Are All Specialists This Expensive?

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nic-mags
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Are All Specialists This Expensive?

Post by nic-mags »

I've got a Peugeot 405 STDT Estate which is K registered. I rang a local peugeot/citroen specialist here in Leicester to have the following work done: New cambelt, new glow plugs, oil/filter change, new diesel filter and anti-freeze change. They wanted £393 + VAT This seems excessive to me but I may just be out of touch, if there are any confident home mechanics who would feel able to do these jobs i'd be more than happy to pay about £100 and supply the bits for the job and as much tea as you can drink. I payed about £600 for the car so you can probably imagine me being a bit miffed at paying over £450 for just those bits of work to be done.
maddave

Post by maddave »

General service, plugs, oil and air filter, antifreeze is a peice of p**s. Take you an hour tops with a basic tool kit. Go to locol motor factors and buy the bits £30 ish in total. The timing belt is a little more difficult but people say its about £150 at the most to do by a spcialist. It only costs £15 itself so its the labour your paying for.
But the service is easy
Homer
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Post by Homer »

Do you mean a dealer franchise or an independant specialist.
Either way you are getting ripped off. Well, you are not because you quite rightly turned them down.
Try some more independant garages. There is no reason those jobs can't be done by any competent mechanic.
nic-mags
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Post by nic-mags »

yeh it's an independant specialist who deal in citroens but say the job is the same on the peugeots, i don't really want to give them a bad name in case it gets me in trouble but i feel they take advantage of others who may not be in a position to seek advice from you guys, my cambelt's due in 4000 miles and if i exceed that, my engine will self destruct---that's what they told me anyway
reffro
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Post by reffro »

I was quoted about 300 pounds all in for a full service and cambelt on my 306td. When I choked at the cost quoted I asked why it was that much, and the quoted service manual time for a cambelt is 3 - 4 hours alone, so that's where the large part of the cost was coming from. Mind you whilst the engine covers were all off, it would be easier to to do the glow plugs, so it may be a little steep. See if the garage will do the work for cash, mine does, so that 300 I've been quoted will come down by about 50 quid. In the meantime ring round few other places if you can.
Oh and I've not cashed the cheque yet, but I will post the speakers tomorrow no point in keeping you waiting.
mbunting
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Post by mbunting »

I dare say a compentent mechanic could replace the cylinder head gasket in that time as well !
It's the same with all things, once you've done it once yourself, it takes half the time when you next have to do it. It just depends whether you have the time to devote to that first try.
Consider the price of a haynes manual, the bits, a decent toolkit from say H******s, and some beer for afterwards, you're coming away with change from £150 easily.
2 - 3 hours tops for a beginner, I would say, and the garage should be able to do the lot in 1.5 - 2 hours...
nic-mags
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Post by nic-mags »

cheers for that--food for thought i think
Homer
Posts: 1503
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BX16RS (two of),
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Xantia 2.0i saloon,
Xantia 2.0 Exclusive CT turbo Break,
Peugeot 807 2.0 HDi 110,
Renault Grand Scenic, 2.0 diesel (150bhp)
C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever
x 16

Post by Homer »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by nic-mags</i>

my cambelt's due in 4000 miles and if i exceed that, my engine will self destruct---that's what they told me anyway
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Sounds like another reason to avoid them.
Yes, you should change the cambelt regularly. Although there are conflicting opinions as to what mileage. I even had a Citroen dealershop quote 90,000 miles for a 1.6 BX. On the other hand Haynes have a habit of suggesting it should be done at 36,000
But to say the car will self destruct if you don't have it done on the dot is somewhat alarmist. There is only slightly more chance of it breaking in 4000 miles time than there is today, or was last week.
Some cambelts have run for 100,000 miles or more without being changed, others break within a week of the car leaving the showroom.
I'll have to dig out my reciept but I am sure I didn't pay more than £100 for the last one I had done (that's an 8valve petrol though).
As you say, you only paid £600 for the car. everything bar the cambelt can be done by anyone who knows one end of a spanner from the other so you are paying £400 for the cambelt.
To put it in perspective, if you had a bump which required £400 of work the repair, the insurance company would most likely call it a write-off.
I'm rambling so I'll shut up now.
blueboy2001
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Post by blueboy2001 »

I had the cambelt done on my Xantia earlier this year, the going rate seemed to be around £100+VAT
nic-mags
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Post by nic-mags »

thanks everybody for their advice, i've found somebody to do everything for £130+ the parts which i think is quite reasonable, you've all been very helpful
Jonesy
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Post by Jonesy »

I had a couple of quotes recently to do the cambelt on my Xantia 2.1TD. Both reputable independent Citroen specialists and one wanted £325!!! and the other wanted £140.
Will do the job myself when I can be bothered, but what about that difference?
Homer
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Previous:
BX16RS (two of),
BX19TZI,
Xantia 2.0i saloon,
Xantia 2.0 Exclusive CT turbo Break,
Peugeot 807 2.0 HDi 110,
Renault Grand Scenic, 2.0 diesel (150bhp)
C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever
x 16

Post by Homer »

Quite common, the higher one is quoting you for the time the 'book' says the job takes, the other is quoting for the time it actually takes them.
nathan_marriott
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Post by nathan_marriott »

It cost me £90 at my local garage for a cambelt change on my 1.4 306, had it done at 46000, told by peugeot 72,000 but i wasn't goin to risk that!!!! And my mate had to have a new engine in his 306GTi6 when the belt snapped whilst doing 90 ish on the M1 at Just under 28,000!!!! Just goes to show, sh*t happens
CITMAN
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Post by CITMAN »

The garage that I use which is a citroen specialist charged me £18 for a cambelt and andyspares sell the same belt for £8. But my point is the cambelt he used had a andyspares part number[:(!]. I only noticed this after I got home. Too late to raise hell about it.
Unfortuntely this garage is the best one out of bad bunch so ill have to check my bills carefully in the future.
arry_b
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Post by arry_b »

It's not uncommon to get a "F*** off, we don't want the work" quote. I needed the clutch doing on my XM V6 and quotes ranged from £250 to £600 for the labour.
One place gave me a good price so I booked it in, then they doubled their quote once they'd looked the engine bay!
Clowns!
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