Urgent advice please

matt200vvc · Post by **matt200vvc** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:15 am

A friend at work has a 2003 2.0 diesel freelander, To cut a long story short she had to be recovered by the AA has it stated smoking rather heavily. The AA guy found the problem to be a knackered turbo, so she took it to a local garage who also said the same.

They said she wouldn't get much change out of a £1000, wanting her car fixed she agreed. 5 days later they have the car repaired but the cost has somewhat doubled to £2048.

I have called the garage who have said they have replaced the turbo but also had to remove the injectors, Replace the rocker cover as they had to SMASH it off and various other things

So what can she do, she has called trading standard who were crap!

Also can someone give me a breakdown of whats needed to replace a turbo on a freelander?

Thank You

420gazza · Post by **420gazza** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:59 am

tbh a descent second hand turbo for £50 would of done the trick and probably £100 labour for the fitting. they're blatantly trying to take the p1ss matt. tell them to take the parts back off and you'll have the work done elsewhere as £2k+ is neigh on the cars worth.

out of curiouisity did they fit a new turbo or a second hand one? and what garage was it?

matt200vvc · Post by **matt200vvc** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:03 am

420gazza wrote:tbh a descent second hand turbo for £50 would of done the trick and probably £100 labour for the fitting. they're blatantly trying to take the p1ss matt. tell them to take the parts back off and you'll have the work done elsewhere as £2k+ is neigh on the cars worth.

out of curiouisity did they fit a new turbo or a second hand one? and what garage was it?

A new turbo i'm told gaz, also it's ritz garage in borsdsley green.

I've never heard of them.

Post by **Punx0r** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:17 pm

Did she ok the extra grands worth of work before they did it?

matt200vvc · Post by **matt200vvc** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:23 pm

Punx0r wrote:Did she ok the extra grands worth of work before they did it?

No thats her arguement, She agreed the £1000 but when the car was repaired the bill had doubled.

mg-richard · Post by **mg-richard** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:28 pm

thats shocking im sure turbos are less than 500 new
unfortunately i dont know what to do so cant help really. my dad runs a landrover garage and daily we see people who had been totally ripped off elsewhere

Nom · Post by **Nom** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:13 pm

Sounds like you need an independant engineer from Rovertech to inspect the vehicle

andrew173 · Post by **andrew173** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:53 pm

i think they are having a laugh, even if a new turbo is £700 that leaves them 6 hours (based on 50 an hour) to do the job, maybe if its a pig then it might need a bit longer or mayber longer to remove and drain the intercooler if the turbo went bad. even if the hourly rate was a bit more 2k is a tripe n onions take.

anyway, law is they cant charge you for the extra work if they never had consent, tell them your paying 1k for the job or your take them to court. they must know the laws if there a proper garage so they must know that they are in the wrong.

ok sometimes at work i will change brake pads on a customers service even if we cant get hold of them, but thats peanuts, not double the original quote.

edit - i said extra work, there was no extra work, they just decided to up the bill. tell them to stick it

boxertricks · Post by **boxertricks** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:15 pm

Actually if you want to be a nob, because she legally owns the car and she agreed to pay the £1000 (hopefully she has a receipt)

then the work that they carried out means fack all and she can still pay the £1000 so its there loss

if she has nothing to prove for the £1000 charge then im afraid theres not much legally she can do as their obviously going to lie and say that it was all accounted for beforehand, although if they dont then shes not liable to pay the extra charge

im a trainee solicitor and if it got to that stage thats where it stands mate,

tell them that you aint going to pay extra and they either do it for a 1k or tell them to take everything off and they still aint getting logger

Post by **Punx0r** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:07 pm

By "extra work" I meant replacing the rocker cover after *smashing* it off!

will-220GSiTurbo · Post by **will-220GSiTurbo** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:23 pm

Thats utter crap, they cannot treat anyone like that, tell them to simply remove the parts they fitted, and the car will be removed. common sence tells you to call the customer before you spend double what you quoted. Boardsley green? say no more, bet it wouldve been cheaper to drop it off at colliers!!

Post by **Din** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:52 pm

Turbochargers on bmw m47r engines are tbh always failing, the turbo is normally around the £900 mark, i just replaced one on a 320d and it is a bit of a pain, but, as you requested, the parts required are... the turbo and the gasket, apart from that i replaced the oil seporator on the rocker cover as these also can cause it to smoke (about £30 worth) and not hard at all, i removed the intercooler to clean it out ( full of oil) and tbh so was the cat but it survived a shoot down the duel carridgeway to burn off the oil

I had to put 2 litres of oil in it as well.

I cant see any reason to remove the injectors whatsoever

All the work i did at a main BMW dealership cost the guy a bit shy of £1500 so i would say that you have been somewhat overcharged there mate (for what has actually been done).

Its places like this that give the trade a bad name

mg-richard · Post by **mg-richard** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:11 pm

oops i thought it was an l series (didnt see the year), but still its too much as above

Anthonyti · Post by **Anthonyti** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:02 pm

yes tell then to fcuk off

we are ready to mobilise if you need rt persuasion,things like this really make me

JAKEBARLZ · Post by **JAKEBARLZ** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:06 pm

if they have carried out work that was not requested or aurthorised then they cannot expect for it to be piad... as long as she didnt hand them a blank cheque then i would jsut say to her take them to court and offer to pay the original bill... things like this are unfair and its happens far too often

fergy7197 · Post by **fergy7197** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:33 pm

thats absolutely shocking makes me go

another reason why i dont trust garages - id rather have a stab at things myslef and learn something!!!

matt200vvc · Post by **matt200vvc** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:03 pm

Just a little update, She has gone to the garage who have refused to give her the car back without full payment!

She has contacted trading standards again who have said she has to send the garage a letter via recorded delivery and then wait 5 days before they can help her out....

I will keep you all updated!

Post by **Punx0r** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:23 pm

Is she dealing with them on her own? If not, I know it's sexist and all that, but they may change their attitude if confronted by a clued up bloke.

May as well stick a letter in the post now to fall back on. Just don't let her be bullied into paying because she just wants the car back...

Mr_James · Post by **Mr_James** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:58 pm

Get her to go in there with a couple of large guys and demand the keys back if not turn the place upside down to find them I know thats what I'd be doing

Nom · Post by **Nom** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:37 pm

I don't think they can legally keep the vehicle. The garage are definitely trying it on because the owner is female

What area of the country is this happening in ?

rich820coupe · Post by **rich820coupe** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:09 pm

you got the spare keys?

if so drive down get in and drive off and send the cheque for the £1000 through the post

420gazza · Post by **420gazza** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:16 pm

Nom wrote:I don't think they can legally keep the vehicle. The garage are definitely trying it on because the owner is female
What area of the country is this happening in ?

good old brum

benno_bro · Post by **benno_bro** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:37 am

Bordesley green for you.....

hope all turns out well for her