[rasa bmw]

my car had advisories for brake pipes,,took car year later to same mot depot,,passed with no advisories,,and i never changed brake pipes,,different guy did the mot,,go figure eh

[therealdb1]

Funniest advisory I ever had was a few years ago when the MOT tester advised that he had "removed an item from the windscreen obstructing the driver's view".
It was a tax disc holder in the correct position of lower left hand corner of the windscreen that until a month before the MOT had been a legal requirement!
The MOT in principle is a great idea but even now so much is left to an individual tester's discretion a pass at one test centre will fail somewhere else particularly with something like suspension bushes. I've seen testers with 6 feet long 'scaffold poles' levering joints when others don't use much more than a large screwdriver!

[Chapperss]

I`d be tempted to contact the local rag or throw up a facebook thing (not that i use fb) to find out if this is normal behavior for them. They could be conning lots of people out of money using this tactic.

[Andystobbs]

I'm no fan of the dealerships but surely this would be an honest mistake.

OP how come you pay bmw for service if you are capable of doing the other jobs yourself?

[therealdb1]

If it was an honest mistake by the stealership then they will not mind giving the OP a shiny new MOT certificate at their expense, will they?

It depends how honest the mistake was and if they want his repeat business.

[RajB]

Dealerships don't make honest mistakes but plenty of shady ones lol.

The X5 had the alignment done at my request as they were doing warranty work anyway and they came back with the eccentric bolts were seized so alignment couldn't be done on the rear. Fair enough but they quoted me for a new subframe to go with the eccentric bolts if I wanted them to do the work

[coleybmw335]

Originally Posted by Andystobbs

I'm no fan of the dealerships but surely this would be an honest mistake.

OP how come you pay bmw for service if you are capable of doing the other jobs yourself?

The car has got full BMW service history so I have just carried it on otherwise i wouldn't go near them

[coleybmw335]

Originally Posted by therealdb1

If it was an honest mistake by the stealership then they will not mind giving the OP a shiny new MOT certificate at their expense, will they?

It depends how honest the mistake was and if they want his repeat business.

They will do a free retest, & obviously didnt pay for the MOT in the first place, See what i can get out of them when i take it back for the retest.

[Andystobbs]

Originally Posted by RajB

Dealerships don't make honest mistakes but plenty of shady ones lol.

The X5 had the alignment done at my request as they were doing warranty work anyway and they came back with the eccentric bolts were seized so alignment couldn't be done on the rear. Fair enough but they quoted me for a new subframe to go with the eccentric bolts if I wanted them to do the work

Yeah well thats kind of what happens when they only employ fitters.

I just can't see a dealership deliberately MOTing a car that didn't need it. You know they have to pay the ministry, and the tester (granted he's already there) but an hour spent on an unwanted MOT is not able to be spent on a booked MOT.

Seems a pretty high risk strategy to coin some extra work, compared to the ease with which the helpful health check video will get discs pads and tyres coming in all the days long.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by coleybmw335

They will do a free retest, & obviously didnt pay for the MOT in the first place, See what i can get out of them when i take it back for the retest.

Free retest (within a certain timeframe) is standard fare. I would really be after more than that, for the inconvenience. Honest or otherwise, it's their mistake!

[coleybmw335]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Free retest (within a certain timeframe) is standard fare. I would really be after more than that, for the inconvenience. Honest or otherwise, it's their mistake!

So I spoke to bmw & ask if they would fit the front control arm for free as a good will gesture, The answer was no, But they would do it at a reduce rate. They charge £180 per hour & offered me to do it at £100 per hour. Said it should take no longer than 60 mins. So i told them not to bother.

See what I can get out of them when I take it for the retest.

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by coleybmw335

See what I can get out of them when I take it for the retest.

As much 'free' coffee & as many biscuits as you can eat is the best you're most likely to get

My local MD used to do excellent biscuits, was pretty much the only thing they did well.

Thinking about it, is free coffee & biscuits still a 'thing' nowadays?

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by coleybmw335

So I spoke to bmw & ask if they would fit the front control arm for free as a good will gesture, The answer was no, But they would do it at a reduce rate. They charge £180 per hour & offered me to do it at £100 per hour. Said it should take no longer than 60 mins. So i told them not to bother.

See what I can get out of them when I take it for the retest.

£100/hr. F**k right off! Reduced from £3/min...such a joke. I would not be able to afford one of our cars, let alone both, if I needed to pay garage rates. For that £100 'reduced' labour charge, I could probably buy every single tool needed to do the work, including the jack*!

*Not a very nice one, but it'd work!

[Chappers 71]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

£100/hr. F**k right off! Reduced from £3/min...such a joke. I would not be able to afford one of our cars, let alone both, if I needed to pay garage rates. For that £100 'reduced' labour charge, I could probably buy every single tool needed to do the work, including the jack*!

*Not a very nice one, but it'd work!

Well, good coffee & biscuits don't come cheap

[seelark]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

Well, good coffee & biscuits don't come cheap

They don't come at all in my local dealer while we are in LD3.0 👎🏻

[Andystobbs]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

£100/hr. F**k right off! Reduced from £3/min...such a joke. I would not be able to afford one of our cars, let alone both, if I needed to pay garage rates. For that £100 'reduced' labour charge, I could probably buy every single tool needed to do the work, including the jack*!

*Not a very nice one, but it'd work!

While I agree that labour rates in dealerships are high, its little use having a garage full of tools if you are unable to use them. Not everyone is mentally capable of weilding tools to any usable effect.

[therealdb1]

Originally Posted by Andystobbs

Not everyone is mentally capable of weilding tools to any usable effect.

Agreed and some of them work for BMW dealers if my recall work was anything to go by!

They did wash the car though despite me telling them not to bother because the car was spotless when it arrived and I needed to get back to work as I was taking time off to meet their evidently busy schedule which was considerably more important than mine.

The customer is always right unless they drive a BMW!

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by Andystobbs

While I agree that labour rates in dealerships are high, its little use having a garage full of tools if you are unable to use them. Not everyone is mentally capable of weilding tools to any usable effect.

True. But I do believe that the vast majority are capable of learning. So many maintenance jobs are not technically difficult, they just require a methodical approach. I think so many people are out off by a perceived notion that doing it is somehow highly specialised and skilled.

What really gets me about the dealer labour rates, is knowing the labour rates charged in other industries where the staff are highly skilled and experienced. Dealers, IMO, are taking unfair advantage of a captive audience, enabled by the 'main dealer' status and disproportionate kudos applied to having dealer stamps in the service book. That and factory special tools/software. It grinds my gears. But each to their own, and fair dos to those who can afford these rates

[therealdb1]

I have a local indy that only deals with German cars, is an authorised Bosch centre, they have all of the latest main dealer diagnostics gear, all of the staff are enthusiasts as well as being main dealer trained and they charge around £80 per hour. How can the OP's dealer justify £180? Not sure about coffee and biscuits they should provide a bottomless brunch at that price!
Funnily enough the indy car park is always stuffed full of Mercs and Porkers less than 5 years old along with BMW's and Audis even when there is a VW/Audi main dealer at the end of the road.

[Chapperss]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

. That and factory special tools/software. It grinds my gears. But each to their own, and fair dos to those who can afford these rates

I usually, when down the pub (Damn I miss the pub), like to make a comment about - The industrial revolution and the introduction of standardisation ushering in a new era of prosperity - Mega corps (as this is prevalent in a few industries) went nahhhh fuck that, we want all the money cheerssssss lads and started making funny bolts, sealed systems and putting the fear of god up people that their family would spontaneously combust if they even harbored a single thought about doing any DIY - when this subject pops up.

As you can tell I`m great fun to be around

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by therealdb1

I have a local indy that only deals with German cars, is an authorised Bosch centre, they have all of the latest main dealer diagnostics gear, all of the staff are enthusiasts as well as being main dealer trained and they charge around £80 per hour. How can the OP's dealer justify £180? Not sure about coffee and biscuits they should provide a bottomless brunch at that price!
Funnily enough the indy car park is always stuffed full of Mercs and Porkers less than 5 years old along with BMW's and Audis even when there is a VW/Audi main dealer at the end of the road.

£180 is the usual rate for main dealers... insanity.

I have a good mate who is a highly skilled welder - his main profession is welding up steel bike frames...thickest tubing on them is 1.1mm...thinnest is under 0.5. Anyhow, if I required his services, I could pay for his whole workshop and his apprentice for £50/hr.

[coleybmw335]

Originally Posted by Chappers 71

As much 'free' coffee & as many biscuits as you can eat is the best you're most likely to get

My local MD used to do excellent biscuits, was pretty much the only thing they did well.

Thinking about it, is free coffee & biscuits still a 'thing' nowadays?

Not sure about the biscuits, But i believe the £180 p/hr covers 1 or 2 coffees.

You would have to make your coffee yourself as the MD is incapable of even getting that right.

Nothing is ever free at a main dealer. lol