Best garage cons/mark ups

[Sadlonelygit]

Just recharged my Aircon in the ren-0.
Had a mooch around some of the local garages/specialists and 'le meilleur prix' was €79.
A gander on yt showed it to be reasonably simple, so a purchase of a hose connector, and a bottle of r134a was had.
Quite literally it took 5 mins from start up to shut down and came to the princely sum of €41, and I get to keep the hose to do the Merc. Luckily I have a wine thermometer (doesn't everyone dahhhhling) which showed 18 pre fix and 9 post fix.
Must admit that when I was a quad spanner, plugs were always put on the wire brush and refitted, customer always got charged for a new plug!

[A_morti]

They are probably going to hook it up to the proper machine which should give at least the very basic diagnostics of whether there's a leak in the system.

Even if they literally use the same cans you bought, honestly that sounds like a fair mark-up for having someone do pretty much anything on a car.

[Yorick]

Lots of garages just add VAT to the whole bill when it's already added to some of the parts.

E.G. priced up plugs and air filter etc for my first GSXR1000.
I was busy so asked then to do the service on my behalf.
When bill came, everything was itemised then VAT added again.

I worked it out correctly and gave them the correct amount

Now I check every bill.

[Sadlonelygit]

I would imagine a garage would have a 5kg bottle min, which works out at @ €7 a fill.

[Yorick]

Oh shims. They charge for the ones they fit and put the old ones back in the box for next customer

[KungFooBob]

The machine the garage have puts a vacuum on the system to get what's left of the old crap out, it then holds the vacuum for a while checking for pressure drops. Then if there's no leaks it put the gas in to the correct pressure.

There's the cost of the machine, the gas and the operators time to factor in.

The later 'safer' gas is much more expensive than the pre 2016 stuff.

[Skub]

Cost me around £130 this year,done the way KFB describes.

[MrLongbeard]

Cost me about 50 quid at Kwik Fit a year or two back.
Did consider doing it myself, but Kwik Fit don't charge if it doesn't work or they detect a leak, and they won't fuck up the compressor by overfilling the system, which is a possibility when DIY'ed

[Yorick]

Dunno how the aircon works on the mighty Duster but never needed anything changing or gassing or whatever.
We use it 90% of trips so gets a lot of use.

[mikeycee]

Just booked my S1000RR In for its annual service for the stamp - Its only done 4440 Miles.

Engine Oil, Filter and brake fluid.

I'm providing the engine oil and brake fluid, they are providing the oil filter and labour.

£220

[Yorick]

Once dropped a bike off at 9:00 as they opened.
Had coffee nearby. Got call at 10:15 all done.

Bill said 2 hours labour !!!!

Oh, we charge part hour as full hour.

Oh no you don't

[Gregor]

First and last time I used a dealer to service a bike it went in with a full tank of fuel and came out almost empty…….Laguna’s Maidstone 1999

[Yorick]

First and last time I used a dealer to service a bike it went in with a full tank of fuel and came out almost empty…….Laguna’s Maidstone 1999

I bought a GSXR1000 from them and part-exd my previous one.
It shit the gearbox after 30 miles.

Oh dear

[ZRX61]

Must admit that when I was a quad spanner, plugs were always put on the wire brush and refitted, customer always got charged for a new plug!

Could be quite profitable with a RR Merlin. The plugs are $70 each & there's 24 of them... We just send them out for overhaul/refurbish.. which is probably some bloke with a wire brush.

[Sadlonelygit]

Dunno how the aircon works on the mighty Duster but never needed anything changing or gassing or whatever.
We use it 90% of trips so gets a lot of use.

Best thing for it. They generally only leak when not used (seals dry up and lose pressure)

The SAAB is 21 yo and never needed to be regassed as the Aircon is used at least an hour a month, so the seals don't dry out!

[Sadlonelygit]

Just booked my S1000RR In for its annual service for the stamp - Its only done 4440 Miles.

Engine Oil, Filter and brake fluid.

I'm providing the engine oil and brake fluid, they are providing the oil filter and labour.

£220

Wouldn't it be cheaper to have a stamp made with the dealer details on it?

[wheelnut]

Lots of garages just add VAT to the whole bill when it's already added to some of the parts.

E.G. priced up plugs and air filter etc for my first GSXR1000.
I was busy so asked then to do the service on my behalf.
When bill came, everything was itemised then VAT added again.

I worked it out correctly and gave them the correct amount

Now I check every bill.

How did you determine the parts weren’t vat exclusive on the bill?

[Yorick]

Lots of garages just add VAT to the whole bill when it's already added to some of the parts.

E.G. priced up plugs and air filter etc for my first GSXR1000.
I was busy so asked then to do the service on my behalf.
When bill came, everything was itemised then VAT added again.

I worked it out correctly and gave them the correct amount

Now I check every bill.

How did you determine the parts weren’t vat exclusive on the bill?

Like I said, I'd previously asked the retail price.

[Mr. Dazzle]

The machine the garage have puts a vacuum on the system to get what's left of the old crap out, it then holds the vacuum for a while checking for pressure drops. Then if there's no leaks it put the gas in to the correct pressure.

There's the cost of the machine, the gas and the operators time to factor in.

The later 'safer' gas is much more expensive than the pre 2016 stuff.

I'm actually a bit surprised you can still buy refrigerant gas as a general punter. Both because it can be pretty dangerous to handle and because you're not supposed to be able to release it into the air. Part of the cost of a garage doing it is supposed to cover disposal*

Last time I got Mrs. D's car regassed in an attempt to fix the AC (didn't work!) they took all the new gas back out again and didn't charge me anything

*emptying it out the window when no-one is looking

[MrLongbeard]

I'm actually a bit surprised you can still buy refrigerant gas as a general punter. Both because it can be pretty dangerous to handle and because you're not supposed to be able to release it into the air

Some you can, some you can't, it's regulated by the F Gas regulations and depends on what it global warming potential is, plus what ever health and safety stuff may apply.