Garages!! Up until yesterday I had tried three garages in my 10 years here & all were IMO pretty darned hopeless. From then I learned (having the time now) to repair / maintain my cars DIY and thouroughly enjoy it. I can't do everything though.
Well recently my V70 had a air-con gas leak. Turned out to be the condenser. Front of the car needs to be dismantled. Too much for my skills.
So I searched out a garage, found a toutes-marques place, established for 20 yrs.... They found the leak. They were happy for me to source the part, which I did. 2-3 hrs labour he said.
So it went in yesterday at 0900hrs. They gave me a (dog of a) loan car & I said I'd return at 1800hrs.
I did just that & found my car, front end stripped and they were just lifting out the failed part..... FFS!
The boss had gone home & the mec said, "its harder than expected this you know". So feeling peed off but trying to stay calm I said, "Well it looks like I have no choice but to return tomorrow eh".
Reply, "Oh we don't work on Saturdays do you need it urgently then?"
4th garage I've tried in 10yrs, so far none have had return custom from me.... annoyed.com
I have a Renault, I use a Renault garage that happens to be the nearest place anyway. I book in for a specific day. The work is usually done on that day. If they need to order a part or do anything that takes time they call to explain so that I can go in to collect and either book a complete day for the work or they will call when the part is in. If it is apart that they consider accidental damage, such as one of my fog lamps a while ago, they give me a separate bill for that for an insurance claim. I always have a devis, barring parts replacement of course. Also, at the time of CT I obviously have a service and the owner said always leave the detailed bill on the passenger seat. The CT mechanics like catching garages out so much that they will check the work done and look for what the service missed, the one before last that worked because they passed me but gave me an instruction to have my breaks seen to which the mechanic saw he had missed and did it free of extra charge.
That is much the same kind of treatment I had at the garage I used for two generations of proprietor in the east of England. So, call it the luck of the draw. I don't think you seem like the kind of person who wins lotteries somehow :-(
don't worry yourself, I had a ford explorer back in the UK. the timing chain developed a rattle, so queried with two ford garages was quoted £2500 for the job, car was bought for £750. checked on line with several sites and found out the part that was required cost £35 to solve the problem, PTFE guide on a metal chain. well as I looked into the job, the engine had to be removed, in fords workshop manual to remove the engine took 14 hours with two guys doing the work, two hours to replace the worn parts, gave a list of parts to be replaced, I could source from USA for £250, then to replace the engine took another 14 hours to put the engine back in. when I worked the actual cost out for ford to do the repair their quote was high. ford charge £30 per hour per man for labour as they have a large overhead. the local garages do not want the work as it is too fiddly for them.
it was easier for me to source a new engine and do the work myself.
Yes I am sure you are. I probably would be if I went to Volvo, can’t afford them though. Last time this car failed, Volvo wanted 1300 euros to replace a rear Hub and handbrake ancillaries after it snapped the handbrake stop off… Common thing I now know. The 'repair kit ’ was 28 quid from an online supplier. I did a lot more, and with paying 200 euros to get the car bought home , I probably spent around 400 total.
This time , maybe this bloke ‘saw me coming’ dunno… I hope it’s the ‘French norm’ as in they’ll send me the bill in the post … Cos that’ll give me time… Thanks.
Yeh you are pretty safe here if you have a Renault (or Pug or Citroen even), theyy all know them inside out. There is one specialist Volvo chap in The Vendée, about 2 hours away for me. Specialists (Indys) are few and far between here, sadly.
Bummer. I have Renaults & go to Renault so haven't had the 'uh oh what's this' reaction from garage people. Might there be an enthusiast specialist-type garage person somewhere?
Thanks Véronique. I did go to this place to chat first off & was told they could find the 'leak' and fix it 'sans problemes'.... Yesterday on taking the car in the 'boss' was very reassuring.....
I am in 56, Morbihan. There is a Renault garage here. I tried them once for a devis for timing belt on a Volvo 480 , which has a Renault 1.7 litre engine all be it with Volvo anciliaries. The chap there phoned Volvo in Vannes to ask about how to to it & how long it'd take.... Didn't give me a lot of confidence that. In the end I did it myself, took me three days mind, lol.
It seems you are okay if you have a Pug, Citroen or Renault, they all know them inside out. Owt else I guess 'mainstealer' is the way..... BUT I had a quote of 700 euros on my 850 for a job, I did it myself for less than 100, back in 2009 & its still rolling.
Very unlucky - where do you live? My local garage (Renault, fairly big) give a devis for ANY work they do, explain exactly how long it is going to take etc etc & give me a replacement car free of charge if it is a longish job (or even if it is a shortish job but I have to be somewhere/do something). I have been going to them for 15 years now... if there is a problem they hadn't detected while they are doing the work they ring me to explain & get the go-ahead. It helps a lot with any transactions in France if you take a bit of time to build up a personal relationship with whatever business it is. It is worth having a cosy chat about the possibility of becoming a customer before you actually do...