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[raywilb]

I recently approached a local garage . I am supplying all the bits, timing kit, cam cover & timing chain housing gasket. also a oil seal. he told me that he had never done one before but looked the job up & he told me the job should be a 3hour task. then he told me that he could only charge for the amount of hours his data said the job should take. when he gave me a price £240, I left. nearly forgot I was supplying the locking kit too.

[05omegav6]

Three hours for summat that might take them a couple of days sounds like a fair deal

That said, why not diy?

[raywilb]

Three hours for summat that might take them a couple of days sounds like a fair deal

That said, why not diy?

  reading up on what the job entails it would probably take me all day that is if I had the bottle to attempt. I,ve never done a chains before and its years since I replaced an odd belt. mainly 1.9 pugs.  which if memory is right a couple of m10 bolts locked all.

[raywilb]

just thought, online a website called ClickMechanic based in London but state they will find somebody in your area to do the work. also will quote price & time it  will take.  I tried them once before but nobody turned up. though I did it myself & the time they said it should take took me less than a hour than what I would of paid them for.  how that works - you fill in exactly the work required , when you want it done . they then tell you how long it will take and a bank transfer will be arranged on satisfaction & completion of work.

[Webby the Bear]

I'm not surprised you got a high labour rate. After all you've done the garage out of the opportunity of marking up the parts. Tis life I'm afraid 

[Lazydocker]

I'm not surprised you got a high labour rate. After all you've done the garage out of the opportunity of marking up the parts. Tis life I'm afraid 

Wot young bear says... Garages have a lot of overheads to cover and parts mark up contribute towards it.

[STEMO]

So....a three hour job...£240? £80 an hour is what I'd expect to pay.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

So....a three hour job...£240? £80 an hour is what I'd expect to pay.

£30 an hour sounds better to my ears.

[BazaJT]

£80 per hour is not really so very far away from main stealer rates.Suppose it all depends on what kind of garage set up it is i.e. Fred in the shed down the road or larger set up.

[Webby the Bear]

Dealer round here will set you back £120 per hour.

In the op's case most garages would overcharge because in reality they wouldn't want the hassle for a mere £250 and as taxi says it will realistically take longer. They could get roughly that for an hour and halfs work doing a service. Plus the opportunity to upsell tyres, brakes etc.

Call me a moron lol but if someone came in and said I'll supply parts I'd instantly add a couple of hours on to the labour time. Again, harsh but it's a business.

[Nick W]

Dealer round here will set you back £120 per hour.

In the op's case most garages would overcharge because in reality they wouldn't want the hassle for a mere £250 and as taxi says it will realistically take longer. They could get roughly that for an hour and halfs work doing a service. Plus the opportunity to upsell tyres, brakes etc.

Call me a moron lol but if someone came in and said I'll supply parts I'd instantly add a couple of hours on to the labour time. Again, harsh but it's a business.

The other reason why businesses hate fitting parts supplied by someone else is when things go wrong. If a part you supplied fails, why should they fix the problem? Buy the parts from the person fitting them, and any issues are their problem.


And £80 an hour doesn't sound unusual to me.

[Webby the Bear]

Exactly. A grey area as to whether the part failed or the fitting of said part caused the failure.

My garage would be honest and if it turned out we'd cocked up we'd rectify it. But I know of some that would see it as a get out clause for any of their shortcomings. My point being is you may save a buck in the short term but it might not be the way forward. Imo

[05omegav6]

Exactly. A grey area as to whether the part failed or the fitting of said part caused the failure.

My garage would be honest and if it turned out we'd cocked up we'd rectify it. But I know of some that would see it as a get out clause for any of their shortcomings. My point being is you may save a buck in the short term but it might not be the way forward. Imo

Hence the diy suggestion... covered in the Vectra manual iirc

[Webby the Bear]

Exactly. A grey area as to whether the part failed or the fitting of said part caused the failure.

My garage would be honest and if it turned out we'd cocked up we'd rectify it. But I know of some that would see it as a get out clause for any of their shortcomings. My point being is you may save a buck in the short term but it might not be the way forward. Imo

Hence the diy suggestion... covered in the Vectra manual iirc

;y

[raywilb]

Exactly. A grey area as to whether the part failed or the fitting of said part caused the failure.

My garage would be honest and if it turned out we'd cocked up we'd rectify it. But I know of some that would see it as a get out clause for any of their shortcomings. My point being is you may save a buck in the short term but it might not be the way forward. Imo

Hence the diy suggestion... covered in the Vectra manual iirc

  will pick a nice day & have a go I think. there are various reasons I prefer to supply goods, & it basically is most garages will buy the cheapest part to fit. I would rather be given the choice to decide which part.