RANT! Bloody Garage Bills

The Supra flung it's aux belt off on the way to work yesterday morning so I had to get it recovered to a garage local to work to be fixed as I work 3 hours away from home.

They've just rung to tell me the crank pulley has gone and the tensioner is bent.

Their price to fix it - £630 +VAT!

£275 + VAT for the pulley

£150 + VAT for the tensioner

plus labour

and an oil & filter change which I asked them to do as well as it was overdue a change.

I know the last time I needed a tensioner, it only cost me about £50 or so from CW.

This sounds bloody extortionate to me, unfortunately I'm stuck in the arse-end of nowhere and need the car running by Friday, so I'm just going to have to bend over and take it.

It would have cost me less to have had the car taken home and lose a week's wages.

I am the rabbit of negative emotion. (not a happy bunny)

Feel your pain mate bad times

That's a joke!

Can you not order the parts from somewhere else, get them sent to the garage and then just pay them the labour to fit? I know Whiffbitz do crank pulleys for about £180! (including vat & delivery) I bought one fairly recently.

Also, Michael had a aux belt tensioner for sale;

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=220628&highlight=aux+belt+tensioner

I feel for you dude, call them and ask if you can provide the parts. Im sure paul at whifbitz will have them delivered to the desired destination by the next working day.

like doom mentioned paul is doing the crank pulley for £165+vat!!!

I guess the only issue is timing as it would depend on when the parts turned up.

If they did turn up on Friday I am sure the garage wouldn't bother rushing to get it all done in time!

The parts are already ordered as I couldn't afford to wait to try and source them elsewhere. If I don't get the car done by Friday, I'm stuck up here and will have to pay to stay for the weekend at the b&b.

If I'd have broken down closer to home, I'd have been able to borrow my dad's car and source the parts properly. Just the way it goes unfortunately.

[edit] Yeah, what Abz said.

Look at it from a positive... The crank pulley could have spunk off while you were driving causing a lot more than £600 worth of damage

Every cloud as a silver lining and all that.

Look at it from a positive... The crank pulley could have spunk off while you were driving causing a lot more than £600 worth of damage

 

Every cloud as a silver lining and all that.

Ew!

Yeah, it could have been worse, it's just annoying and I really wasn't expecting it to cost that much.

Ew!

 

Yeah, it could have been worse, it's just annoying and I really wasn't expecting it to cost that much.

Oops

I know what you mean, espcially if you were not expecting it!

You won't want to hear this but I've got a tensioner that I can't seem to give away.

You're right Red, I won't want to hear that, lol. Thanks. :|

Are they charging you for the tensioner pulley, the arm and the tensioner spring device?

I doubt all three are damaged. In fact I'd be surprised if any of it were damaged at all. Toyota manual advises changing the tensioner based on movement of the central shaft, my one was fine after 200k kms.

Ask them awkward questions. I bet they are just doing a "job lot" for max profit.

See, this is where not being mechanically minded is a pain in the arse. I could ask those questions, but not be able to argue against any answers given.

If I was at home, I'd have my dad and at least 4 mates who are all mechanics to look at, advise and help with any problems.

I'd imagine the arm and wheel come as one unit, so the garage would have to buy it that way, or at least they may have already bought it so would be unwilling to split it to save you cash and leave them with a useless (to them) part.

I'd still ring and ask exactly which part is bent. Is it the swingarm for the tensioner wheel or the little metal shaft that pokes out the end of the tensioner itself?

The belt came off mine and funnily enough thats the same call i got aswell i didnt think the pulley was gone at all but like yourself had to bend over and take the £700 shafting! Feel your pain mate the prices these places charge are a fu##ing joke!

Just to be sure, are they talking about the Aux belt tensioner or the cambelt tensioner. Last time I asked, cam belt tensioner spring unit alone was £90 from Toyota + VAT.

Aux belt tensioner.

Maybe some soothing cream for your sore arse Paul.....

H.

Oh, sorry, I was talking about the internal tensioner for the cambelt. I dun goofed, consequences will never be the same.

Sorry to hear of your drama and im not trying to be a smart ass but these crank pulleys need changing now or you can end up with it costing you silly money to put it right.

Its time for preventative maintainance on a lot of these cars im afraid or your drama will be replayed over and over by other members.

Try to look on the bright side as It could have been lots worse, crank pulley failure can cause quite serious damage.

New Aux belt tensioner comes from Toyota as one unit, i've just paid £123 inc vat for mine.

Yeah, I realise it could have been a lot worse. I'm more annoyed that it happened up here and I got stuck with taking it to the nearest place to work rather than having the comfort of being able to fix it at home and source the parts properly.

Oh, sorry, I was talking about the internal tensioner for the cambelt. I dun goofed, consequences will never be the same.

Who do you think you are, Jessi Slaughter?

But yes, if your away from home, im afraid I would also take a shafting to get up and running.

I guess the only issue is timing as it would depend on when the parts turned up.

 

If they did turn up on Friday I am sure the garage wouldn't bother rushing to get it all done in time!

They might charge you for storing your car too. The mechanic near me did even though it was his choice to not remove my faulty parts after a few days!

Toyota's prices have been revised recently, I'd be very surprised if Whifbitz can get a crank pulley for that now from Toyota, I ordered one the other day and it came to £230 Inc VAT, I pay whatever toyota themselves charge my works (Toyota dealer) for the part plus 5%, even if I didn't pay the 5% it still would drop to £165 Inc VAT