Our 'diagnostic machine' (scantool) cost $8500 , if we dont charge it out, whats the point in owning it!
k.101,
May 3, 3:54am
I know it's not a huge difference. Normally it wouldn't be so significant for us either. But we have just spent thousands replacing a fallen-apart clutch thing on our truck, we had to replace the dishwasher and toaster, we're doing up the house so there's the bill for the new roof and more to come. Oh, and the car in question needs to go back to the mechanics.
We are trying hard to live to a careful budget. We've really had to tighten the belt and squeeze through this month so this IS significant to us right now. It's almost unbelievable how everything can happen in sync.
k.101,
May 3, 3:56am
Also, thanks for the explanations re: needing to fix it to diagnose it. That does make sense.
mugenb20b,
May 3, 3:59am
A toaster is $20. A dishwasher is a "want" not a "need".
quater,
May 3, 4:00am
OP Its happened to me before, I wasn't too happy as it was alot a wee bit more than $500 (alot more) I just said since I didn't approve for the work to be done I expect you will be happy for me to pay it off. I could have paid it out right, but the point was I didn't want to pay that much money. So I made payments that didn't really bother me.
snoopy221,
May 3, 4:01am
Reading between the lines the !Dead Car! simply wouldn't start and went click click click when the key was turned. If! this is what the story is thena replacement starter motor could well have been fitted. So simple as tell them -sorry-can't afford it at the moment-which is why i asked for a price. Perhaps age and year of vehicle and mileage- Ya know it's written on that sticker on the left of ya windscreen.
jmma,
May 3, 4:08am
Who has hijacked snoopys account (o: Firstly its to early for snoopy and I can read his posts (o:
mugenb20b,
May 3, 4:10am
It's always the way.
snoopy221,
May 3, 4:10am
mon i dinnae ken the wee lassie wld b undastndin ne udda way.LOL
k.101,
May 3, 4:11am
No, it wasn't click-click-clicking. It was turning over (!) but wouldn't run by itself. When the AA guy came out to look at it he said to tell the mechanics that it has no spark.
@mugenb20b - we replaced those before those other bills came in. Guess our crystal ball wasn't functioning quite right.
mugenb20b,
May 3, 4:11am
He must be drunk or something.
quater,
May 3, 4:12am
lol I didn't even notice
k.101,
May 3, 4:12am
Well . I'm 1/4 Scottish . does that count! Clans Cameron and Hamilton. :)
cowlover,
May 3, 4:17am
Maybe it's an ignitor that was replaced.
snoopy221,
May 3, 4:17am
So somewhere in the vague evasive land of INFORMATION. Depending on WHAT is written on your WINDSCREEN. Really depends on wether or not we are commenting herin on the diagnostics of a failed crank sensor on a commadore Or an E F I fuel pump on a Subaru -Or an ignitor on a Toyota. -Or a fuel pump relay on a honda. [And that is without costing diagnosis for red white and blue cars.] INFORMATION For comments/opinions PLEASE.
hounddog2,
May 3, 5:44am
How hard is it to make a call to the client once you have diagnosed the problem before you then go ahead and fix , especially after being asked simply for a quote!. If the client is unable to be reached then refer back to the brief and either stop and prepare a quote or go ahead and fix.
nzeva,
May 3, 6:53am
I think the garage needs to charge for the time taken/equipment used to diagnose the fault and prepare the quote. AFTER that they can give an accurate cost for the repair. If the customer thinks it's too high they can take the car (with any bits) elsewhere to be fixed, The garage is happy as they've been paid for their time. Otherwise with a FREE quote the garage loses out by not getting paid for their time and the customer gains the fault knowledge at no cost. They can then take their car to another garage or backyard mechanic and get the part changed as cheaply as possible.
scoobeey,
May 3, 7:05am
my advice would be to mechanic take part out PUSH car outside gooooodbye! pay for tow LOL
jason18,
May 3, 12:47pm
Cool good for you. I asked for them to quote it they said it would cost $95 to run the diagnostic machine I said yeah sweet once you find out what uit shows up give me a ring to tell me options and prices.Then we could decide where to go.We were young with limited money but had two cars so if this was going to cost a bit we could have used the other car till we had the money to fix.I could have done brake bulb myself. Instead of being charge over 250 to fix a bulb. Is that acc.ccc.ccceptable to you!
lyonruge,
May 3, 3:07pm
No, they didnt charge you 250 to fix the bulb. The bulb might have been ten dollars, the 250 was for the time spent tracing the problem. Would you have preferred to go and pick up the car and be told,"well we spent 4 hours diagnosing and we think its a $10 bulb thats causing the problem, we didnt replace the bulb we spent 3 hours putting it all back together. heres your diagnosis, we think its the bulb. do you want us to replace it to make sure or do you want to try to do it yourself>!"
evotime,
May 3, 3:13pm
I hate to wreck your story but a blown brake light bulb doesn't cause an abs fault warning light
pauldw,
May 3, 3:16pm
One more line creeping into routine service invoices after "workshop consumables", "Global scan$30"
lyonruge,
May 3, 3:19pm
Yep, it 'can', and so can the brake light switch.
lyonruge,
May 3, 3:19pm
we charge $50, but not without authorisation.
jason18,
May 3, 3:31pm
Hate to wreck your story but I saw the invoice and it was a blown bulb.
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