost. This is why Vauxhall Cavalier wishbones and Rover 200/400 trailing arm bushes are available cheaply - because there is a ready market making it worthwhile for the suppliers to remanufacture them.

Failing that, try Superflex/Powerflex.

[Tenesmus]

Well I cherry picked stuff:

Replacement offside window regulator £194.86
Servo pipe split £44.01
Requires Brake Fluid Service £50.00
Nearside outer C.V boot split £96.54
Fan seal leaking £40.81

Then took it to my friendly neighbourhood garage and it flew through the MOT. The tyre was fine, the nail was dinky and barely went into the tread.

eBay for an airbag ECU - £23 inc delivery.

Car was keyed a few years ago - getting it fixed on insurance and then selling it. Wanna buy a Skoda?