This car business is expensive.

[boristhespie]

So took my C5 into garage for oil change.

Get phonecall that it needs new tracker rod and rod end and that will be £350 sigh.

Oil change, where I provided the oil cost £91.

Plus they say the tyre is cracking so need a new one (He's recommending a budget tyre, which I am always wary of after wearing out issues before)

So all told the filter change and putting in my oils ends up costing £500-550 smakeroos.

Bugger is I have road tax and insurance to pay this month in relation to the car. So sigh indeed.

[myglaren]

You seem to have the worst luck with cars of anyone I know.

I just had front discs & pads, drop links, ball joints & bushes, track rod, gearbox oil change (and seal, it was leaking) plus other odds and sods for £290, including tracking and all the tyres checked.

You could change your own oil and filters. I pay in the region of £50 for the oil and filters, takes about half an hour.

[boristhespie]

They charged an hour. They use dealer estimation software to price up the jobs in terms of time not price. Got the oil from Halfords, Synthetic, and it was only £30 this time for 5ltrs. Usually £45 odd.

Cracks on tyre on rear are small but I guess he thinks they can delaminate. Just had a new on after puncture last week. The tracking problem, apparently a lot of play in it. Suppose this maybe why this car has seemed to go through tyres quickly. Not sure if the MOT would pick that up. Obviously hasn't.

Prices seem to be much higher here. No way would we get what you got for that price. Same with secondhand cars. C5s seem to cost more here than the ads south.

I know I can do some jobs myself, its just confidence. I've had this cruise control for a few months, checked the switches, have the lexia but too scared I may do something wrong. Same with getting another key and programming it. But got ramps and all the kit and never had the guts.

[dnsey]

Do you still have your other C5, Boris?
If so, why not practice oil changes etc on that one (you can drain the oil and put it back as long as you keep it clean)?
It'salways a bit worrying to start an unknown job on a car which you need everyday, but even if you get stuck, it's usually possible to get back to the original position, so you're no worse off.

[Sean602]

£90 for an oil change £350 to unscrew and fit a new track rod end ! that should be all the incentive you need to grow a pair and roll your sleeves up especially if your ACTUALLY Scottish and not just living here

[Harlequin]

my oil changes cost £15 - £12 for the oil from asda (when Castrol gtx is on offer) - and £2.50 for the oil filter from carparts4less.

£2.50 for the fuel filter and £3.50 for the air filter - the whole lot gets done each oil change , at those prices its rude not to.

[boristhespie]

Can't complain about the garage. They are always accommodating and the best I have found here. It' s just always expensive no matter what garage I find. Will try next oil change myself. Air filter I have done myself along with air pollen, never done oil as don't have wrench and fuels filter I heard needed careful taking apart to avoid bits getting into system.

The lexia stuff I's love to do. Only have one key so would lve another, and want the cruise control.

[Northern_Mike]

Can't complain about the garage. They are always accommodating and the best I have found here. It' s just always expensive no matter what garage I find. Will try next oil change myself. Air filter I have done myself along with air pollen, never done oil as don't have wrench and fuels filter I heard needed careful taking apart to avoid bits getting into system.

The lexia stuff I's love to do. Only have one key so would lve another, and want the cruise control.

I just had a full timing belt kit fitted on the Berlingo, a waterpump, fresh coolant, an oil and filter change and a check of some other bits and pieces for considerably less than that!

[myglaren]

Fuel filter is not difficult. To err on the safe side I removed the lot and gave it a thorough clean off the car. Only took a few minutes more.

[Northern_Mike]

Can't complain about the garage. They are always accommodating and the best I have found here. It' s just always expensive no matter what garage I find. Will try next oil change myself. Air filter I have done myself along with air pollen, never done oil as don't have wrench and fuels filter I heard needed careful taking apart to avoid bits getting into system.

The lexia stuff I's love to do. Only have one key so would lve another, and want the cruise control.

The Lexia stuff is a piece of cake. Connect it up, and have a look around the menus and try it out. You can't do much damage unless you start writing to the BSI, and you'll need to input a code to do that first. Fitting the cruise is easy. Plug it in, go into the BSI, enable it. Test. Or, at least that's what it was on the Berlingo.

[Mandrake]

Can't complain about the garage. They are always accommodating and the best I have found here. It' s just always expensive no matter what garage I find. Will try next oil change myself. Air filter I have done myself along with air pollen, never done oil as don't have wrench and fuels filter I heard needed careful taking apart to avoid bits getting into system.

The lexia stuff I's love to do. Only have one key so would lve another, and want the cruise control.

Oil and filter change is something you can definitely save a lot of money on doing it yourself, I would bet that oil and filter changes are how garages make a lot of their money as its "money for jam" really. Once you've done it once you'll be wondering what the fuss was all about as its not difficult.

The Lexia you can't do much harm with, if you're new to it just stay away from the "Configuration" and "Downloading" sections without advise from the forum. Configuration changes options in the car (for example whether certain features like cruise control or tyre pressure sensors are fitted and active) and Downloading is used for updating the firmware (software) in the various ECU's.

Even with configuration you can't do any permanent damage, just take a note of what the settings are before changing anything and change it back if you run into any problems!

Downloading is the only option that is genuinely dangerous, there is always a tiny chance of bricking an ECU when updating it's firmware - not such a big deal for a dealer who can cover the cost of a replacement ECU in the 1 in 1000 chance of it happening, but a real disaster if it happens to you with an out of warranty car... so stay away from Downloading.

Reading fault codes and clearing them is perfectly safe, as is looking through the "parameter measurement" sections which show you live data from the ECU's.

[Northern_Mike]

Can't complain about the garage. They are always accommodating

I don't wish to appear rude here, but they seem *very* overpriced. I'd be accommodating too, if you were paying me so much

In your shoes, I would be tempted to look at another garage, at least just to get quotes for work because I'm sure they're taking the p!55.

£350 to fit a track rod end? Really? It's a £25 screw-on part. They can be awkward to remove, but not £275 awkward.

[Peter.N.]

There are track rods on ebay for less than £10.00 and my oil and filter changes cost about £16.00 and take about 15 minutes. If I had to pay those sort of prices I wouldn't be able to afford to run one car let alone two

Peter

[zipdip]

I noticed it was more expensive to get cars serviced and repaired in Scotland ,I was in the Dundee area,and yes cars are more expensive up there
but I think they know you do not know to much about cars,that bill must be at least £200 over the top,so as people have suggested find another garage
or ask friends who know which is the best garage to use,maybe consider a mobile mechanic they always seem cheaper and there are always in the local papers.

[Peter.N.]

Cheaper in rural area's, I had a puncture repaired in Rogart, north of Inverness for £5.00

Peter