This is a little story that is still ongoing and i think highlights the over the top charges from some main dealers and the lack of technical knowledge at certain fast fits

A friend of mine phoned me about 2 weeks ago as the MIL come on, on his 2001 Audi A3 1.6. As i was about 10 miles from him and he finished work after i had shut he decided to take it to the local Audi dealer

They charged him £74:00 for a code read. They told him it required a new Lambda sensor and the job would cost £700:00. So he paid for the code read and left (he said the Audi invoice just said Lambda sensor fault, but did not state which one)

He rang around and got a quote from a fast fit who quoted £265:00 to replace the Lambda sensor, he had it fitted the next day

The next day the MIL is on again, so he rings the fast fit, and they tell him they can do no more and he will have to take it back to Audi

So he takes it back to Audi, they charge him another £74:00 and tell him the code is still there for the Lambda sensor. He tells them he has just had it changed, they then tell him the code is for the REAR Lamda sensor, not the front one changed by the fast fit (the fast fit told him the front ones are the common ones they change)

He goes back to the fast fit who change the rear Lambda sensor and charge him just for the sensor at £90:00

He phoned me this morning to tell me the MIL is back on again. Could he PLEASE leave it with me to sort out.......i will let you know the outcome

Is it a wonder that the motoring public have such a bad perception of the motor trade

Peter

Don't really know what should be done but I find it very interesting talking to aircraft techs, they are licensed to work on say a Piper Cherokee and can not work on anything else unsupervised with out being qualified for that particular aircraft as well. The up side of this is once qualified they are given all tech details, bulletins and service info for what they are qualified for, they have no excuse not to do the job correctly. Could this work in the motor trade?

Graham

how could they be correct if fitting both sensors did not work? , thats just lazy. and why should the fact he has an audi mean he should f###ed around by tits with as much talent as a monkey

I am a Bosch Car Service Centre and as far as i can see at the moment they have got it fairly right with the mystery shop and phone calls as well as the annual audit just to keep us on our toes but even then it has gone wrong in parts of the country sadly.

Kelly

The Audi Garage need a slap! For that price I would expect a full detailed printout of codes & definitions. & possibly some explanation about probable causes (If you ask nicely )

The owner probably told the fast fit guys, what he wanted changing, so he is probably as much to blame.

Like the title of the thread suggests, it shows the value of a good garage. Find one & stick with them!

Cheers

I am not sure what they actually charge for a code read, the invoice just had 0.5 hours labour

One theory by a member is that the cat may be at fault hence the rear sensor code and a £700:00 estimate. But as they knew he was going to take it away to get a cheaper quote they chose not to give out to much information

He has not got back to me about having a look yet, but i will see him at the weekend so will keep you all updated

Just also to add, he took his Audi into another fast fit about six months ago for a noise under the car. The fast fit replaced the exhaust system which cost him about £250:00. On his way home he still had the noise, so arranged to take it back the next day. This time they discovered one of the inside rear brake pads was down to the metal, so they replaced the pads

He complained to the fast fit head office who refunded the full cost of the exhaust. He was a little chuffed as he now had a new exhaust FOC. This was until i pointed out that they had taken his top quality Audi exhaust off (probably last another 5 years) and replaced it with a cheap aftermarket and will need replacing in 2 years. How much more can this guy take??

Peter

PS: What is it about fast fits that people think they are getting a good deal and expert help??

Graham

Our local dealer - £84 an hour PLUS a fee to code read.

How do the fastfits do it - they have national advertising on TV for one thing - remember when we were all up in arms about that TV ad some months back?

Regards,

Steve

I gave the guy a call a he did not get back in touch for me to take a look

Seems when he went to work on the Monday morning the MIL was still on, but now the car was running erratic and cutting out. He called the recovery service who took it to the fast fit who did all the sensor work

They phoned him later that day to say they had found a split hose on the inlet side, which they would replace FOC (cost of pipe £18:00), my friend is not that mechanically minded so got no more details from him, but the MIL now stays out

So could a split hose been his original problem?.....we will never know

Peter