[Closed] Car garage rip off is this normal??

so when you were servicing suspension - you were selling parts to customers at the price you paid ?

(edit - i seem to have missed that LOCO and LOCOBOY are not affiliated .... as you were)
Remember every time a part changes hands in any supply chain a % is added.

whats your mark up on the parts you dismantle?

Did you add VAT to the parts cost ?

learn to do it yourself, get a quote before booking it in or stop moaning

My point is that they are charging more than Joe public can buy them for.
Surely they should be using their buying power, buying cheaper and supplying still cheaper then I can buy for but still making money, everyone is happy then.

Who mentioned servicing suspension?????

Yes all prices were comparable inc vat.

My parts I sell are considerably less than new so that's not a comparable question.

Bobbyspangles, who said I can't do it myself?
Get a quote first......Done that, have I even mentioned that I HAVE HAD IT DONE......No, try reading the post before replying.

I can I don't have time, besides no one is moaning about labour rates, which 'doing it yourself' pertains to.

And how many bike shops order stuff from CRC? Way of the world, often the price charged to the garage/bike shop is more expensive than what we can buy it for on internet?

Yes it's normal for a garage to want to make a profit.

Do you mark your components up or do you take a loss?

My point is that they are charging more than Joe public can buy them for.

That's for supply, collection, stocking, holding, returns, cancellations, storage space, etc etc.

That's how the world works.

I think the OP is complaining that garage is selling at prices that are above the RRP of the parts.

Locoboy - did you phone a VW garage and see what they would charge for the same parts?

It may be more than independent motor factors do (they in turn get bulk discount and sell for less than VW would) - perhaps the garage matches the VW direct price?

So buy the parts yourself and supply them to the garage to fit?

so are they charging more than RRP or more than TPS supply them for ?

A quick look on line then a call to TPS (trade parts specialists) and I can save myself £70 on the parts alone.

so long as you are still supplying them for less than joe public can buy them for.

But Joe Public cannot buy from TPS. You can as you are in the motor trade.

The TPS Network is dedicated to supplying the needs of the independent motor repairer.
Please note that it is a service that is NOT available to the general public. If you require Volkswagen Group Parts please contact your local Authorised Repairer who will be happy to source and supply any part you require.

My point is that they are charging more than Joe public can buy them for.

Buy them yourself and take them in to be used as part of the service?

Seems the easiest way of navigating this particular issue.

Unless of course you don't want the hassle, then you could pay someone to do it for you.

So why are garages aiming to make a huge profit on supplying the parts at more then RRP when I am assuming they will be able to get the for less than me with their trade discount.

Because they're a business and their number one goal is to make as much money as possible?

1/10

true dat gobuchal bit like buying wood out of bnq and wondering why its half the price at travis perkins

or buying a piece of a car from a specialist breaker of old cars on ebay and wondering why it costs more than a you pull it yard

Alot of garages get sniffy about fitting 3rd party parts as joe public have a canny nack of buying the wrong part - then dont want to pay labour for the wrong part not fitting and the car gets left sitting.

I don't think its just Garages, profiteering is now standard business practice.

So why are garages aiming to make a huge profit on supplying the parts at more then RRP when I am assuming they will be able to get the for less than me with their trade discount.

I mean, to me that sounds like exactly like how every shop in the world operates.

You don't [i]have[/i] to also purchase the labour to install the product, you're choosing to buy both the labour product and the physical goods. They both are marked up a percentage over their costs to ensure a business is generating revenue.

Including delivery?

They might be ordering from the same place (or the same price), but they won't order them until they're absolutely sure you're going ahead. They probably figure the same day courier is cheaper in the long run than the number of jobs that never turn up. Whereas you're looking at the cheapest/free postage option.

That and it's a VW Transporter, it's a scene tax.

[quote=trail_rat ]true dat gobuchal bit like buying wood out of bnq and wondering why its half the price at travis perkins

Though strangely that's not quite the same, as builders merchants now seem happy to sell to the public.

How long did you spend sat on the computer searching for and ordering the parts? Did you include this time in your cost calculation?

Personally I agree that they should not make profit on parts, just like builders should not make profit on materials. The labour charge should cover their profits. If they are making money on parts then it should be minimal, £70 on parts just for servicing is bloody high. Also its not like it is a fixed price for the job. If they have any issues then they charge you more for the labour and every little bolt and nut is billed.

TPS (Trade Parts Service) is part of Volkswagen Audi Group. They supply genuine parts to both the trade and the public. I buy my service parts from them. By walking in to the VW dealership you will, in general, pay more. Sometimes not.

The price you pay at TPS is never set, it varies all of the time, depending on who serves you, what offer they have at the moment, etc. E.g.: I bought 5x 5ltrs of Quantum oil for my car for £48 inc VAT last year. 1x 5ltr on the shelf was £19. Just depends on the offer ATM.

+70% is a lot though.

They supply genuine parts to both the trade and the public.

Not according to their website they don't.

Not according to their website they don't.

I think the outlets for trade accounts so 2 different price structures. A bit like some DIY stores.

I have a mate with a eurofarts account. When they have their "midweek" and "weekend" special discounts , I can often buy parts cheaper than he can.

So why are garages aiming to make a huge profit

You're confused as to why a company is trying to make a profit? How are you still in business?

Say you're a shop. Do you sell products to consumers for your purchase price or for the RRP? The answer is simply "because they can" (and because it makes perfectly sound business sense).

You could always use your trade connections to buy and supply the parts yourself I suppose, save yourself £70.

Welcome to the real world. If you are a scrappy then surely you have access to or contacts who can do the work for you.

Theres a difference between making a profit and profiteering which is the op's point..I think.

I've a garage that prefers me to buy parts and leave them in the boot - saves them the hassle, usually cheaper (as it's not an in the day rush order) and works out well.

The only thing that matters though is the total cost of the service.

It's entirely up to the garage business where they apply mark ups overheads and profit to the prices they charge. They could charge low labour rates and high parts prices or low parts prices and high labour rates. It's entirely up to them.

What's the £70 as a percentage? And what's the labour rate? Only if you know those can you start to make accusations of profiteering.

You should contact BBC's [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wck32 ]Rip Off Britain[/url]. Bet they'd love to do a feature on this. Can see Angela Rippoff getting all frothy and self righteous.

profiteering

How on earth is it profiteering?

It's a free, open market with multiple options.

The garage will know that the retail price can be checked and compared with other suppliers.

They gave him a breakdown of the prices. If he doesn't like then the OP can just walk away.

Hardly a case of "profiteering".

Theres a difference between making a profit and profiteering which is the op's point..I think.

There's a difference between trade and rrp which the OP seems to be confused about.

Just to help some on here.

Profiteer
noun
1.
a person who seeks or exacts exorbitant profits, especially through the sale of scarce or rationed goods.

Exorbitant?
Scarce?
Rationed?

Well it's a vw so it started exorbitant can't blame him for trying to get the overpriced @rrp parts cheaper

For info

I DID NOT GET A [u]TRADE[/u] PRICE,

it was a Joe Public price (yes the public can buy from TPS)

I have not had the work done, it was a simple enquiry to see if this was normal these days.

Recently had similar, suction control valve on my Navara, part freely available to all at £85 ish, garage wanted £250 to do the job, its 2 allen bolts FFS to take it off needless to say it was done DIY, as mine is technically a co car i could claim the whole cost against tax bill, but still refuse to pay this kind of profiteering!!

I have not had the work done, it was a simple enquiry to see if this was normal these days.

Seriously? No idea. I've supplied kit to the garages I use in the past because A. I've hunted around to see what's available, B. I've usually wanted to upgrade the part and C. I want to know what's going into my car.

If this saves a few pennies then great, but I also use indy garages (one of which is run by a friend). Both our vehicles have followings and user groups too, so there's usually someone with more expertise than me to offer advice.

Saying that, I also do smaller jobs myself too to save a few quid on labour costs.

You do realise that if the garage didn't mark up the parts it would have to charge more for labour, don't you?

Yes its normal to try and get away with it, especially Main Dealer.

Do you also buy fruit from M+S and wonder why Aldi is much cheaper

suction control valve on my Navara, part freely available to all at £85 ish, garage wanted £250 to do the job, its 2 allen bolts FFS

you "relearn" the fuel system? if not it will still fault

if i remember rightly they were 118.50+vat for the part and I used to charge an hour to fit and clear

plus the inital diag fee

And STW reaches peak antiempathy

🙄

That's for supply, collection, stocking, holding, returns, cancellations, storage space, etc etc.

That's how the world works.

Not any more. Garage sees what's needed, orders there and then, little TPS van turns up 20 minutes later with the bits (free delivery). And takes back any bits ordered yesterday that weren't needed.

And STW reaches peak antiempathy

It's incredible. There are a few folk around who seem to need a hug.

OP, I'd be curious to call the parts department and get a price for, say, the air/oil/pollen filters, and see how the prices compare. If there's any difference, bring it up with the service department. To be honest, I'd be quite interested to ask them about the RRP you're aware of anyway.

Likely paying autofactor pricing, so they can more or less guarantee the right parts are in the shop to do the work. EBay pricing depends on the aprt being available at some point in the near future, and hoping it is the right one (yes, sometimes it's not hard to identify the right bit, but sometimes it is and accounts with autofactors are to cope with this sort of thing).

EDIT: BigJohn beat me to it

Pffft, if you want a rip off garage thread [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/coolant-level-sensor-broken-how-much-to-repair ]you need to do it in style[/url]...

you "relearn" the fuel system? if not it will still fault

Ignition lights on, wait 3 sec, press and release accelerator 5 times within 5 sec, wait 7 sec, press and hold accelerator 10 sec, wit for engine light to flash a few times press and hold accelerator for more than 10 sec........fuel system rest and working perfectly..........

...that for the extra £180 ?

Fail to see a problem. The garage wants to make x£ per day. It can load either the rate or the parts prices. If you don't like prices given go elsewhere. Its so damn simple. 🙄

Profiteer
noun
1.
a person who seeks or exacts exorbitant profits

I would say 100% mark up (estimation) on a rivals price is exorbitant yes.

Not everyone is astute in everything. That's why we regulate sales activity. If you cant grasp that idea, your probably just who its there to protect.

Having a main dealer full service history will affect the residual value of the vehicle will it not? Buy genuine parts, fit em yourself, save a few bob. Part ex value goes down. Pay a main dealer, pay his prices, get his stamp, part ex value increases...simples.

100% markup at each step in the supply chain is pretty normal I would have thought. Buy something for x and sell for 2x is about right to cover all your costs and make some profit.

Don't know how all main dealers work but in ours service, parts and sales are financially independent of each other. Service department has to 'buy' it's parts from the parts department at full retail price, if we, the service department, discounted the parts we would make a loss, as a customer you could buy your parts direct from the parts department and possibly get a discount. The service department makes no profit from parts, it's profit comes from selling labour. Fred in the shed will buy the parts at trade price from our parts department and may not charge their customers full retail for it.

I would say 100% mark up (estimation) on a rivals price is exorbitant yes.

What if it wasn't 100% the oil alone will be around £55-60

I didnt say 100% mark up on cost, I said 100% mark up on competitors price.

Yes its an estimation I based this on it costing me less than £70 for all those service parts including oil for an A3 with a 1.9tdi commonly fitted to vans could be out +/-20ppts.

Whilst my experience of car mechanics both main dealer and Indy is largely disappointing, the thing you are not factoring in is warranty.
If your dealer supplies and installs the part then should that part fail, your dealer carries the part and labour warranty to repair/replace. If you supplied the parts yourself then sure you can have the part warrantied by the supplier but the mechanic will not be warrantying their labour if it was a failed part. Also,you will need the part or repurchase the part and then retrospectively return the defective unit.
What I've taken to on big ticket items that i'm not prepared to do myself is to buy the part i know I need from the dealers parts desk at less than their list and have the garage install their own part. Best of both worlds.
Main dealers whilst the biggest thieves of them all still tend to be cheaper ime servicing their own brand vehicles than indys and you get factory parts not questionable chinese pattern parts from the local motor factor
Presumably your comparative TPS pricing is discounted too with a trade account or already discounted over list pricing
Why not ask the dealer for a break on the parts pricing or DIY.

As has been said, probably just offsets having a more palatable labour rate. If Joe Public sees a £50+ labour rate they'll likely be put off (even though it might be fair given all the overheads a garage has), would make some sense to put a bit extra on the parts and keep the labour rate lower.

"[i]If Joe Public sees a £50+ labour rate they'll likely be put off...[/i]"

If a main dealer only charged £50/hr I'd fall over in shock ! The (very good) Indy I use is £72/hr. Or it was last summer, anyway.

Did you mean £150 ?